Senate Dems struggle to get health care on track
WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. Joe Lieberman strongly rebutted charges Monday that he flip-flopped to oppose the expansion of Medicare as part of health care legislation, as Democratic leaders struggled to getPresident Barack Obama’s top domestic initiative on track for passage by Christmas.
“Contrary to the claims of anonymous aides, Senator Lieberman told (Majority Leader Harry) Reid on Friday that he had problems with the Medicare provision,” said Marshall Wittman, a spokesman for the Connecticut Independent.
“This position was also told to negotiators earlier in the week. Consequently, Senator Lieberman’s position came as no surprise to the Democratic leadership. Any contrary charge by aides who cowardly seek to hide under the cloak of anonymity is false and self-serving,” he added. Read more
Time Is Running Out for Climate Change, U.S. Negotiator Says
The chief negotiator for the U.S. at the climate summit in Copenhagen says leaders have made some progress, but that it is not enough and time is running out to come up with deal that all countries can agree on.
“We don’t have very much time,” said Todd Stern. “The clock is ticking it like a big hourglass. We’ve made some progress, but we still have a long way to go.”
The rift between rich and poor nations remains a major sticking point. Read more.
Bart Gordon retiring
Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) announced he’s not running for re-election this morning, becoming the fourth House Democrat from a politically-competitive district to announce retirement plans in the last month.
“I feel honored that the people of Middle Tennessee have allowed me to serve them for the past 25 years,” said Gordon. “Every decision I have made in Congress has been with their best interests in mind. I hope the people here at home feel that I have served them as well as their good advice and views have served me.
“When I was elected, I was the youngest member of the Tennessee congressional delegation; now, I’m one of the oldest. In fact, I have members of my staff who weren’t even born when I took office. That tells me it’s time for a new chapter.”
Gordon becomes the tenth House Democrat to retire this election cycle, with over half of them in districts Republicans plan to aggressively contest. His announcement follows the post-Thanksgiving retirements of Reps. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), John Tanner (D-Tenn.) and Brian Baird (D-Wash.) – all of whom represent politically-competitive districts. Read more.
GOP brings concerns on jobs, climate
House Republican leaders used a trip to the White House Wednesday to deliver a letter to President Barack Obama expressing concern with plans for a new economic stimulus bill, cap-and-trade legislation and the president’s trip next week to Copenhagen.
At the White House for a meeting on jobs, the Republicans struck a cautionary note in their hand-delivered letter, writing that government intervention was not the way to create jobs.
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) also expressed concerns about a “binding emissions reduction scheme” they believe would cost U.S. jobs, referring to the administration’s plans for a political agreement on emissions standards that’s likely to be discussed at the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen. Read more.
Inconvenient Truth for Gore as Arctic Ice Claims Don’t Add Up
There are many kinds of truth. Al Gore was hit by an inconvenient one yesterday.
The former vice president, who became an unlikely figurehead for the green movement after narrating the Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” became entangled in a new climate change row.
Gore, speaking at the Copenhagen climate change summit, stated the latest research showed that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in five years. Read more.
Guantanamo Detainees Will Be Moved to Illinois
WASHINGTON (AP) — Taking an important step on the thorny path to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the White House plans to announce Tuesday that the government will acquire an underutilized state prison in rural Illinois to be the new home for a limited number of terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo.
Administration officials as well as Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will make an official announcement at the White House.
Officials from both the White House and Durbin’s office confirmed that President Barack Obama had directed the government to acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., a sleepy town near the Mississippi River about 150 miles from Chicago. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting Tuesday’s announcement. Read more.
Obama gives himself a B-plus — an A-minus if health care passes
In giving himself “a solid B-plus” for his presidency to date, President Obama also showed how high a political premium he places on new health care legislation.
“B-plus because of the things that are undone. Health care is not yet signed. If I get health care passed, we tip into A-minus,” Obama told Oprah Winfrey during Sunday’s night’s broadcast of Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special.
Obama and aides are keeping a watchful eye on efforts by Senate Democrats to forge a health care compromise. Read more.
NC State senator won’t run for re-election, says he’ll leave
office after 18 years
State Sen. David Hoyle has decided not to seek a 10th term in the General Assembly and will leave office next December after representing Gaston County for 18 years.
“I didn’t intend to serve for as long as I have,” Hoyle said Wednesday. “I thought I’d serve for 10 or 12 years, but the citizens kept electing me.”
Hoyle, D-Gaston, took office in 1993 and was re-elected eight times, fending off Republican challengers in his heavily conservative home county. Of Gaston’s five delegates to the General Assembly, Hoyle is currently the lone Democrat. Read more.
