BY SUSAN ESTRICH Whatever it takes. Whatever Joe wants. That’s the short answer to what the Democrats will do to get health care reform passed. If Joe Lieberman doesn’t want 55-year-olds to buy into Medicare, they won’t. Poof. Gone. There is only one number that matters right now, and that number is 60. Anything that […]

BY FROMA HARROP Sly industry-sponsored ads in which ordinary Americans worry about some scheme in Congress generally irritate me. A grunt greeted the TV spot you’ve no doubt seen: A woman unloading groceries frets over a proposed “tax on juice, milk and soda” as Americans like her count every penny. She doesn’t mention that the […]

BY SUSAN ESTRICH I like Hanukkah. It’s a very nice holiday, as Jewish holidays go; one of the few where the Jews actually won, as opposed to having the Temple destroyed, or fleeing the divided sea, or being spared from the evil Haman. Usually, it’s enough if we survive. Often, we don’t even do that. […]

BY JOE CONASON Evading the challenges of climate change – and the human responsibility to save the planet – is simple enough even for the laziest citizen. Pay attention only to the theories that support the comforting skepticism of the oil industry. Focus on a set of purloined e-mails that prove nothing except that scientists […]

BY FROMA HARROP So it’s come down to this. Republicans and some Democrats wouldn’t vote for a government-run health plan that competed with private insurers – though it would enjoy no special taxpayer subsidies. That’s socialism. But as a compromise, they may agree to push aside the so-called public option and instead let people ages […]