The New Republic

Inside the Obamacare Laboratory: Have Democrats Learned the Right Lessons from Massachusetts? by Jonathan Cohn Previewing Obama’s Asia Visit: Why He Has a Rare Chance to Improve U.S.-Japan Relations, by R. Taggart Murphy READ MORE >>

When President Obama arrives in Tokyo on Friday, he will confront a country that seeks to be an ally of the United States. For Japan has never been an American ally. It was first a rival, then an enemy, and finally, after it lost the war it foolishly started with the U.S., it became a protectorate, not an ally.   READ MORE >>

Polls show that Americans are confused about what health care reform means. And, if you listen to members of Congress on television, you get the impression that some of them aren’t certain, either. But figuring out what health care reform entails isn’t hard. All you have to do is look at Massachusetts. READ MORE >>

Health Care Reform: Will It Work? Part 1   Health Care Reform: Will It Work? Part 2   Health Care Reform: Will It Work? Part 3   READ MORE >>

A day after blasting Martha Coakley, the frontrunner for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, for saying she would have voted against the health care bill because of the abortion amendment, Mike Capuano, who voted for the bill, now says he did so only "to keep the health care debate alive"--and that he'll vote against a final bill that includes the abortion funding provision. The interesting question here, I suppose, is how would Kennedy have voted? READ MORE >>

Ezra Klein persuasively argues that the Democrats erred by wandering into a $900 billion ceiling on the cost of health care legislation. Megan McArdle responds that no, the limit makes sense: READ MORE >>

I got an email from an old friend, Joel Parker, who is an international vice president of the Transportation Communications Union, and one of the smartest people I know. It's a response to my article  on anti-Statism in America that has been on the site today. I am reproducing it for its criticisms rather than its compliments, which bear not only on what I wrote but also on our continuing discussion of the health care bill. READ MORE >>

Why Americans Hate to Love the Government, by John B. Judis How Drug Companies Plan to Make a Killing Off of Health Care Reform, by Jonathan Cohn READ MORE >>

Critics have complained that a drug industry got a sweetheart deal when it struck a bargain with the White House and Senate Finance Committee over health care reform. There’s new reason to think those critics were right. READ MORE >>

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