Posts Tagged ‘Max Baucus’
LiveBlog for Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in at 6:05am Pacific to talk about Obama’s Afghanistan speech, and about health care reform.
• Karl Frisch, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 7:05am Pacific to co-host Right Wing World.
• Hal Sparks joins us in studio at 8am Pacific for another edition of “Humpdays With Hal.”
• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 8:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform and Obama’s Afghanistan speech.
• Declaring “our security is at stake,” President Obama ordered an additional 30,000 U.S. troops into the long war in Afghanistan last night, nearly tripling the force he inherited but promising an impatient public to begin withdrawal in 18 months. The buildup will begin almost immediately and will cost $30 billion for the first year alone
• Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) asserted yesterday during a rancorous floor debate that President Obama’s health care reform will shorten the lives of seniors by cutting Medicare. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) decried such comments as scare tactics designed to kill legislation that he said would improve some benefits for seniors. At times, the debate recalled the raw charges and countercharges of the summer’s town hall meetings.
• Copies of e-mails between the White House party crashers and a Pentagon official undermine their claims that they were invited to President Obama’s first state dinner.
Tags: Afghanistan, Hal Sparks, Health Care Reform, Jan Schakowsky, John Yarmuth, Karl Frisch, Max Baucus, Media Matters for America, Pentagon, Tom Coburn, White House Crashers
Posted in liveblog | 261 Comments »
LiveBlog for Thursday, October 8, 2009
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
• Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) calls in at 6:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform and the economy.
• Rep. John Larson (D-CT), Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform and the economy.
• Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) calls in at 8:05am Pacific to talk about health care reform and the public option.
• Health care legislation shepherded by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) would expand coverage to 94% of all eligible Americans at a 10-year cost of $829 billion, congressional budget experts said yesterday, a preliminary estimate likely to power the measure past a major hurdle within days. The CBO added the measure would reduce federal deficits by $81 Billion over a decade.
• House Republicans failed yesterday for a third time to oust Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Rangel is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for his financial and fundraising activities.
• Opposition to President Obama’s health care overhaul has dropped dramatically in a matter of weeks, the latest AP poll has found. The public is split 40-40 on supporting or opposing the health care legislation. An even split is welcome news for Dems, as sharp improvement from September, when 49% said they opposed the Congressional proposals and just 34% supported them.
Tags: Barack Obama, Charlie Rangel, Chris Murphy, Eliot Engel, Health Care Reform, John Larson, Max Baucus
Posted in liveblog | 309 Comments »
LiveBlog for Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
• Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) calls in at 6:05am Pacific to talk about health care reform.
• House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) calls in at 6:35am Pacific to talk about health care reform.
• Karl Frisch, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 7:05am Pacific to help us with Right Wing World.
• Comedian Hal Sparks joins us in studio at 8:05am Pacific for another edition of “Humpdays with Hal.”
• The Senate Finance Committee yesterday rejected two amendments to include a government-run public health insurance option in the only compromise health care bill so far. The amendments were opposed by all 10 GOP-ers on the committee and a few Dems, including committee chairman Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.
• A powerful earthquake in the South Pacific hurled a massive tsunami at the shores of Samoa and American Samoa, flattening villages and sweeping cars and people out to sea, leaving at least 99 dead and dozens missing.
• The U.S. is speeding up its military withdrawal from Iraq, sending 4,000 more troops home next month. The reduced number of troops in Iraq marks the latest U.S. step in winding down the six-year war.
Tags: American Samoa, Hal Sparks, Health Care Reform, Iraq, James Clyburn, Karl Frisch, Max Baucus, Media Matters for America, Public Option, Ron Kind, Samoa
Posted in liveblog | 341 Comments »
LiveBlog for Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
• Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) calls in at 6:05am Pacific to talk about health care reform.
• Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) calls in at 6:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.
• Karl Frisch, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 7:05am Pacific for a live edition of Right Wing World.
• Comedian Hal Sparks joins us in studio at 8:05am Pacific for another edition of “Humpdays with Hal.”
• Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus yesterday unveiled changes to his compromise health care proposal intended to alleviate the concerns of fellow Dems as the panel began debating more than 560 proposed amendments to the measure. Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) both introduced amendments to include a public option in the Baucus plan.
