I think things will be quiet for a while -- until the Joint Committee goes public or the Conservative Republicans decide to stir things up with unfounded, essentially irrational statements about Medicare. Even if it is quiet, TMDR will let you know what (little) is going on.
No Progress to Report After Secret Talks
"After weeks of secret meetings, the 12-member deficit-cutting panel established under last summer's budget and debt deal appears no closer to a breakthrough than when talks began last month. ... The reason? A familiar deadlock over taxes and cuts to major programs like Medicare and the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled. Democrats won't go for an agreement that doesn't include lots of new tax revenue; Republicans are just as ardently anti-tax."
Well, some people -- including me -- think just about nothing will come of the work of the Joint Committee. In fact, I'm among those who think no action by them, which will result in the imposition of the pre-determined cuts, is a better alternative for Medicare.
Obama Likes ObamaCare
"President Obama is embracing the term 'ObamaCare' on the campaign stump, attempting to turn the tables on critics who use it in a derogatory way. 'They call it ObamaCare?' the president told supporters at a St. Louis fundraiser Tuesday evening. 'I do care! You should care, too.'"
For Your Information -- Dysfunctional Governance
"Congress has always been Washington's whipping boy, particularly near election time. ... That's not news. What is news is that this time it's starting to scare the pros. The GOP's hyper-partisan turn after Barack Obama's victory in 2008 meant 112th Congress was destined to test the limits of dysfunctional governance. But it also happened to coincide with a moment in history when the country needed the government to do better than the bare minimum. Instead, it's done less. And that's shaken people who've spent their careers steering the ship of state."
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