Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), responding to bipartisan dissatisfaction with the bill unveiled by Max Baucus (D-MT), blamed the Democrats. They could have come up with a better bill that everyone would have liked if they had just had more time, he complained. All they needed was two more weeks and they could have produced a truly bipartisan bill. They weren’t given enough time; the Democrats were rushing...

One of the many under-reported stories in our nation’s media are U.S. plans to build a number of new military bases in Colombia and expand others around the region. This article by Angel Guerra Cabrera from Mexico’s La Jornada reflects the views of a huge swath of Latin American opinion – and it’s anything but music to U.S. ears. For La Jornada, Angel Guerra Cabrera writes in part: “Over...

Congratulations to Americans Against Food Taxes for producing a political issues ad that is accurate. The group opposes a one-cent per-ounce tax on sugary soft drinks that Congress is eyeballing to generate more revenue. The ads claim the regressive tax would hit those who least can afford it the most. On the flip side, sugar tax advocates say the products they are targeting pose a significant contributor to...

How did Rep. Joe Wilson yelling “You lie!” to President Barack Obama REALLY come about? Saturday Night Live, on its new Thursday show, has you this now-it-can-be-told this-just-in account: h/T Huffington Post

If your foes insist there’s an elephant in the room and it isn’t the elephant that symbolizes their party, how does it help you to keep raising the issue of the supposed elephant in the room? This was an issue big in the beltway on talk radio. Average Americans aren’t heatedly discussing it at the cooler (if those still exist) or Starbucks (if they can still find one).

Two cartoons on racism: RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner These cartoons are licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Max Cleland’s new book, Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed, and Karl Rove, has an October 6 publication date. The AJC’s Political Insider, Jim Galloway, has been paging through it: Cleland rose in Georgia politics in large part because of that irrepressible grin and a persona that beamed indefatigable optimism. No little grenade was going to stop him. “Heart...

The House has followed the example of the Senate in denying funding to ACORN because of the recent scandal involving then seeming to aid people in tax fraud and importing sex slaves. The Senate vote was 83-7 while the House vote was 345-75. In both cases the 82 members who voted to keep funding ACORN were from the liberal wing of the Democratic party. In both cases the vote will not take effect until the bills...

Here is a roundup of analysis and commentary about the health care reform bill prepared by Max Baucus and the Gang of Six on the Senate Finance Committee. Pretty much nobody likes the bill. Baucus scraps a “simple employer mandate that forces every employer over a certain size to provide health-care insurance or pay a small fee,” and replaces it with a “free rider” provision, which...

I very nearly didn’t write this column, given some of the recent partisan acrimony over web voices who would never utter a word regarding the Obama administration being wrong about anything or acknowledge that a Republican could ever have a good idea, but I refuse to play that game. While there has been precious little to praise the President over on the domestic front, when he does something right I like...

In what it is already proving to be a controversial decision, President Barack Obama announced that he is scuttling the Bush administration’s plans for a Poland and Czech missile defense system and insteady opting for a different “redesigned plan” — a major foreign policy reversal for an administration that has been both praised (mostly on the right) and criticized (mostly on the left)...

Translation: cut away all the spin, folks, you’re facing the “toughest midterm elections…ever.” Is 2010 slated to be another 1994?

Guest post by Devin Stewart Devin Stewart is Director of the Global Policy Innovations program at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. In this capacity, he edits Policy Innovations and directs several projects on business ethics, trade, and media. He is also a Truman National Security Project fellow. Previously, he was Assistant Director of Studies and Japan Studies Fellow at the Center...

Can you imagine the cries of outrage and gales of mocking laughter from the right if they had heard complaints like this after the huge anti-war demonstrations in the former administration?

Is it time to, “completely forget the classic Left-Right dichotomy and apply what we’ve discovered about left- and right-handers to today’s problems?” In this tongue-in-cheek article from Frederico Bastiao of Portugal’s Jornal de Negocios, a completely new way of addressing the world’s problems needs to be considered. For the Jornal de Negocios, Frederico Bastiao writes...

The man who received 345,937 votes (and $11.6 million of health lobbyist donations), has overruled Barack Obama, the choice of 69,498,215 Americans, who presented his proposals to a joint session of Congress last week. President Baucus’ plan, which omits a public insurance option and other key elements favored by the occupant of the White House as well as other Congressional committees, is seen as holding...

John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune This cartoon is copyrighted and is licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Like this one: As a result of the right’s preemptive strike on the racial front, liberals have remained dangerously silent in the face of the most egregious acts of racism against Obama to date. It is for this reason that Representative Joe Wilson could heckle Obama during his Congressional address and only be challenged for his rudeness rather than his racism. Although he has received a formal reprimand...

The Politics of Race — Flames Fanned by a Former President by Michael Reagan The Democrats, led by certain members of Congress and former President Jimmy Carter, have developed a new tactic to dismiss growing displeasure with President Obama’s policies. As his approval ratings continue to drop, hesitancy over health care has snarled the plan’s progress, and tens of thousands marched on Washington this...

How many times can I write about Rush Limbaugh hitting a new low? So I’ll let direct you to Megan McArdle, Andrew Sullivan, Dallas Morning News columnist Rod Dreher, and Conor Friedersdorf, let them do it. And you can find some others on this page. I’ll just say: “Ditto.” His fans will always insist, “You don’t get Rush.” Or “Rush was only joking.” Or...

Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Ever since the collapse of the mighty Soviet Union, the doomsayers are having field day predicting the break-up of India and Pakistan. Last year, a leading Russian political analyst stated that the economic turmoil in the USA had confirmed his long-held view that the country would divide into separate parts. Cashing on this phobia, Slate offered last month a “week-long thought experiment” on “the...

Justin Elliott at Talking Points Memo interviewed her earlier today. She compared herself to Nelson Mandela and accused Judge Clay Land of treason. No point in trying to quote from the TPM piece. I wouldn’t know which part to choose. Just read it. It’s jaw-dropping.

As I wrote yesterday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates planned to address the Air Force Association (AFA) today. U.S. News & World Report compared Gates’ appearance at the AFA, an association “made up in part of retired pilots and Air Force brass who were shocked when Gates last year fired the Air Force secretary and chief of staff over reports of a nuclear mishap,” and who were further shocked...

McLEAN, Va. — Will the bitter, smoldering feelings let loose by Washington’s health care fight ricochet across the Potomac River and decide Virginia’s race for governor? Will a Republican be able to escape his right-wing record and his incendiary past writings to rebrand himself as a pragmatist? The battle for the Virginia statehouse always gets outsized national attention because of...