• World leaders, including President Obama, converged yesterday in New York to focus on climate change, with the clock ticking down toward a summit this year in Denmark, where a global climate change pact is to be signed. Negotiations for the global pact have stalled and yesterday’s gathering was aimed at jump-starting those talks.
• Prodding Israel and the Palestinian Authority to restart talks aimed at a permanent resolution of their conflict, President Obama dropped a demand for an Israeli settlement freeze.
Tags: Allyson Schwartz, Barack Obama, Charles Schumer, Climate Change, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Hal Sparks, Israel, Jay Rockefeller, Karl Frisch, Max Baucus, Media Matters for America, Palestine
Posted in liveblog | 341 Comments »
LiveBlog for Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
• Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.
• Comedian Jeffrey Ross calls in at 8:30am Pacific to talk about his new book, “I Only Roast The Ones I Love: Busting Balls Without Burning Bridges.”
• Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, was revising his sweeping health care bill yesterday to address some serious concerns from fellow Dems about insurance costs. The changes possibly include cutting in half a penalty for people who don’t comply with a new requirement to purchase insurance.
• President Obama said yesterday that better economic days are coming thanks to innovation and some help from the government. Obama delivered a pep talk and a plug for his economic recovery plan yesterday at a community college in New York.
• A bill being offered in the House and expected to pass easily would provide 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits for more than 300,000 jobless people who live in states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5% and who are scheduled to run out of benefits by the end of September.
• People in Georgia are bracing for more rain today after a deluge flooded streets and homes, killing at least 6 six people yesterday. The governor has declared a state of emergency in the 17 counties hardest hit by flooding.
Tags: Barack Obama, Barbara Lee, Georgia Flooding, Health Care Reform, Jeffrey Ross, Max Baucus, Unemployment
Posted in liveblog | 195 Comments »
LiveBlog for Thursday, September 17, 2009
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Comedian John Fugelsang fills in for Steph today, with the Mooks sitting in as well!
• Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners calls in at 7:05am Pacific to discuss the need for more spirituality in the debate on health care reform.
• Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about accusations of racism against President Obama, and Fox News smearing ACORN.
• Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) calls in at 8:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.
• Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) unveiled the Senate’s version of health care reform yesterday. The plan would require all Americans to have health insurance, but lacks a public plan option or even a trigger for a public option.
• The White House says President Obama doesn’t believe he’s being criticized because of his race. They were asked about the topic following comments on Tuesday by former President Jimmy Carter. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says some people have disagreements with some of Obama’s decisions but that those concerns were not because of his race.
• ACORN, an advocacy group under fire after some employees were caught on camera appearing to advise a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp to lie about the woman’s profession to get housing help, said Wednesday it is ordering an independent investigation and is refusing new admissions into its service programs.
• Mary Travers of 1960’s folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary, has died, according to her publicist. She was 72.
Tags: ACORN, Barack Obama, Eric Boehlert, Gregory Meeks, Health Care Reform, Jim Wallis, Jimmy Carter, John Fugelsang, Mary Travers, Max Baucus, Media Matters for America, Robert Gibbs, Sojourners
Posted in liveblog | 239 Comments »
LiveBlog for Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
• Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) calls in at 6:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.
• MSNBC’s David Shuster calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about the heath care rallies over the weekend, and other news of the day.
• President Obama sternly warned Wall Street yesterday against returning to the sort of reckless and unchecked behavior that threatened the nation with a second Great Depression. Obama warned the financial titans that they could not count on any more bailouts.
• Senate health care negotiators said yesterday they’ve narrowed their differences on a host of difficult issues with just a day or so left to seal an elusive bipartisan deal that could change the course of debate over President Obama’s plans to overhaul health care. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) said he’ll have a formal proposal tomorrow to meet a deadline for moving ahead.
• House Dems reaffirmed plans to take up a resolution as early as today scolding defiant GOP Rep. Joe Wilson, who shocked colleagues by yelling “You lie!” during President Obama’s address to Congress last week.
