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Senator Edward Kennedy presented his 615-page health care plan on Tuesday, kicking off Congress' debate on how to overhaul the nation's health care system. There is still no consensus on how large a role the federal government should play or how to finance the $1.5 trillion cost over the next decade. Kennedy's plan includes a powerful government oversight structure for insurance, would require private insurers to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions, and would make health insurance mandatory. Kennedy specifically left out new coverage requirements on businesses and a government insurance plan that would compete with private insurance companies to avoid antagonizing Republicans. Many were still furious and say the bill is being rushed through. The bill offers subsidies to people making up to five times the federal definition of the poverty line.
The Supreme Court has overturned a last-ditch effort by opponents to block Chrysler’s sale to Italian automaker Fiat. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg issued a delay of the sale Monday, and the Obama administration warned the deal could be completely ruined by the wait. If the sale had been pushed past the June 15 deadline, the U.S. government would have had to fork over another $1 billion to stay the company’s losses, or give up on them altogether. Now Chrysler will be able to sell its best assets to Fiat, which will be run by that company.
An investigation into police corruption has unearthed something ugly in England: Investigators are looking into claims that Metropolitan police officers used waterboarding when interrogating suspects. Ten officers were suspended in February for stealing property like flat screen televisions from suspects, but now six of them are being investigated for torture and fabricating evidence in November drug raids in Enfield and Tottenham. None of the suspected officers have been arrested. Police conduct has been called into question since the G-20 protest, when a man died shortly after being thrown to the ground by an officer.
Little-known state senator Creigh Deeds won the Democratic primary for Virginia’s governor in an upset victory Tuesday. The 51-year-old country lawyer ran with the least money in the three-way race, but nearly doubled the vote totals of opponents Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran. Republicans will now face off against a moderate with a strong rural backing instead of McAuliffe, whom they were ready to portray as a hanger-on fundraiser of Bill Clinton who had no strong ties to Virginia. “People are going to be talking about how he pulled this off for weeks and months,” said political science professor Quentin Kidd.
This probably makes Jay Leno antsy: David Letterman seems pretty comfortable in his time slot and will continue to be a late-night staple on CBS through August 2012 after finalizing his new contract. CBS will pay less for the show over the next two years, leaving Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants, which co-owns the show, to pick up the slack. His previous contracts were for three years, but this one only guarantees two. It’s unclear if this will be the 62-year-old host’s final run. His show has suffered from declining ratings, but is still a big money-maker for CBS. Letterman won't necessarily reduce his $32 million a year salary even though CBS is forking over less money.
The first prisoner from Guantanamo Bay to set foot on American soil pleaded not guilty to 268 counts of murder, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, and other grisly crimes Tuesday night. Ahmed Ghailani was asked by the judge if he wanted to be read the entirety of the “big fat indictment” against him. Ghailani said no, and pleaded not guilty. The case is a big test for President Obama’s plan to close down the prison by transferring inmates to U.S. soil to be tried, or, in some cases, held indefinitely without charges. Ghailani is staying in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, which also counts alleged Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff among its list of 750 inmates. Ghailani was indicted for the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which killed 228 people, and has been in Guantanamo since 2006. The White House would not say if he would be released if cleared of charges in court.
Gunmen armed with a large truck bomb hit a five-star hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 11 and wounding at least 65, according to an initial report from the Associated Press. "No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the largest city in Pakistan's restive northwest, but it fit the pattern of recent attacks the Taliban said it launched in retaliation for a military campaign against militants in the Swat Valley region," the AP reports. The Pearl Continental Hotel was home to 25 U.N. workers at the time of the blast.
Thomas Beatie, labeled the "pregnant man" last year by tabloids all over the globe and a highly-publicized interview with Barbara Walters, will have to find a new moniker, as he has given birth to a healthy baby boy. This is his second child—last June his daughter, Susan Juliette, was born. ABC News reports that Beatie had "a natural childbirth," and that his wife—who is unable to have children—will be breastfeeding the baby soon. Beatie was born a woman but kept his female reproductive organs after he had sex-reassignment surgery and changed his gender from female to male. The couple conceived their first child in 2003 using sperm bought off of the Internet, which Beatie's wife inseminated him with using "a syringe she had bought at a pet store."
