On the Radar: Health care debate, Giffords' condition, Chinese leader's visit

First thoughts: Stating the obvious
U.S.-China relations take center stage… Obama-Hu news conference occurs at 1:05 pm ET; State Dinner gets underway at 7:35 pm… U.S. has very little leverage with China… The U.S.-China story steps on the House’s Repeal of Health Care -- the final vote takes place around 5:00 pm today… NBC/WSJ poll day… The end of a Senate era with the Lieberman and Conrad retirements… Breaking down Lieberman’s tough re-election path… Boehner’s stat...

Why the Republican vote to repeal health care reform matters
Today the Republicans are expected to vote on H.R. 2, officially titled “To Repeal the job-killing Health Care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.”  The bill effectively repeals all of the Health Care reform package passed by the Democrats in 2010.  The Progressive world seems divided in how to approach the issue.  Some believe the Repeal vote needs to be talked about and the arguments behind Repeal rebutt...

Obama, Hu Cite Mutual Aims As Summit Starts
WASHINGTON - Declaring that China and the United States have ‘’an enormous stake in each other’s success,’’ President Obama welcomed President Hu Jintao of China to the White House on Wednesday with an elaborate color-guard ceremony that included a colonial fife and drum band and a 21-gun salute. The formal White House arrival ceremony - the 21-gun salute is reserved solely for visiting heads of state — was a display of pomp and circumstance that stood in sta

Pelosi to name Gabrielle Giffords to West Point board
As Rep. Gabrielle Giffords continues to show progress, her Democratic Party leader in Congress is preparing to welcome back the Arizona lawmaker with a new committee assignment. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said during a CNN interview that she will appoint Giffords to the Board of Visitors at the U.S. Military Academy. "We'll be looking forward to welcoming her back to her committee assignments and her special commissions that I'm just about to appoint her to, " Pelosi told CNN'...

House set to vote on health care repeal
Washington (CNN) - The House of Representatives plans to vote Wednesday on whether to Repeal President Barack Obama's Controversial Health Care overhaul, a priority for the House's new Republican majority. The House is expected to favor repeal, but the Democratic-controlled Senate is highly unlikely to follow suit. Even if they did, President Barack Obama would almost certainly Veto such a bill. Clinton ready to leave State in 2012?...

We cant go backwards, Obama warns on day of health care repeal vote
The president touted its other benefits, such as the small-business Tax Credits and the ability to stay on a parent's Insurance plan until 26, and invoked a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget that said it will reduce the Deficit by more than a Trillion dollars over the next twenty years. The CBO projected the GOP Repeal measure will add roughly $230 billion to the Deficit by 2021 and leave 54 million nonelderly Americans Uninsured by 2019. Republicans dubbed the reforms "job-killing"...

Tibetans, Chinese protest Hu's US visit
Source: Channel News Asia WASHINGTON: Hundreds of Chinese and Tibetan Protesters loudly demonstrated outside the White House on Tuesday as Chinese President Hu Jintao began a state visit to the United States. Read more: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/... ...

Reid calls Chinese leader 'dictator'
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) labeled Chinese President Hu Jintao a “dictator,” just as President Barack Obama prepares to host the Chinese leader on Wednesday at a State Dinner aimed at soothing tensions between the two world powers. Reid’s off-the-cuff comments came Tuesday night during a televised interview with Las Vegas Journalist Jon Ralston, who asked the majority leader whether the Bipartisan tax Compromise Obama struck with Republican leaders last year w...

Mark Kelly: Rep. Giffords' Progress Is 'Great'; But Road To Recovery Is Long
Mark Kelly, husband of the critically injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), sat down for a round of interviews that have aired in the past 12 hours. The Navy officer and Astronaut talked in some detail about the harrowing events of Jan. 8 — when his wife and 18 other people were shot in Tucson, six of them fatally — and her progress since then. Giffords, who was shot in the head, has opened her eyes, is able to do such things as respond to requests to lift her arms and legs, and ha...

Harry Reid: Chinese Pres Hu is A 'Dictator' ... Maybe I Shouldn't Have Said That
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has an interesting perspective on the differences between the political systems of America and China -- and what he should and shouldn't be saying about the matter. As Jon Ralston reports, from an interview with Reid: Only Harry Reid, when asked about whether he still thought the lame-duck Tax Cut deal was a good one, would begin his serpentine answer thusly: "I am going to go back to Washington and meet with the president of China. He is a dictator. He...

Welcome to Washington! Reid Calls Chinese President a Dictator
ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe reports: Well, this should make for a nice conversation starter today at the White House... In an on-camera interview with Las Vegas Journalist Jon Ralston, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dubbed Chinese President Hu Jintao “a dictator.” “I am going to go back to Washington tomorrow and meet with the President of China. He is a dictator. He can do a lot of things through the form of government they have. Maybe I shouldn’t have said dictator, but the

Obama receives Hu at White House
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama welcomed Chinese President Hu Jintao to the White House Wednesday with a full honors, Red Carpet greeting, marking the start of daylong meetings to address trade, security and human rights issues that have been the cause of past strain between the two powers. With many Americans blaming China at least in part for the high U.S. Unemployment Rate, both presidents will be looking to build trust in a relationship grounded in mutual interest but troubled by int...

Obama touts US-China relations
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says a state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao (hoo jihn-tow) is laying the foundation for deeper prosperity between their two nations. Obama said the relationship between the countries has prospered over the last three decades. Standing next to Hu at a grand arrival ceremony on the South Lawn, Obama also pushed for respect for the universal rights of every human being. China’s record on human rights has been a source of huge division with ...

