Seducing Olympia Snowe

Sep 30, 2009 - Quiz time: Which of the following provisions has been tucked into the most closely watched health-care bill on Capitol Hill thanks to Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine? Is it a) an annual checkup for every Medicare beneficiary, b) a special health-insurance marketplace in every state that would cater to the needs of small businesses or c) new tax credits to help modest-size firms buy coverage for their workers? The answer is all of the above. - 10 Comments

Vick turns tide against dogfighting

Sep 26, 2009 - Philadelphia Eagles Sign Michael Vick Maybe it was one of the times John Goodwin found a more receptive audience while lobbying politicians for stricter sentencing against dogfighting. Maybe it was one of the times a law enforcement training session was packed with police. Maybe it was while he was riding along on what is an increasing number of raids on dogfighting operations. - 13 Comments

The Frank Marshall Davis Network in Hawaii

Aug 20, 2009 - By Andrew Walden July 29, 2008 In a July 14 news release the “Honolulu Community Media Council” (HCMC) denounces Accuracy In Media and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for “shoddy journalism and smear tactics.” HCMC, headed by Chris Conybeare of the University of Hawaii, “finds” that “there is no substance to the claim” that “Frank Marshall Davis was a lifelong Communist and a mentor to (presidential candidate Barack) Obama.” Conybeare may be hoping that nobody else knowing the post-WW II history of Hawaii is willing to talk. Davis, it turns out, was just one member of a network whose works continue to exert influence to this day. Connecting the Dots A faculty member of the UH-West Oahu Center for Labor Education and Research (CLEAR), Conybeare is producer of a many-part PBS series on the history of labor organizing in Hawaii, focusing on the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). - 4 Comments

Using Up His Political Capital

Aug 15, 2009 - Obama's Push for Health Care Reform May Use Up His Political Capital The shift in public tone toward President Obama and his agenda raises fresh questions about the political capital he is expending to push through his top domestic priority, especially after he scored a hard-fought victory to get his $787 billion stimulus package passed. Barack Obama promised on the campaign trail to change Washington if elected president, and he rode a wave of support based partly on that pledge all the way to the White House. But change doesn't come cheap, and securing health care reform may wind up costing him much of that support -- known in Washington as political capital. - 11 Comments

Sasha and Malia used in ad campaign

Aug 11, 2009 - By Kate Kilpatrick and Ruth McCann Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, August 11, 2009 The posters went up last week, 14 in Union Station. On each of the large displays, a thought bubble rises up from a picture of a beautiful 8-year-old: "President Obama's daughters get healthy school lunches. Why don't I?" - 65 Comments