Top Items:
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
How Obama Survived August — At the beginning of the month, I predicted that August might turn out be a bloodbath for Democrats. At the time, the Democratic self-containment on health care had dissolved, cranks were taking over constituent meetings, and that real anxiety about Obama had found …
Discussion:
The New Republic, The Corner on National …, QandO, Stop The ACLU, The Hill, AMERICAblog News and Taegan Goddard's …
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Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Why Reform Survived August — The August recess began with critics attacking health care reform because of its high price tag. It ended with critics attacking health care reform because of how reformers proposed to reduce that high price tag. The intevening weeks were nightmarish …
CNN:
Baucus plan draws lukewarm reax from Grassley — From CNN's Dana Bash, Ted Barrett and Lisa Desjardins — WASHINGTON (CNN) - A copy of the 18-page health care proposal from Sen. Max Baucus, obtained by CNN from both a Democratic and Republican source, reveals more detail about the Finance Committee chairman's proposal.
Political Punch:
Pelosi and Reid Tell President: We Have the Votes; President Wants Bill Passed Soon — While White House spokesman Robert Gibbs today refrained from telling reporters whether President Obama in his speech Wednesday night will set a deadline for passing health care reform …
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Top House Progressive: Backing Public Option “Trigger” Would Be “Surrender”
Top House Progressive: Backing Public Option “Trigger” Would Be “Surrender”
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, The New Republic, Unreported, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog News, Taylor Marsh and TPMDC
Paul Krugman:
Why the public option matters — Most arguments against the public option are based either on deliberate misrepresentation of what that option would mean, or on remarkably thorough misunderstanding of the concept, which persists to a frustrating degree: I was really surprised to see Joe Klein worrying …
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cbpp.org:
Employer Requirement in Baucus Health Package Would Have Unintended Effect of Discouraging Hiring of Low-Income and Minority Workers — While an employer responsibility requirement is an essential component of health care reform, a proposal included in the new health reform package …
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Byron York / Washington Examiner:
When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings — The controversy over President Obama's speech to the nation's schoolchildren will likely be over shortly after Obama speaks today at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. But when President George H.W. Bush delivered …
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Adviser losing patience with Obama — One of President Barack Obama's former top campaign advisers is “losing patience” with the White House, he told POLITICO Tuesday morning, as frustrations among the president's liberal allies crest over issues from health care legislation to gay rights.
Discussion:
The Fix, Open Left, The Confluence, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Osborne Ink and Pam's House Blend
Sarah Palin / Wall Street Journal:
Obama and the Bureaucratization of Health Care — The president's proposals would give unelected officials life-and-death rationing powers. — Printer — Friendly — Writing in the New York Times last month, President Barack Obama asked that Americans “talk with one another …
Mark Bowden / The Atlantic Online:
The Story Behind the Story — IF YOU HAPPENED to be watching a television news channel on May 26, the day President Obama nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, you might have been struck, as I was, by what seemed like a nifty investigative report.
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Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Americans Still Sharply Divided on Healthcare Reform — Opponents more likely than supporters to base their 2010 vote on the issue — PRINCETON, NJ — The American people are no less divided on healthcare reform today than they were a month ago. A new Gallup Poll finds 39% of Americans saying …
Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org:
Olbermann Flip-flops, Tells Kossacks NOT to Dig Up Dirt on Beck — Want to know just how unstable MSNBC's Keith Olbermann is? — Within the course of 48 hours, he asked Daily Kos readers to send him everything they could dig up about Fox News host Glenn Beck, and then called off the dogs.
Victor Zapanta / Think Progress:
Rep. Jean Schmidt Tells Birther: ‘I Agree With You’ — Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) spoke at the Voice of America tea party this Labor Day weekend outside of Cincinnati, OH. Following a tense Q&A session — during which, the congresswoman was booed for acknowledging that the Constitution …
The Culture and Media Institute:
Unmentionable: Best-Selling Conservative Books and the Networks that Ignore Them — Research reveals a glaring imbalance in network coverage of liberal best-sellers and comparable conservative titles. — Culture and Media Institute — The most coveted real estate in the publishing industry …
Lynn Sweet:
Obama warns students about posting on Facebook — For Immediate Release September 8, 2009 — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. So this is the first day of high school? — STUDENTS: Yes. — THE PRESIDENT: Wow. I'm trying to remember back to my first day of high school. I can't remember that far back.
Mere Rhetoric:
Marc Garlasco - Is HRW's Anti-Israel Investigator A Nazi-Obsessed Collector? — UPDATE: I've published a critical followup to this post, both because I've gotten specific emails accusing Garlasco of being a Stormfront.org contributor (100% not true) and because there's a general risk …
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Joseph C. Phillips / Big Hollywood:
Revolution Anyone? — Barack Obama hired Anthony “Van” Jones as a special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Jones is an admitted “rowdy Black nationalist” and “communist” who was also a co-founder of the communist …
Discussion:
RBO
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Thomas Sowell / Real Clear Politics:
What Obama Says vs. What He Does — The most important thing about what anyone says are not the words themselves but the credibility of the person who says them. — The words of convicted swindler Bernie Madoff were apparently quite convincing to many people who were regarded as knowledgeable and sophisticated.
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Lieberman: Public option is ‘not attainable’ because 'the public doesn't support it.' — Last week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) told the Connecticut Post that he believed the only “opportunity to achieve significant reform with bipartisan support” was if the public option was “off the table.”
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J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Collins, Lieberman doubtful on public option; more supportive of ‘trigger’
Collins, Lieberman doubtful on public option; more supportive of ‘trigger’
Discussion:
The Politico
Jay Cost / HorseRaceBlog:
Obama To Give Historic Speech...Again — Another historic, monumental speech from the 44th President of the United States. He's averaging about one of these every three weeks now, isn't he? — To say that this President is overexposed is an understatement.
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
It's come to this: August wasn't a setback for us at all, says Gibbs
It's come to this: August wasn't a setback for us at all, says Gibbs
Discussion:
RealClearPolitics Video Log
Rachel Slajda / LiveWire:
Chambliss: Obama Better Show Humility In Speech To Congress — Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said today that, because of angry town hallers and the like, President Obama should show “humility” when he speaks to Congress Wednesday night. — “What you're seeing is folks on my side anxious …
Patrick Courrielche / Big Hollywood:
WHO SET UP GOVERNMENT ‘PROPAGANDA’ CONFERENCE CALL? Newly Revealed White House, NEA Audio Contradict — Another conference call has materialized, revealing a concerted effort by government to use the arts to address political issues. — Lee Rosenbaum, a blogger for Artsjournal.com …