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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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March 2, 2010
EASTER IS THE NEW THANKSGIVING.... Those who've followed the debate over health care reform for a while have probably noticed that deadlines haven't always been met. President Obama, you may recall, wanted to see the House and Senate pass their bills before their August recess last year. For a while, there was talk of getting reform done by Thanksgiving. Then Christmas. The State of the Union was considered a backstop, too, right before the unpleasantness in Massachusetts. With health care reform back on the front burner, Jonathan Cohn notes today that a schedule is starting to come together, and citing reporting from Inside Health Policy's Julian Pecquet and Amy Lotven, it looks completion by Easter is the new goal.
Of course, the Senate is scheduled to take a two-week break for Easter and Passover. Republicans won't be able to literally filibuster the budget fix, but there's talk of them offering literally hundreds of meaningless amendments, just to bring the legislative process to a halt. In this case, however, if Democratic leaders can stick to this schedule, delays will only interfere with a planned recess -- which even Republicans will want to take advantage of. With this in mind, the timeline seems quite sound. Now all Dems have to do is figure out how to secure a House majority for the Senate bill, agree to the terms of a House-Senate compromise, get that compromise through the House, bring that identical compromise to the Senate floor, and pass it before Congress' spring break begins. Piece of cake, right? For what it's worth, the timeline reform proponents are eyeing is consistent with Republicans' expectations, too. This morning, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) told Fox News he, too, expects final votes on health care immediately before the Easter/Passover recess. We should know more tomorrow, after President Obama's presentation on the way forward. Stay tuned. —Steve Benen 12:35 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (10)
Comments
Easter is the new Thanksgiving. Best headline I've read in a long time. Bravo! Posted by: dpmn on March 2, 2010 at 12:59 PM | PERMALINKGood headline, but disappointing. I was expecting a revelation of the upcoming "War on Easter," another example of the angry hostility toward Christianity and Christians by the secular humanist librul leftists, and I was wondering how I missed the "War on Thanksgiving," another example of the angry hostility toward America and Americans by the secular humanist librul leftists. How did we miss BOTH these opportunities, people? Aux barricades! Posted by: bleh on March 2, 2010 at 1:12 PM | PERMALINKThere seems to be a strong case that reformers can make against the "government subsidies will lead to rationing" argument. The case: rationing only occurs when demand increases while supply remains the same or decreases. If government provides subsidies for health care, they won't necessarily be increasing demand; they will simply be making sure the people who are already consuming health care do not go bankrupt. In short, the rationing argument does not work because people are already recieving health care. The main problem is not that they are not recieving care; the main problem is that they go bankrupt when they do. Which brings me to the next question: why not brand government health care subsidies as Medical Bankruptcy Insurance, as opposed to Health Insurance? Even better, you could call it Supplemental Medical Bankruptcy Insurance. Posted by: Paleoconservative on March 2, 2010 at 1:17 PM | PERMALINKEaster is the new Thanksgiving?? BHO is the new Jimmy Carter. Posted by: Al on March 2, 2010 at 1:18 PM | PERMALINKAnd Republicans have warned they plan to introduce an amendment, forcing Democrats to take difficult votes, for as long as they can. Given their proclaimed game plan, I wonder if Republicans will be confronted by the media as to whether these amendments have substance, or if they are being used merely to slow things up. Check that, I don't wonder. The Republicans will not be confronted with anything that questions their motives, and will indeed probably be rewarded for their intransigence, instead of allowing the Congress to move on to other pressing issues for which they will also surely stonewall. Posted by: terraformer on March 2, 2010 at 1:24 PM | PERMALINKThe Chair can rule amendments out of order, and it takes a 2/3 majority to overrule so that they can be considered. Are you listening, VP Biden? Posted by: Frank on March 2, 2010 at 1:35 PM | PERMALINKThis is so absurd. The only thing that surprises me these days is how it took so long for the senate to devolve to this point. Posted by: Tim P. on March 2, 2010 at 1:44 PM | PERMALINK"The way forward. The way forward. The way forward." The way forward is to pass it tomorrow. Write it up tonight, roll call vote tomorrow, sign it Thursday. Easter is bullshit. More bipartisan pandering is bullshit. Oh, I know: "I never said it was going to be easy." God, am I starting to hate them all. Posted by: urban legend on March 2, 2010 at 1:57 PM | PERMALINKTruthfukky, I have given up. Health care Reform won't happent until Satan has to buy a Zamboni. Recently I switched my party affiliation from Democrat to Non-Partisan, because our Senator, Ben Nelson. I once had hopes that we could actually do something in this country that represented traditional Christian values -- helping those in need. Forget it. We can only accomplish what Wall Street will allow, and they won't allow anything that doesn't fatten their wallets. I'm out. Posted by: Husker Blue on March 2, 2010 at 2:02 PM | PERMALINKYes Charlie Brown, You try to kick it CB,,, while Lucy holds it for you. Posted by: cwolf on March 2, 2010 at 4:32 PM | PERMALINKPost a comment
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