Mori Dinauer

Do centrist/moderate/conservative Democrats worry that blocking the public option in health-care reform could cost them re-election next year? Blanche Lincoln‘s constituents, for example, are in favor of the public option, and seem willing to punish her for voting against it. Moreover, the notion that the public option is more important than bipartisanship has started creeping […]

Seems George Soros is dumping millions into an “Institute for New Economic Thinking” that will “take back the economics profession from the champions of free-market zealotry who have dominated it for decades.” That ought to keep the economic right wing busy for a while. It’s worth repeating that it’s precisely because the once-dominant free-market fundamentalists […]

I’m not sure what the story is in this Washington Times piece that details the Obama White House’s showering of perks on big campaign donors. Is it a bit slimy? Sure. Is it uniquely slimy? Not so much. I think Michael Scherer is right: If Obama would just acknowledge that politicians have no choice but […]

Even though the public option is already a fairly big compromise on what should be a much more liberal health-care reform bill, that doesn’t mean the “strong” version of it will pass in the House, much less the Senate, where killing it isn’t so much a function of a coherent objection to the provision, but […]

Rather than making health-care reform contingent on an idea supported by one senator, Majority Leader Harry Reid has done the right thing and included an opt-out public option in the Senate’s health-care reform bill, something that virtually all of his caucus can agree to. In fact, Reid doesn’t even appear to have submitted a plan […]

Perhaps the highs and lows of international diplomacy just aren’t interesting enough for segments of the press, which is why the “where is Richard Holbrooke?” question gained some currency after Sen. John Kerry‘s breakthrough earlier this week. But sometimes there just isn’t any real palace intrigue, and Holbrooke’s absence could be explained by fairly mundane […]

Just so we’re clear, Obama shutting out Fox News is some combination of a) tearing up the Constitution and Bill of Rights, b) the brutal thuggery of “Chicago-level politics,” c) censorship and an abuse of power, or d) a litmus test for executing people. Don’t say we weren’t all warned. I believe that under very […]

John Kerry is rightfully receiving accolades for successfully getting Hamid Karzai to agree to a runoff election to address the clear irregularities in the recent Afghan elections. But at National Review, this diplomatic victory is an excuse to bash Richard Holbrooke and describe meaningful small-d democracy promotion as “bringing around Hamid Karzai to the Obama […]

Perusing the numbers in the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, Greg Sargent notices that Democrats are favored over Republicans by 51 to 39 percent — nearly the same deficit that preceded the 2006 and 2008 elections. And while Democrats and President Obama have taken hits in their approval ratings, congressional Republicans only manage to earn […]

It might not be as amusing as a practical joke, but according to Politico, the Obama administration is planning to deal with the Chamber of Commerce with the time-honored tactic of cutting out the middleman. This shows a White House that is very flexible with how it neutralizes opposition. The CoC approach obviously would not […]