If anyone might have the right to revel in a bit of health-care schadenfreude, it’s John Dingell. Nancy Pelosi and Henry Waxman ought to feel lucky he’s foregone the pleasure.
The Michigan Democrat, at least until last year, presided over the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. As such, Mr. Dingell, the House’s longest-serving dealmaker, was [...]
Entries from July 2009
July 31, 2009
WSJ: The Waxman-Pelosi Follies
July 31, 2009
Barbour for President? Seriously
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has shown he knows how to maneuver his way through a bad storm. While leaders in neighboring Louisiana bickered about who loused up the recovery there from Hurricane Katrina, Barbour was taking bows for his work in Mississippi and cruising to re-election with a higher margin than four years earlier.
The former [...]
July 31, 2009
Politico: Gravity through polls for President Obama
A slew of recent polls showing President Barack Obama’s job approval ratings at essentially normal levels and a partisan divide reasserting itself suggest that the political landscape was not as dramatically transformed last November as Democrats had hoped.
The question now is whether those numbers will impede the president’s ability to achieve the transformative goals [...]
July 31, 2009
Politico: Blue Dogs pulled in two directions
Color it blue, this latest House deal to keep health care reform moving: Blue Dogs, Blue Cross-Blue Shield and all the blues sung by rural, middle-income and working-class families if no relief comes on medical insurance.
Battered in the polls, a desperate White House is hailing the bargain as a way to preserve momentum before [...]
July 31, 2009
Politico: Town halls gone wild
Screaming constituents, protesters dragged out by the cops, congressmen fearful for their safety — welcome to the new town-hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress.
On the eve of the August recess, members are reporting meetings that have gone terribly awry, marked by angry, [...]
July 31, 2009
Politico: Despite absence, Senate Giants deliver
Illnesses may have put Sens. Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd on the sidelines, but the two men still wield enormous clout when it comes to earmarking money for pet projects back home.
Byrd has secured 48 earmarks worth more than $109 million in eight funding bills that have cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee so far [...]
July 31, 2009
Politico: Wall Street rebels at new pay rules
Congress gave up on clawing back those scandalous AIG bonuses in March. And they couldn’t do a thing when Goldman Sachs made plans to dish out a whopping $11 billion for employee compensation for the first half of 2009, because Goldman had already paid back its bailout funds.
But Capitol Hill is now poised to [...]
July 31, 2009
Floor Schedule for July 31, 2009
H.R. 3269 – Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act of 2009 (Rep. Frank – Financial Services) (Subject to a Rule)
July 30, 2009
The Hill: Senate Dems blame media for August health deadline
Senate Democratic leaders on Thursday blamed Capitol Hill media for setting an August deadline for health reform and Republicans for blocking the bill’s progress.
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Conference Secretary Patty Murray (D-Wash.) also acknowledged that critics will “pour it on” during [...]
July 30, 2009
Suite Talk: July 30, 2009
Like many Washington working moms, Chris Lisi was torn between her job and her family. So, she’s changed her role from vice president at the Glover Park Group to consultant and opened her own shop at home to spend more time with her toddler, Willa.
“I’m actually busier now,” Lisi confessed to Suite Talk. “But [...]
