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2012All SEPTEMBER POSTS (119)
Health Care Public Option: One Down, Three to Go
Yesterday the Senate Finance Committee said no to a version of the public option portion of health care reform. News headlines declared the vote a surprise KO punch to the public option. Dig a little deeper and find this vote was only a surprise to those outside of the Beltway.
You Can't Tweet Wrapped Around a Telephone Pole
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wants people to know just how dumb driving while texting really is...
The Public Option Is Dead, Long Live the Public Option
The Public option for health reform died in the Senate today, to no surprise--the very definition was still subject to a fierce, often comic, semantic battle. Sen. Rockefeller tried calling it a “consumer choice plan,” while Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow named it a “grand compromise.” Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) flipped the phrase to explain it as “an option for the public.” They all failed.
Is Higher Education in America Worth Saving?
Barack Obama has put together a plan to change the way student loans are administered. It's passed the House of Representatives, but now, some wonder whether American students are being well-served by expensive, private four-year colleges.
Stephen Colbert Defines "Blackwashing" for Obama's Critics
On Thursday's episode of "The Colbert Report," Stephen Colbert introduces a new word into the American lexicon: Blackwashing.
PHOTO OF THE DAY: The Obamas hit the G20
The first lady and her man take off for the G20 summit.
The Proof is in the Racist Pudding
If we are limited to an endless debate over whether tea partiers have racist hearts, then we miss the bigger question of whether they seek to build a racist society.
Obama on Race at the UN
Making his first appearance before the United Nations General Assembly as president, Barack Obama laid out a forceful, well-received case for international cooperation in a globalized world. He laid out "four pillars" that would determine America's relationship to the diplomatic and peacekeeping body going forward.
Obama Meets with African Heads of State
Obama dined with 25 African heads of state and lead diplomats, a lunch designed to broaden and expand the vision for US partnership with the continent expressed in his July visit to Accra, Ghana. Obama stuck with the framework established in Accra and during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's August trip across the continent, which is that good governance, a robust civil society and investment in human capital are key to continued US partnership with Africa.
Bill Clinton Up Close: Former Prez Dishes on Obama, Afghanistan and Climate Change
The private conversation with Clinton began and ended on the future of energy--also the subject of President Barack Obama’s address to today’s United Nations summit on climate change. Clinton, hoping to lead the conversation on the global green future, stressed over and over that the politics of environmental action is not a matter of tree-hugging but of dollars and cents.
The Yes Men Take on Climate Change
The infamous prankster activists known as the "Yes Men" have struck again--hijacking Monday's NEW YORK POST to promote the cause of climate action and energy security.
What the ACORN Video Actually Reveals
The silly gotcha video two white kids made about ACORN says less about the organization than it does about the right's dark fantasies of poor (black) people.
Photo of the Week: Obama-Wan-Kenobi
President Barack Obama wields a fake "Star Wars"-style lightsaber with young children visiting the White House for an event held by the Office on Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport.
Obama to Meet with Colin Powell—Next at the Pentagon?
What’s interesting about the official meeting is not just that Powell, an eloquent advocate for candidate Obama in the last days of campaign 2008, is taking his first meeting with the President since he was inaugurated.
Death in New Haven
Annie Le was murdered at Yale University. Yet as always, there is something unsettling about the selective attention our nation pays when such tragedies strike. This is not a new thought, but a high-profile homicide provides a sadly important reminder.
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