Sens. Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham are taking a stand on legislation that will allow the White House to censor photos of detainee abuse--and the Obama administration is happy to help them along. House Democrats, on the other hand, want hearings on the images before they vote on the measure. Graham considers the issue of the utmost importance. "We're not going to do any more business in the Senate," he said. "Nothing's going forward until we get this right." The legislation to oppress the photos was removed from a larger bill that included a $108 billion line of credit for the International Monetary Fund. Graham and Lieberman, outraged at the move, vowed to vote against the IMF bill, and did not rule out the possibility of a filibuster. Senators considering joining the duo in their obstinance are weighing the decision carefully.
Following in a similar vein to his previous book, What Is The What, Dave Eggers' latest, set to come out in early July, will tackle Hurricane Katrina. The non-fiction tale, Zeitoun, will focus on a Muslim family of the same name living in New Orleans during the catastrophe. The father of the family stayed at home through the storm, and then set out to help others in a canoe. Various elements of contemporary life intersect in the story, such as, "the debacle of the government response to Katrina,...(and) widespread Islamophobia," according to Eggers. The author's publishing house, McSweeney's, is also hard at work preparing a single issue of a newspaper that will serve as a model for how to start a new, profitable daily. In the interview with the Rumpus, Eggers expresses optimism for the future of newsprint, saying that we are heading to the point where the Internet and newspapers will "each do what they do best, and coexist peacefully."
The two American journalists who were recently sentenced to 12 years hard labor in North Korea, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, worked for the television network founded by Al Gore. Might he come to their rescue? According to CNN, the idea of sending Gore to Pyongyang on a mission to free the journalists has been floated to the North Koreans. The North Koreans have not yet replied, but “the expectation has been that once the trial ended, the North would accept a visit … to secure the jorunalists’ release.” One reason the North Koreans might want to cooperate? If they don’t accept Al Gore, then the United States might dispatch Bill Richardson instead.
The Senate seems set to make good on President Obama’s wish to see Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination move quickly: Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy set a July 13 start date for the hearings without consulting fellow Republicans on the move. Republicans are furious and threatening to slow the hearings so they can have more time to comb through Sotomayor’s history, and some are threatening to boycott the hearings altogether. Obama had urged the Senate to vote on Sotomayor before Congress’ August recess. Leahy said July 13 presents a “reasonable schedule” that would give senators several more weeks to prepare, and argues that Justice Roberts took only 72 days to be confirmed.
Is Miley Cyrus on the market? The 16-year-old singer has reportedly split from her boyfriend, the 20-year-old underwear model Justin Gaston, after nine months. The split apparently coincides with a resumed friendship with her fellow superstar tween ex, Nick Jonas. Recently, she wrote on Twitter, “I'm in a dark theater 'writing' a song with nick j who is rockin a faded eggplant shirt! :)” Why the quotes around “writing?”
A week after Dr. George Tiller was assassinated in church, his family has announced that the clinic that he ran, which was one of the few in the country to provide late-term abortions, will be “permanently closed.” According to the Associated Press, “The Tiller family says in a statement released by his attorneys on Tuesday that it is ceasing operation of the clinic and any involvement by family members in any other similar clinic.” The family said that it is proud of the “service and courage shown by our husband and father.”
Someone felt daring this afternoon: the Associated Press reports a woman jumped the fence at the White House and was taken into custody around 3:15 pm. The was in security lockdown for over an hour and the media, there for a press conference with Robert Gibbs, were not allowed to leave the grounds.
It isn't nearly as shocking as it could be, but worth a laugh nonetheless. A photo published by TMZ.com shows former president George H.W. Bush smiling with a bikini-clad lady—who has an even wider smile—in his lap. As it turns out, the woman was part of a troupe of actors who were invited to perform at Barbara Bush's 84th birthday party. Looks like everyone had a grand old time.
