Ice skating bear kills Russian circus hand

Okay, I meant this as a break from all the dour political news of late, but then realized that it is a story about a guy being killed, so perhaps this doesn't exactly qualify as lighter news. From CNN:

A bear on ice skates attacked two people during rehearsals at a circus in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, killing one of them, Kyrgyz officials said Friday.

In the incident, which happened Thursday, the 5-year-old animal killed the circus administrator, Dmitry Potapov, and mauled an animal trainer, who was attempting to rescue him.

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FDA is back in business

Paying attention to thinking about consumers again? What a crazy idea!

The Smart Choices nutrition labeling program, created voluntarily by nine large U.S. manufacturers, is halting after federal regulators said such systems could mislead consumers, officials with the labeling group said Friday.

Industry leaders launched the program this year to highlight foods that meet certain nutritional standards with a green label on package fronts.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that such programs may mislead consumers about the health benefits of certain foods, and it told manufacturers it will crack down on inaccurate labeling. It did not criticize specific products or label programs or give a timeline for enforcement.

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Guerrilla singers interrupt health care insurance lobbyist meeting in DC

Absolutely fabulous.

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I wonder if President Snowe likes her men to wear Axe?

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BREAKING... TPM: White House actively trying to kill Harry Reid public option compromise

My sources are confirming this as well. Read the rest of this post...

White House unveils new family photo

Shot by famed celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. She really did capture the essence of the Obama girls. Read the rest of this post...

Fortune magazine asks: Who cares if Wall Street 'talent' leaves?

Hallelujah, though maybe my question would not be quite as SFW. Better late to the party than not showing at all. How much talent did it really take to lose billions upon billions? Talent to negotiate a fat bonus, perhaps, but definitely no talent in making profits. Let them go and lock the door behind them when they leave.

Still, we say Godspeed to this "talent." After all, the traders and suits in the corner offices don't exactly have an unblemished track record. In 2008, Citigroup, BofA and Merrill Lynch (since acquired by BofA) posted a grand total of $51 billion in losses.

Yet even as they were running themselves into the ground, the firms managed to pay out more than $12 billion in bonuses -- including 1,606 million-dollar-plus bonuses, according to a report from the New York attorney general's office.

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Valerie Jarrett: Obama is "committed to the public option"

We wanted some clarity from the White House on the public option -- and we got some.

I'll take Valerie Jarrett on the record stating strong support for the public option over anonymous "administration officials" who are leaking tidbits to Politico and CNN claiming Obama is siding with Olympia Snowe. From DailyKosTV:

Jed notes:

It doesn't get much clearer than that. Jarrett not only defended and reaffirmed President Obama's support for the public option, but said "we're going to keep pushing until they very last moment" for it. In fact, those may be the strongest words yet from the White House during the end game. At least to my ears, they are very reassuring.

If Jarrett has Obama's ear on this, I'll feel a lot better. And, if Jarrett is accurate, someone over at the White House needs to shut down the anonymous officials who are undermining Obama. Read the rest of this post...

Coalition of liberal groups question Obama's commitment to public option in letter to Rahm

Very interesting. Up until now, liberal groups have been loathe to even question the WH publicly. Now, not so much. Their letter to Rahm still requires some reading between the lines. But in Washington-speak, this letter, as Plum Line notes, is pretty strong stuff (considering it's written to a friendly administration).

Among the groups urging the president to "heed the will of the people" (suggesting he's not) and "take a strong leadership position" on the public option (suggesting he's not) are (and it's an interesting list, to Washington insiders, these groups are quite well known):

AFGE
Campaign for America's Future
DREDF
LULAC
MoveOn Political Action
NAACP
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society Read the rest of this post...

Major public option update in the House

From Politico (I know, but in this case, I'm told by a senior House source that this is absolutely true):

After Democratic sources told POLITICO that there are not the votes for a robust public option, party leaders have their rank-and-file behind closed doors in the Capitol basement and are going through every name to see where they stand on a Medicare plus-five public option, the so-called robust plan. It's a public whip, often used to shame the outliers into backing their preferred plan.

This is accurate too, I hear. Read the rest of this post...

