Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy This was so predictable. Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel supported the idea of a government-run program that would compete with private health insurers but wasn’t sure there were enough votes in the Senate to pass it. Senior advisor David Axelrod pointed out that abandoning the [...] [...more]
“How’s it been? Like a living hell.” – Rep. Bart Stupak Poor Bart Supak. Yeah, women whose privacy rights are targeted by a religious zealot tend to take that very personally. However, Mr. Stupak must be positively thrilled that he gets to play the martyr. It’s the starring role of his political lifetime. And just in case you thought [...] [...more]
“The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.” – Democratic Party Platform of 2008 Congress today thinks its supposed to do the Executive Branch’s bidding [...] [...more]
Robert Kagan writes today: This administration pays lip-service to “multilateralism,” but it is a multilateralism of accommodating autocratic rivals, not of solidifying relations with longtime democratic allies. Sarah Palin said it first, though it took her fewer words to do it, while primarily stressing the “reset button on our relations with Israel,” using “world’s worst [...] [...more]
cross-posted on Huffington Post The final push for passage of health care legislation has brought out the worst in many Democrats. It’s been a depressing spectacle to watch, with the latest NBC News/WSJ poll a testament; especially for those who want health care reform, but find little reform in the current bill to trumpet mainly because [...] [...more]
–bumped– Mr. Hiatt’s love note op-ed today trying to bolster Prime Minister Netanyahu is one for the books. Coming just before the AIPCAC conference, it continues the drum beat from the elite right who refuse to accept that the Israeli settlement issue is a major challenge to Pres. Obama and his entire administration as he endeavors to [...] [...more]
Let’s play a game, pass the public option buck… on the backs of women. Nancy Pelosi has already allowed Bart Stupak to become the Henry Hyde of health care. As I’ve been writing for months now, Democrats with a majority and the presidency have chosen to make women’s full reproductive health care a bargaining chip, further [...] [...more]
Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said the crisis appeared to be orchestrated by the U.S. administration, as Netanyahu apologized to U.S. Vice President Biden and believed that the crisis was behind the two allies. – Haaretz Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to want to continue to tweak their friend. But the notion that we orchestrated the [...] [...more]
–bumped– Secretary Clinton also spoke this morning with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to reiterate the United States’ strong objections to Tuesday’s announcement, not just in terms of timing, but also in its substance; to make clear that the United States considers the announcement a deeply negative signal about Israel’s approach to the bilateral relationship – and [...] [...more]
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c [...more]
Peter Baker has written a revealing article today about the dismissive way the Obama White House treated a long-time friend, Desirée Rogers. Now, I’m not interested in Ms. Rogers staying or leaving, with the Salahi incident a monumental disaster (especially for the Secret Service), but there’s a way to do things and a way not [...] [...more]
What Fox News Analyst Pat Caddell and Douglas Schoen ignore is that the November elections are going to be costly for Democrats no matter what they do. Their analysis: … First, the battle for public opinion has been lost. Comprehensive health care has been lost. If it fails, as appears possible, Democrats will face the [...] [...more]
–bumped– Vice President Joe Biden was brutally and summarily stabbed in the front upon his arrival in Israel. Via Laura Rozen, we find out that Biden’s tough comments were saved for private meetings: “This is starting to get dangerous for us,” Biden castigated his interlocutors. “What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting [...] [...more]
After running a presidential campaign that Lois Romano today called a “notoriously insular and unhappy, managing a group of egos and backstabbers whose dysfunction may have cost her the White House,” many wondered what would be the reviews on Sect. Hillary Clinton as steward of the State Department. The haters now love her, because she’s off [...] [...more]
–updated– Having been removed in favor of Israeli nationalist Jews, members of the Palestinian Ghawi family have been sheltering this winter in a tent on the sidewalk opposite their home of more than five decades in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Other people, including many Israelis, have been taking part in a weekly protest [...] [...more]
