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President's speech writers appear to have been informed by erroneous media reports, including an article on Slate.com, about a man who was dropped from his insurance plan and later died. President Barack Obama, seeking to make a case for health-insurance regulation, told a poignant story to a joint session of Congress last week. An Illinois man getting chemotherapy was dropped from his insurance plan when his insurer discovered an unreported gallstone the patient hadn't known about. "They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it," the president said in the nationally televised address. In fact, the man, Otto S....

THAT'S it? For the past six months, six members of the Senate Finance Committee, led by Chairman Max Baucus, have been laboring mightily to design a health-care bill. Yesterday they finally brought forth their product -- and it leaves us with more questions than answers. Despite months of work, Baucus hasn't really produced a bill yet, only a 223-page summary of what he hopes a bill will contain. Here is some of what we know and don't know: First, he claims the bill would cost only $856 billion. (Remember when that sounded like a lot of money?) In fact, that...

Oh, the irony that former President Jimmy Carter has claimed big headlines by saying that South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst against Barack Obama during the president's speech last week was racially motivated. The irony stems partly from the timing of all this: Just days after the incident, Carter's former press secretary Jody Powell died. Perhaps more than any other Carter aide of yesteryear, Powell helped the Carter White House to conquer a Washington establishment that had a bias of its own against Southern politicians. (snip) Enter now the "atonement" concept. There isn't a living political expert from...

Apparently, there isn't a very big market of people eager to hear blowhards like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow ceaselessly trumpet the hackneyed, old canard which says that any disagreement with President Obama's far-left policies must necessarily be rooted in racism. On what, pray tell, do Olbermann and Maddow blame their own pathetic ratings? Certainly they can't blame racism. I humbly suggest that their dismal numbers are a result of the fact that few Americans - of any skin color - can stomach the sight or sound of a hateful, raging, smug, intolerant, glib, close-minded white ideologue, any more than...

First there was “Countrywide Chris” Dodd (D-Conn.), whose combination of poor judgment and possible corruption qualifies him to be Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Then there was Tim “TurboTax” Geithner, whose false tax return filings qualify him to be Secretary of the Treasury. And now, in keeping with the Democrats’ recent tendency to have scoundrels in the highest positions involving regulation of the nation’s finances, we have the Chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), who recently filed amended financial disclosure reports showing a net worth about double what he had previously reported. (Rangel’s...

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On the same day that the anti-poverty group ACORN announced the launch of an "internal review" after four undercover videos exposed its workers offering advice on how to skirt federal laws, a fifth video surfaced that purports to show a worker offering to help bring underage girls into the U.S. for the purposes of prostitution. The latest video was filmed in San Diego by conservative activist James O'Keefe, 25, and partner Hannah Giles, 20, who posed as a pimp and prostitute as they did in their previous undercover stings. In the latest video, O'Keefe asked the man if Tijuana is...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has planned a flurry of appearances in the Washington area this weekend, an indicator of the kind of hectic schedule he's been keeping as he looks ahead to a possible presidential bid in 2012. His D.C. itinerary will be dominated by fundraisers, but Romney has planned a pair of high-profile speeches to conservative groups that are sure to draw attention: On Saturday he is slated to address the Values Voters Summit, and on Monday he'll deliver remarks to a luncheon at the Foreign Policy Initiative, a neoconservative think tank founded by William...

SOLO, Indonesia — Police hunting for suspects in Jakarta hotel bombings raided a hide-out in central Indonesia, sparking gunfire and an explosion Thursday that left four suspected militants dead, officials said. Three alleged terrorists also were captured. A counterterrorism official said the dead included alleged bomb-maker Bagus Budi Pranato. The captured militants included a pregnant woman who was being treated at a hospital, national police spokesman Nanan Sukarna said. Police tracked the seven suspects to the town of Solo in Central Java and besieged a village house on the outskirts overnight. The raid ended near daybreak when an explosion was...

Senate lawmakers approved an amendment on Wednesday that would allow Amtrak passengers to transport weapons in their luggage, provided they satisfy a few security conditions. The provision, approved on a 68 to 30 vote and attached to the chamber's Transportation and Housing appropriations bill, requires riders packing heat to store their weapons in locked, hard-shell containers within their carry-on bags. These passengers must also inform Amtrak personnel that they are storing a weapon prior to boarding their train. This is the second time the Senate has approved such an amendment. On the first try, Senate lawmakers attached the same provision...