Editorial – Soles has met his term limit
The events of 2009 should send a strong message to state Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. that it’s time to bow out. The window for a graceful exit, however, has passed. The choice now may be to leave or wait to be forcefully removed from office.
A Columbus County grand jury has recommended indicting the longtime senator in connection with a shooting on his property. His guilt or innocence in that matter will be decided in the courts. But the court of public opinion cares little about legal technicalities such as a conviction.
Soles’ reputation – always a little suspect since his first indictment in the Colcor investigation of corruption in his home county – has been tarnished to the point that he can no longer represent his constituents effectively or with honor. He turns 75 this month. For the good of his district and the integrity of the N.C. Senate, such as it is, he should throw in the towel while he has a chance to leave on his own terms. Read more.
Iran’s Motives
Now that the Iranian government has taken a clear stand — in effect ignoring the international community and all agreements — it’s time for a resolution on the nuclear question. The only issue left for the international community to decide is which course of action to initiate.
More diplomacy, sanctions or other nonmilitary measures will, at this point, only fail. The Iranian regime has prepared for most conceivable outcomes. One example: the agreement between Venezuela and Iran that has Iran receiving 20,000 barrels of petrol daily. This agreement was forged in September in preparation for possible sanctions against Iran by the international community. Read more.
Climate Talks Sail Into Rough Seas
COPENHAGEN — Nothing seems to be going smoothly as the U.N. climate negotiations reach their climax here.
Inside the Bella Center, a bloc of major developing countries clashed with the conference’s Danish hosts today over rumors that a new last-minute proposal was being put together among a small group of key countries.
The United States, with instructions from the White House, challenged a separate draft agreement to tackle climate change floated in the early morning hours by a special ad hoc U.N. panel.
And amid the snow flurries outside, Copenhagen transit officials temporarily shut down the main Metro train station at the conference center as police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters who tried to storm the heavily guarded site. Read more.
Angry liberals: Why didn’t Obama fight?
More than anything else in Barack Obama’s presidency so far, health reform has exposed a get-a-deal-at-any-cost side of Obama that infuriates his party’s progressives.
And as Democrats tried to salvage health reform Tuesday, some liberals could barely hide their sense of betrayal that the White House and congressional Democrats have been willing to cut deals and water down what they consider the ideal vision of reform.
“The Senate version is not worth passing,” former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told POLITICO, referring to plans to strip the latest compromise from the bill, a Medicare buy-in. “I think in this particular iteration, this is the end of the road for reform.” Read more.
Copenhagen or Hopenhagen? Socialism by any other name is still socialism
Iran may be upset with Obama but Hugo Chavez still praises his name. Wake up America, global warming is not about protecting the environment any more than universal health care is about health care for all. Our government is being deceitful by covering their interior motives with layers of what appears to be good deeds and humanitarian efforts. Everybody wants to clothe the homeless, feed the poor and help the sick. But if you peel back these layers of good intentions you still wind up with a ball of manipulation.
The President is on his way to Copenhagen today to commit the US’s “fair share” into the 10 billion dollar ‘world money pot’. This money is the redistribution of wealth from the nations that have supposedly ruined developing countries with their greenhouse gasses. Senator John Kerry promises this, “I will tell you right now, 100 percent, we are going to pass major climate and energy legislation that is going to have an impact on emissions…the concerns that kept us out of Kyoto back in 1997 are still with us today, and we need to preempt them here in Copenhagen.” Read more.
Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Oppose GITMO Transfer
A new poll released by Gallup shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose the idea of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and moving terrorist suspects held there to prisons in the U.S.
This may be problematic for President Obama, who plans to do just that. Earlier this week, it was announced that the federal government would acquire the Thomson Correctional Center (pictured at left), an underused state prison in the rural town of Thomson, Illinois, and use it to hold Guantanamo Bay detainees as well as federal prisoners.
Sixty-four percent of Americans said they opposed the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to U.S. prisons, and only 30 percent of Americans said they supported it. These numbers have remained fairly constant since May, when 32 percent believed detainees should be transferred to the U.S. and 65 percent did not. Read more.
Dems use vote to tweak GOP on troops
The early-morning Republican opposition to a procedural vote on the Defense department’s spending bill is giving some Democrats a rare opportunity to bash the GOP on its support of the troops.
Some of the same rhetoric that has been used to paint Democrats as weak on national security is now being used against Republicans, who voted en masse against the measure in a move to delay voting on health care overhaul legislation.
Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), less than a year into his first term in Washington, had some harsh words for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). He called their Friday news conference “somewhat shameful” after McConnell said he knew that the spending bill would pass but voted against ending the debate. Read more.
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