Republicans own go-to economist says we need to raise the debt ceiling soon.
I’ve noted several times that when it comes to issues like Medicare and Social Security, establishment journalism is most focused on whether political rhetoric is inflammatory than on whether it might be true. Or put a different way, the details of how key government programs work is of comparatively trivial importance compared to whether the ads a controversy generates are mean. As yet another instance of this, we have the unfortunate example of ABC’s Rick Klein’s report on the new politics of Medicare. Read More
Speaker Boehner says the Ryan plan “transforms Medicare into a plan that’s very similar to the President’s own healthcare bill.”
Only older people are sicker and more expensive to cover and Ryan doesn’t provide the funds for seniors to buy care. Beside that they’re identical.
Obama tells Boehner: Great to hear you want to drop oil subsidies, let’s agree to that right now!
Sen. Franken (D-MN) to hold hearings into iPhone tracking issue.
Dems roll out first campaign ad out targeting Ryan Medicare phase-out plan.
Is Gov. Jindal (R-LA) really moving to privatize his state’s public employee health insurance system to pocket the agency’s big budget surplus to help plug a hole in the state budget?
A new move by the state legislature suggests that’s exactly what he’s doing. Check out our latest report.
Freshman Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI), now best known for a series of self-inflicted media fails over claims he was just getting by on his congressional salary, has drawn his first challenger for 2012: former Wisconsin state Sen. Pat Kreitlow.
Duffy has also been having some challenges back home explaining his vote for phasing out Medicare.
Here’s our report.
(Not to detract from the seriousness of the moment. But really, the idea of Haley Barbour running for president always struck me as completely crazy — the product of a lot of reporters liking him and thus taking his candidacy more seriously than they otherwise might have, a generally weak field and a spasm of historical amnesia.)
Haley’s statement.