Friday News Roundup - Domestic

Friday News Roundup - Domestic

President Obama traveled to Kansas to make a speech on the economy where he warned of rising wealth inequality and criticized Republicans for believing in "trickle-down" economics; Congress battled over how to pay for an extension of the payroll tax cut; and the Department of Health and Human Services overturned an FDA decision to make the "morning-after pill" available without a prescription. David Leonhardt of The New York Times, Laura Meckler of The Wall Street Journal and John King of CNN join guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week's top national news stories.

Newt Gingrich takes the lead for the Republican presidential nomination in the key states of Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida. Rival Mitt Romney launches attacks on his policy positions and personal behavior. President Obama criticizes a Republican filibuster of his choice to head a new federal consumer protection agency. He also defends his administration's decision to block the FDA plan to allow unrestricted sales of the "morning-after" pill. With a week to go before the planned holiday recess, the Senate rejects both Republican and Democratic plans to extend the payroll tax cut. And a judge sends a tough message: former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich gets fourteen years in prison on federal corruption charges. David Leonhardt of The New York Times, Laura Meckler of The Wall Street Journal and John King of CNN join guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week's top national news stories.

Guests

David Leonhardt

Washington bureau chief, The New York Times.

Laura Meckler

White House correspondent, The Wall Street Journal.

John King

anchor of CNN's John King, USA, and chief national correspondent.

Comments

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kathleen wrote:
"Even my die hard Dem 85 year old mother said that she would consider voting for Romney. He would really give Obama a run for the spot"
So THAT's where you get it from!
Seriously, I hear Democrats on this board, other boards, and in the MSM now pushing Romney for all they're worth.
That tells me they are scared to death of Gingrich.

December 9, 2011 - 12:16 pm

According to the Post article yesterday, the "secretive practice" of dumping soldiers' ashes in landfills ENDED in 2008 -- something your pundits completely neglected to mention. Anyone unfamiliar with the story would assume it's the current administration who can't manage the military, when in fact it was the Bush administration -- yes, indeed, those same folks who kept claiming they loved the military but kept treating them all like dirt -- who was at fault here. BAD job, DR Show!

It would behoove you to post or announce a correction tomorrow, eh?

December 9, 2011 - 12:20 pm

John...no way would I vote for Romney. Could hardly stomach working for sit on the fence Obama (watched him in the Senate) but no way could I get on Clinton's bus..she voted for the Iraq war resolution. Never going to get Nader...so yes I settle and work my ass off for candidates. Hope to see Elizabeth Warren run in 2016.
Romney would give into the 1% even more than Obama if anyone could imagine that

December 9, 2011 - 12:21 pm

The DR Show describes John King as anchor of CNN's John King, USA, and chief national correspondent, but they forgot to list his credential as POTUS Obama's Chief Defender from attacks by his political opponents, in the middle of a reelection campaign. King has zero credibility as a politically neutral news anchor, but then again Rehm has zero credibility as a politically neutral news round-up host.

"Doing his part Thursday was CNN's John King who proudly declared on the program bearing his name, "Point, set, match Obama" (video follows with transcript and commentary):"

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/12/09/john-king-calls-po...

December 9, 2011 - 12:23 pm

kathleen, please learn to either type or write. your comments are unintelligible!

December 9, 2011 - 12:25 pm

kathleen wrote:
"Never going to get Nader...so yes I settle and work my ass off for candidates. "
December 9, 2011 - 11:21 am
--------------------------------------------------------

Ralph Nader is your dream candidate and POTUS? Wow! Nader is unsafe at any speed.

December 9, 2011 - 12:26 pm

johnandere wrote:
"That tells me they are scared to death of Gingrich."

Right on.

Welcome aboard johnandere!

December 9, 2011 - 12:26 pm

monte,
The implication in your comments about all the waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicaid and Medicare systems is that all the fault lies at government's door. Now you're (note the correct spelling) a bit delusional, aren't you?

The "system" is complex and made up of many players and factors besides the government. IF patients didn't insist on unnecessary care and IF doctors didn't feel compelled to acquiesce and IF this country's political system could actually allow for some rational, fact-based, adult discussion about end-of-life care . .. why, 20% of that waste you so decry would be taken care of.

