Newsmakers Roasting on an Open Fire: Your Gift Ideas for 2009's Naughty and Nice

Arianna Huffington, 12.25.2009

Earlier this week, I asked for your ideas on what gifts we should give to some of our favorite -- and not so favorite -- public figures. You dusted of...

Pass the Health Care Bill - Then Improve It

Peter Dreier, 12.26.2009

Peter Dreier is E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics at Occidental College

It is incredibly irresponsible for some progressives to call for killing the health care bill. The idea that we should scrap this bill entirely and start from scratch next year is both immoral and impractical.

Lieberman Calls Prescription Plan Unnecessary; "I've Been Off My Meds For Years"

Andy Borowitz, 12.24.2009

BorowitzReport.com

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) took Mr. Lieberman's comments in stride, saying only that they "explained a lot."

Eat Right and Exercise in Futility

Ned Goldreyer, 12.25.2009

Syndicalist, Idler, Eukaryote

The crisis in our current health care crisis has finally reached the crisis point. We must now take the issue firmly by the shoulders as one would a ...

Christmas 2009: We Know Who's Been Naughty... Nice Is a Little Harder to Find

Arianna Huffington, 12.25.2009

Time for my annual tradition of getting gifts for my favorite -- and not so favorite -- public figures. This year, I'm getting Joe Lieberman a DVD of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington so he can see the proper use of a filibuster -- to fight corruption, not promote it. Tiger Woods could use some software that makes love-sick emails self-destruct 60 seconds after you send them. But I won't be giving anything to health insurance lobbyists -- they're getting enough from the Senate and the White House this Christmas. Check out the rest of my list here. Newsmakers Roasting on an Open Fire: Your Gift Ideas for 2009's Naughty and Nice Here are your gift suggestions, including a GPS for Barack Obama, to show him the way from Wall Street to Main Street (submitted by manx). READ MORE

Where Are Christians for Health Reform?

Michael L. Millenson, 12.23.2009

Writer, consultant and analyst

Where are the local ministers and parish priests whose congregations are filled with individuals with no health insurance or bare bones policies?

What Next in the Battle for Health Care Reform?

Robert Creamer, 12.23.2009

Political organizer, strategist and author

Those who are critical of Obama need to remember something: health insurance reform is an achievement that has eluded presidents for decades. It's easy to criticize. It's not so easy to actually get things done.

Obama Dresses As Santa Claus, Meets With Children

Matthew Filipowicz, 12.23.2009

Comedian, Cartoonist, Satirist

After several unpopular compromises on health care reform, and after the revelation that the White House didn't put any pressure on Joe Lieberman to s...

The 12 Debates of Health Care (or, "What Lieberman Cost Us")

Doug Molitor, 12.23.2009

Joe Lieberman writes laws the way I sing - a crappella. Like the sociopathic stalker of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", who sends his alleged true lo...

Demonizing Dean Won't Absolve This Health Care Sham

Robert Scheer, 12.23.2009

Veteran Journalist and Editor of Truthdig.com

Dean deserves much better from the left than what he got after calling for the health reform bill to be killed. His concerns as a physician and a progressive politician are worthy of serious attention.

Making His List, Checking It Twice

Bruce Kluger & David Slavin, 12.23.2009

Regular contributors to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered

Just when Barack Obama thought his toughest decisions were behind him--his Afghanistan strategy, tackling unemployment, what to say to Tiger Woods i...

Improving the Health Care Bill After It Passes Will Not Be Easy

Lincoln Mitchell, 12.23.2009

Assistant Professor in the Practice of International Politics, Columbia University

Progressives who oppose this bill are not being obstructionist. Rather, they are taking the position that when real opportunities to reform health care arise, it is essential to get it right.

Lieberman Says Obama Never Pressed Him on Public Option

Michael J.W. Stickings, 12.22.2009

Founder and editor of The Reaction, a liberal political blog

As The Huffington Post's Ryan Grim is reporting, Lieberman now says that Obama and the White House never pressed him on the public option: Well, no. ...

Nelson the Hard-Nosed Reindeer

Rick Horowitz, 12.22.2009

Satirist and syndicated columnist

"Gather 'round, you little lovelies -- how'd you like your Grampa to tell you a bit of a Christmas story?" "Well, I think I just might then. Have you ever heard the tale of Nelson the Hard-Nosed Reindeer?"

Memo to Sen. Burris: Grab Some Goodies for Illinois While the Grabbing's Still Good

Carol Felsenthal, 12.21.2009

Chicago-based journalist

Illinois, arguably among the most corrupt states in the union -- our governors tend to go to prison -- is teetering as close to insolvency as any senator's state.

2009 Hall of Shame Inductees

Dr. Jim Taylor, 12.21.2009

Ph.D. in Psychology, consultant, speaker, author, and lecturer at the University of San Francisco

The 2009 inductees who have been selected have distinguished themselves by their egregious behavior that has brought shame on themselves and soiled all those who have been touched by them.

Yes, the Health Care Bill Is Flawed. Exactly Why Are Democrats Only Blaming Democrats?

Steve Marmel, 12.20.2009

Marmel is a comedian, a writer and a TV producer. It's not as impressive as it sounds.

We are all disappointed in the health care bill, but the Democrats were trying to accomplish what a majority of Americans elected them to do. It's the Republicans who were the biggest roadblocks to what it seems a majority of Americans wanted.

Are Progressives Just Whiners? Saving Lives Is What Matters

Linda R. Monk, J.D., 12.20.2009

Constitutional scholar, Author of "The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution"

The bottom line, folks, is that whatever bill Congress enacts will save the lives of thousands more working Americans. Since when have progressives been opposed to that?

The Health Bill, The Price of Everything, and What to Do Next

Richard (RJ) Eskow, 12.20.2009

Consultant, Writer, Health Analyst

The new bill has more breaks for business, but harsher punishment for the uninsured, it eliminates the public option, it pays doctors less -- and it costs the Federal government $23 billion more.

Harry Reid Should be Asked: WWLBJD With Lieberman?

Don Parker, 12.19.2009

Writer, Communications Consultant, Incurable Satirist

If former Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Baines Johnson was still around today, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) would not be holding health care hostage. Droopy Joe would be singing soprano in the choir.

Year of the Rahm: Get 'Em, Then Gut 'Em

Jeffrey Feldman, 12.21.2009

Author of Framing The Debate and Outright Barbarous, Founder of Frameshop blog

In blunt remarks, Emanuel revealed how he planned to get 60 votes in the Senate: bring left-wing Democrats on board early to generate enthusiasm, then turn on them in the end game to woo conservatives.