Republicans Champion Government Health Insurance...for Seniors

Richard Kirsch, 12.07.2009

National Campaign Manager, Health Care for America Now

If you ever needed proof that big government programs are popular with the American people, the Republican defense of Medicare could be exhibit one.

The House and the Senate

D. Brad Wright, 12.07.2009

Doctoral candidate in the department of health policy and management at the University of North Carolina

The House health care bill does more to cover the uninsured than the Senate bill, offers a slightly stronger version of the public option and puts more stringent mandates on individuals and employers than does the Senate.

Obama Admits We Can't Have Guns and Butter -- Then Chooses Guns

David Sirota, 12.07.2009

Newspaper columnist, radio host (AM760), bestselling author

During the Vietnam War, it became clear that America could not afford to simultaneously wage war on poverty and wage war in Vietnam. The parallel to where we are now should be obvious.

Obama's Peace Prize Presents Protocol Puzzle

Linda R. Monk, J.D., 12.07.2009

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

President Obama will face an intriguing dilemma in international protocol during his Oslo trip, concerning the bow. Immediately before the Nobel ceremony, he will have an audience with King Harald V, of Norway.

White House Jobs Summit: Digging Out of Unemployment Cycles

Meizhu Lui, 12.07.2009

Director, Insight Center's Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative

We can get the economy to work and work for all of us, by putting the American people to work. We're shovel ready!

Is Obama Bullshi*tting About 18 Month Afghan Withdrawal to Appease War Critics?

Miles Mogulescu, 12.07.2009

Entertainment attorney, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, writer, activist

Those of us who worked to elect Obama owe those young cadets something better than the continuation of the George Bush long-war strategy that Obama is offering them.

Thinking Outside the Box: What Obama Could Have Said

Lawrence Wittner, 12.07.2009

Professor of HIstory, SUNY Albany

If after sending soldiers to wage this war, al Qaeda maintains its foothold, the Taliban is stronger, Afghanistan is more unstable and anti-Americanism is on the rise, why should we expect a better outcome when we do more of the same?

The Public Option Circus Sideshow

Zack Cooper, 12.07.2009

Health Economist, London School of Economics

The public option was never a coherent, well-defined policy tool. It's an amorphous concept that stands as a symbol of reform and as a perceived antidote to the greed and callousness of the insurance industry.

Stopping Stupak in the Senate

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, 12.07.2009

U.S. Senator from New York

This is not the time or place to instigate a new battle over reproductive rights. Families and businesses who are getting buried under the weight of the cost of health care deserve better.

The Irrefutable Stupidity of Sarah Palin

Cenk Uygur, 12.07.2009

Host of The Young Turks

Why don't we call Newt Gingrich or Dick Cheney stupid? We don't make those charges against those people, because as much as we might not agree with them or like them, we know that they are not dullards.

All the Way Against Richard Burr

Cal Cunningham, 12.07.2009

U.S. Senate candidate from North Carolina

I just made one of the most important decisions of my life. Today, I announced that I am entering the race to challenge Richard Burr for the U.S. Senate seat from North Carolina.

Pray to the Gods of Capital, Or Build a New Economy

Zack Exley, 12.06.2009

Kansas City

We need to start imagining and preparing for a global, coordinated economic transformation on the scale of a world war -- not only to restore jobs, but to restore means of making a sustainable living to everyone on Earth.

Joe Biden Swears in David Huebner for New Zealand Ambassadorship

Steve Clemons, 12.04.2009

Publisher of "The Washington Note"

Demonstrating the importance of this appointment to the White House, Biden gave the oath to the openly gay lawyer turned diplomat.

The Insurance Industry's Lethal Bottom Line -- and Sen. Al Franken's Solution

Wendell Potter, 12.06.2009

CMD's Senior Fellow on Health Care

The health care reform bill now being debated in the Senate must include a provision that sets a minimum medical loss ratio to keep insurers from gouging consumers and leaving patients without the care they need.

Public Option Redux ... Redux

Linda Bergthold, 12.06.2009

Health policy consultant

This week there is yet another attempt to introduce a "public option" into health care legislation that could pass the Senate. It's not really a public option. It's not really new. But it just might do the job.

Reading the Pictures: Obama's Tipping Point: From Area 60 to The Surge

Michael Shaw, 12.06.2009

Publisher of the visual politics blog, BAGnewsNotes

Some Straight Talk on Afghanistan

Mayhill Fowler, 12.06.2009

Teacher, editor and writer

Marvin Weinbaum, a scholar-in-residence at the Middle East Institute and an Afghanistan expert who visited the White House during the months President Obama was crafting his new AfPak policy, recently spoke to a group of journalists.

We Are All Orphans Now

Dr. Peter Breggin, 12.07.2009

Psychiatrist

To understand American values, we must embrace our Founding Fathers and Mothers. If I better understood of the origins of America, I would not have undergone such a confusing development as I matured into a young man.