A liberal senator on Wednesday questioned President Barack Obama's policy "czars" after the senior advisers have taken heat mostly from Republican lawmakers. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) sent a letter to the president requesting the White House release information regarding the "roles and responsibilities" of the "czars." The Senate Judiciary Committee member also requested that the president's legal advisers prepare a "judgment" on the "czars'" constitutionality. Feingold's letter represents one of the first examples of Democratic scrutiny of the president's "czars," who are not required to be confirmed by the Senate. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), who has been absent from the...

WASHINGTON -- The White House will shelve Bush administration plans to build a missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, according to people familiar with the matter, a move likely to cheer Moscow and roil the security debate in Europe. The U.S. will base its decision on a determination that Iran's long-range missile program has not progressed as rapidly as previously estimated, reducing the threat to the continental U.S. and major European capitals, according to current and former U.S. officials. The findings, expected to be completed as early as next week following a 60-day review ordered by President Barack...

With a couple of student journalists ripping the scab off of the stinking boil on the body politic that is acorn, who is best suited to investigate what is clearly the biggest political scandal since Watergate? Eric Holder's DOJ? Yeah, thats' a hoot, as he won't even look into documented intimidation by nightstick wielding thugs outside of a polling place on election day. The FBI?, in a perfect world that would work, except that DC is perfect only in the same way a swamp is, it tends to eat the weak and give up only stinky noxious gases. Budget considerations...

Authorities arrested a man they said tried to trade his father's car for $50 worth of crack cocaine. Deputies arrested the 39-year-old man around 4 a.m. Wednesday after his 74-year-old father reported that his Lincoln had been stolen. When deputies arrived at the father's home, they saw the son walking up the street. They determined that the car had been sold for drugs. Deputies later saw someone else driving the Lincoln, and pulled it over. The driver fled the moving car, which hit two parked cars.

In Wednesday night’s debate, John McCain warned that a group called Acorn is “on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history” and “may be destroying the fabric of democracy.” Viewers may have been wondering what Mr. McCain was talking about. So were we.

UNIONS say prison officers are entitled to make offensive comments about their boss outside of work hours and should not be penalised for doing so. Six prison officers have been threatened with the sack for posting derogatory comments about New South Wales Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham on a Facebook page titled "Suggestions to help Big Ron save a few clams", the Public Service Association (PSA) confirmed. The page was set up in October last year when prison officers decided to vent their anger over Government plans to privatise two of the state's prisons - one at Parklea and another...

CRAZY Horse, the upmarket Paris cabaret that insists its strip show is art, is revamping its decades-old revue to include a number that presents clothes removal as a solution to economic crisis. The cabaret off the Champs Elysees, which has seen stars like Madonna, U2 and Gerard Depardieu sip champagne in its red velvet seats as they watch women undress, has hired star choreographer Philippe Decoufle to update its show. Decoufle, who staged the 2007 Rugby World Cup and the Albertville Winter Olympics ceremonies in 1992, will launch the new revue next Monday after months of rehearsals. "We work with...

Israel's former deputy defense minister says his country will be forced to attack Iran's nuclear sites if western powers don't enforce sanctions on Iran by the end of this year.

GAY rights activists are outraged over a church conference that aims to help people struggling with "unwanted homosexuality". Activists have vowed to protests outside this weekend's Lovelinx conference at Mitcham Baptist Church, the Whitehorse Leader reports. The conference, organised through various Christian ministiries and the Exodus Global Alliance, aims to heal "sexual brokenness" Their website says the event is not homophobic, but offers "hope and practical help to people struggling with sexual struggles or unwanted homosexuality". But gay rights campaigner Tim Wright said the conference was hurtful and encouraged people to repress their sexuality. Start of sidebar. Skip to end...

The Irish state will pay €54bn to take over bank debt worth €77bn to cleanse the sector’s toxic assets and encourage renewed lending to businesses, Brian Lenihan, the finance minister, said on Wednesday. Opening the second reading on the bill establishing the National Asset Management Agency, Mr Lenihan said the so-called bad bank “would ensure we avoid the Japanese outcome of zombie banks that are just ticking over and not making a vibrant contribution to economic growth”. Under the plan Nama will issue the banks with bonds and subordinated debt to the value of €54bn ($79bn, £48bn) to take over...