Orwellian Centrism

Orwellian Krugmanism
On Sunday, after making the oh-so-parochial admission that he usually does not bother looking at the Washington Post [Epistemic Closure alert! -K] , NYT columnist (and former Enron advisor) Paul Krugman took issue with Dana Milbank’s praise for Obama in standing up to other Progressives angry at his proposed Bipartisan tax deal: This is a hopeful sign that Obama has learned the lessons of the health-care debate, when he acceded too easily to the wishes of Hill Democrats, allowing them to s...

Dana Milbank Tries to Win This Year's Stupidest Man Alive Contest
Entry by Paul Krugman: Orwellian Centrism: [T]he Washington Post... I’m inside the Beltway right now, so I spared a peek — and for my sins ended up reading Dana Milbank, who praises Obama for punching the hippies. So far, so usual. But then I read this: This is a hopeful sign that Obama has learned the lessons of the health-care debate, when he acceded too easily to the wishes of Hill Democrats, allowing them to slow the Legislation and engage in a protracted debate on the public o...

Why Dana Milbank Is Right (and Paul Krugman Is Wrong)
I don't usually bother looking at Paul Krugman's columns at the New York Times, but a recent post of his -- attacking the Washington Post's Dana Milbank -- deserves a closer look. Krugman, it seems, is livid at Milbank's assertion that during the Health Care debate, President Obama "acceded too easily to the wishes of Hill Democrats, allowing them to slow the Legislation and engage in a protracted debate on the Public Option." (Milbank, of course, is just a conservative hack out to make liberal...

Krugman slams media, Obama for Orwellian centrism
Stumble This! The Washington blogosphere was alive Sunday with talk about New York Times columnist Paul Krugman's column accusing the media and the Obama Administration of "Orwellian centrism" in what he calls a re-writing of the history surrounding Health Care reform. Krugman criticizes Washington Post columnist Dana Millbank for an opinion piece praising President Obama for taking a tougher line with Progressives in his party over the Tax Cut deal the administration struck with Republicans. M...

"The Village Constructs its Mythology"
Paul Krugman and Dean Baker have effectively dismantled this I am really proud of Obama for standing up to Democrats column. For example, here's Paul Krugman: I don’t usually bother looking at the Washington Post. But I’m inside the Beltway right now, so I spared a peek — and for my sins ended up reading Dana Milbank, who praises Obama for punching the hippies. So far, so usual. But then I read this: This is a hopeful sign that Obama has learned the lessons of the health-care debate,

Democrats Resigned to Tax Bill Passage
"After a chilly initial reception from Democrats, the White House appears to have garnered enough Bipartisan support to secure the $858 billion bill's safe passage through a turbulent Congress," Time reports. The Senate will vote today and Democratic leaders in both houses signaled that their caucuses "were prepared to swallow the accord's unpalatable provisions to safeguard the Middle Class and cushion The Economy." Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "is walking a perilous path in the deba...

1099 repeal foiled again (Politico)
Another day, another failed attempt at 1099 Repeal. Republicans rebuffed a Democratic effort to repeal health reform’s universally panned 1099 IRS reporting requirements as a piggyback in the Tax Cut deal, congressional aides on both sides of the aisle confirm to Politico. The move leaves 1099 rollback in play for the next Congress, giving Republicans an easy target in an otherwise challenged landscape for health reform Repeal. Democratic aides allege Republicans are stalling on repealin...

Fox/GOP "government plan" talking points came from AHIP
From leaked e-mails obtained by Media Matters, we now know Fox News was pushing GOP talking points on health reform, specifically not using the term "Public Option," but calling it the "government" option, or a "government-run program." Now we know that "credit" for the terminology goes to AHIP, the Health Insurers with whom the White House and Sen. Max Baucus were negotiating the bill. [T]he linguistic shift first emerged in February in research provided the GOP by the Health Insurance in...

Senate set to debate tax plan compromise
Washington (CNN) - Senators are expected to open debate on the tax Compromise reached by President Barack Obama and Republicans Monday, but House Democrats will likely try to change the deal, one of their leaders said. Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told reporters that the package will get a vote in the House despite a threat by House Democrats last week to prevent it from reaching the floor....

The Dream Act affects more than Latinos
If Senate Republicans kill the DREAM Act, I and many millions of Hispanics will take it as a slap in the face. The Legislation is so clearly in the country's interest that its rejection essentially means: You don't want me here. You fear that the country is being overrun by Latinos and that, almost as bad, we will vote Democrat. Senate Republicans can obfuscate, but arguments about costs and laws are so flimsy when it comes to the House-approved Dream Act that if they block it this week, as seem...

House Dems revolt, reject unemployment compromise
In an astonishing development, the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House voted this afternoon to reject the Compromise deal negotiated between President Obama and the Republican leadership to extend both federal Unemployment Benefits and the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthiest Americans. The House Democratic Caucus voted to oppose President Barack Obama’s tax plan, throwing into flux weeks of negotiations on an issue that has turned many congressional Democrats against the White House. Oregon ...

Estate tax could be more generous to wealthy under Obama-GOP deal
One part of the tax deal between President Obama and congressional Republicans stands out because it would make the tax code even more generous to the wealthy than it was during the Bush era: the Estate Tax. This Story Estate tax could be more generous to wealthy under Obama-GOP deal Senate leaders pack tax bill with narrow credits and perks Interactive graphic: What tax extensions mean to you What's the greatest benefit for Obama's in supporting the extension of Bush Tax Cuts? Deal exposes i...