December 9, 2011 - 12:34 pm

embo wrote:
"According to the Post article yesterday, the "secretive practice" of dumping soldiers' ashes in landfills ENDED in 2008 -- something your pundits completely neglected to mention. Anyone unfamiliar with the story would assume it's the current administration who can't manage the military, when in fact it was the Bush administration -- yes, indeed, those same folks who kept claiming they loved the military but kept treating them all like dirt -- who was at fault here. BAD job, DR Show!"
-----------------------------------------------------------

What are you babbling about? The USAF disposing of cremated unidentified bone fragments is your idea of the Bush Administration "treating the military like dirt?" The Bush Administration did not "dump solders ashes in a landfill." The USAF did dump ashes of bone fragments in a landfill. Your hyperbole is manufacturing your phony outrage. At the end of the Bush Administration and currently during the Obama Administration, the USAF dumps cremated unidentified bone fragments in polluted sea water. Happy?
---------------------------------------

"This week, after The Post pressed for information contained in the Dover mortuary’s electronic database, the Air Force produced a tally based on those records. It showed that 976 fragments from 274 military personnel were cremated, incinerated and taken to the landfill between 2004 and 2008."

"An additional group of 1,762 unidentified remains were collected from the battlefield and disposed of in the same manner, the Air Force said. Those fragments could not undergo DNA testing because they had been badly burned or damaged in explosions. The total number of incinerated fragments dumped in the landfill exceeded 2,700."

December 9, 2011 - 1:03 pm

embo wrote:
Now you're (note the correct spelling) a bit delusional.

Now I'm being corrected for spelling mistakes I didn't make. Talk about delusional. I don't dispute what you write except maybe that 20% figure and how it figures into my original post on w.f.a.

better read again
"Read what Obama's appointed official for Medicaid and Medicare said about the system. Is this something that should be expanded? If you do not believe this waste fraud and abuse is endemic in all big government bureaucracies your delusional. If you think politicians can in any way correct and fix these bureaucracies you are delusional. Protectors of the status quot will never quit and will outlast any opposition."

December 9, 2011 - 12:57 pm

I've been here, monte.
As I like to say, "I am ecgberht's brother from another mother".

December 9, 2011 - 1:00 pm

I did go back and look at the mentioned post. I can smell intelligence a mile away and brother you reek!

December 9, 2011 - 1:05 pm

FYI, working under contract and working for are essentially the same thing. Your paycheck comes with a different logo but the rules are the same.

The constitution delineates the proper role of government. You mean like Congress has the power of the purse? If so why do conservatives keep complaining that Obama hasn't sent a budget. Isn't Obama's job in this process to sign it or veto the bill not create the bill? Also can you tell me when we declared war on Afghanistan? Iraq? It is only Congresses power to do so and once done the President takes over as Commander-in-Chief. I remember President Bush saying we were attacking Afghanistan and Iraq and I remember Congress passing a bill that more-or-less said we will fund the wars, but I really don't remember the Declaration of War bill passing. The Constitution also says that there will be one representative for every 30,000 people as determined by the census. That one seems to have fallen by the wayside and, while not being a Constitutional Scholar, I don't see an Amendment changing it. Would it be ridiculous? Yes Unwieildy? Yes, but that's the way the constitution is written and according to your argument above the way it should be.

My point in this is that if you are going to fall back on the "It's not in the Constitution it shouldn't be done". Apply it equally and fairly and not pick and choose.

December 9, 2011 - 1:17 pm

"FYI, working under contract and working for are essentially the same thing. "
FYI, the FG (DOD) was neither necessary nor sufficient for the work that RAND did.
"The constitution delineates the proper role of government. You mean like Congress has the power of the purse? "
Absolutely. And Article 1 Section 8 spells out the responsibilities of Congress in how that money is to be spent.
"Also can you tell me when we declared war on Afghanistan? Iraq?"
We did not declare war. What is your point? Both are extra-Constitutional activity.
"The Constitution also says that there will be one representative for every 30,000 people as determined by the census. That one seems to have fallen by the wayside"
That's an interesting one. I'll research it and get back to you.
"My point in this is that if you are going to fall back on the "It's not in the Constitution it shouldn't be done". Apply it equally and fairly and not pick and choose."
I think I'm doing that. If you can point to a post that refutes that statement, have at it.

December 9, 2011 - 2:42 pm

Go ahead panel. Go ahead and write off Ron Paul.

