L.A. Times - Politics

Glenn Beck has big plans

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The conservative TV and radio host wants to hold conventions to move his followers to political action and 'change America's course.' Some say his activism could widen the split within the GOP.

Glenn Beck wants to become . . . a community organizer.

Schwarzenegger taps Abel Maldonado for lieutenant governor

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Republican has crossed the aisle on some key votes and also aspires to being elected to the job next year, making his confirmation by the full Legislature less than certain.

State Sen. Abel Maldonado, a moderate Republican from Santa Maria who has parted with his caucus on key votes at the request of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been chosen by Schwarzenegger to be the next lieutenant governor.

Samak Sundaravej dies at 74; former prime minister of Thailand

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:21:00 -0800

The firebrand politician, an ally of Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted when a court ruled there was a conflict of interest between his office and his popular TV cooking show, 'Tasting and Complaining.'

Samak Sundaravej, a firebrand politician who briefly served as Thailand's prime minister but was ousted for simultaneously getting income as the host of a popular TV cooking show, has died. He was 74.

For a healthcare holdout, it's lonely in the middle

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln, who remains undecided on Senate legislation, is getting pummeled from the left and right.

As one of the few senators undecided on healthcare reform, Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln faces a huge headache. Liberals attack her as an obstructionist, even though she cast a key vote keeping the effort alive. Republicans are lining up to run against her -- seven, so far, and counting.

California budget's going to be dreadful

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:32:00 -0800

Until long-term structural issues are fixed, there is no way legislators can produce an honest spending plan so the state lives within its means.

The Capitol's budget oracle projects $20.7 billion in new red ink for the next 19 months. Here's my projection: More punting, "kicking the can down the alley" and numbers-rigging.

Pricing an Afghanistan troop buildup is no simple calculation

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The White House estimate is twice the Pentagon's. Some see politics at play.

As President Obama measures the potential burden of a new war strategy in Afghanistan, his administration is struggling to come up with even the most dispassionate of predictions: the actual price tag for the anticipated buildup of troops.

Reaction to Senate healthcare vote offers a preview of 2010 campaigns

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:21:00 -0800

Next year's congressional elections weigh heavily in partisan comments. Republicans say healthcare vote shows Democrats' devotion to big government; Democrats say the GOP is merely the 'party of no.'

With the Senate's 60-39 vote to proceed to debate, after Thanksgiving, on a healthcare bill that the president is seeking by year's end, the debate of the 2010 midterm elections has been joined.

Centrist senators say healthcare bill needs major changes

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson says he supported a procedural motion to begin debate but doesn't approve of the legislation as it stands. Democratic leaders face a tough fight ahead.

Only a day after Senate Democrats voted to move into a historic debate on overhauling the nation's healthcare system, key centrists made it clear Sunday that the party was still a long way from delivering on its promise to provide near-universal insurance coverage and contain medical costs.

Using the dark arts of land-use politics to defeat NIMBYs

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

It is a few years since Tesco, the British supermarket group, had a tricky encounter with a population of burrowing owls in California.

Senate healthcare vote clears the way for formal debate to begin

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Democrats overcome a GOP filibuster with a 60-39 vote in a key procedural move on the $848-billion healthcare legislation. Debate is likely to run through the end of the year.

Without a vote to spare, Democrats pushed their healthcare legislation over its first obstacle on the Senate floor Saturday, as the chamber voted to begin formal debate on a sweeping measure to guarantee medical coverage for nearly all Americans.