Dems Plan Rallies to Counteract Ugly Town Halls

(NEWSER) - President Obama was plainly itching for the chance to confront health reform critics at his town hall event in Montana yesterday but he was let down by a friendly audience that failed to ask enough tough questions, Michael D. Shear writes in the Washington Post. The president was only put on the spot twice, Shear notes, and neither time got the opportunity to publicly debunk some of the wilder claims about his reform plans. More»

(NEWSER) - The mob-like scenes at recent town halls are "something new and ugly," writes Paul Krugman, who notes that 2005's protests against Social Security privatization never saw baying crowds and congressmen hanged in effigy. The New York Times columnist is unconvinced that the mobs are in the pay of well-organized conservative groups. Rather, they're genuinely angry—and are nursing "the same cultural and racial anxiety that's behind the birther movement." More»

His mother had health insurance when she died, and it paid up

(NEWSER) - A recent book on President Obama’s mother undermines his oft-told story that his mother spent the final years of her life battling insurance companies over her medical bills. The book, by New York Times reporter Janny Scott, reveals that Ann Dunham actually had health insurance that readily paid her claims. She did have a dispute, but it was with her disability insurance, the Times reports. And Obama must have known that, because in one letter she turns the case over to “my son and attorney, Barack Obama.” More»

President thinks Republican ideas will look worse in the spotlight

(NEWSER) - President Obama threw Washington a curve yesterday when he invited the GOP to a televised bipartisan health care discussion, and even though he might wind up right back where he started, it’s a good move. “It is a call-the-bluff moment, with the president daring Republicans to put their cards on the table,” writes Steve Benen of Washington Monthly . The White House apparently believes Republican ideas will look worse in the daylight. More»

GOP, Dem leaders to hash out reform with president

(NEWSER) - President Obama will discuss the future of health care reform with both Republicans and Democrats in a televised meeting later this month. Obama is looking to make good on two campaign pledges that critics say he has neglected since taking office: engaging in meaningful bipartisan negotiations and doing so with unparalleled transparency. Obama has been criticized for not broadcasting the health care negotiations on C-SPAN, as he promised to do on the stump. More»