by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 25, 2007 | Blog
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich used the forum to continue his vigorous pitch for a single-payer health care system, arguing that the plans of the other major candidates were too dependent on insurance companies and others with a profit motive that was antithetical to the...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 25, 2007 | Blog
Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd said his plan was based on four principles: universality (“everyone participates, everyone benefits,” prevention, extend Medicaid to more families, and improving the use of technology. He referenced his leadership in getting the...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 25, 2007 | Blog
A passionate New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton recalled the “battle scars” from the days when she tried to launch a detailed health plan when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president, into what proved to be an unforgiving political environment. In her opening...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2007 | Blog
The health care goals and plans of seven presidential candidates, all Democrats, are being laid side by side for the first time Saturday as the Center for American Progress and Service Employees International Union host the "New Leadership On Health Care" presidential...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2007 | Blog
The health care goals and plans of seven presidential candidates, all Democrats, are being laid side by side for the first time Saturday as the Center for American Progress and Service Employees International Union host the "New Leadership On Health Care" presidential...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2007 | Blog
Senator Barack Obama reiterated his pledge to achieve universal health care by the end of his first term as president, and urged voters to "judge" his performance on that pledge. He downplayed policy details, saying "every four years someone trots out a white paper,"...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2007 | Blog
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said the "cornerstone" of his plan is to allow all Americans and business to be able to purchase the same coverage that members of Congress have, while offering "help" for those will low-incomes. He also argued for an expansion of...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2007 | Blog
Former Senator John Edwards kicked off the presidential forum by laying out his previously announced plan (which we've blogged about here, here, here and here.) He stressed that his plan "covers all Americans" through "shared responsibilities." He noted that...
by Bill Scher | Mar 24, 2007 | Blog
The Center for American Progress and Service Employees International Union are hosting the "New Leadership On Health Care" presidential forum in Las Vegas, starting today at 12 PM ET, 9 AM PT today. You can watch the debate at ThinkProgress, and we'll be blogging the...
by Roger Hickey | Mar 23, 2007 | Blog
The presidential candidates are feeling the pressure from voters to tackle the escalating health care crisis with bold and comprehensive solutions. So when the Center for American Progress and the Service Employees International Union invited all the candidates to Las...
by Bill Scher | Mar 23, 2007 | Blog
Yesterday on Democracy Now, Campaign for America's Future co-director Robert Borosage discussed with Rep. Lynn Woolsey the House Iraq bill which includes a firm deadline of Aug. 31, 2008 to redeploy combat troops out of Iraq. Woolsey has been leading the effort to...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 23, 2007 | Blog
A $124 billion war funding supplemental bill is scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives today, and progressive anti-war members are, for the most part, planning to hold their nose and vote for it. It has been a...
by Bill Scher | Mar 22, 2007 | Blog
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales isn't the only Bush cabinet official worrying about his job. Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, deemed "a Brownie situation" by Sen. Claire McCaskill, is also worrying as the Walter Reed scandal continues to unfold. Trying to...
by Bill Scher | Mar 22, 2007 | Blog
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales isn't the only Bush cabinet official worrying about his job. Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, deemed "a Brownie situation" by Sen. Claire McCaskill, is also worrying as the Walter Reed scandal continues to unfold. Trying to...
by Bill Scher | Mar 22, 2007 | Blog
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales isn't the only Bush cabinet official worrying about his job. Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, deemed "a Brownie situation" by Sen. Claire McCaskill, is also worrying as the Walter Reed scandal continues to unfold. Trying to...
by Bill Scher | Mar 21, 2007 | Blog
During Al Gore's testimony to the Senate, he offered his support for the global warming bill co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer and Bernie Sanders, which by 2050 would slash greenhouse gas emissions 80% from 1990 levels. It's considered to be the most aggressive bill...
by Bill Scher | Mar 21, 2007 | Blog
Al Gore wrapped up his House testimony earlier this afternoon, and blogs are weighing in. Climate Progress writes: [Gore] was beyond well-versed in the diplomatic, scientific, economic, environmental, political and moral issues at hand. After also watching the...
by Bill Scher | Mar 21, 2007 | Blog
Former vice president Al Gore testified before both House and Senate congressional committees on Wednesday, giving both houses and both parties time to consider his "inconvenient truths" about global warming —and forcing members to choose between...
by Bill Scher | Mar 21, 2007 | Blog
Former vice president Al Gore testified before both House and Senate congressional committees on Wednesday, giving both houses and both parties time to consider his "inconvenient truths" about global warming —and forcing members to choose between...
by Bill Scher | Mar 21, 2007 | Blog
Yesterday, the House Armed Services Committee unanimously passed reforms, in the wake of the Walter Reed scandal, to improve the ability of wounded soldiers to get needed health care. CQ Today notes that the bill recognizes that the privatization of key functions has...
by Bill Scher | Mar 21, 2007 | Blog
David Roberts, over at Gristmill, is liveblogging the Gore hearings, and has a colorful summation of Gore's 10-point plan to stop global warming. No. 1: immediate carbon freeze! Then a program of reductions -- 90% reductions by 2050! Wow, that's ballsy. Second: reduce...
