It's a tie so far. “It’s not about getting a lot of Republicans. It’s about getting a lot of Democrats and Republicans. We ought to be focusing on getting 80 votes.” —Chuck Grassley “We need to get a...
Author - Bob Cesca
Real Life 'Death Panels' – Again
The Republicans must really believe they've won the healthcare debate because they can't stop tipping their hand and telling the nation what they really think: Asked by ABC News about a package of...
America’s Affordable Health Choices Act
I was re-reading the House bill today and it's really pretty awesome, all things considered (it's not single-payer, but okay). One thing I forgot about is that in addition to a robust public option...
The Nexus of Politics and Terror
In his new book, Tom Ridge admits to inciting fear at the request of the Bush 2004 campaign. Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was "blindsided" by the FBI in...
The Option of Conscience – Part 2
As I wrote yesterday, the public option is mandatory for more than just cost-control and competition purposes. If there are individual mandates and no public option, we would be required by law to...
Ted Kennedy's Successor
Senator Kennedy is petitioning Governor Patrick to change the law regarding succession should the senator step down or pass away. The special election could take upwards of five months, but Kennedy...
Walletpop Roundtable
I almost forgot to post this. I participated in a healthcare roundtable discussion on AOL's Walletpop podcast last week. You can watch the whole thing here.
Morning Joe
Maria Bartiromo isn't a very smart person. She just tried to tell Matt Taibbi on Morning Joe that America has the best healthcare system in the world because people from other nations come here for...
Division Bills
Now that I've been able to access the full article at the WSJ, here's how the bills could potentially be split: Healthcare Reform Bill #1 Expensive budget-related provisions and potentially the...
Morning Awesome
Beastie Boys - "Sabotage" Live from Woodstock '99
I Called It!
Today on The Ed Show, Jonathan Alter predicted that the president will deliver a rousing address to a joint session of Congress about healthcare reform sometime in the next six weeks or so. Here's...
The Option of Conscience
Many of the writers and experts who are softening on the importance of the public option have totally failed to recognize one very important -- mandatory -- aspect of the concept of a government...
Bite Sized Healthcare Reform
Tonight on the Blog Talk Radio show, Stranahan explained that the president should've approached each section of healthcare reform as its own bill. A bill to ban rescission. A bill to ban preexisting...
New Huffington Post Column
Bipartisanship Porn Enjoy and Digg often!
Radio Show Thread
Me and Lee Stranahan will yell at each other tonight on Blog Talk Radio. 8PM EDT. Listen live here. Call the show: (347) 945-5235 UPDATE: Show's over. Thanks for listening.
Don't Believe the Scorpion
Chuck Grassley is asking the Democrats to give his scorpion ass a ride across the river. Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the powerful Republican who has spent weeks working on a healthcare reform...
That NBC Poll on the Public Option
Here's a shocker. NBC changed the wording of their public option poll question and yet they continue to compare today's numbers with the results from a very different question. You've probably also...
For Snowe and Enzi Maybe?
Gibbs tosses cold water on shutting out the Republicans: White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration remains committed to drawing Republican support for the bill, particularly in...
They're The Mafia
John Cole echoes Congressman Weiner: Hell, I can't, for the life of me, figure out what value the insurance companies add at all. Seems like all they do is skim money off the top, add layers of...
Conference Committee Exposed (Wonky)
Ezra games out what the conference committee could look like, as far as retaining the public option in the final bill: The members of the conference committee are chosen by the leadership. They...