Politico is wrong, House bill will include public option

Lots of gamesmanship going on, in these final days (weeks) of the health care reform debate. I wrote last night about how Hill and administration sources seemed to be undercutting the public option in favor of Olympia Snowe's absurd "trigger" without a trigger. Then today we read from Mike Allen at the Politico that Pelosi doesn't have the votes and now will have to likely settle for Snowe's "trigger."

Wrong, Mor-ton.

I just spoke to my own senior Hill sources, who, let's just say, are seriously in a position to know. And they tell me that the House bill "will have the public option," period. Votes are still being counted, so don't believe Politico when they report breathlessly that the public option is dead. It looks like a public option foe is putting out disinformation.

In addition, Pelosi's spokesman Nadeam Elshami says:

Speculation that a final decision has been made about the public option are not accurate. We continue to work with all the members of the caucus to build consensus.

And no, as many of you have mentioned in the comments, we can't trust anonymous sources. Not entirely. But as a journalist, and longtime political operative, I can tell you that there are sources I have that I absolutely trust. They wouldn't lie to me. That doesn't mean they're right, but it does mean they likely aren't spinning me. Anonymous sourcing is not per se evil - in the end, it's legitimacy is based on the legitimacy of the journalist doing the reporting, and whether or not they have good sources, and hold those sources accountable for any screw ups they make. Read the rest of this post...

Member of House GOP leadership says Rush and Glenn Beck speak for lots of Republicans

Good. That's what we've been saying all along. These guys just can't help themselves. Read the rest of this post...

Meet Philip Spooner: The voice of the same-sex marriage campaign in Maine

This video has gone viral -- and it's captured the attention of the traditional media in Maine.

After you watch it, send it around.

Also, Nick Seaver posted the video from Portland's Channel 13 report on Mr. Spooner.

If you want to help in Maine, and you know you do, sign up for "Call for Change." Or, if you can get to Maine, sign up for "Drive for Equality."

Carlos and I are driving to Maine on Tuesday (with Petey, of course.) We'll be working on get-out-the-vote in Portland. There's a great team working on turnout and I can't wait to be part of it. Read the rest of this post...

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Lots of activity on the health care front. The Senate seems to be moving in the right direction. Although, we need a clarification from the White House on the whether President Obama is still pushing Olympia Snowe's meaningless "trigger". Olympia Snowe can't run the show.

In the House, there's an effort underway to secure 12-15 more votes for the strongest public option. Chris Bowers at OpenLeft has the target list here. This is crunch time in the House. We need the strongest possible bill from that body -- and we're close. Call your members this morning, especially if they're on the target list.

Obama is doing some politicking today. He'll be in Boston to do an event for Governor Deval Patrick. LGBT protesters will be on hand to remind him: "'Fierce advocate' means you have to actually advocate."

Then, Obama is heading to Connecticut for events with Senator Christopher Dodd, who is facing a tough reelection battle. Dodd is one of "four guys in the room" deciding the shape of the Senate Democrat's health insurance reform bill. He is also a very strong advocate for the public option. This visit to Connecticut, standing with Dodd, seems like an opportune time for Obama to clarify his views. Is he going to side with Dodd and the Democrats or still allow his staffers to push Olympia Snowe's "trigger" gimmick?

So, it's Friday, but it could be an interesting day.... Read the rest of this post...

Obama designates 200,000 acre habitat for polar bears

It's about time someone cares about the wildlife again instead of what Big Oil wants. Wildlife may not be able to donate as much money to lobbying, but they give back a lot more.

The Obama administration said Thursday it is designating more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska and off its coast as "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could add restrictions to future offshore drilling for oil and gas.

Federal law prohibits agencies from taking actions that may adversely affect critical habitat and interfere with polar bear recovery.

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Public works projects leading the way in economy

Forget about what the GOP naysayers have to say. Doing these projects was necessary (even more is needed) and it's now one of the highlights of the US economy. Reuters:

Growth in public works projects "is important at this juncture because you are really not going to see much expansion from the commercial and residential sectors," said Robert Murray, vice president at industry research firm McGraw-Hill Construction.

The housing bust in the United States that crippled the broader economy led to huge job losses in the country's $1 trillion construction industry.

Although the economy is showing signs of recovery, commercial construction still lags the general trend, partly hurt by the retail slowdown. On the other hand, public construction is projected to grow 14 percent to $136.3 billion in 2010, with a wider range of projects emerging, McGraw-Hill said in a report.

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