The divide between progressives on whether to support the health care bill is one of the most striking things I have seen in all my years in politics.
AP | Posted 12.20.2009 | Politics
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee says the House must stick close to the Senate's version of health care reform or risk l...
HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 12.20.2009 | Politics
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) asserted on Sunday that the Senate's version of health care legislation will, by and large, be the final product, even thoug...
Ashley B. Carson | Posted 12.17.2009 | Impact
If Social Security were a private company, its shareholders would be very pleased, as it ran a surplus of $180 billion last year and accumulated a reserve of $2.4 trillion. This is the only government program to run a surplus.
HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 12.16.2009 | Politics
CNN reports today that President Barack Obama is now "seriously considering" using an executive order to spur the creation of that high-toned monument...
HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 12.15.2009 | Politics
It's the nattering of the Post's Sudden Deficit Hawks, screeching about how "It's time to stop worrying about the deficit -- and start panicking about the debt."
Roger Hickey | Posted 12.16.2009 | Politics
Hedge fund mogul Peter Peterson and his Commission on Budget Reform are selling an undemocratic new budget process that would take the responsibility for budget-making away from the president and the committees of Congress.
HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 12.10.2009 | Politics
Congressional creatures have been astir lately, with plans to shift the decision-making process on curbing deficits to a blue-ribbon commission that w...
HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 12.07.2009 | Politics
It's a Congressional paradox: The closer negotiators get to a deal, the rougher and more personal the rhetoric becomes. By that measure, Senate Democr...
Peter Dreier | Posted 12.02.2009 | Politics
After years of feeding at the health insurance industry trough, it's no wonder these conservative Democratic senators oppose a public option plan to compete for consumers.
Posted 11.25.2009 | Politics
A bi-partisan commission that would tame the federal deficit by limiting cost-cutting decisions to a select number of lawmakers is gaining traction in...
Robert Kuttner | Posted 11.02.2009 | Politics
As unemployment continues to rise, deficit hawks are upping their efforts to use the economic crisis as a pretext for gutting basic social programs such as Social Security and Medicare.
HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 10.27.2009 | Politics
Harry Reid boldly announced the bill would contain something public option-esque. But will a reform bill that contains as limited a measure as the opt-out plan survive the Senate?
Huffington Post | Tim Taliaferro | Posted 10.23.2009 | Chicago
Seniority, party loyalty and congressional etiquette don't seem to get in the way of Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.). The freshman lawmaker is ready to br...
Peter Dreier | Posted 10.16.2009 | Politics
"Much has been given" to those Americans at the pinnacle of wealth. So it is only fair that "much will be required" when it comes to helping pay for health insurance for those who can't otherwise afford it.
Peter Dreier | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics
After pretending for months to cooperate with the Obama administration and Democrats to secure a reasonable health reform bill, the industry's CEOs and lobbyists on Sunday double-crossed their one-time political allies.
HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 10.06.2009 | Politics
In a move that seems designed to push Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) on health care reform, the North Dakota Democratic Party voted two weeks ago to make the...
David Fiderer | Posted 11.29.2009 | Media
Just like the birthers, who refuse to acknowledge Obama's birth certificate, Rep. Darrell Issa and Wall Street Journal reporter Emshwiller refuse to acknowledge the mountain of evidence that the Countrywide VIP "scandal" has been thoroughly discredited.
Robert Reich | Posted 11.28.2009 | Politics
The public option lives on. It's still in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension bill. It still headlines the House bills, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she's still committed to it.
Wall Street Journal | JOHN R. EMSHWILLER | Posted 11.27.2009 | Politics
The discovery that Countrywide Financial Corp. recorded phone conversations with borrowers in a controversial mortgage program that included public of...
Mike Lux | Posted 11.25.2009 | Politics
With polling numbers on the public option, and an activist base on fire on this issue, it is going to be more and more difficult for Democrats to vote against it when they have to vote in the light of day.
Cenk Uygur | Posted 11.23.2009 | Politics
While we've all been having an earnest debate about what should go in the bill and how it should get done, the real fight in Washington has been over who's going to get the corporate money.
Rick Horowitz | Posted 11.17.2009 | Politics
The Baucus Caucus came to town one morning in the early spring, / They said, "You want a health-care bill? Don't sweat -- we'll handle ev'rything!"
Don Parker | Posted 11.17.2009 | Politics
The Gang of Styx represent 8.4 million Americans, but they have been given more dollars from the health care industry than they have constituents.
HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 11.16.2009 | Politics
[Updated, below] So, for weeks and weeks, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus has held the health care reform debate hostage as he hemmed and h...
Mike Lux | Posted 12.21.2009 | Politics