McCain: Afghan Call Can't Wait

Not so fast, say top senators as White House pushes ahead

(NEWSER) - President Obama's elite advisers poured onto the Sunday shows to beat the health reform drum today—and ran right into a wall of Republicans, euphoric from Tuesday's victory in Massachusetts. Even as David Axelrod emphasized that Americans "want Brown to work with us and not be obstructionist," GOP leaders from Mitch McConnell to Orrin Hatch to John McCain had a singular message for the left: Start over. Snippets: More»

Senator respects 'First Amendment rights of every member of my family'

(NEWSER) - John McCain's just fine with wife Cindy's stance (or revised stance? ) on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, telling Meet the Press that "I respect the First Amendment rights of every member of my family." The missus McCain backtracked on her appearance in an ad calling for the repeal of DADT, later tweeting, "I stand by my husband's stance on DADT." Which the Arizona senator clarified as, "a complete and thorough study and review of the effects on battle readiness and morale.” Elsewhere on the Sunday dial: More»

Same Republicans Supported 2003 Medicare 'Giveaway'

(NEWSER) - Democrats are calling out Republican opponents of the health care reform bill as hypocrites, pointing out that 24 of them voted for the major Medicare expansion six years ago, when they controlled the Senate, the House, and the White House, that has added tens of billions of dollars to the deficit. Unlike the Democrats' bill, the 2003 Medicare drug program had no tax or spending offsets at all, making it wholly deficit-financed. Where were the deficit hawks then, the Dems want to know. More»

White House adviser softens rhetoric in health care spat

(NEWSER) - David Axelrod and Howard Dean took their health care smackdown to the Sunday dial today, with Axelrod conceding that OK, maybe the former Vermont gov isn't crazy. “I didn't say he was insane," the White House adviser told This Week. "“What I said was, it would be insane to pass on an opportunity" to pass health reform. The former DNC chair responded that the complicated bill pending in the Senate would be a prime GOP target, and bemoaned the Medicare expansion Dems ditched last week. “That would have made 2010 a lot easier for us.” More»

Senators hit the Sunday talk shows after health vote

(NEWSER) - The morning after Harry Reid scored his 60 votes, many a senator headed for the talk shows to expound on their views of the Senate health bill. A look around the Sunday dial:

• There were 39 people unhappy with last night's outcome, and Mitch McConnell leads them, telling State of the Union that Dems proceed at their own 2010 peril. "The American people will be heard sooner, or they'll be heard later."
• Ohio Dem Sherrod Brown said his four Dem comrades (Lieberman, Landrieu, Nelson, and Lincoln) who don't support a public option shouldn't rule the day, telling State of the Union, "I don’t think they want to be on the wrong side of history."