Adam Lambert has come out of the closet in a Rolling Stone cover story, surprising exactly no one. The cover, which hits newsstands Wednesday, features the gussied up Idol star with a not-so-subtle snake creeping up his leg, along with the headline "The Liberation of Adam Lambert." In the article, Lambert says that he elected not to address his sexuality during the Idol series for fear that it would become too much of a distraction from his singing. Lambert also said that he is "trying to be a singer, not a civil rights leader." He added: "I'm an entertainer, and who I am and what I do in my personal life is a separate thing. It shouldn't matter. Except it does. It's really confusing."
It isn't the most desirable job, but these days, beggars can't be choosers. Edward E. Whitacre Jr., a former CEO of AT&T, will be the new head of General Motors. Whitacre said that he was "honored to be able to serve G.M. at this critical juncture and take part in its reinvention." That said, "Reinvention" is somewhat of a euphemism, as President Obama demanded former G.M. CEO Rick Wagoner stepped down in March, along with an overhaul of the embattled automaker's board of directors. Six of the ten directors are expected to retire soon, the New York Times reports. G.M. has already received $19.4 billion in loans from the government, and will get another $30.1 billion to help it stay afloat. How can a company get so much money and still be bankrupt?
Be careful what you wish for, UCLA students: After scheduled commencement speaker James Franco canceled his speech with 10-days notice, ostensibly due to his filming schedule but really, many suspect, due to protests that he “had not accomplished enough in life to be a role model for graduates,” UCLA announced what has to be the worst commencement speaker of all time: Brad Delson, the lead guitarist from Linkin Park. Delson graduated from UCLA in 1999 and has won, somehow, two Grammy Awards. The Los Angeles Times seems to have found the one student who is happy with this decision: "As a last-minute replacement, I am very happy to get him," said Erin Moore.
What does it take to get on television these days? A litter of at least six should do the trick. On the heels of Octo-mom and Kate Gosselin, Jenny and Bryan Masche are introducing their two-year-old sextuplets to the world on a new show, Raising Sextuplets, on WE on Thursday. Other shows about “multiples” include 18 Kids and Counting and Table for 12. Though the Masches’ show is new, they were first introduced to the world via OMG! Sextuplets, a show about Jenny’s pregnancy.
Dr. Zahra Rahnavard, 64, has done what none of Ahmadinejad's three male presidential challengers have dared: She attacked the president during what The Times of London called a "90-minute finger-wagging tour de force." Rahnavard, wife to Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's most serious competition in Friday's elections, demanded an apology from the president after he publicly questioned her considerable academic credentials last week. She also vowed to sue him if he did not apologize within 24 hours. In a move that will enrage conservatives but please the female and young urban voting bloc, she also condemned Ahmadinejad's policies toward women. During her speech, the Times reports, "She accused Ahmadinejad of humiliating not just her, but all Iranian women and of seeking to block their progress and deny them higher education. She said that he had violated his constitutional duty to defend the rights of all Iranians, and brought shame on his office."
There's been bad news for conservative Hindus in India recently. The Bharatiya Janata Party got trounced in the recent parliamentary elections in its second consecutive loss, which has imploded the Hindu right and kicked off a collective soul-searching. In Telheka, Sudheendra Kulkarni, political adviser to the BJP, tore the party apart in a candid essay that has rocked India. Among Kulkarni's revelations: the BJP has to rethink its advocacy of Hindutva, or "Hindu-ness,"because it's unclear how the party defines Hindutva; the party failed to reach out to Hindu Dalits (untouchables); the party failed to win needed Muslim votes because the party is "so dogmatic" that any attempt to address that community's concerns is "brushed aside as 'appeasement'"; and the BJP ran an excessively negative campaign that failed to enthuse the middle class.
