Is Health Reform One of the 5 Biggest Stories of the Decade?

Obama, Biden, make top quote list
The Washington, D.C.-based Hill released its top quotes of 2010, and Vice President Joe Biden's whispered comment to President Obama at the Healthcare Reform signing in March was among the top. "This is a big f------ deal," Biden whispered to Obama, unaware his comments were audible. A quote by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, angered many people. Barton made his quote as the White House was trying to fend off criticism over how it handled the massive gulf spill. "I apologize," Barton said to BP Chief ...

New Years resolution: Petition Congress to pass the 28th Amendment
A Happy New Year to all. For many, the start of a new year means a blank slate—a chance for redemption couched in the form of a New Year’s resolution. This year, let’s broaden our horizons beyond personal goals. Not that there is anything wrong with losing weight or giving up smoking, but let’s get together and accomplish something for the greater good. Let’s petition Congress to pass a 28th Amendment, a rough suggested draft of which follows: Congress shall make no...

'A big f------ deal': The top 10 political quotes of 2010
Vice President Joe Biden’s use of Profanity, a New York congressman’s admission of groping and a denial of witchcraft were among the top 10 political quotes of 2010. The Healthcare Reform debate is featured in several others, ranging from a Texas lawmaker’s outburst of “baby killer” to President Obama’s admission that he and his party took a “shellacking” in the Midterm Elections. Democrats were jubilant after they narrowly passed the Healthcare Bill in Ma

The Supreme Court as the *Person of the Year*: Bob Burnett on the *Citizens United* Decision
2010 “Person” of the Year: The U.S. Supreme Court by Bob Burnett Huffington Post, December 31, 2010 It’s difficult to look beyond the tumult of current events and ask, “what happened this year that will be remembered ten, twenty, or fifty years from now?” However, there was one 2010 event that, in terms of its long-term impact, loomed above the others, the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court Decision. Writing in the New York Review, law Professor Ronald Dworkin e...

And yet no one went to jail
By Edward Copeland Reliving the Valerie Plame affair in Fair Game, based on the books written by Plame herself and her husband Joe Wilson, if you didn't have any anger before over what the Bush White House did to a loyal CIA agent in the name of politics and a war they wanted no matter what the facts were, that old rage will well up once again. In Doug Liman's film, it comes up even more so because before we get to the events of the leak of Plame's covert status itself, we actually see what h...

The Health Care Revolution, 2011 Edition
Kaiser Family Foundation offers a helpful timeline of the portions of the federal healthcare law that go into effect in 2011. Among them: Last year, Health Insurers were required to report the percentage of their income they spent on non-clinical services. This year, insurers that spend too much on administration and profit will begin to face federal penalties. More subsidies for prescription drug coverage under Medicare. Higher Medicare premiums for beneficiaries earning over $85,000 a year. ...

Chief Justice Decries Partisan Brawling
(NewsCore) - Chief Justice John Roberts decried the partisan warfare that has slowed the appointment of Federal Judges to a crawl, writing in his year-end report Friday that political gamesmanship on Capitol Hill has left some courts burdened with "extraordinary caseloads." "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of Judicial Nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes," the chief justice wrote. He called on Congress and th...

ABC News Staffer Warns GOP Against ObamaCare Repeal
ABC News continues its policy of just reporting the facts without any bias or agenda. Remember, ABC News was the venue for President Obama's highly publicized and unchallenged "Health Care Town Hall" that many decried as Propaganda. This was right after former ABC News reporter Linda Douglass was named the Director of Communications for the White House Office of Health Reform....

Chief Justice Says 'Urgent' Need for Senate Action on Judicial Nominees
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts says there's an "urgent need" for the political parties to put aside their differences and quickly confirm more of President Obama nominees to the federal judiciary. "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of Judicial Nominations depending on their changing political fortunes," Roberts said in a year-end report released on New Year's Eve. "This has created acute difficulties for some judiciary dist...

Harold Pollack: Advice from my father on my wedding day
(This is cross-listed with the Reality-based community, where most of my material appears these days.). This New Year's provides an obvious occasion to look over the last turbulent decade, which featured a tragic presidency, Terrorist Attacks, two wars, shameful betrayal of American constitutional values in Guantanamo and other places, Barack Obama's election, historic health reform, rather rapid Deflation in the bubble of American world supremacy, and tangible but too-slow progress in the glo...

Advice from my father on my wedding day
This New Years provides an obvious occasion to look over the last turbulent decade, which featured a tragic presidency, Terrorist Attacks, two wars, shameful betrayal of American constitutional values in Guantanamo and other places, Barack Obama’s election, historic health reform, rather rapid Deflation in the bubble of American world supremacy, and tangible but too-slow progress in the global fight against AIDS and other Public Health threats. Thus concludes my summary of the past decade ...

FrontPages Person of the Year: The Tea Party
Over the past few years, while the atrophy of the Welfare State system has spurred violent Protests in Western Europe, the United States has been experiencing a parallel, but remarkably distinct phenomenon. In early 2009, desperate Greeks rioted in the streets to demand that their overextended government do more in the face of Financial Crisis. Americans, at the same time, rallied for their government to do less. More than anyone individual alone in 2010, this movement, the Tea Party movement, w...

Gallup.com Year in Review
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup.com reviews some of the most defining findings of 2010, spanning political, economic, wellbeing, and world news. President Barack Obama begins his second year as president with 50% of Americans approving of his job performance, having finished his first year with most polarized Ratings in Gallup history. Following Republican Scott Brown's election to the U.S. Senate, 55% of American favor Congress' halting current Healthcare Reform efforts and considering other...

