January 28, 2010
The Equal Branch
You know, this never crossed my mind that this would become an issue; tonight: a Supreme Court justice had a human reaction to a speech and people freaked out.
State of the Union: The Speech
There was a point in the speech tonight* that I liked where the president referred to the gridlock and paralysis of Washington, generally ascribed to as a sort of people’s “distrust” of the federal government. This article spelled it out well (tip: James Fallows), as did the president, toward the end of the speech. I particularly liked the admonition of Dems not to “run for the hills.” Ha! Don’t fear the people; get stuff done, and they might like you (a little tiny bit).
Some reaction from live bloggers:
Read it here; will post below when it’s available. Here is the video.
*Just heard on C-Span, Hillary Clinton was in London but it was Shaun Donovan, Housing and Urban Development secretary, who was asked to stay home in case of a disaster.
NPR: Part III of Behind the Bail Bond System
Part III of NPR’s look at the bail bond industry; the other two parts are here.
January 27, 2010
State of the Union Addresses Past
The American Presidency Project, a collaboration between University of California historians John Woolley and Gerhard Peters, has compiled what appears to be a complete history of State of the Union addresses (sometimes called joint session addresses) going back to President George Washington. Read the first president’s initial “message” to Congress, where he talks about hostile Indian tribes and the possible need to “punish aggressors.”
Health Care Polling
Much has been said and written about the demise in the popularity of health care reform, but a new Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that support goes up if people hear about its specific provisions:
“[M]ajorities reported feeling more favorable toward the legislation after learning about key elements such as the availability of tax credits for small businesses, the creation of health insurance exchanges, the inability of insurers to deny people coverage because of pre-existing conditions and the move to close the Medicare drug benefit’s ‘doughnut hole.'”
On the day of the State of the Union address, it’s striking that the American people still do not know how — or if — Congress will proceed on health care reform.