But when he wins Iowa, I'm going to call in and laugh at you. I'm not kidding, I am. You are all such media prissies who always think you know what's going on and have the "right" perspective ... it's just freaking speculation. Giving Perry "another chance" John King? What meds does Big Pharma have you on?!?!? Have you seen the "Strong" ad? Because that automatically means he will end up with nothing. (please see Youtube video and # of dislikes on that video)

Ron Paul is the only one who has a chance to be able to start this country in the right direction again. We are in a sovereign debt crisis (whether you all will acknowledge it or not) and our dollar will likely fail in the next year, so what happens then? Do you THEN talk about all the crap the FED has been doing for the past century? Past 10 years? Past 30 years? I mean ... what is "news' today, it's such a JOKE.

December 9, 2011 - 3:20 pm

If Ron Paul is elected President on November 6th, 2012, Israel will bomb Iran on November 7th.
Just remember you heard it here first.

December 9, 2011 - 3:37 pm

Oh come on John, by the way is that your real name?.

Here is a very good Ron Paul ad. Maybe the country will be ready for Ron in a couple more election cycles too bad he won't be there but we do have Rand.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/ron-paul-runs-edgy-ad-iowa-hampshire-...

December 9, 2011 - 4:39 pm

"vi Wysong wrote:

In my experience as a deputy prosecutor enforcing paternity actions for 20 years, I found that younger girls rarely became pregnant by reason of relations with boys their own age, and that frequently abuse or rape was involved. To protect children it is important not to make the "morning after" pill available in a manner that simply permits those taking advantage of girls to cover their tracks and continue the abuse.
December 9, 2011 - 10:31 am"

Huh? You are nuts and living proof that our Criminal Justice System is unfixably broken.

How will she make an appointment to see a Doctor and get a prescription by the morning after?

What difference does the age of the Male make?

I take it that you prefer the 10 year old Girl go to Term so you can prove Paternity?

Of course you, like Twiggy Bush, are also opposed to condom use, because Girls will use them to prevent pregnancy and STDs permitting "those taking advantage of girls to cover their tracks and continue the abuse"?

Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com

December 9, 2011 - 5:04 pm

"Ferdnam wrote:

A quick question...
I have read the comments pages for a couple of weeks now...
Is there a reason why we are constantly confronted to the on-going argument between the two same people: Monte and Teece Bowman?
It is getting frustratingly tiresome...
A few others contribute, of course... But... Enough said!
December 9, 2011 - 10:32 am"

I suppose you are also of the opinion that both Political Parties are the same and therefore, support a Third Party or Staying Home on Election Day and thus electing Republicans?

Those Two Correspondents present Two clearly defined points of view, why don't you read them and make up your own mind?

Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
(The real Monte, not to be confused with the Fake one.)

December 9, 2011 - 5:14 pm

monte wrote:
"Oh come on John, by the way is that your real name?. "
No. My real name is "ecgberht".
I love Ron Paul ... at home.
Not so much outside the country (i.e. foreign policy). Many conservatives share my view. We recognize the quagmire that is our FG and our economy, but we also get something that I don't think Dr. Paul does; the world is too small to be involved on the limited basis that he would like.
9/11 demonstrated that.

December 9, 2011 - 5:35 pm

Thanks ecgberht.

December 9, 2011 - 7:00 pm

"Kathleen....
I've heard it said recently, and more by way of a joke actually....
That what we are seeing in the Republicans bases' refusal to get behind Romney is simply....what are the redneck masses to do. If their candidate is Romney, then their voting choice is between a Mormon and Black man."

TB:
You forgot to mention "or a Catholic". Newt converted to Catholicism.

December 9, 2011 - 7:18 pm

"Ferdnam wrote:

A quick question...
I have read the comments pages for a couple of weeks now...
Is there a reason why we are constantly confronted to the on-going argument between the two same people: Monte and Teece Bowman?
It is getting frustratingly tiresome...
A few others contribute, of course... But... Enough said!"

Well Ferdnam:

Start putting down more of your comments and invite some of your friends. We have plenty of room here. Nobody get left out here.

December 9, 2011 - 7:21 pm

johnandere wrote:" Many conservatives share my view."

Yes I know, it seems every conservative show I listen too, all the commentators need to proclaim what a nut they think Ron Paul is. I'm not really bothered by it.
When you use the abbreviation FG, without fail I never think of the word Federal first.

Hey Mchaun, looks like that dude Pink Floyd really did get evicted, hard to figure out what was going on there.