Out with the old, in with the new in the Senate as Congress set to reconvene
In a Congress dominated by complicated bills and wonky policy fights, perhaps the biggest challenge for members of the Senate was simply keeping straight the names of all their colleagues.  The 111th Congress will go down as one of the most chaotic in Senate history because of the constant turnover in personnel.
 That influx of fresh faces means the 112th Congress will begin with a notably inexperienced group of senators. More than one-fifth of the upper chamber’s 100 seats changed hands

A New Year and a New Direction for Health Care Reform
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became the law of the land in 2010, but debate over its existence and implementation will rage on in the New Year.  The law’s serious policy flaws are already impacting Health Insurance and costs, but these are part of a deeper and broader issue: the proper role for the Federal Government in Americans’ Health Care.  The public’s stance on this issue has been anything but settled in the wake of the new law’s passage. As ramifi

The Top 10 Political Quotes of 2010 and the winner is Um, Well They Missed A Couple
The Hill has put together a list of the Top 10 political quotes of 2010. I have to agree with many of them; however, there were some key ones left out including what I believe to be the #1 quote of 2010 from Nancy Pelosi, read below. 1.“Not true.” - SCOTUS Alito during President Obama’s State of the Union address, Jan. 27 2.“Yes, I did. Not only did I grope him, I tickled him until he couldn’t breathe and four guys jumped on top of me.”  -Former Rep. Eric Mas

Hot Airs top 10 most commented posts in 2010
Over the last week, I reviewed the 50 most viewed posts in 2010 for Hot Air — but which got the most comments?  Just before imbibing prodigious amounts of Alcohol, pita chips, and those weird hors d’oeuvres that people carry on platters at New Year’s Eve parties, our technical wizards and web masters produced one last list for 2010 — the ten most commented posts at Hot Air.  The two lists don’t exactly match up, as you’ll see: #10: Er, great news: Bristol ...

Top 10 questions for 2011
A few things in politics are certain: Federal Elections happen on the first Tuesday in November. Iowa’s Caucus comes first. Democrats quote John F. Kennedy, and Republicans quote Ronald Reagan. Beyond that, things get a lot less predictable in campaigns and in government. With the midterm campaign over, control of the House about to change and the 2012 Campaign poised to begin, the future is as cloudy as ever. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 Here’s POLITICO&rsqu...;

Mediaite Presents 2011 New Years Resolutions For Everyone Else
The New Year is here, and with it, the annual exercise in futility that is the New Year’s Resolution. As you stare into the abyss of another 365 days in which to improve yourself, it might help you to know that the figures who make Mediaite go ’round have some things to work on, too. Here’s what we think some of them are saying into the mirror this morning. So, before you try to shake off that Cold Duck and Four Loko hangover, and blearily search for a gym membership you can ge...

Does Obama have hidden talents? New Years Eve may bring em to light
Barack Obama may have some talents that the rest of the world doesn’t know about but only a few friends and family members are going to see them. The Obamas and their friends were to hold an annual talent show Friday night to celebrate New Year’s Eve, a White House spokesman said. No word on what talents would be on display. Thoughts, anyone? Does Obama’s famous speaking voice also carry a tune? Meanwhile, the president has been busy golfing, dining out and reading on his vacat...

Leaving The Last Decade In The Rearview Mirror
Posted on December 30, 2010, 6:10 pm, by Alex Bratty, under Alex Bratty, Blog, Featured, NBC/WSJ. As Americans prepare to ring in 2011 and pledge their New Year resolutions there is little doubt they have few regrets about leaving 2010, and in fact the last decade, in the past. Those who feel most pessimistic about the last decade include Obama voters (65% “very bad/one of the worst decades”), Democrats (63%) and African Americans (62%).  Meanwhile, Republicans (44%) and McCain ...

The Year in Islamophobia: Timeline
Thu Dec. 30, 2010 11:00 AM PST It's never a good sign when you find yourself longing for the halcyon days of George W. Bush. But after a year in which right-wing Activists and politicians identified America's greatest threats as Mosques and infants, you could be forgiven for feeling a bit nostalgic for the man who responded to the 9/11 attacks by emphasizing that "Islam is a religion of peace." So, is America Islamophobic? It depends. For the overwhelming majority of Muslims, America'...

Bob Burnett: 2010 "Person" of the Year: The US Supreme Court
It's difficult to look beyond the tumult of current events and ask, "what happened this year that will be remembered ten, twenty, or fifty years from now?" However, there was one 2010 event that, in terms of its long-term impact, loomed above the others, the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court Decision. Writing in the NEW YORK REVIEW, Law Professor Ronald Dworkin explained Citizens United v. FEC: "In the 2008 presidential primary season a small corporation, Citizens United, financed to a mino...

GOP Primary Has No Clear Favorite
The New York Times reports: WASHINGTON — A year ago, Republicans here were shut out of governing but could console themselves with having retained their hold on the party apparatus. This week, they will celebrate the new year having come roaring back to regain the House, and yet they have no semblance of control over the direction of their party and the conservative Activists who seem to be steering it. You can see this dynamic playing out now in the race for national party chairman, a highl...

Judge us now to see if we have learned from the past
A year after the gossipy Web site run by Matt Drudge became a bookmark in Washington computers, other, more partisan Web sites are becoming early warning systems for the mainstream press. Like Talk Radio, they are filled with free-form invective. Like trailers from a new X-Files movie, they offer previews of coming attractions from places where Conspiracy is king. ”What is happening with Capitol Hill Blue reminds me of the early days of Drudge,” said Stephen G. Smith, the editor of U...