COPENHAGEN — China’s climate negotiators have told Western counterparts they can’t agree to an “operational agreement” on climate change that President Barack Obama had hoped to bring home from Copenhagen –- and will push for a short, noncommittal collective statement at the end of the talks, according to American staffers briefed on the situation.It’s not [...]
Lieberman’s Ties to Ex-Party Frayed by His Use of Swing Vote – WSJ.com
December 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s use of his swing vote to help quash a proposed expansion of Medicare marked the latest act in his deteriorating relationship with the Democratic Party. Cheered nine years ago by Democrats as their vice-presidential nominee, Mr. Lieberman later left the party and now is an object of vilification among many in the [...]
John Bolton: Democracy Under Arrest – WSJ.com
December 16, 2009 By 1 Comment
Universal jurisdiction” sounds like a term plucked from obscure international law journals, but it has pernicious and profoundly antidemocratic consequences in the real world. A British arrest warrant, issued over the weekend in London for former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, shows precisely why. The warrant charged Ms. Livni—the current leader of the Knesset opposition—with [...]
Dean urges defeat of emerging health care bill – AP
December 16, 2009 By 2 Comments
Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean argued Wednesday that the health care overhaul bill taking shape in the Senate further empowers private insurers at the expense of consumer choice.”You will be forced to buy insurance. If you don’t, you’ll pay a fine,” said Dean, a physician. “It’s an insurance company bailout.” Interviewed on ABC’s “Good [...]
ObamaCare Goes Off Track – by Jacob Laksin
December 16, 2009 By 6 Comments
Can the Senate’s defectors derail the government takeover of health care?
Byron York: Why Democrats push health care, even if it kills them – Washington Examiner
December 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment
To some observers, the Democrats’ race to pass national health care seems irrational — even suicidal. Don’t party leaders understand how much the public opposes the bills currently on the table? Don’t they know that voters are likely to take their revenge at the polls next year? Given that, why do they keep rushing ahead? [...]
Ill. prison to get Gitmo detainees – AP
December 15, 2009 By 1 Comment
WASHINGTON – Taking an important step on the thorny path to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the White House plans to announce Tuesday that the government will acquire an underutilized state prison in rural Illinois to be the new home for a limited number of terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo. via [...]
Harassment across Arab world drives women inside – AP
December 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The sexual harassment of women in the streets, schools and work places of the Arab world is driving them to cover up and confine themselves to their homes, said activists at the first-ever regional conference addressing the once taboo topic. Activists from 17 countries across the region met in Cairo for a two-day conference ending [...]
Dems against Dems in health care vote struggle – AP
December 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON – The end game in sight, Senate Democrats coped with stubborn internal differences as well as implacable Republican opposition on Monday in a struggle to pass health care legislation by Christmas.A liberal-backed call to expand Medicare as part of the legislation drew strong opposition from Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. and quieter concerns from a [...]
