If Republicans suffered a devastating defeat this week with the passage of President Obama's health care reform bill, Mitt Romney was the biggest loser of all. While the 2012 White House hopeful declared that "President Obama betrayed his oath to the nation," even conservatives acknowledged that the individual insurance mandate Massachusetts Governor Romney signed into […]

After a year of rancorous debate, Congress has given its blessing to the final health care reform bill. As expected, the reconciliation fixes to the $940 billion package received exactly zero Republican votes, passing the House 220 to 207 and 56 to 43 in the Senate. In theory, the born-again deficit virgins of the GOP […]

I've long felt that George W. Bush's acceptance speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention was among the most arrogant and reprehensible in the annals of American political oratory. But now that his party's overheated rhetoric on health care has helped foment threats and violence, Bush's address in retrospect was a masterpiece of projection as […]

That 14 state attorneys general - 13 of them Republicans - have brought a lawsuit to stop the health care reform legislation signed into law Tuesday by President Obama is a perfect reflection of today's GOP. It not only confirms the Republican Party's longstanding mantra of "judicial activism for me, not thee." The suit, which […]

From the beginning, two great, largely unmentioned ironies hung over the contentious health care debate. The first elephant in the room (pun intended) is that health care is worst in those states where Republicans poll best. The second is that it will be blue state taxpayers helping fund the improvement of the dismal health care […]

After a year - decades, really - the debate over health care reform came down to a climactic vote in the United States House of Representatives. Many people of good faith in both political parties were separated by a genuine - and fundamental - ideological divide. But as their ferocity revealed, for the GOP the […]

Rule #1: No one displaying the Confederate flag gets to lecture any American about patriotism. Rule #2: For a Republican Party intent on co-opting the Tea Party protests it helped foster, silence is golden. So while Democrats Tim Ryan (D-OH), Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Barney Frank (D-MA) rushed to denounce the racist and homophobic slurs […]

When it comes to the health care reform bill, perfect is the enemy of good. But Republicans are the enemy of everything. And on Sunday, every member of the House GOP will likely vote against the final health care reform bill that will bring coverage to 32 million more Americans, end insurance company abuses involving […]

For many Republicans from Dixie, the old times there are not forgotten. But in equating the health care reform bill to the "Great War of Yankee Aggression," Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) has served up a double irony. For starters, Broun is among the growing legion of Congressional Republicans trying to kill Medicare through privatization. More […]

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates for the final health care bill are bringing smiles to Democratic faces. Over 10 years, the $940 billion package will cover 32 million more Americans while ending insurance abuses including rescission and the use of pre-existing conditions to deny coverage. But the ersatz deficit hawks of the Republican Party […]