Who would Jesus reference? Politico reports that Barack Obama uses Christ in public speeches more frequently than his predecessor. It's odd, considering that George W. Bush's identity as an evangelical was central to his political identity, while Obama has been rather ecumenical—his inauguration ceremony included shout-outs to different faiths as well as nonbelievers. Obama may be advancing two political agendas through his rhetorical use of Jesus: The mentions may help counter the politically risky rumor that he is a Muslim, which 11 percent of Americans still believe; and Obama may be trying to resurrect the Christian Left, which has included such figures as Martin Luther King Jr. Not everyone is on board, though. As a disillusioned former official from Bush's faith-based office put it, "When God becomes identified with a political agenda, God gets screwed."
Obama just can’t get a break today. The Supreme Court decided in favor of delaying the sale of Chrysler to the Italian automaker Fiat and also struck down a challenge to the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, in a double-blow to the president’s agenda. Beyond Justice Ruth Ginsburg's one sentence statement that the car sale is "stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the court," it is unclear how long the delay will remain in place as the court considers appeals from an Indiana pension fund and consumer groups opposed to the deal. The decision is a blow to President Obama, who hailed a declaration of bankruptcy as the best option available to both Chrysler and G.M. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court struck down a challenge to the U.S. military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, and had also cracked down on the influence of campaign donors on the nation's judges. Obama said he supports a repeal of the military policy, which allows the dismissal of openly gay servicemen and women.
Britain’s beleaguered prime minister made a sheepish plea to remain in power in a speech to Labour MPs after the Party finished a dismal third in the EU elections. He admitted he had “a lot to learn” about being a leader. “Like everyone else, I have my strengths and weaknesses. I am going to play to my strengths and address my weaknesses,” Gordon Brown said. "No doubt I have much to learn about a collective way of leading the party and the government.” A group of renegade Labour MPs said they had a list of 50 names that have no confidence in Brown’s leadership, and wanted to have a secret vote on Brown. But other members of the party stopped the vote, as changing leadership would mean a call for elections, and the sure ousting of the Labour party—dogged by an embarrassing expenses scandal—from power.
Lest swine flu weren’t enough to keep you away from Mexico: A four-hour gun fight killed 18 people in the popular tourist town of Acapulco over the weekend—evidence that, as The New York Times puts it, “no part of Mexico may be completely immune from the continuing drug war.” The dead were 13 drug traffickers, two soldiers, and two bystanders. The traffickers fired thousands of rounds and threw grenades, and after the battle, police confiscated 49 guns, two rocket launchers, 13 grenades, and over 3,000 bullets. The battle began after traffickers attacked gunmen attempting to free four policemen being held hostage in a hotel.
The Brazilian and French navies recovered Monday the tail fin of Flight 447—a hopeful discovery, since black boxes are located in the fuselage beneath the tail fin and therefore may be in the ocean nearby. The U.S. Navy also showed up on the scene with two ultra-sensitive listening devices to pick up the electronic beacon emitted by the black boxes, which sounds in as much as 20,000 feet of water (the ocean is 3,500 feet deep at the recovery site). Searchers stress that, while they are searching for the boxes, recovering bodies is their number one priority.
Apparently, the CIA is fond of secrets. It has urged a federal judge to block the release of 65 documents that the ACLU has sought for some years in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, The Washington Post reports. The documents describe the CIA's videotaped interrogations in secret prisons, along with the destruction of those videotapes. In an affidavit, CIA Director Leon E. Panetta said that releasing "explicit details of specific interrogations" was very different from the recent release of memos that described how torture was authorized. The interrogation details, he argued, would give al-Qaeda ready-made propaganda. Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's national security program, said Panetta's defense amounted to the idea that "the greater the abuse, the more important it is that it should remain secret."
The U.S. has struggled to keep its efforts freeing two captured journalists separate from its ongoing dispute over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. But since the women were sentenced to 12 years “reform” through hard labor on Monday, it’s expected the journalists will become pawns in the two countries’ conflict. Experts think journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling won’t be sent to the infamous Gulags—where an estimated 200,000 North Koreans are imprisoned in appalling conditions—since they would learn too much there about the ultrasecretive country’s penal system. The U.N. is currently negotiating sanctions against the country as it escalates its nuclear program. The White House says they are using "all possible channels" to free the women.
