Defense Authorization

GOP To Oppose Defense Bill Over 'Unrelated' DADT, Immigration Provisions

Christina Bellantoni and Jon Terbush | September 21, 2010, 1:13PM

The Senate today is poised to vote on the Defense Authorization bill, a critical measure setting military policy but which also includes provisions to complete the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the DREAM Act allowing illegal immigrant children the chance for a college education.

Handicappers think the Don't Ask, Don't Tell and immigration amendments stand a slim chance at passage, and Senate aides say leadership is likely to set aside the bill to consider it for final approval later after the fall elections. Reports from Capitol Hill suggest enough Democrats -- like Sen. Jim Webb (VA), according to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow -- will join with Republicans to filibuster the measure.

The defense authorization measure also lays out policy positions on Guantanamo Bay detainees, Pentagon priorities and more. But it's political season, which means Senate Republicans are bound to be a little, shall we say, hypocritical about what they think should be in and out of the bill. After all, when the Republicans were in charge, plenty of measures unrelated to defense spending made their way into the defense authorizations.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger

White House Urges High Profile GOPers To Wax Positive About Health Care Reform

Brian Beutler | October 7, 2009, 9:07AM

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA)

You know the recent spate of outside-the-Beltway GOPers saying positive things about health care reform? Bill Frist? Arnold Schwarzenegger? Tommy Thompson? Republican-turned-Independent Michael Bloomberg?

Well, it turns out the White House may have been nudging them a little.

That could resonate well with pockets of constituents around the country. But according to the Washington Post, the real target of the push was a single person from one of the smallest states in the country: "The White House lobbying campaign was aimed, in part, at the one Republican who has indicated she may vote for reform legislation, Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (Maine), and she said Tuesday that she hopes the comments from her GOP colleagues will resonate," the Post reports.

So did it work? Snowe seemed pleased: "I think it is important to hear all voices in the party," Snowe said. "The more we hear, the more we learn, the better job we can do in the final analysis."

Bill Frist

Bill Frist's Surprise -- and Maybe Elusive -- Support for Obama

Christina Bellantoni | October 5, 2009, 3:21PM

Echoing President Obama's "the time is now" call to action on health care reform, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) writes in his new book that those who argue Obama is trying to do too much, too fast, with too much money should ask themselves: "Can we afford to do nothing about a wasteful and inefficient health-care system that drains billions from our economy, weakens the competitiveness of thousands of businesses through excess costs and yet fails to deliver basic care to far too many of our citizens?"

Released today, "A Heart to Serve," is "not a political memoir," Frist tells fans on his Web site. But with its seeming embrace of Obama and health care reform, the book has thrust Frist back into the political arena.

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