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J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Durbin: No pre-recess vote on healthcare — Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that a pre-recess vote on healthcare reform is unlikely. — “We're going to take a little longer to get it right,” Durbin told The Hill when asked …
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Political Punch, Wizbang, Capitol Briefing, The Politico, TPMDC, Hot Air, Feministing, Commentary, Stop The ACLU and Pundit & Pundette
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Mike Soraghan / The Hill:
Pelosi: Congress should work through recess — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday said she's open to keeping the House in session through the August recess to pass its healthcare overhaul. — “I think 70 percent of the American people would want that,” Pelosi said. “I want a bill.”
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TPMDC, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Blue Crab Boulevard, D-Day, Campaign Silo, The Note, ABCNEWS, Salon and MoJo Blog Posts
Weekly Standard:
54 House Democrats and All Republicans Against Obamacare? — Today, Nancy Pelosi said: “I have no question that we have the votes on the floor of the House to pass this [health-care] legislation.” But Joe Pounder of the GOP Whip's press office emails:
Discussion:
Hot Air
Deirdre Walsh / CNN:
Two key House Dems dispute Pelosi's health care assessment — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Indiana Democrat Baron Hill, a Blue Dog congressman negotiating with leaders on health care, disagreed with Speaker Nancy Pelosi's statement Wednesday that Democrats have the votes to pass health care in the House.
Discussion:
Open Congress
Peter Nicholas / Los Angeles Times:
White House declines to disclose visits by health industry executives — Citing an argument used by the Bush administration, the Secret Service rejects a request from a watchdog group to list those who have visited the White House to discuss the healthcare overhaul.
Discussion:
Josh Gerstein's Blog, The Moderate Voice, Top of the Ticket, PoliGazette, Buck Naked Politics, The Plum Line, Liberal Values, Detroit Free Press, Salon, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, MyDD, Denver Post, msnbc.com, Outside The Beltway, D-Day, NO QUARTER, The Confluence, Associated Press, TPMMuckraker, Emptywheel, Talking Points Memo, Sunlight Foundation, Wall Street Journal, TPMDC, Taylor Marsh, Think Progress, The Impolitic, Right Wing News, Democracy in America, Media Blog, JustOneMinute and In The Agora
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Stephen Colbert on Chuck Todd and torture investigations — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — Amazingly, reports that Eric Holder is considering commencing an investigation into Bush-era torture crimes has created extreme consternation in multiple Beltway circles despite how narrow …
Josh Gerstein / Josh Gerstein's Blog:
WH discloses health-care execs' visits — The Secret Service had earlier rejected a request for the same information, asserting executive privilege. The issue could have been an embarassment for Obama at the presser in light of his promises during the campaign to make public White House visitors …
JammieWearingFool:
'You're Going To Destroy My Presidency' — Recall Barack Obama whining the other day how “this isn't about me”? — Well, that's nonsense. Of course it's all about him. … Somebody please send Baracky a waaaahmbulance. — Oh wait, are they covered by his plan?
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Liz Cheney: No question on citizenship — Liz Cheney is taking some heat today for, amid a discussion on Larry King Live of the fringe movement that doubts Obama's citizenship, appearing to defend it. — “People are fundamentally uncomfortable, and they're fundamentally increasingly uncomfortable …
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Gallup:
About One in Six U.S. Adults Are Without Health Insurance — Highest uninsured rates among Hispanics, the young, and those with low incomes — WASHINGTON, D.C. — As congressional lawmakers debate healthcare reform legislation, partly aimed at expanding coverage to the uninsured …
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Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
Imperfect Health Reform Still Beats the Status Quo
Imperfect Health Reform Still Beats the Status Quo
Discussion:
CNN, Ezra Klein, TPMDC, Newshoggers.com, The Atlantic Politics Channel, D-Day and The Rhetorican
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Dude, Where's My Sperm? — I've been freaking myself out over the past 24 hours by reading Reece Rushing's CAP report on dangerous chemicals impairing American fertility. For the fellows, there's reduced sperm count: — And the ladies aren't being spared either: — What's to blame? Well:
Discussion:
Center for American Progress
Ed Hornick / CNN:
Will Obama's health care plan mirror Clinton's '94 failure? — WASHINGTON (CNN) — In 1994, universal health care was a key policy plan for then-President Bill Clinton. It eventually failed. — Now, 15 years later, another Democratic president is taking on the challenge …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Obama: Cambridge police acted ‘stupidly’ — After spending most of an hour patiently reiterating his arguments for changing the health insurance system, President Barack Obama turned his press conference sharply toward an iconic moment in American race relations: The arrest …
Discussion:
The Swamp
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New York Times:
L.I. Man Helped Qaeda, Then Informed — He grew up in the solid middle class of Suffolk County, the son of an engineer, the child of a couple that had emigrated from South America, a fan of football and video games, an altar boy and, eventually, a Boy Scout.
