You’d like to think that when the U.S. House passes a bill described as “historic,” it would be with a sizable majority. Not so the energy bill that passed today 219-212. “This is a revolution,” said co-sponsoring Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. The action keeps House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s promise to pass the bill by the Fourth of July, but so many questions remain as it moves to the Senate. Among them: Will it cost $175 per household (by 2020, according to CBO)? Or $3,100 per household (as the GOP contends, citing MIT data)? No surprise that Kansas Republican Reps. Todd Tiahrt, Jerry Moran and Lynn Jenkins voted “no” while Democrat Dennis Moore voted “yes.”
President Obama and the media looked pretty chummy at last week’s Radio and TV Correspondents Association Dinner. But the honeymoon officially ended at Tuesday’s press conference, says New York Daily News columnist Michael Goodwin, with the pointed questions about Iran and more and Obama’s sometimes testy responses. Goodwin writes: “The reality is that polls show rising doubt about President Obama’s handling of the economy and wide disapproval about exploding deficits. The reality is that even many Democrats worry the White House health plan is messy and unaffordable. The reality is that ranks of independents who voted for him find Obama far more liberal than they expected.” For Obama, it only gets harder from here, Goodwin notes.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s extramarital affair has 60 percent of South Carolinians ready for his resignation, according to a SurveyUSA poll. Larger majorities thought he had no right to disappear without informing the public (63 percent) or his staff (77 percent) of his whereabouts. The Charlotte Observer editorialized: “If you’re a governor, you do not go off without staying in touch with your office — whether you’re backpacking on the trail or bawling in Buenos Aires.” The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., stopped short of calling for Sanford’s resignation but called it “inexcusable” that he left the state vulnerable by refusing to “take the simple step of turning his authority temporarily over to the lieutenant governor while he was out of the country.”
The physicians skeptical about President Obama’s health care reform include Obama’s physician for the 22 years until he became president. “I’m not sure he really understands what we face in primary care,” Chicago internist David Scheiner told Forbes. He also was critical of Obama’s choice of former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be his secretary of Health and Human Services, because she once lobbied for the state’s trial lawyers. “He doesn’t see all the pain, it’s so tragic out here,” Scheiner said. “Obama’s wonderful, but on this one I’m not sure if he’s getting the right input.” Scheiner’s preference isn’t for a free market solution or for leaving the status quo alone but for “Medicare for all,” he said.
South Carolina Gov. Mark “Sanford admitted to having an affair in Argentina. I’m like, great, now we’re outsourcing mistresses.” — Craig Ferguson
“President Obama will throw out the first pitch at the All-Star game in St. Louis. That’s pretty cool. Yeah. But Joe Biden will be on hand to commit the first error.” — Jimmy Fallon
“Here’s a big story, ladies and gentlemen. Yesterday, there was an earthquake in Alaska. I’m kind of afraid to say anything.” — David Letterman