December 9, 2011 - 8:44 pm

I don’t know how it is possible that anyone can still put their faith in Wall Street and the private sector, per se, and remain inclined to blame government for everything, after so many instances of financial abuse over the last thirty years, ending in the ’08 financial collapse. The only thing government might be reasonably criticized for is buying into the Reagan-Thatcher supply-side revolution of 1980, which resulted in deregulating private industry, privatizing traditionally public industries (and still trying to), taking what was once a progressive tax base and making it more regressive, destroying our economy and much of the world’s economies by exporting “the Washington consensus” (Friedmanite free-market fiction meant to enrich corporations and financiers at the expense of people and social contracts everywhere), bailing private industries out when they fail, and then blaming “liberals” for it all when it takes a global dump. That would be the predominately Republican and conservative side of government. As for Medicare as an instrument of waste and fraud: the fraud is to be found in that perpetrated on Medicare by HMO’s and private, for-profit healthcare companies. Remember HealthSouth? Here’s an excerpt from Wiki: “HealthSouth agreed to pay the $325 million on December 30, 2004, in order to "settle allegations that the company defrauded Medicare and other federal healthcare programs."

December 9, 2011 - 8:47 pm

That brings up another issue relating to the essential roles of government: prosecution of corporate and financial fraud. The fact that 90+% of these cases (as above) are settlements that do not include admissions of wrongdoing does not mean that no wrongdoing occurred, nor is it an argument for tort reform; it means that our judicial system is not effectively prosecuting and deterring corporate and financial fraud, primarily because of the lack of resources and funding for the justice department. That doesn’t necessarily have to translate into more government, just a net transfer of financing from the defense industry to consumer protection. Maybe we could start filling up these private, for-profit prisons with the same privatization hawks that have created an environment ripe for corporate criminality, instead of slapping their wrists and letting them get back to business-as-usual—complete with a PR campaigns designed to direct attention away from legal agreements that preclude public disclosure, and toward “patient abuse” issues (flooding emergency rooms)—all funded by insurance premium increases, of course. (Kaiser has also done this—see “Making a Killing” for reference.)

December 9, 2011 - 8:48 pm

However, the abuse is not limited to our health care industry. Even with the recent Solyndra scandal (green energy): The whole procurement process (crony capitalism) and business model of “government-backed private industry” is a failed model of privatizing gains and socializing losses that might best be described as “Halliburton to the rescue.” The examples are too many to list. I doubt it would make any real difference to hardcore right-wingers, anyway. The main theme that caught my attention in this broadcast was the discussion of wealth inequality. Just to be clear, envy is not the source of anger for most people in America, as one “politically neutral” guest concluded (only in conservatives’ wildest conspicuous consumption, “America the meritocracy” mythological mindset): Rampant fraud in lending and selling Americans out to a global economy is the more likely place to look.

December 9, 2011 - 8:48 pm

gbloper,
Look at my response to your last post from last Friday the 2nd. The idea that "government is more effective" has been disproven time and time and time again. It was supposed to provide "effective", "reasonably priced" healthcare for seniors. The NYT has written that IT'S OWN DIRECTOR says it is FAILING as he leaves. USPS, bailed out by the FG, is dropping its overnight service because IT CANNOT COMPETE WITH PRIVATE INDUSTRY.
I think you think that if there were no more private industry, and the FG ran everything somehow the corruption would go away?
On the other hand, maybe you just post these ideas for a goof on all of us. For your own sanity, I hope that's what it is.

December 9, 2011 - 9:29 pm

"monte wrote:
...

Hey Mchaun, looks like that dude Pink Floyd really did get evicted, hard to figure out what was going on there."

That would be too bad, he made as much sense as some of the people who post here.

If what he said is true, then his was a real sad case and certainly worth hearing instead of the endless, smug cr_p from a lot of these Shadenfreude blowhards.

Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com

December 9, 2011 - 10:32 pm

mchaun wrote:" Shadenfreude blowhards."

As a former landlord, the last thing you want is an eviction, they are costly and counterproductive. I can only speak for myself and common sense, landlords bend over backwards to help the situation but in the end cannot afford to carry no matter how worthy or sad the situation the people involved forever. Of all the posts I have read here I cannot remember anyone seeking pleasure derived from the misery of others.

Explain?

December 10, 2011 - 12:32 am

The Diane Rehm Show is produced by member-supported WAMU 88.5 in Washington DC.