AARP COMES THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH?.... In August, at a town-hall meeting in New Hampshire, President Obama talked about the broad support that exists for health care reform. The coalition, he noted, included the American Medical Association and Americ...

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING.... Back in August, Jon Stewart did a segment on South Carolina, kicked off by a report about a South Carolinian who loved his horse just a little too much (twice). Stewart said, "We here...

THE LONG-SOUGHT, STILL-ELUSIVE GOP ALTERNATIVE.... When pressed on why Democrats are moving forward with a health care reform plan, while Republicans haven't offered a proposal of their own, GOP leaders will routinely say there are a handful of R...

MEDICARE PART E.... The first time I ran across someone calling the public option "Medicare Part E" was a month ago, when Mark Kleiman recommended it. Apparently, Thom Hartmann started using the same phrase in early September. And while we&...

CIRCUMVENTING THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.... The fall has not been especially kind to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It's lost some high-profile corporate members; its membership ranks have been exposed as exaggerated; and its leadership has been emb...

FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * It passed with zero GOP votes: "More than a year after the near-collapse of Wall Street plunged the economy into crisis, the House on Friday approved the most sweeping overhaul of...

BOEHNER'S VISION (OR LACK THEREOF).... House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has been wrong about every economic challenge of his entire political career, which was exacerbated by having helped cause the economic collapse and fighting like hell...

AN UNREASONABLE REQUEST.... Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) has received plenty of, let's call it, "feedback" from his far-right constituents in his conservative-leaning district. Despite being a top target next year, Perriello has refused to give up on...

ATTACKING THE WHITE HOUSE HOLIDAY CARDS.... I guess it was only a matter of time. Fox News had this report yesterday: A Republican lawmaker with a mission to save Christmas is aiming his latest salvo at President and first lady...

CAP AND TRADE POLLS WELL (FOR NOW).... The polls have been pretty consistent all year -- most Americans agree that a cap-and-trade bill is a good idea. Fifty-two percent of Americans said they support the proposed system to limit emissions,...