A key Democratic senator said Sunday he believes Democrats are close to the 60 votes they need to advance a health care bill that includes a new program for government-backed health insurance. Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York said he thinks a public option plan will be in the Senate bill. Mr. Schumer said he thinks it will be a middle-ground proposal that allows states to opt out of participation....
Watch it for yourself - he punches the guy's camera, not the reporter/blogger, but the effect is the same: Now, I'm really not in favor of blindsiding elected officials. I think it makes bloggers look like paparazzi. Then again, it was a public building, and according to the tape, Mike Stark (the guy filming this) was never impeding anyone's progress -- which is what he was (apaprently) instructed...
Salon : In the end, after months and months of negotiations aimed at winning bipartisan support for a healthcare reform bill in the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus was all alone on Wednesday as he announced his draft proposal. He stood, looking lonely, in front of a backdrop that could have accommodated his entire so-called Gang of Six — if, that is, the talks had worked out. As it was,...
U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat who has been under fire for being a less-than-enthusiastic backer of the Obama administration's health care reform plans, has launched an ad campaign to counter criticism.
It looks like Senator George RINOvich does it again! For again sticking his Golden RINO horn up the a$$-crack of conservatism, Sen. George RINOvich -- is once again the recepient of the award created in his honor -- The Senator George Voinovich "Golden RINO Award." Our can't be retired soon enough Senator from OH was awarded his own award last week for making the idiotic statement of, "...
WASHINGTON -- Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska says he'll support Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor when the Senate votes on her confirmation this week.
Progressive groups target health care denier Ben Nelson (DINO-Neb.) in HealthCareCantWait.com. Apparently they have a significant ad buy scheduled in Nebraska and are raising funds for more....
From The Hill : Senate Democrats on Wednesday banded together to defeat — barely — a Republican proposal to allow concealed weapons to be carried across state lines. Voting 58-39, the chamber beat back an amendment by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a potential presidential hopeful who has taken on a growing role among Senate Republicans, that would have permitted weapons to be transferred from...
As Jo Ann noted, a letter was sent yesterday by a group of centrist Senators - joined by Senator Ron Wyden - asking for more time to discuss health care reform. The letter is available in full at Huffington Post (pdf). Senator Wyden's presence in this group of centrist Senators is fairly surprising. He's not typically aligned with Democrats like Ben Nelson (NE) and Mary Landrieu (LA); Republicans like...
Representative Paul D. Ryan (R) of Wisconsin shares the same concern expressed by Senator Olympia Snowe (R) of Maine, Senator Ben Nelson (D) of Nebraska and columnist George Will: a public health care option will drive the private insurance industry out of business : In the Ways and Means session, Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, who offered the amendment to kill the government...
In his latest column, Health Care Showdown , Krugman takes on the Democrats who can't wean themselves from the corporate teat: The Republicans, with a few possible exceptions, have decided to do all they can to make the Obama administration a failure. Their role in the health care debate is purely that of spoilers who keep shouting the old slogans — Government-run health care! Socialism! Europe!...
Senate Democrats on Wednesday gave President Barack Obama a warm welcome on Capitol Hill, even as they prepared to cut as much as $180 billion from his proposed $3.55 trillion fiscal 2010 budget.
U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson this afternoon had a release about earmarks, which, as we all know, are bad. Actually, essentially every local governmental entity will gladly take some federal funding, but how it comes is the rub. Before Democrats took hold of both federal chambers in 2007 and when candidate [...]
Former Mt. Pleasant, Iowa Mayor/former State Senator/former Iowa Governor/2008 Democratic presidential candidate/Hillary Clinton endorser/current USDA secretary Tom Vilsack announced his "top staff" today. As you may know, John Norris is working as Vilsack's chief of staff. Jackie Norris, his wife,...
By Steve Hynd How's this for an eye-opener? U.S. General John Craddock, NATO's supreme commander, admitted today in Congressional testimony that NATO has no reliable way to assess its performance in the war in Afghanistan. Craddock said his headquarters had tried to find ways to measure factors, such as security and the effectiveness of Afghan authorities, but the task had...
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