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   Dan Savage, the brilliant and foul-mouthed sex columnist, has become one of the most important ethicists in America. Are we screwed?
 The federal government is supposed to issue new rules about debt levels for students in for-profit colleges. In the meantime, the states are working on their own regulations.
 Washingtons budget hawks want to decimate the federal workforce to shrink the deficit. It will have the opposite effect.
 There arent nearly enough counterterrorism experts to instruct all of Americas police. So we got these guys instead.
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February 13, 2010
INVITATIONS ARE IN THE MAIL.... We learned about a week ago that President Obama would host a bipartisan summit on health care reform on Feb. 25, but the details have been relatively scarce. Yesterday, the White House sent formal invitations to the participants, giving us a sense of how the gathering will shape out. One of the first things to jump out is just how crowded it's going to be. The House and Senate leadership of both parties will be there, as will the relevant committee leaders from both parties in both chambers. The invitation also encourages party leaders to invite four additional lawmakers from each party, and a staffer with an expertise on health policy. Factor in the president and his staff, Vice President Biden, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebilius, and officials from OMB, CBO, and the Joint Committee on Taxation, and we're looking at a very full house. The invitation also explains that the summit will cover "four critical topics: insurance reforms, cost containment, expanding coverage, and the impact health reform legislation will have on deficit reduction." But the invitation, sent out over Sebelius' and Rahm Emanuel's signatures, also hinted at an interesting development.
That stood out for me because it suggests there will be a Democratic version of "a proposed health insurance reform package" to present. At present, such a package does not really exist -- the House and Senate have their own bills, so there isn't one text to post anywhere. Does the White House expect to have a final package in place before the 25th, or will officials post a more general outline of a proposal, with details to be completed later? More on this later. For their part, congressional Republicans continue to whine about the event, but appear unlikely to boycott. House Minority Leader John Boehner's (R-Ohio) office still wants to see policymakers go into the summit with "a blank sheet of paper," but that's obviously silly. The event will kick off at 10 a.m. (ET), will be televised live and will take place at Blair House, which is located across the street from the White House, and is frequently used for cabinet retreats and diplomatic accommodations. —Steve Benen 8:00 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (10)
Comments
House Minority Leader John Boehner's (R-Ohio) office still wants to see policymakers go into the summit with "a blank sheet of paper," but that's obviously silly. No no no no no no no! That's a brilliant idea! That'll really show the Dems...um...something. Showing up with a blank piece of paper as your healthcare plan! Great! Go for it! (Shut up Benen!) Posted by: Michael on February 13, 2010 at 8:13 AM | PERMALINKA blank sheet of paper illuminating the blank thought process that envelopes the blank, startling dearth of ideas that a blank bovine starred politcal party offers at point blank. Yep. That's the GOP. Posted by: stevio on February 13, 2010 at 8:58 AM | PERMALINKNow we're starting to see the conspiracy theory being suggested by the wingnuts about this meeting. Aren't they the ones who claimed loudly they were excluded from meetings with Obama? I think we may see all the original Democrat proposals, including single payer, public option, and even "death panels" resurface as bargaining tools to any counter proposals. I would love to hear one of the thugs say "death panels", socialized medicine", or even "government run" on TV and have Obama say huh? WTF are you saying? Let the bipartisan bargaining begin. Posted by: Dave on February 13, 2010 at 9:10 AM | PERMALINKAnd tigers, don't forget tigers. (See Jon Stewart's take on Boehner's fears and tremblings) Posted by: Texas Aggie on February 13, 2010 at 10:54 AM | PERMALINKBlair House: "... is frequently used for cabinet retreats and diplomatic accommodations." Let's hope it's not the Democrats who 'retreat,' and that it's the Republicans who are That's all Boehner and his fellow Republicans have - a blank piece of paper. No sense posting such a document before the meeting! -Kevo Posted by: kevo on February 13, 2010 at 11:08 AM | PERMALINKDoes this mean that Obama is finally going to get behind a specific set of proposals? He hasn't specifically endorsed much of anything, except (secretly) a sweetheart deal with PhRMA, during the last year. Posted by: smintheus on February 13, 2010 at 11:09 AM | PERMALINKRepublican Dictionary: trap - a device in which the POTUS uses neurolinguistic programming to compel the opposition to cynically demand transparency to score political points, but not really mean it Posted by: John Henry on February 13, 2010 at 11:10 AM | PERMALINKThis would obviously be the perfect time to lure the GOPers in with a false sense of political superiority---only to discover that Dems are really ravenous werewolves masquerading as cowering sheeple all these years. Hearing that their uber-leadership had been unceremoniously devoured would probably send most of their teabag-legions into suicidal despair. The resulting glut in unoccupied homes and positions of employment would resolve both America's homelessness and unemployment issues in no time at all! Posted by: S. Waybright on February 13, 2010 at 11:27 AM | PERMALINKsmintheus at 11:09 AM --Exactly my thinking. Will Obama actually take some stands? Other than for electronic health record keeping? Warning: We may wish we didn't know what he actually stands for! Posted by: jawbone on February 13, 2010 at 2:47 PM | PERMALINK
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