From The CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR:
In a retake recalling the film version of “Groundhog Day,” the Senate today redebated the 2010 health-care reform law – this time, in a bid to repeal it.
The measure to repeal was proposed as an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization bill. It failed a procedural challenge on a strict, party-line vote, 47 to 51. On. Jan. 19, House Republicans voted to repeal the health care law, 245 to 189. They were joined by three Democrats.
Filed under Barack Obama, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Carl Levin, Chimpy, Congress, Constitution, Democrats, George W. Bush, Harry Reid, humor, John Cornyn, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Medicaid, movies, parody, politics, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Senate Judiciary Committee, snark, Supreme Court, Wordpress Political Blogs
(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc was charged with fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its marketing of a subprime mortgage product, igniting a battle between Wall Street’s most powerful bank and the nation’s top securities regulator.
Filed under Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Carl Levin, Congress, Democrats, humor, Justice Department, parody, politics, Senate, snark, Wordpress Political Blogs
Today we’re releasing the declassified report of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s investigation into the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody. […] In my judgment, the report represents a condemnation of both the Bush administration’s interrogation policies and of senior administration officials who attempted to shift the blame for abuse – such as that seen at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and Afghanistan – to low ranking soldiers. Claims, such as that made by former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz that detainee abuses could be chalked up to the unauthorized acts of a “few bad apples,” were simply false.
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From David Welch at Business Week:
On CBS’ “Face the Nation” today, Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said that General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner should “move on.” That could mean that Dodd and other members of Congress will ask for Wagoner’s resignation before voting on a loan package for GM and Chrysler next week.
From Paul Krugman at The New York Times:
Everyone’s talking about a new New Deal, for obvious reasons. In 2008, as in 1932, a long era of Republican political dominance came to an end in the face of an economic and financial crisis that, in voters’ minds, both discredited the G.O.P.’s free-market ideology and undermined its claims of competence. And for those on the progressive side of the political spectrum, these are hopeful times.
There is, however, another and more disturbing parallel between 2008 and 1932 — namely, the emergence of a power vacuum at the height of the crisis. The interregnum of 1932-1933, the long stretch between the election and the actual transfer of power, was disastrous for the U.S. economy, at least in part because the outgoing administration had no credibility, the incoming administration had no authority and the ideological chasm between the two sides was too great to allow concerted action. And the same thing is happening now.
From the Baltimore Sun:
WASHINGTON – President Bush and Iraq’s prime minister have agreed to set a “general time horizon” for bringing more U.S. troops home from the war, a dramatic shift from the administration’s ironclad unwillingness to talk about any kind of deadline or timetable.
The announcement yesterday put Bush in the position of offering to talk with Iraqi leaders about a politically charged issue that he has adamantly refused to discuss with the Democratic-led Congress at home. It could also complicate the presidential campaign arguments of Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, who have staked out starkly opposing stands on the unpopular war.
From The NewYork Times:
WASHINGTON — Iraq may be President Bush’s war, but Gen. David H. Petraeus has become its front man: a clear-speaking, politically savvy, post-Vietnam combat veteran with a Ph.D. from Princeton. Given the failures that have plagued the mission from the start, he may yet be Mr. Bush’s best hope for sustaining public support for an unpopular war once his presidency ends.
From Philadephia Daily News:
BAGHDAD – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday lashed out at U.S. and French politicians who have called on him to step down and accused U.S. forces of committing “big mistakes” in killing and detaining civilians in the hunt for insurgents.
It was the second outburst from the embattled leader in recent days as he has come under fire from an array of allies and adversaries who accuse him of failing to unite his cabinet and put key laws and programs in place.
He drew fresh criticism yesterday from two influential congressional Republicans.
Maliki trained his angriest words on a Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Hillary Rodman Clinton of New York, and Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.).
Filed under Carl Levin, Democrats, General Petraeus, Hillary Clinton, humor, Iraq War, John Warner, Juan Cole, Mitch McConnell, movies, Nouri al-Maliki, parody, politics, Republicans, Ryan Crocker, snark
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HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
