Two black Congress members and a gay member were verbally abused by anti-health care reform protesters Saturday. Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia), said protesters Saturday repeatedly yelled "nigger" at him as he left a heath care meeting and walked to the Capitol. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said he too was called "nigger" as he walked to the Capitol for a vote and was spat on by a protester who was arrested by Capitol Police. Protesters also yelled "faggot" at Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is openly gay, as he left the same meeting that Lewis attended.
The House Rules Committee continued its session on the third floor of the Capitol, where the panel is tasked with setting the terms of Sunday's floor debate. House leaders have decided to take a separate vote on the Senate version of the health care bill, rejecting an earlier, much-criticized strategy that would have permitted them to "deem" the measure passed without an explicit vote.
In an NCAA tournament full of upsets, Northern Iowa took down No. 1 seed Kansas 69-67 Saturday night, becoming the first team to beat a No. 1 seed in the second round since 2004.
Bob Herbert: A story that is not getting nearly enough attention is the ruinous fiscal meltdown occurring in state after state, all across the country. Taxes are being raised. Draconian cuts in services are being made. Public employees are being fired. The tissue-thin national economic recovery is being undermined. And in many cases, the most vulnerable populations -- the sick, the elderly, the young and the poor -- are getting badly hurt. read more
Investopedia: A number of products designed to allow us to live "off the grid" are emerging, but despite the potential savings we could experience, how practical are they?
Jeffrey Scott Shapiro: A few months after American forces finally crossed into the border of the oppressed nation, President Bush told the National Endowment for Democracy that, "Iraqi democracy will succeed, and that success will send forth the news from Damascus to Tehran that freedom can be the future of every nation. The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution." He was right. read more
The Federal Reserve Board must disclose documents identifying financial firms that might have collapsed without the largest U.S. government bailout ever, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled Friday. "The American people have a right to know where more than $2 trillion of their money has gone," said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). read more
Seven years after the first bombs in the war to oust Saddam Hussein on March 20, 2003, the anniversary is passing with little notice among many Americans. "It slipped my mind," said Chris Skidmore to a reporter at a North Carolina mall. "I've been out of work since August of last year." Nearly 4,400 U.S. military personnel and at least 86,000 Iraqis have died there since the war began read more
The Boy Scouts of America has kept an extensive archive of secret documents that chronicle the sexual abuse of young boys by Scout leaders over the years. The "perversion files," a nickname the Boy Scouts are said to have used for the documents, may soon be revealed in an Oregon courtroom. "The Boy Scouts of America ignored clear warning signs that Boy Scouts were being abused," said attorney Kelly Clark, representing a man molested by a scout leader in the '80s.
Conservative talk show hosts and columnists have ridiculed an 11-year-old Washington state boy's account of his mother's death as a "sob story" exploited by the White House and congressional Democrats to defend their health care legislation. Marcelas Owens has been telling people in a Healthcare for America campaign about his mother losing her insurance and dying at age 27 of pulmonary hypertension. "Now this is unseemly, exploitative, an 11-year-old boy being forced to tell his story," said Rush Limbaugh. "And, I would say this to Marcelas Owens: 'Well, your mom would still have died, because Obamacare doesn't kick in until 2014.'" read more
Israeli settlement building anywhere on occupied land is illegal and must be stopped, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Saturday. During a high-profile West Bank visit, Ban was escorted to an observation point by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Ban said, "Let us be clear. All settlement activity is illegal anywhere in occupied territory and must be stopped."
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The machinery manufacturer Caterpillar said the health-care overhaul legislation being considered by the House would increase the company's health-care costs by more than $100 million in the first year. "We can ill-afford cost increases that place us at a disadvantage versus our global competitors," said the letter signed by Gregory Folley, vice president and chief human resources officer of Caterpillar. "We are disappointed that efforts at reform have not addressed the cost concerns we've raised throughout the year."
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe Friday, and things got a bit heated when he told Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan that her criticisms of President Obama and health care reform were some "of the most cliched, hackneyed assessments of this thing." read more
President Obama made his closing argument for the health care bill Friday, invoking the presidents who tried and failed before him, along with the spirit of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. "If you believe it is right you have to help me finish this fight," he told a raucous crowd at George Mason University. He emphasized the bill's provisions that would go into effect this year, including those banning insurers from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, dropping coverage when a person becomes ill or imposing annual or lifetime limits on care, requiring free preventive care and allowing children to stay on parents' policies into their 20s. read more
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is putting wavering House Democrats on advance notice: He'll use his senatorial prerogative to block the nominations of any lawmakers who change their votes from "no" to "yes" on health care should the president later tap them for a federal post. Just in case any of them are considering that an option should things not work out for them in the November elections. read more