by Bill Scher | Mar 21, 2007 | Blog
Al Gore's congressional testimony has just begun, and he announced he's delivering 516,000 petition signatures calling for immediate action to stop global warming. More than 200,000 of those have come in since Thursday. A forceful beginning to historic...
by Bill Scher | Mar 20, 2007 | Blog
The preview to tomorrow's congressional testimony from Al Gore happened yesterday, a House committee hearing spotlighting the Bush Administration's attempts to prevent our government climate scientists from telling the truth about global warming. As Environment &...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 20, 2007 | Blog
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards today is putting forth what he is calling an “aggressive but achievable” energy plan, elements of which mirror the kind of bold energy initiative that the Apollo Alliance has been urging presidential...
by Bill Scher | Mar 20, 2007 | Blog
While the political lowlight of the week looks to be the ongoing fallout of the Prosecutor Purge, the political highlight is sure to come tomorrow with Al Gore's historic testimony to the House and Senate on climate change. Leading up to the hearing, Gore has been...
by Bill Scher | Mar 19, 2007 | Blog
Today's LA Times offers a seemingly well-intentioned article telling seniors ways they can obtain cheaper prescription drugs. But in doing so, it puffs up Big Pharma -- making it seem like pharmaceutical companies are already doing all they can for seniors. At the...
by Bill Scher | Mar 19, 2007 | Blog
Today's CQ Weekly has a big piece on how coal-state lawmakers are "well-positioned" in Congress to shape global warming legislation. And they risk falling into the trap of thinking strong legislation will be bad for jobs in their districts. The article focuses on...
by Robert Borosage | Mar 19, 2007 | Blog
Donald Rumsfeld has been axed. Tom DeLay cut and ran. "Scooter" Libby stands convicted. Michael "you're doing a heck of a job" Brown was tossed. Newt Gingrich disgraced himself. And now, the clueless attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, is surely the next to go. Why...
by Bill Scher | Mar 19, 2007 | Blog
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is lowering expectations regarding planned global warming legislation, the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog reported Friday. Pelosi, D-Calif., prompted concerns last week when an aide said a climate-change and...
by Bill Scher | Mar 19, 2007 | Blog
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is lowering expectations regarding planned global warming legislation, the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog reported Friday. Pelosi, D-Calif., prompted concerns last week when an aide said a climate-change and...
by Bill Scher | Mar 16, 2007 | Blog
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog reports that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is lowering expectations regarding planned global warming legislation: Speaker Pelosi prompted concerns this week when an aide said a climate-change and energy-independence bill might not...
by Bill Scher | Mar 15, 2007 | Blog
In 2003, President Bush signed a law creating a Citizens' Health Care Working Group to offer health care reform solutions. This week, he dismissed their work. The working group was a bipartisan effort, originating from GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch and Dem Sen. Ron Wyden. The...
by Bill Scher | Mar 15, 2007 | Blog
The conservative global warming denial community may still be kicking, but it is getting smaller. Last year, conservative evangelical Pat Robertson dropped out. This week, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith joins him: Global warming. We know the cause. It's all the cars...
by Bill Scher | Mar 14, 2007 | Blog
At today's Mexico press conference, President Bush further carried Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' messages from yesterday, in blunt fashion: [Gonzales was] right. Mistakes were made. And I'm, frankly, not happy about it, because there is a lot of confusion over...
by Bill Scher | Mar 14, 2007 | Blog
Recognizing that its political purge of eight U.S. attorneys was about to reach critical mass—particularly because of the appearance that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied to Congress about it—the White House is now running its script to beat back the...
by Bill Scher | Mar 14, 2007 | Blog
Yesterday, the Senate passed a bill implementing many homeland security recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. But President Bush is threatening to veto it because -- horrors -- it allows Transportation Security Administration workers to join unions, like most of...
by Bill Scher | Mar 13, 2007 | Blog
Recognizing that its political purge of eight U.S. Attorneys was about to reach critical mass -- particularly because of the appearance that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied to Congress about it -- the White House is now running its script to beat back the media...
by Bill Scher | Mar 13, 2007 | Blog
The "liberal" New York Times (with the help of the Drudge Report) carried conservative water today, paradoxically attacking Al Gore for global warming "hype." In fact, it's NYT reporter William Broad that's trafficking in hype. Real Climate, the preeminent climate...
by Bill Scher | Mar 12, 2007 | Blog
Amry Surgeon General Kevin Kiley, the guy recently bumped up to head Walter Reed even though he was directly implicated in the scandal, was belatedly forced to resign today. On one hand, good. On the other, doesn't do much lasting good if the names change and the...
by Bill Scher | Mar 12, 2007 | Blog
Last week, the pharmaceutical lobby launched a second round of TV ads in its campaign to block the House bill empowering Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices. The ad begins: Newspapers across America are speaking out against changes to Medicare Wow. Sounds like...
