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IBDeditorials.com:
It's Not An Option — Congress: It didn't take long to run into an “uh-oh” moment when reading the House's “health care for all Americans” bill. Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal. — IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For Failure
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Reason, unbossed.com, Government Bytes, Gateway Pundit, theblogprof, NewsBusters.org, No Sheeples Here!, Daily Dose, Open Congress, Patterico's Pontifications, Michelle Malkin, Flopping Aces, The Foundry, Maggie's Farm, Fausta's Blog, Transterrestrial Musings, QandO, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Say Anything, Right Wing News and RedState
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Mike Soraghan / The Hill:
Blue Dogs threaten to bring down Pelosi's healthcare bill — Centrist Democrats are threatening to oppose their party's healthcare legislation unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accepts changes that make the bill more to their liking. — Seven Blue Dogs on the House Energy …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, The Hill's Twitter Room, Hot Air, The Politico, The Anchoress, DownWithTyranny!, Open Congress, Gateway Pundit, Wake up America, Jules Crittenden, A Certain Enthusiasm, Below The Beltway, The Strata-Sphere, Obsidian Wings, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Riehl World View and Shakesville
New York Post:
DEM HEALTH RX A POI$ON PILL IN NY — TERRIFYING 57% TAX LOOMS FOR BIGGEST EARNERS — Congressional plans to fund a massive health-care overhaul could have a job-killing effect on New York, creating a tax rate of nearly 60 percent for the state's top earners and possibly pressuring small-business owners to shed workers.
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Contradictory Objections from the Blue Dogs — One thing that's clear from reading today's news is that Representative Mike Ross (D-AR) is very upset about the House health care bill and is planning to lead a bloc of Blue Dog Dems on the Energy & Commerce Committee to vote against it unless major changes happen.
Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit:
UH OH: … Read the whole thing. — UPDATE: Reader Patrick Ying disagrees: … Hmm. We should have more time for all this stuff to be sorted out. Instead they're ramming it through as quickly as possible. That makes me suspicious.
Discussion:
THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
Erica Werner / Associated Press:
House Democrats set to vote on health care bill — WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Thursday pushed ahead with legislation that would deliver on President Barack Obama's promise to remake the health care system and cover some 50 million uninsured, despite concerns from their own party's moderate …
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Obama Wants Medicare Reimbursement Rates Out of Congressional Hands
Obama Wants Medicare Reimbursement Rates Out of Congressional Hands
The Note:
CBO Sees No Net Federal Cost Savings in Dem Health Plans — ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: — Here's a blow to President Obama and Democrats pressing health care reform. — One of the main arguments made by the President and others for investing in health reform now is that it will save …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, The Politico, Political Punch, Ezra Klein, Townhall.com, QandO, Wonk Room, Hot Air, Wonkette, American Power, msnbc.com, TPMDC, Scared Monkeys, MoJo Blog Posts, Weekly Standard, KeithHennessey.com and AmSpecBlog
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Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
CBO Chief Criticizes Democrats' Health Reform Measures — Director Says Proposed Changes Would Weaken Economy — Instead of saving the federal government from fiscal catastrophe, the health reform measures being drafted by congressional Democrats would worsen an already bleak budget outlook …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, The Foundry, YID With LID, Wizbang and Arkansas News
New York Times:
Health Care Vote Illustrates Partisan Divide — WASHINGTON — A party-line Senate committee vote on legislation to remake the nation's health care system underscored the absence of political consensus on what would be the biggest changes in social policy in more than 40 years.
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Video: Witness rips Boxer for racial condescension — Red meat by the slab, folks! Barbara Boxer wound up getting reamed by Harry Alford, the chair of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, after attempting to challenge his testimony on energy policy. When Boxer started waving position papers …
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Washington Post:
Up Next: Biden vs. Cantor — Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) landed a fresh blow in a tit-for-tat battle with Vice President Biden today after the latter accused the senior Republican lawmaker of smearing the administration's $787 billion stimulus package. — Cantor called an afternoon news conference …
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Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Romney Edges Palin, Huckabee in Early 2012 GOP Test — Palin's favorable rating stable after announcement of her resignation — PRINCETON, NJ — About one in four Republicans and Republican-leaning independents make Mitt Romney their top choice for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination …
John Yoo / Wall Street Journal:
Why We Endorsed Warrantless Wiretaps — The inspectors general report ignores history and plays politics with the law. — Printer — Friendly — It was instantly clear after Sept. 11, 2001, that our security agencies knew little about al Qaeda's inner workings …
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Lisa Lerer / The Politico:
AIG: Where's the outrage? — After American International Group paid out $165 million in bonuses to top executives in March, Congress exploded in a political orgy of outrage. — “How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?” asked President Barack Obama.
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Wall Street Journal:
Iran Simmers, America Moves On — Hillary says it's time to engage Mahmoud. — Printer — Friendly — That didn't take long. President Obama last week gave Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an autumn deadline to negotiate over Iran's nuclear program. “We remain ready to engage with Iran …
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Buzz Aldrin / Washington Post:
40 Years After Apollo 11 Moon Landing, It's Time for a Mission to Mars — On the spring morning in 1927 when Charles Lindbergh set off alone across the Atlantic Ocean, only a handful of explorer-adventurers were capable of even attempting the feat. Many had tried before Lindbergh's successful flight …
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Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Obama losing his cool? — It's been a tough week for President Obama's cool factor. — Not only is he weathering criticism of his policies, but the Cool One has also taken a few dings to his immaculate image in recent days. — It started on Monday. Speaking at the White House …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
The President Moves the Economic Goalposts — The stimulus isn't working as originally advertised. — Printer — Friendly — So what's a president to do when the promises he made about his economic stimulus program fail to materialize? If you're Barack Obama …
Washington Post:
Sessions: GOP Won't Block Vote on Sotomayor Nomination — Witnesses Testify Following Nominee Questioning — Judge Sonia Sotomayor ended four days of testimony this afternoon with prospects of rapid confirmation to the Supreme Court improved, as a conservative Republican …
Lily Gordon / Ledger-Enquirer.com:
Federal judge dismisses reservist's suit questioning Obama's presidency — A federal judge this morning dismissed the suit filed here by a U.S. Army reservist who says he shouldn't have to go to Afghanistan because he believes Barack Obama was never eligible to be president.
Jonathan Cohn / The Treatment:
BREAKING: AMA Endorses House Bill. — Via Health Care for America Now: The American Medical Association just sent a letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, endorsing the health reform proposal put forward by three House committees. — This is unexpected. Or, at least, I wasn't expecting it.
CNN:
Hillary Clinton almost out of the red — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Hillary Clinton is almost debt free from her failed bid for the presidency. — According to reports filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, Clinton's 2007-2008 campaign for the White House is now only $1.5 million in the red.
Aram Roston / The Huffington Post:
CIA Supervisor Claimed He Used Fire Ants On Detainee — A recently released legal memo describing interrogation techniques showed that Bush Administration lawyers had approved the use of “insects” in interrogations. “You would like to place [Abu] Zubaydeh in a cramped confinement box with an insect …