The Week Ahead
By Patrick O'Connor Taxes, the future of health-care reform and the fate of Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele provide the backdrop for what could be the last week of the 111th Congress. The Senate is expected to approve President Barack Obama ’s tax package early in the week, putting the onus on House Democrats to decide its fate – and that of most Americans’ Tax Rates next year. The Democrats want concessions, but major changes look doubtful. Once the tax package clears

Keping the Care You Already Have?
When President Obama was shoving ObamaCare down our throats against our will, he repeated the lie that people who liked their coverage/care could keep it. Marc Siegel’s op-ed in the NY Post proves that statement false: A recent survey finds that countless MDs will respond to ObamaCare by limiting which patients they’ll see. The Physicians Foundation asked 2,400 doctors and American Medical Association members what they thought of the new law; a full 67 percent were against it. Mor...

The Unmaking of the President
Pejman Yousefzadeh spots Bill Clinton at the presidential podium on Friday and waxing nostalgic for the seemingly carefree days of the mid-1990s: “Don’t Stop Thinking About . . . Yesterday?” OK, let’s do just that, because with Bill’s return to center stage, we can now place the 2008 campaign and the first year of the Obama presidency into a certain amount of perspective. Then: Obama’s speeches “enmesh you in a grander moment, as if history has stopped flowing pas

First Senate vote expected on Obama-GOP tax deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators get their first chance Monday to vote on the tax-cut deal struck by President Barack Obama and Republicans, but whatever the outcome of the test vote, the White House expects the bill to pass by year's end. "Everybody understands what it would mean for The Economy if we don't get this done," Obama adviser David Axelrod said Sunday. The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said a "good cross-section" of senators in his party are ready to accept the de...

Tax Deal Faces First Vote; What Should Congress Do?
What is this? The Senate this afternoon is expected to hold the first in a series of votes on the tax deal agreed to last week by President Obama and Republican leaders in Congress. As The Washington Post writes this morning, "the latest tallies by Party Leaders suggest that the Obama-GOP package will clear the Senate with relative ease, Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-IL, told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday." President Obama former President Clinton at the White House on Frid...

The Trickle-Down Theory of Stimulus
just what we need, more Tax Cuts (photo: Steve Rhodes via Flickr) With the Great Bipartisan Tax Cut Compromise, President Obama has officially adopted the world view of Republicans. 1. No matter what the problem is, Tax Cuts are the solution. 2. Government cannot solve people’s problems. Our current problem is massive Unemployment, so the President and his team of bank-loving economic officials preach that Tax Cuts are stimulus. No matter that Tax Cuts for the rich have a poor payoff in stim...

Sarah Palin Warns of Death Panels From Debt Commission
Former vice-presidential Candidate Sarah Palin says the Death Panels that stirred up so much Controversy concerning the ObamaCare Legislation may be coming back. But, this time, she warns they are the work of the Bipartisan Debt commission. Writing in an opinion column in the Wall St. Journal, the former Alaska Governor highlights the cuts the commission proposed saying it “implicitly endorses the use of ‘death panel’-like Rationing.” The pro-life advocate says the commis...

Senate having trouble 'doing business in the modern era'
Last week, the U.S. Senate failed for the first time in 48 years to pass an annual bill authorizing money for national defense - not over disagreement about the part of the bill that would Repeal a ban against gays serving openly in the Military but on procedural grounds. Moderate lawmakers inclined to support the bill balked Thursday when a vote was called what they considered to be too soon. This Story Lawmakers predict Senate passage for tax package Senate having trouble 'doing business in...

Obama faces fight over missile defense as he presses New START ratification
With only days left in the lame-duck Congress, President Obama is pushing hard to accomplish something never before done by a Democratic president: successfully get a nuclear arms-reduction treaty through the ratification process. White House senior adviser David Axelrod said on "Face the Nation" on Sunday that "the support is there" to pass the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) if it comes to the floor. The White House said Friday that Obama is willing to postpo...

Get ready for the most conservative Congress ever
"I am hoping this won't be the last time we can do something for the country on a Bipartisan basis." -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, this past week Although the recent agreement between President Obama and Republican congressional leaders to extend all of the Bush Tax Cuts for two years has been strongly criticized by many liberal Democrats, it has received considerable praise from some prominent members of the Washington commentariat, including David Broder of the Washington Post a...

Kerry: Cancun talks reminder that U.S. should 'get back in the game' on climate change
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said Sunday that the modest international Climate Change agreement signed in Cancun, Mexico, this weekend is a reminder that the United States must “get back in the game” to reduce its domestic greenhouse Gas Emissions. Kerry, who co-authored a Climate Bill that stalled in the Senate this year, said last week that he expects a “huge energy debate” in the Senate early next year. In a statement on the Cancun climate talks Sunday, he called on his colleagues

A.M. Vitals: Sanofi Extends Offer for Genzyme; Few So Far Have Bitten
By Katherine Hobson New Deadline : Sanofi-Aventis extended the deadline for its $18.5 billion offer for the Boston Biotech Genzyme until Jan. 21, the WSJ reports. It’s unclear what will happen without a change in terms, however; only 0.9% of Genzyme shares have been tendered at the current $69-per-share offer, the paper says. The companies still differ in their assessment of how much Genzyme and in particular its potential MS treatment, Campath, are worth. Provision at Issue : Republicans...

Dems 'Feeling Positive' Tax Cut Compromise Will Move In The Senate Today
Senate leadership staff is 'feeling positive' that the Controversial Tax Cut deal worked out between President Obama and Republican leaders to extend the Bush tax cuts while providing for Unemployment Insurance will get the 60 votes required for Cloture today. Voting is expected to begin around 3 PM here in Washington, with the window remaining open through 5:30-6:00 to allow West Coast Senators time to cast their votes after returning from the weekend. A successful Cloture vote will open up 3...