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25 Feb 2010 10:23

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Politics: Twitter listens in as the Health Care Summit gets under way



Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2010 22:02

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U.S.: Finally, a health care detail most of the House can agree on

  • 406 “yeas” to repeal an antitrust exemption for insurers source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Feb 2010 20:42

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Politics: Health care summit: Everyone’s obsessing over the furniture

  • Because, honestly, that’s the big issue on everyone’s mind. Perhaps it’s a symbol of how much is riding on Thursday’s health care summit at the White House that it’s even even an issue, but Congress is having a hissy fit over the layout of room. “We’re not going to have members [of Congress] sitting in staff seats,” said one aide over the idea of legislators sitting at “the kiddie table.” Harry Reid’s aide compared the fracas to the interior design diplomacy that took place during the Paris peace talks near the end of the Vietnam War. We swear this isn’t an Onion story. source
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22 Feb 2010 10:23

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Politics: Health Care 2.0: Now the debate begins on Twitter



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22 Feb 2010 10:18

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U.S.: Get ready to sink your teeth into health care again – for the first time

  • Admit it, you’ve been waiting for this moment all morning. Obama’s got a health care plan for everyone to dig into at length, and a fresh Monday morning is as good a time as any to sink one’s teeth into health care. Reuters has the details if you don’t want to dig in, but let’s put it this way: This is put together as if bro wants to get it passed. ‘Nuff said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Feb 2010 21:40

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U.S.: Obama wants to slap health insurers over unfair rate increases

  • action Anthem Blue Cross of California is discussing boosting its premiums by 39%, citing a bad economy and (we think) contempt for its customers. People get pissed off.
  • reaction Obama wants to push a new piece into the health care bill giving the government more oversight of premium increases. Who’s singing an anthem now, Anthem? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 10 Comments • Permalink

21 Feb 2010 11:47

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Politics: Mitch McConnell punishes the world with another zinger

  • On health care: “The only thing bipartisan about it would be the opposition to it.” Zing! The Senate Minority Leader was on Fox News this morning talking about the possibility that health care could be saved, and he noted that the Democrats could salvage it using budget reconciliation (public option in tow), which would only require a simple up-down vote. “Whether there will be 11 Democrats who will vote against it is not clear,” he noted. source
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07 Feb 2010 19:29

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U.S.: A Super Bowl for policy wonks: Left vs. Right, in Obama’s house

  • Get yo popcorn ready! Today, during a pre-Super Bowl interview on CBS, Obama said that on Feb. 25, he would be hosting a live, televised debate for Republicans and Democrats to work out their differences on health care. In the White House. “If we can go step by step through a series of these issues and arrive at some agreements, there’s no reason we can’t do this faster than it took last year,” he said. Maybe so, but man, we can’t wait to watch this. The Q&A with the Republicans? Just a warm-up. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jan 2010 09:49

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Politics: A watered-down health care bill might actually be a good thing

  • To those who argue that piecemeal health care reform is worse than no health care reform, I have five words: the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
  • Slate columnist Fred Kaplan • Regarding another piece of legislation that was watered down to nothingness. It’s forgotten about now, but the legislation was the small push that led to much larger gains for the Civil Rights movement, and later much tougher legislation. It was testy at the time, too – Strom Thurmond filibustered the bill for an entire day, by himself – but the legislation led to big gains in the end. “The 1957 Civil Rights Act was a preposterously small hinge that helped swing open a very wide gate,” Kaplan notes. “It’s not out of the question that a pared-down health care bill might do the same.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

20 Jan 2010 21:19

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Politics: So, post-Scott Brown, what does Obama do next, anyway?

  • I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements in the package that people agree on.
  • President Barack Obama • Regarding his signature health care bill, which got screwed up by Scott Brown winning the Senate race yesterday. It’s perhaps the largest failure of his presidency so far, but one with a silver lining. Now Obama has an opportunity to push for that bipartisan congress that never really happened. Or maybe the Republicans can just stonewall some more. It’s worth noting a couple of things: The fact that Obama plans to wait until Brown takes office to tackle health care is smart. And, as Andrew Sullivan notes (amazingly), he could totally use this as an opportunity to turn the tables during his State of the Union address next week. We want to see him do that. source
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