As Crowley writes today on Time.com, health care is not dominating either party’s message heading into the midterms. But that doesn’t mean no one is talking about it. As Kate reports, Democrats are experimenting with novel ways of selling a skeptical electorate on the merits of the new law. Almost assuredly doomed Arkansas Senator …
blanche lincoln
What Would Shirley Sherrod Think About This?
Here’s a lesson in how frustrating it can be to observe the United States Congress at work.
Yesterday, the body once again failed to fund payments to black farmers discriminated against by the USDA two decades ago. The payments, which have broad bipartisan support and stem from an earlier class action lawsuit known as Pigford, have …
Whither Now Derivatives?
For anyone interested, tune in C-SPAN3 right now to watch the conference on the financial regulatory reform bill live. The House and Senate versions are already very similar but the largest sticking point remains language authored by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln requiring banks to spin off their in-house …
Welcome Back, Pragmatism
People are unhappy. They’ve been unhappy for a while: through Enron and the .com bubble bursting, 9/11, two wars, Katrina. They thought Barack Obama would bring change but few have felt the changes he’s wrought: who can imagine how bad the economy could have gotten sans stimulus? It feels bad enough as it is. Then came the Gulf oil …
Big Oil Blanche
We’ve yet to see how much of the anti-establishment talk is just talk and how much incumbents should be shaking in their power suits. Political report publisher Stu Rothenberg says the doomed-incumbent narrative has been overstated. “There’s evidence of Tea Party activism, of voters being suspicious of anointed candidates. But I …
Blanche Lincoln’s Derivatives Plan Survives (For Now)
Updated
So reports the Wall Street Journal. The Chris Dodd compromise I mentioned this morning is being dropped from financial reform as Democratic leadership in the Senate scrambles to line up final votes on amendments and a cloture motion this afternoon.
As Jay suggested the other day, there’s a political angle. Senator Blanche …
The Wave Only Gets Bigger
From the top of my Time.com story about last night:
This is how it goes in 2010 at the ballot box: old orders are upended, political lions become roadkill, chosen successors get left behind and the outsider, riding a wave of discontent, becomes the new front-runner.
In quick succession Tuesday night, the jittery inhabitants of
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Primary Season Heats Up
There are a lot of races this week — perhaps the busiest primary week since the 2008 season. Here’s a story from me about the five top Democratic primaries. Obviously, as I mention, there’s also the Rand Paul/Trey Grayson smackdown in Kentucky on the Republican side which it looks like Paul will likely win in a victory for the Tea …
The Call: Wall Street Sheriffs and Primary Pageantry
Michael and Jay join me for this week’s podcast. Check it out:
Lincoln and Specter: Insiders, Outside
With 14 days until their respective primaries, Blanche Lincoln and Arlen Specter are up with two new ads trying to encapsulate their candidacies in a concentrated dose and carry the bloodied incumbents into the general. Both Senators have flagging approval ratings, but are currently polling (plurality) leads against their primary …
Pass the Hot Derivative
On paper and in the public, most Democrats love Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln’s proposal to force banks to divest their derivatives operations. It’s populist and gets at the heart of the credit default mess that caused the financial meltdown. Heck, President Obama even warned
Strange Bedfellows in Arkansas
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_nFt6RcQEg]
While the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is busy airlifting executives into Washington to protest Blanche Lincoln’s derivatives plan, it is also singing her praises on Arkansas TV.
(via Salon)
Far From Arkansas, Union Advocates Praise Blanche Lincoln
The labor unions and the political left have made Blanche Lincoln, a centrist Democrat from Arkansas, their top primary target. The rhetoric supporting her opponent, Bill Halter, has come fast and fierce. On April 13, Moveon.org sent out an email that read like this:
Imagine you’re a giant Wall Street bank. Life is good. For years, you
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