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CNN:
Democratic senator: Public health insurance option dead — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A key Senate negotiator said Sunday that President Barack Obama should drop his push for a government-funded public health insurance option because the Senate will never pass it.
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Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
‘Public Option’ in Health Plan May Be Dropped — PHOENIX — The White House, facing increasing skepticism over President Obama's call for a public insurance plan to compete with the private sector, signaled Sunday that it was willing to compromise and would consider a proposal …
Discussion:
PoliGazette, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Prescriptions, Economist's View, Prairie Weather, FiveThirtyEight, Truthdig and Blue Mass. Group
Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
W.H. backs away from public option — President Barack Obama and his top aides are signaling that they're prepared to drop a government insurance option from a final health-reform deal if that's what's needed to strike a compromise on Obama's top legislative priority.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, AMERICAblog News, Wake up America, Scared Monkeys, The Confluence, American Power and Hot Air
Martina Stewart / CNN:
Sebelius: There will be competition with private insurers — WASHINGTON (CNN) - A day after President Obama appeared to suggest that his administration might be open to health care reform legislation that does not include a public health insurance option, one of Obama's top aides on the issue left …
Discussion:
Fox News, PERRspectives, American Power, The Political Carnival, Taylor Marsh and Dennis the Peasant
Eric Zimmermann / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Ross: I refuse to kill old people — When a conservative Democrat takes the time to promise that he will not “kill old people,” you really know Democrats are struggling to maintain their footing on healthcare reform. — So it's pretty stunning that Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) …
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Martina Stewart / CNN:
Conservative Democrat gets The Last Word — WASHINGTON (CNN) - A member of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, a group of more moderate to conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives, predicted Sunday that the version of health care reform legislation currently being hashed …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Rachel Weiner / The Huffington Post:
Maddow Battles Dick Armey In “Meet The Press” Debut (VIDEO) — Rachel Maddow appeared on “Meet the Press” for the first time on Sunday, August 16th. On a panel with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), and Sen. Tom Coburn …
Discussion:
American Power
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msnbc.com:
Aug. 16: Dick Armey, Tom Coburn, Tom Daschle, Rachel Maddow — MR. DAVID GREGORY: This Sunday: the August heat over health care. — Unidentified Man: One day, God's going to stand before you and he's going to judge you and the rest of your damn cronies up on the Hill.
Sarah Rainsford / BBC:
Row over Afghan wife-starving law — An Afghan bill allowing a husband to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex has been published in the official gazette and become law. — The original bill caused outrage earlier this year, forcing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to withdraw it.
Patrick Sawer / Telegraph:
Swimmers are told to wear burkinis — British swimming pools are imposing Muslim dress codes in a move described as divisive by Labour MPs. — Under the rules, swimmers - including non-Muslims - are barred from entering the pool in normal swimming attire.
Noah Pollak / Commentary:
Who Is Human Rights Watch's Joe Stork? — He is, of course, the author of last week's Human Rights Watch report, which claimed that IDF soldiers murdered white-flag-waving Palestinian civilians in cold blood. He is also the deputy director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa programs.
Kirsten Fleming / New York Post:
MEGHAN MCCAIN, BLONDE BOMB SHELL — JOHN MCCAIN WOUNDED THE GOP; HIS DAUGHTER IS OUT TO FINISH THE JOB — I liked Meghan McCain. In her faux hipster Urban Outfitter threads, she attempted to humanize her cantankerous, over-the-hill father during the presidential election with her “cute” bloggette.
Andrew Breitbart / Washington Times:
George W. Bush-by-proxy syndrome — ANALYSIS/OPINION: — There is an extensive body of writing from both sides of the political aisle that has analyzed the extraordinary depths of hatred leveled at former President George W. Bush. — His birth into a wealthy and politically connected family is where a lot of the animus starts.
Discussion:
Moe Lane
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Are we having a conversation yet? — “I think that there is going to have to be a conversation that is guided by doctors, scientists, ethicists. And then there is going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place.” — Conversation?
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Sarah's Ghoulish Carousel — I'm not sure the man who popped off and tweeted that Sonia Sotomayor was a “Latina woman racist” is the best Henry Higgins for the Eliza Doolittle of Alaska. — But Newt Gingrich was a professor. And he does know something about pulling yourself up by dragging …
Douglas Martin / New York Times:
K. H. Bacon, an Advocate for Refugees, Is Dead at 64 — Kenneth H. Bacon, a former journalist and Pentagon spokesman who devoted his last years to highlighting refugees' problems and urging policymakers to find solutions, died Saturday morning at his summer home on Block Island, R.I. He was 64 and a resident of Washington.
Discussion:
James Fallows
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Stephen Miller / Wall Street Journal:
Former Journal Reporter Kenneth Bacon Dies of Cancer at 64
Former Journal Reporter Kenneth Bacon Dies of Cancer at 64
Discussion:
ATTACKERMAN