Month: March 2010
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GOP backing away from repeal of health care reform
A week ago, I pointed out the political difficulties that repealing health care reform would pose for the GOP. Looks like they’re starting to catch on: Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC): “It may not be total repeal at the end of the day. It may be a series of fixes over the course of this bill
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Jonathan Rauch: Wrong on divided government
The Brookings Institution’s Jonathan Rauch argues in favor of divided government, which he argues will force the parties toward the center (via Brad DeLong): The most important political change of the past half century is the Democrats’ and Republicans’ transformation from loose ideological coalitions to sharply distinct parties of the left and right. In Washington,
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Crist-Rubio amateur theater criticism
This passage from the New York Times report on yesterday’s Crist-Rubio debate is a case study in why I avoid debate commentary: [Crist] looked most frustrated, frowning noticeably and complaining, when the Fox News moderator, Chris Wallace, cut him off from talking about his mixed record on taxes. Mr. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants,
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Twitter roundup
From my Twitter feed: –The most cynical editorial of all time? -As James Taranto points out, ABC News distorted Sarah Palin’s “crosshairs” graphic by suggesting she put Dems’ pictures inside -Orrin Hatch is a giant hack — he and other leading Republicans previously supported an individual mandate for health insurance -Gallup finds no Obama approval
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Public opinion on health care 2014-
Paul Waldman responds to my op-ed on Tapped: Near the end of the piece, Nyhan says, “Even after the insurance expansion is complete, it’s not clear that direct contact will correct the public’s mistaken beliefs — remember the town hall participant who told a Republican congressman last summer to “keep your government hands off my
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The public option misperception?
Via my friend Ben Fritz, a Los Angeles Times reporter tries and fails to convince a protestor that health care reform has no public option: Outside the fieldhouse, Mike Moehlenhof, a 24-year-old college student majoring in accounting, carried a “tea party” sign. Asked about the new law, he said he was displeased that it contains
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Twitter roundup
From my Twitter feed: -NYT’s Tom Friedman suggests redistricting reform will reduce polarization but the evidence isn’t clear -NYT op-ed claims primary reform is a “fix” for polarization but political science research finds modest effects -Contrary to online speculation, Gallup finds no Obama approval bump from health care reform -Gallup poll allegedly showing a “turnaround”
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New York Times op-ed on health care reform myths
I have an op-ed in the New York Times today on myths about health care reform — here’s how it begins: At the White House signing ceremony for health care legislation on Tuesday, President Obama declared, “In a few moments, when I sign this bill, all of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront
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GOP control of Congress doesn’t help Obama
Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza is floating another silly up-is-down argument about how President Obama would benefit from Republican control of Congress: How would the health care fight have played out differently if Republicans were in control of the House? It’s impossible — though fascinating — to game out what might have happened but what’s
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The difficulties of repealing health care reform
It looks like Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) and the other Republicans promoting repeal of the health care reform bill need some civics lessons. Here are the last four tweets to Inglis’s Twitter account in chronological order (via Steve Singiser): -What do you do when Congress passes a bad bill? You get a new Congress to