• Patrick Swayze, the actor who danced his way into viewers’ hearts with “Dirty Dancing” and then broke them with “Ghost,” died yesterday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.
Tags: Barack Obama, David Shuster, Health Care Reform, Joe Wilson, John Sarbanes, Max Baucus, Patrick Swayze, Wall Street
Posted in liveblog | 229 Comments »
LiveBlog for Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
• The Rude Pundit (Lee Papa) calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about all the rudeness we missed while we were on vacation.
• In a speech that drew fire even before he delivered it, President Obama is telling the nation’s schoolchildren he “expects great things from each of you.” Obama is scheduled to deliver the talk from a school in Virginia today. Conservatives have urged schools and parents to boycott the address, saying that Obama is using the opportunity to “indoctrinate” their children.
• President Obama insisted yesterday “the time is now” for healthcare reform as he geared up for a major address to Congress tomorrow aimed at getting his top domestic priority back on track. “It’s time to do what’s right for America’s working families,” Obama told a wildly cheering crowd at a Labor Day picnic held by the AFL-CIO in Ohio.
• After a nearly 40-day recess that was anything but restful, House Dems are returning to work today still unsettled over pending health care legislation. Conservatives are still leery of supporting a government-funded insurance option and Progressives are still threatening to bring down the legislation if it does not contain a robust version of the public option.
• Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), who is the Senate Finance Committee Chairman, has circulated a new proposal that could breathe new life into health care reform. Baucus’ proposal does not include a public option, but calls for health care cooperatives to be included in health care exchanges.
Tags: AFL-CIO, Barack Obama, Health Care Reform, Lee Papa, Max Baucus, Rude Pundit
Posted in liveblog | 318 Comments »
LiveBlog for Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
• MSNBC’s David Shuster calls in at 6:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform, the Sotomayor hearings, and other topics of the day.
• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 7:30am Pacific to talk about health care reform.
• Comedian Margaret Cho calls in at 8:05am Pacific to talk about her new fall tour, her appearance on E!’s “Chelsea Lately” tonight, and her new Lifetime series, “Drop Dead Diva.”
• The battle to overhaul health care intensified yesterday, with President Obama accusing GOP critics of putting politics ahead of policy and a top GOPer saying Dems’ plans would undermine the country’s economic future.
• Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) said yesterday that a closed-door meeting between Dems and GOPers resulted in a tentative agreement on several substantive issues as part of what is considered the first possible bipartisan health care bill, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she was willing to limit a proposed tax increase after Dems threatened a revolt on the issue.
• The Obama administration’s annual midsummer budget update is sure to show higher deficits and unemployment and slower growth than projected in February, and that could complicate his efforts to get his signature health care and global-warming proposals through Congress. The release of the update has been put off until the middle of next month, giving rise to speculation they’re trying to delay the bad news until Congress leaves town on summer recess.
Tags: Barack Obama, David Shuster, John Yarmuth, Margaret Cho, Max Baucus, Nancy Pelosi
Posted in liveblog | 340 Comments »
LiveBlog for Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
• Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) calls in at 8:05am Pacific to talk about the economy and the stimulus.
• Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) calls in at 8:35am Pacific to talk about the economy and the stimulus.
• CIA Director Leon Panetta recently testified to Congress that the agency concealed information and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001, according to a letter from seven House Democrats to Panetta made public yesterday. The letter contained no details about what information the CIA officials allegedly concealed of how they purportedly misled members of Congress.
• House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said Tuesday he would consider supporting a second economic stimulus bill, but said people need to give the package that passed in February more time to work.
• Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) said yesterday that lawmakers still need to come up with $320 billion over the coming decade in taxes to pay for health care reform. The remaining cost of the bill would be paid for through savings in Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs.
• The leaders of the G-8 nations issued a joint statement last night expressing serious concerns about the post-election violence in Iran, as well as its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, but the G-8 will not push for new economic sanctions or tougher enforcement of those that exist, the Obama administration announced yesterday.
Tags: Barack Obama, CIA, Eliot Engel, G-8 Summit, Gregory Meeks, Iran, Leon Panetta, Max Baucus, Steny Hoyer
Posted in liveblog | 309 Comments »
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