Author Archive
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The Kicker
Talking back to Alan Simpson
May 31, 2012 10:57 AMFormer Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, as followers of the entitlements debate know, is, shall we say, tart-tongued and gutsy. Or, from the perspective of people he disagrees with, ugly and insulting. Even though President Obama appointed... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
A Grand Bargain on entitlements?
May 29, 2012 02:35 PMTo the average person, Nancy Pelosi’s May 20 interview with George Stephanopoulos probably seemed like standard procedure for a Sunday morning talk show—another politician slipping and sliding around the questions. It was more than that. Stephanopoulos noted that... Continue reading
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Behind the News
The new medical-credit racket
May 24, 2012 06:50 AMReporter Lindy Washburn, at The Record in Bergen County, New Jersey, has revealed the latest shenanigans of unscrupulous members of the medical profession out to make a buck. Washburn, who is something of an expert on... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Medicare and the $500 billion bogeyman
May 21, 2012 06:50 AMRepublicans and their allies are dusting off an old $500 billion deception about Medicare, trying once more to scare seniors into voting their way. The logic on this one turns truth on its head, but some in the media have... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Health costs: Is Mass. the only model?
May 15, 2012 03:19 PMWe all know Obamacare is Romneycare and Romneycare is Obamacare and that the Bay State has set the standard for everything health reform—from the individual mandate right down to ways to cut its gigantic medical bill. Or at least the... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
How an anti-tax HIT squad employs the press
May 10, 2012 11:42 AMThe small-business community has revved up its campaign to repeal a tax on insurance companies intended to help finance subsidies for the uninsured, a part of President Obama’s healthcare reform that would take effect in 2014. Congress... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Healthcare: Do Americans get too much—or too little?
May 7, 2012 11:00 AMWe’ve become accustomed of late to stories telling us we get too much healthcare. We get too much of the Three Ts—treatments, tests, and technology—which has become the dominant narrative in the ongoing tale of US healthcare spending. So it’s... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Memo to Kevin Drum
May 3, 2012 04:55 PMDear Kevin: I have not written to you before, but I do know your work from the health reform debate. Since your comments about my recent CJR post have made it to the thousands who devour words on <a... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Memo to Joe Nocera
April 30, 2012 02:01 PMDear Joe: I have written to you before. The subject was Medicare, and how tricky it is to cover it. This time I want to say I really liked your column in Friday’s New York Times. You see,... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Report Card on Social Security Trust Fund Coverage
April 27, 2012 02:17 PMThis week, Social Security trustees issued their annual report on the program’s financial health. The news was expected: Social Security will be able to pay full benefits to Americans currently receiving benefits and those new to the system for the... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
How the Media Has Shaped the Social Security Debate
April 18, 2012 11:55 AMShortly after the 2010 midterm elections, Washington Post budget correspondent Lori Montgomery reported that, while a debate raged around major budgetary changes and the wisdom of cutting Social Security, a “surprisingly broad consensus is forming around the actions required... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
EXTRA Unpacks the Media’s Medicare Coverage
April 17, 2012 04:09 PMI don’t know Amy Poe, a writer and Medicare consumer based in Little Rock, Arkansas. But I like a piece she wrote for EXTRA, a monthly magazine of commentary and criticism of the press. I suspect most Beltway... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
The War of the Dentists and their Competitors
April 13, 2012 06:15 AMEvery once in a while an interesting, well-done piece from public radio comes along that makes you think. This week came a story about a new war in the Great Plains region. You might call it The War... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
WellPoint Raises Rates Again
April 6, 2012 12:24 PMAnthem Blue Cross—a subsidiary of WellPoint, the country’s second largest insurer—and its 39 percent rate increase in California became somewhat famous early in 2010 as the health reform law stumbled to the finish line. Democratic politicians used the new rate... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
The Case of the Disappearing Benefits Statements
April 2, 2012 11:46 AMLos Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik deserves a shout-out for his strong piece on how the government is keeping Americans in the dark about their Social Security benefits. Hiltzik, who has been chronicling the politics of Social Security... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Health Reform and the Supreme Court: Day Three
March 29, 2012 03:06 PMAs the Supreme Court ended oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act, addressing whether the law can stand alone without the individual mandate, the press coverage was dominated by speculation. Justices speculated about the questions put before them, and the... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Health Reform and the Supreme Court: Day Two
March 28, 2012 01:40 PMThere was one near-universal takeaway from Day Two of oral arguments before the Supreme Court: The requirement that almost all Americans carry insurance, the central point of the Affordable Care Act, may be in trouble. Dire-sounding headlines featuring phrases like... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Health Reform and the Supreme Court: Day One
March 27, 2012 02:29 PMPress coverage of the Affordable Care Act’s debut before the Supreme Court yesterday offered a little bit of everything. The reportage generally sorted itself into categories: The politics. Not surprisingly, the political take dominated. The AP, whose coverage reaches... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Mitt and the Mandate
March 26, 2012 06:14 PMNo matter what decision comes from the Supreme Court, which began hearing arguments Monday on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act health reform’s individual mandate, the individual mandate will continue to be a major flashpoint in the upcoming election... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Birthday Coverage for the Affordable Care Act
March 22, 2012 04:16 PMThe health reform law celebrates its two-year anniversary tomorrow. There are myriad ways to report on the Affordable Care Act and its sure-to-be-tumultuous future. Two stories showed up this week that illustrate two sides of health reform. The AP, which... Continue reading
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Desks
The Audit Business
- Anti-paywall dead-enders Why worry about evidence when you can argue against straw men?
- Audit Notes: pyramid people, Disney and ABC, no USA Today paywall Roddy Boyd digs into a diet-shake pyramid scheme
The Observatory Science
- Dull news from Doha UN climate summit a ho-hum affair for the press
- Highway to the danger zone Following Sandy, HuffPo and NYT dig into the folly of coastal development
Campaign Desk Politics & Policy
- NBC News sets good example for Medicare reporting People perspective leads to clear explanation of impact of proposed changes
- In Pennsylvania, a niche site with wide reach PoliticsPA drives political conversation in Keystone State
Behind the News The Media
Blog
The Kicker last updated: Fri 3:00 PM
- Must-reads of the week
- The media news cycle is bananas
- Pass the #popcorn
- Must-reads of the week
- Tom Rosenstiel leaving Pew
The Future of Media
News Startups Guide last updated: Thu 10:24 AM
- TRVL A free iPad travel magazine
- TheDigitel A small chain of local news sites/ aggregators in South Carolina
