I got a kick out of the new RNC set of guidelines for acceptance into the Republican Party Candidates. If anyone was here at CHB in 1999 you might have read my list of Prohibitions that would soon be incorporated in the RNC. When I wrote about this I had hundreds of Republicans screaming that they would NEVER have a litmus test for candidates. I fear I may have given them the idea.
The fight over a U.S. government-run public insurance plan may be getting louder and noisier, but for now the program’s political symbolism far exceeds its practical impact on expanding health coverage.
The Senate’s version of a public option would serve just 3 million to 4 million of the 46 million uninsured living in the United States, and charge slightly higher premiums than private plans, according to non-partisan budget analysts.
But the limited impact has not eased the raging debate over the option, which has split the Democratic Party and threatened prospects for a sweeping healthcare overhaul, President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.
President Barack Obama is paying a price for a recession that began before he took office, and fellow Democrats have started to balk at his legislative agenda and demand greater efforts to create jobs.
Some liberal Democrats even want Obama to replace his economic team while moderates fear his bid to overhaul healthcare and stem global warming — two top priorities — may mean more fiscal hard times, at least in the short term.
In one sign of the angst on Capitol Hill, a group of black Democratic lawmakers last week temporarily blocked a bill to tighten financial regulation, another Obama priority, signaling they believe more help is urgently needed for the unemployed.
“There’s a lot of anxiety among Democrats,” said Anne Mathias of Concept Capital Washington Research Group, a private firm that analyzes Congress for institutional investors.
Former CNN host Lou Dobbs is seriously considering running for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in 2012 as a stepping stone to a possible White House bid — a congressional matchup that would pit one of illegal immigration’s biggest critics against a champion for immigrant rights.
Dobbs spokesman Robert Dilenschneider told The Associated Press Wednesday that Dobbs may challenge Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat, but is considering other offers he’s received since his abrupt exit from CNN on Nov. 11 after 29 years on the news network.
“A logical step for Lou, should he choose to go into public life, is to run for the next Senate seat in New Jersey, or to accept some kind of appointed position, nationally or in New Jersey,” Dilenschneider said.
President Barack Obama and a top House Republican acknowledged in holiday messages Thursday the economic struggles facing Americans this Thanksgiving but offered starkly different recipes for relief.
Obama and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., singled out U.S. service members at home and abroad for special thanks before saying what they think should be done to fix the economy.
Michaele and Tareq Salahi didn’t look out of place at Tuesday’s White House state dinner. They were all smiles as they rubbed shoulders with Vice President Joe Biden, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty and CBS News anchor Katie Couric.
No one suspected the Salahis were a couple of brazen party crashers — and wannabe reality TV stars.
The Secret Service is looking into its security procedures after determining that the Virginia couple managed to slip into Tuesday night’s event even though they were not on the guest list, agency spokesman Ed Donovan said.
President Barack Obama’s top aides met frequently with lobbyists and health care industry heavyweights as his administration pieced together a national health care overhaul, according to White House visitor records obtained by The Associated Press.
The records, obtained Wednesday, disclose visits by a broad cross-section of the people most involved in the health care debate, weighted heavily toward those who want to overhaul the system.