Medical Mandate “The president has told visitors that he would rather have 70 votes in the Senate for a bill that gives him 85 percent of what he wants rather than a 100 percent satisfactory bill that passes 52 to 48.” —David Broder, Washington Post, June 11, 2009 IS PRESIDENT OBAMA GOING to engage on health […]

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Guns and Butter—Amount spent on U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since the invasion of the latter in October 2001: $947 billion, including Obama’s $106 billion supplemental appropriation. Cap the Senate Finance Committee imposed on health-care reform expenditures for the next ten years: $1 trillion. Maxed Out—The Center for Responsive Politics has analyzed Senate Finance […]

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Republicans Are Revolting—Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, Beck et al. grabbed their pitchforks and set out after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano in April after she released a report on the resurgence of right-wing extremism. No news there; they’re paid to incite audiences. But Rep. Peter King (NY) led the House Republican rant over […]

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The View from the Oval Office “When they were in the Senate both Senator Biden and Senator Obama were both very strong critics of the state secrets privilege. Since assuming office, the administration has used the privilege in at least three cases of which we are aware.” —Andrew Grossman of the Heritage Foundation “These are […]

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Say It Ain’t So, Joe “It’s no secret that I’m a skeptic. I don’t—I don’t believe that mankind is the primary cause of climate change. I do accept that CO2 levels are rising. I think it’s a debatable proposition whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But, in any event, to put some […]

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