Stephen Green / Pajamas Media:
Drunkblogging ObamaCare — Stephen Green listens carefully to President Obama's press conference on health care — and tries to determine whether care of his vodka-challenged liver will be covered. (Watch PJTV's virtual health care forum here.) — 4:48PM I'm watching Fox News tonight, instead of the usual CNN.
Discussion:
Right Wing News
The Campaign Spot:
Oooh, Don't Forget, ‘Now Is The Time To Act’! — Senate Republicans e-mail me: … It's good, don't get me wrong, but they left off a few of my favorite Obama cliches, some of which are straw men, some of which are rhetorical crutches: “We inherited these problems”; “the alternative is to do nothing” …
Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Orrin Hatch quits health care talks — The health care Gang of Seven is now down to six. — Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), one of seven senators involved in bipartisan Finance Committee negotiations, has left the talks. — Hatch informed Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) Wednesday afternoon …
Rasmussen Reports:
53% Now Oppose Congressional Health Care Reform — The health care reform legislation working its way through Congress has lost support over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 44% of U.S. voters are at least somewhat in favor of the reform effort while 53% are at least somewhat opposed.
Discussion:
AIP Blog, Hot Air, YID With LID, The Strata-Sphere, HotAirPundit, Blue Crab Boulevard and Don Surber
Roxana Tiron / The Hill:
After Senate vote, F-22 loses House support — The Senate's decisive vote this week to cut off the F-22 program is resonating in the House, where leading appropriators on Wednesday said they would back away from an effort to continue production of the radar-evading fighter.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Muscular — As the Clinton rollout continues, she will appear on Meet the Press Sunday for the first time as Secretary. — post comment | … Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1) — Selling Israel down the river not doubt. — LUVERNOR MARK SANFORD(r-SC) disappeared in the trails of Argentina for 5 days(planned for 10).
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The Page
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Capitol Briefing:
Democrats Defeat Concealed Weapons Amendment — In a 58-39 vote, supporters of the looser gun law — including all but two Republicans and 20 moderate Democrats — fell two votes short of the 60 they needed under Senate rules to approve the measure. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. John Thune …
Chris Harris / Media Matters Action Network:
Rep. Blackburn: “We're Not Going To Cry ‘Emergency’ Every Time We Have A Katrina” … THE MEANING OF “EMERGENCY” — While extolling the virtues of a balanced budget during a PAYGO debate on the floor of the House, Rep. Marsha Blackburn shamefully exclaimed: … This statement is shocking on many levels.
ABCNEWS:
Sarah Palin: Report She Violated Ethics Laws Is ‘Misguided’ And ‘Factually In Error’ — Leaked Report Says Alaska Governor's Trust Fund Could Violate Ethics Act — Independent Counsel Sympathetic to Palin — Despite finding probable cause to investigate, Daniel said he was …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
Christina Boyle / NY Daily News:
PETA video shows Ringling Bros. handlers beating elephants — The world-famous Ringling Bros. circus faces fresh accusations of animal abuse today after undercover videos show handlers beating elephants before they enter the ring. — The tape, made by a man who posed as a stagehand for six months …
Washington Post:
Obama Talks Health Care — In a telephone interview with editorial page editor Fred Hiatt Wednesday afternoon, President Obama said he will not accept a health-care reform bill, even one that is deficit-neutral, if it does not also begin to reduce the cost of care.
Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard's Blog:
Republicans nominate Scozzafava in NY 23 — Republican party leaders chose state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, a leading moderate in the state legislature, as their nominee to succeed Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) in an upcoming special election. — The eleven Republican county chairmen within …
Bob Franken / Politics Daily:
Sarah Palin 2013: A Look Ahead — It is noon, Jan. 20, 2013. Sarah Palin raises her right hand to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. — Palin had won a decisive victory over the incumbent, Barack Obama. The country was still trapped in economic rubble …
Discussion:
Indecision Forever