Sad Wednesday, as we lost one of our own. Ted Kennedy was my Senator, briefly enough, in the 70's and in those pre-internet days the 'go to' guy for copies of pending bills and information about what the Senate was up to. He was alway there for the little guy, and his office a haven for constituents because he demanded it be so. He will be deeply missed by all he touched, and that number is legion.
Bloomberg:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown led tributes to Senator Edward Kennedy, who died yesterday at age 77. Merkel said Europe has lost "a treasured friend" and Brown described Kennedy as "the senator of senators."
Arena: Tributes from leading figures who knew him, including John Lewis, Dean Baker and others. This from David Yepsen, Director, Paul Simon Public Policy Inst., Southern Ill. Univ:
This passage ought to fill Democrats with a new resolve to do something about health care. Much will be said about this man in the coming days, yet there can be no greater tribute to him than for Democrats to pass health care reform. While the party has lost his powerful voice, perhaps it can now find its own backbone.
In other news:
Jon R. Gabel:
The budget office’s cautious methods may have unintended consequences in the current health care reform effort. By underestimating the savings that can come from improved Medicare payment procedures and other cost-control initiatives, the budget office leads Congress to think that politically unpopular cost-cutting initiatives will have, at best, only modest effects. This, in turn, forces Congress to believe it can pay for reform only by raising taxes, which then makes reform legislation more difficult to pass.
Robert J. Samuelson:
Staving off a depression increases your chances of another term as Fed chief.
Michael Gerson:
Why Obamacare is failing.
Note to self: save columns like this to review after health reform passes.
David Ignatius: The Villager's Guide To The CIA (aka You Just Can't Trust Politicians To Leave You Alone And Let You Torture, Even When They Promise To.)
Looking back, it's easy to say the CIA officers should have refused the assignments they suspected would come back to haunt them. But questioning presidential orders isn't really their job, especially when those orders are backed by Justice Department legal opinions.
That's funny. Everyone else knew it was wrong.