Going to Mars isn't cheap. That's why NASA and the European Space Agency may team up on future trips to Mars in a move that would change NASA's policy toward the planet, the Associated Press reports. The European Space Agency doesn't have the funds to send their new drill-toting rover ExoMars up, and NASA had to slash its spending after delaying the launch of its Mars Science Laboratory until 2011. Although it's hard to unite such disparate missions, the agencies are looking for a way to collaborate. A single rocket may blast the two into space, although it's unclear who would fund the rocket and what kind of joint projects the two agencies might pursue in the future. Critics of the collaboration fear that decreased competition will make the U.S. lose its edge and that future project funding could be held hostage to political concerns.
The Boston Globe may not be saved after all: The paper’s largest union rejected $10 million in wage and benefit cuts by a mere 12-vote margin, and afterward its owners at The New York Times Co. imposed a 23 percent pay cut on its members. The 700-member union now plans to file unfair labor practice charges with the Labor Relations Board and hopes to block the cut. The Boston Newspaper Guild is the only one of the paper’s four unions to reject the deal. The Boston Globe is projected to lose $85 million this year.
If your invite to Monday night’s GOP fundraiser was lost in the mail, here’s a recap. The dinner raised almost $15 million for the Republican Party and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich urged his fellow Republicans to be inclusive in order to gain back political control. "I am happy that Dick Cheney is a Republican," Gingrich said. "I am also happy that Colin Powell is a Republican." Conservative actor Jon Voight (father of Angelina Jolie) emceed the event with a fiery defense of the Party, saying he was “embarrassed” at Obama, who is a “false prophet.” (Remember Bill Ayers? Voight certainly does.) He also gave thanks for the existence of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and other conservatives. Governor Sarah Palin showed up but didn’t address the crowd after leaving organizers in the dark about her attendance until Monday afternoon. She was originally supposed to headline the event before being replaced by Gingrich, both of whom are possible presidential contenders for 2012.
This sounds like a job for the Scientologists: The big banks may need more stress tests. The Congressional Oversight Panel recommended Monday that the stress tests be repeated if economic conditions become worse than those that were assumed in the test's model. The Treasury Department’s model was “reasonable and conservative” according the panel, but after May’s 9.4 percent unemployment rate pushed the average for the year to 8.5 percent, some are worried that the 8.9 percent yearly average assumed in the stress tests will prove too low. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department is preparing to announce Tuesday that it will allow 10 banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., to repay TARP by buying back government shares. The move, Bloomberg writes, signals “confidence some of the largest U.S. lenders won’t again need a taxpayer rescue.”
Laura Bush may no longer be the first lady, but she's keeping her schedule busy. Politico reports that she's developing a "women's empowerment initiative" at the George W. Bush Policy Institute in Dallas. On Tuesday, she'll meet with 25 of her advisers, including former White House press secretary Dana Perino, the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and her former chiefs of staff. The team will help Bush figure out how to continue work on her pet issue—human rights, education, and women's health.
It had to happen eventually. Early Tuesday morning, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani became the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to set foot in the U.S. The Tanzanian native had been held in Gitmo since 2006 on charges of his alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Ghailani is expected to make his first court appearance in Manhattan on Tuesday, where he'll face 286 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder, bomb, and maim, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S. nationals. The March 2001 indictment against him also alleges that he conspired with Osama bin Laden and other members of al-Qaeda to kill Americans. If convicted, Ghailani could face the death penalty.
Three Malawian judges had mercy for Madonna: According to her lawyer, the appeals-court judges have voted to overturn a prior verdict that banned her from adopting Mercy James, the 4-year-old Malawian child. Her adoption application was originally rejected because she had not lived in the country for 18 months, as was required by law. The official ruling will be announced next Sunday.
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