Robert Gibbs: Next Week, We'll Be Discussing the Health-Care Law
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs hit the talk-show circuit with a swagger Sunday, voicing his complete confidence that the health-care bill will soon pass. "Whoever sits here this time next week, you all will be talking about health-care reform not as a presidential proposal but as something that will soon be the law of the land," he told Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace. The reason he's so sure? "We can't do nothing." Hmm.
Lindsey Graham Tired of Health-Care "Crap"
Lindsey Graham is annoyed as heck, and he's not gonna take it anymore. On This Week, Sen. Graham said that Americans were sick of all the spin around the health-care bill, and cautioned Democrats against using reconciliation to pass the bill, saying it will "open up Pandora's Box" and "poison the well for anything else they would like to achieve."
Annie Lennox: Don't Forget HIV in Swine Flu Panic
Is the HIV/AIDS pandemic getting lost in the shuffle of the newest disease of the week? Singer and activist Annie Lennox sure thinks so. She told Christiane Amanpour that "HIV is invisible… It's very difficult to have some kind of visual focus for this if you have swine flu, you have bird flu, and everybody's up in arms… But this has been a killer for years, and it's not getting any better."
David Axelrod: Insurance Lobbyists Descending Like 'Locusts'
Has Washington suddenly become the backdrop for a new sci-fi drama? In the first of several appearances Sunday, top White House adviser David Axelrod told State of the Union's Candy Crowley that he's confident health-care reform will pass—even if insurance-industry lobbyists have "landed on Capitol Hill like locusts" to try to kill the bill.
Rep. Boehner Wouldn't Vote to Close Gitmo "If You Put a Gun to My Head"
Tell us how you really feel, Rep. Boehner! When discussing the possible closure of Guantanamo with Candy Crowley, Boehner didn't mince any words. "I want to see who the members are who are going to vote for this. I wouldn't vote for this if you put a gun to my head," he said emphatically. "We have a world-class facility at Guantanamo." When put that way, it almost sounds like Club Med…
White House: Israeli Settlements an 'Affront' and an 'Insult'
When he wasn't stumping for health care, White House adviser David Axelrod was responding to Israel's announcement during Vice President Joe Biden's visit last week that leaders had approved new settlements in the Arab section of Jerusalem. Axelrod didn't mince words, calling the move "an affront, an insult." The response marked the White House's harshest response yet, Politico noted. "Israel is a strong and special ally. The bonds run deep," he told ABC's This Week. "But for just that very reason, this was not the right way to behave."
Karl Rove: Palin Should Start Preparing for 'Hot Spotlight'
Will Sarah Palin make it on to the presidential ticket in 2012? Karl Rove wouldn't give Tom Brokaw a straight answer on NBC's Meet the Press—but he did note that she'd be wise to start preparing for the "hot spotlight" that will surely shine down on her now, if she does decide to run. And he seemed to think she stands a chance, remarking that she "did very well in the 63 days she was on the national stage." ("Well," of course is open for interpretation.) Rove also commented on the Tea Party movement, and why it would be wise to find itself a Ross Perot-like leader.