National Health Policy Reporter, Washington Post
PROFILE
Ceci Connolly
Guest
FROM Ceci Connolly
To the Point
Pelosi Confident on Votes to Pass Healthcare Reform President Obama has promised to outline what he wants for healthcare reform by this Wednesday. Yesterday, on ABC's This Week , Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that "the American people need" healthcare reform for both "health security" and "economic security." As to the risk for Democratic legislators, she said, "We're not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress. We're here to do the job for the American people." Ceci Connolly reports on healthcare policy for the Washington Post .
Which Way, L.A.?
House Democrats Unveil Healthcare Bill, Including Public Option President Obama pitched healthcare reform again today, this time to an audience of small business owners. Meantime, Democratic leaders in the House unveiled their compromise bill , including a government-run plan to compete with private insurance.
To the Point
House Democrats Unveil Healthcare Bill, including Public Option Earlier this week, it was the Senate . President Obama pitched healthcare reform again today, this time to an audience of small business owners. Meantime, Democrats in the House announced it will take up its own version of a government plan to compete with private insurance. Speaker Nancy Pelosi made compromises to get the votes of moderates in her own party. Republicans said her plan came "lurching out of the back rooms…like another freight train of big government with more mandates and more spending and that's not what the American people want in healthcare reform." With debate to begin in both houses, we hear the pros and cons of the "public option" and other issues. If Independent Joe Lieberman won't go along, will a filibuster kill healthcare reform in the Senate?
To the Point
Obama Enlists GOP Governors in Healthcare Debate The Obama White House is reaching out to prominent Republicans for support on healthcare reform. Former Senate Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, George Bush’s Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are among them, as is former Republican, now Independent, Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York. Meantime, some conservative Democrats have warmed to a "public option," not provided by Washington but by the 50 states. They didn’t think to do it all by themselves. Ceci Connolly reports on national health policy for the Washington Post .
To the Point
Barack Obama, the Middle East and Iran Israel and Hamas have rebuffed peace overtures, and the fighting in Gaza goes on, with President-elect Obama in the midst of choosing his foreign policy team . Israel says Iran is behind Hamas' rocket fire, and Obama today called Iran a "genuine threat" to America's national security. But he also repeated his campaign pledge to rely on diplomacy in the region, adding that "my national security team is a reflection of that practical, pragmatic approach to foreign policy." We hear about his most likely advisors. Will they open up to Arab and Muslim interests or continue the hard-line, pro-Israel line of the Bush Administration?
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To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?