Top Items:
New York Times:
Obama's Health Care Speech to Congress — Following is the prepared text of President Obama's speech to Congress on the need to overhaul health care in the United States, as released by the White House. — Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members of Congress, and the American people:
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Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
BREAKING: The News in the Speech — Looks like there's some news in the speech after all. Quite a bit. — On the policy front, President Obama tonight endorses, clearly and unambiguously, a requirement that everybody obtain insurance—that is, an individual mandate. He has not done that before, not this explicitly.
CNN:
Obama: 'If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we will call you out' — The White House has released excerpts of President Obama's address to Congress tonight:
WhiteHouse.gov Blog:
THE OBAMA PLAN: STABILITY & SECURITY FOR ALL AMERICANS — “It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance to those who don't. And it will lower the cost of health care for our families, our businesses, and our government.”
Discussion:
TalkLeft, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Moderate Voice, Ezra Klein, Open Left, msnbc.com and Seeing the Forest
The Politico:
Obama: ‘Now is the time’ — Declaring “now is the time to deliver on health care,” President Barack Obama on Wednesday night will challenge supporters and critics alike to work toward a bill that will protect Americans who have insurance, provide coverage to those who don't and curb the growth of health care costs.
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
Reaction to Obama's Speech — President Obama gave a very powerful speech making his case for health care reform. Watching Republicans confused as to whether they should stand and applaud various lines was telling. He had them completely off balance. — Of course, the line every pundit …
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:High Stakes Speech Live Blog, Pt. 3
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Associated Press:
Obama heckled by GOP during speech to Congress — WASHINGTON — The nastiness of August reached from the nation's town halls into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as President Barack Obama tried to move his health care plan forward. — South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson shouted …
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
A voice from the floor on illegal immigrants: ‘Lie’ — One of the most persistent conservative concerns about health care legislation is that it will provide health care to illegal immigrants — and the heated claim spilled onto the floor of President Obama's address to a joint session …
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
“You Lie!” [Video] — The member of Congress who yelled that the president was a liar during the speech was Rep. Joe Wilson (R) of South Carolina. Here's his official website. — I can't think of anything like it in recent history. Here's the video (particularly note Pelosi's reaction.)
Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blog:
The guy who yelled “You lie!” — ... was Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), according to my colleague Patrick O'Connor. — post comment | … Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1) — He didn't have to remind us. — @8:47 There you go misrepresenting President Obama's speech.
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Our One-Party Democracy — Watching both the health care and climate/energy debates in Congress, it is hard not to draw the following conclusion: There is only one thing worse than one-party autocracy, and that is one-party democracy, which is what we have in America today.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Corner on National …, Reason, American Power, No More Mister Nice Blog, Power Line, Cato @ Liberty, distributedrepublic …, Jules Crittenden, The Peking Duck, Don Surber, Cafe Talk Aggregator, Babalú Blog, Liberal Values, Neptunus Lex, Fausta's Blog, Sister Toldjah, The League of Ordinary …, Pundit & Pundette, NewsBusters.org, The Atlanticist, Environmental Capital, Climate Progress, Shot in the Dark, Gawker, The Moderate Voice, Greg's Opinion and A Conservative Shemale
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Jonah Goldberg / The Corner on National Review Online:
Thomas Friedman is a Liberal Fascist — By: Jonah Goldberg — Mark beat me to it, but I must put in my two cents. Thomas Friedman writes: … So there you have it. If only America could drop its inefficient and antiquated system, designed in the age before globalization and modernity and …
Kenneth Anderson / The Volokh Conspiracy:Thomas Friedman, For One, Welcomes Our New Chinese Creditor Overlords …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:FRIEDMAN PONDERS ‘ONE-PARTY DEMOCRACY’.... I'd overlooked Thomas …
Discussion:
The League of Ordinary …
Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:
GOP Lawmaker's Graphic Sex-Bragging Caught On Tape — We've all seen those stories where a careless politician gets a little too candid when speaking into a hot mic. But this one's really in a whole different league. — [RELATED SLIDESHOW: TPM'S HISTORY OF THE SEX-SCANDALOUS FALL OF THE MODERN CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT]
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Shelby Grad / L.A. Now:
O.C. Assemblyman Duvall resigns amid recorded sexual comments — Orange County Assemblyman Michael Duvall, who was caught on an open mike making sexual comments, resigned today. — “I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, FishBowlLA, Gawker, Pam's House Blend, D-Day, TPMMuckraker, Ben Smith's Blog and On Deadline
Jim Newell / Wonkette:Vulgar CA Assemblyman Caught On Open Mic Bragging About Various …
Discussion:
pandagon.net
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
White House talking points blast Palin — A source sends on the talking points the White House is circulating to allies in advance of President Obama's speech, most of them reiterating familiar themes of momentum and security. — But the White House has also chosen specifically to focus …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Don Surber, Taylor Marsh, The Washington Independent, Weekly Standard and Weasel Zippers
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Sam Youngman / The Hill:Obama: I was too ambiguous on healthcare reform
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
Drudge Report:
WHIP COUNT: DEMS LACK THE VOTES — At least 44 more moderate Members of the Democrat Caucus have gone on the record in opposition to the current health care bill in the House, a Hill source claims. Likewise, at least 57 liberal Members of the Democrat Caucus have gone on the record saying …
Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:
Go, Hillary, Go! — The boss hears from two sources that Hillary Clinton is considering stepping down as Secretary of State this fall in order to run for Governor of New York.
Discussion:
Gawker
Amy Gardner / Washington Post:
After Thesis Uproar, McDonnell's Strongly Worded Comments on Gays Resurface — ‘Homosexual Conduct’ Comments ‘Irrelevant’ to Campaign, He Says — In January 2003, then-Del. Robert F. McDonnell helped gavel in one of the most extraordinary judicial reappointment hearings in Virginia history …
Discussion:
National Review Online, Daily Kos, Power Line, All Spin Zone, NewsBusters.org, Taylor Marsh, Salon, DCist, Below The Beltway and The Daily Dish
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Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Analysis: Two precedents in jeopardy — Analysis — If supporters of federal curbs on political campaign spending by corporations were counting on Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., to hesitate to strike down such restrictions, they could take no comfort …
The Huffington Post:
GOP Picks One-Time “Birther” To Rebut Obama's Health Care Speech [UPDATED] — UPDATE: An eagle-eyed reader points out that Boustany, after espousing his “Birther” views on camera, below, caved and retracted his statement on a Louisiana KPEL radio show. — Louisiana Rep. Charles Boustany …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Washington Independent, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Truthdig, AMERICAblog News, Gawker, Daily Kos and MyDD
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Kennedy Letter to Obama: At Stake Is the Character of Our Country — At the end of President Obama's speech tonight, he read from a letter Ted Kennedy wrote to him in May, but which was only delivered upon his death. — “For me, this cause stretched across decades,” Kennedy wrote.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Penny Starr / CNSNews:
Obama Pitched Universal Health Care to Students in Meeting Prior to His Speech on Education — (CNSNews.com) - Prior to his nationally broadcast speech to students on Tuesday, President Barack Obama made a pitch for health care reform in a discussion with 40 freshmen at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va.
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
GOP plans quiet demonstration during president's speech — Tonight some House Republicans are planning to attend the president's address to a joint session of Congress carrying copies of GOP health care bills. If the president says, as he has done on many previous occasions …
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