Obama Hosts Hu For Daylong Meetings Before Glitzy State Dinner Tonight
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama welcomed Chinese President Hu Jintao to the White House Wednesday with a full honors, Red Carpet greeting, marking the start of daylong meetings to address trade, security and Human Rights issues that have been the cause of past strain between the two powers. With many Americans blaming China at least in part for the high U.S. Unemployment Rate, both presidents will be looking to build trust in a relationship grounded in mutual interest but troubled by int...

Official: China to purchase $45B in US exports
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior administration official says China will announce deals Wednesday to purchase $45 billion in U.S. exports, including a $19 billion agreement to buy 200 Boeing airplanes. The official says the deal will create 235,000 jobs in the U.S. China will also invest in U.S. exports from agriculture, telecommunications and computer companies. China and the U.S. are to announce the deals during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s state visit to Washington. CEOs from several o...

Cantor to Reid: If youre so confident ObamaCare repeal will fail in Senate
It’s been a while for me, so I’m no longer sure of the protocols of dog dares, but this seems like a jump right to a triple.  Harry Reid has insisted that any attempt to pass a full Repeal of ObamaCare in the House would be doomed in the Senate and therefore a waste of time.  In response, Eric Cantor told Reid to put it up for a vote if he feels that confident in the results: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor isn’t one to hold his feelings back — especially when it c

What Is Health Care Repeal Really About?
Republican economic honcho Douglass Holtz-Eakin says that voting for Repeal of the Affordable Care Act is really about putting in place some different kind of Health Care reform: I am one of roughly 200 Economists and other experts to sign an Open Letter expressing concern over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and arguing that the economic and budgetary outlook would be improved by repeal. Proponents of the PPACA are stridently making the case that Repeal means that childr...

Obama welcomes China's Hu in opening ceremony
Flags and flourishes dominated the welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House Wednesday morning for Chinese President Hu Jintao as the Obama Administration pulled out all the ceremonial stops. There was, indeed, a Red Carpet. And a 21-gun salute. When Hu arrived in a limousine, President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were there to greet him. The two leaders shook hands with Top Officials from both governments, including Vice President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden. The anthems of ...

Tipton, Gardner tout HCR repeal; George lands CNCC prez spot; bike-share conspiracy spreading to Aspen
TIPTON TOWN HALL: Rep. Scott Cortez, R-Cortez, assured listeners in a telephone town hall Monday he would fight to pass health-care Repeal. He said he had no doubts HR 2 would pass the House, but he acknowledged it would probably die in the Democrat-controlled Senate, The Durango Herald reports. GOING AFTER GARDNER: In Fort Collins, local supporters of the Health Care Legislation turned out at an OFA rally Tuesday afternoon to urge Rep. Cory Gardner to vote against the repeal, The Coloradoan r...

Obama touts US-China relations (AP)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says a state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao (hoo jihn-tow) is laying the foundation for deeper prosperity between their two nations. Said Obama: "We have an enormous stake in each other's success." Obama said the relationship between the countries has prospered over the last three decades. Standing next to Hu at a grand arrival ceremony on the South Lawn, Obama also pushed for respect for the universal rights of every human being. China's record ...

Obama touts US-China relations
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says a state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao (hoo jihn-tow) is laying the foundation for deeper prosperity between their two nations. Obama said the relationship between the countries has prospered over the last three decades. Standing next to Hu at a grand arrival ceremony on the South Lawn, Obama also pushed for respect for the universal rights of every human being. China's record on Human Rights has been a source of huge division with the United ...

Andy Borowitz: Hu Presents Obama with Counterfeit DVD of 'Toy Story 3'
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) - In a moving White House ceremony today, President Hu Jintao of China presented US President Barack Obama with a Counterfeit DVD of the Hollywod blockbuster Toy Story 3. Mr. Hu raised eyebrows at several points of his official Speech, especially when he repeatedly addressed the American People as "my subjects." But the Chinese President ended his speech on an upbeat note about the relationship between the two countries: "In conclusion, America owes me the firs...

House Republicans Finally Try To Take Your Health Insurance Today
Now that everybody has forgotten the Tucson Massacre — when was that, anyhow? — House Republicans will finally fulfill their destiny today by impotently voting to Repeal Health Care Reform. At this very moment, they’re “debating” on the House floor, holding up some old Ross Perot and Tea Party charts/signs and getting ready for easy passage of the bill. Why do they hate your Health Insurance so much? Because they believe in FREEDOM, the Jonathan Franzen novel nobody...

Donald Trump on Visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao: Obama Will Drop to His Knees and Kiss His Hand Video 1/18/11
Here is video of Donald Trump talking to Neil Cavuto about Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States that began yesterday. Trump said that President Obama will “drop to his knees and kiss his (President Hu’s) hand. . . .He’s done it before.” Trump said it is actually China that is dependent on the United States. Via Gateway Pundit ...

Clinton: U.S., China Must Overcome Differences
Like this Story? Share it: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on "Face the Nation," Nov. 21, 2010. (CBS) President Barack Obama makes his first trip to China during an eight-day trip through Asia. (CBS) It's natural that the United States and China "do not always see the world the same way" - especially on divisive Human Rights issues - but the countries need to work together in spite of their differences, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CBS' "The Early Show" Wednesday. Chinese ...