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From Rural America to the suburbs, voters sent Washington a message in elections around the country this month: healthcare matters to us, so stabilize the insurance marketplace. Shockingly, arrogant congressional leaders are about to do the opposite. Republicans are choosing to ignore the will of the voters by raising the cost of insurance premiums and […]

Posted on November 15th, 2017 by Rural Outlook
Filed under: A Better Deal, Economy, Elections, Federal Budget, Health Care, Insurance Reform, Politics and Political Issues, Rural Issues, Senate, Taxes, Trumpcare | No Comments »

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Post has been updated (see bold insert below) Not even this Congress can avoid the reality that its game plan for an end-of-the-year home stretch has been severely altered. America’s appetite for petty politics has been washed away by a merciless tempest. Providing federal aid to rural and urban areas shattered by Hurricane Harvey is […]

Posted on September 5th, 2017 by Rural Outlook
Filed under: Agriculture, Climate Change, Economy, Environment, Environmental disaster, Federal Programs, FEMA, House of Representatives, Senate, Uncategorized, US Government | No Comments »

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By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Joe Miller, the TEA Party’s candidate for senator in Alaska, the man who beat the incumbent Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary, reminds me of Norm Coleman with hanging chads thrown in. Coleman, at least, came close to winning the Minnesota senate race in 2008. When Al Franken won in a […]

Posted on November 11th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Election 2010, Senate | 2 Comments »

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By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Yesterday’s election results left no doubt that  economic recovery is #1 on the voters’ agenda.  Here’s a rule politicians would do well to memorize: When people aren’t thinking with their hormones, they’re thinking with their wallets. Now we have a House of Representatives that thinks the way to recovery consists of […]

Posted on November 3rd, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Economic crisis: US, Election 2010, Election 2012, House of Representatives, Jobs, Senate, Taxes | 8 Comments »

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By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Three scenarios.  Take your pick. 1.  Disappointed that Obama hasn’t whupped more ass and accomplished more in the year and nine months since his inaugural, the people who put him in office stay home November 2 and let the Republicans and their Tea Party doppelgängers take over the Senate and House […]

Posted on October 11th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Election 2010, House of Representatives, Senate | No Comments »

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By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson If Arkansas Community Theater (which I just made up) ever puts on The Wizard of Oz, I nominate Blanche Lincoln as the Wicked Witch of the West. If they time it right, I’ll bet she’ll accept the call – and totally miss how appropriate she is for the part. She should […]

Posted on March 2nd, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Election 2010, Healthcare Reform, Senate | No Comments »

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by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Every time I hear the bleating heads on cable news and NPR say the Massachusetts special election to fill Teddy Kennedy’s seat resulted in the Democrats losing their super majority in the Senate, I want to throw up. Or throw something. The Democrats never had a super majority, the 60 votes […]

Posted on February 16th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Election 2010, Fiscal Crisis, Healthcare Reform, House of Representatives, Obama, Senate, Senate, US Congress | 2 Comments »

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President Obama reflects on the Massachusetts election results and his vision for creating a better America.

Posted on January 25th, 2010 by Debby
Filed under: Obama, POTUS, Senate, Senate Races | No Comments »

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By Al Cross Republican Scott Brown won the Massachusetts U.S. Senate special election Tuesday and dealt a serious blow to the Democratic health-care reform bill, but he didn’t win on the strength of the rural vote. Democrat Martha Coakley, the state’s attorney general, won the counties with both the most rural and urban populations, while […]

Posted on January 21st, 2010 by Debby
Filed under: Senate | 2 Comments »

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by Matt L. Barron When Al Franken finally takes his seat later this year, Democrats will have reached the magic total of 60 votes in their caucus with the move across the aisle by Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Talk about Christmas in April for Harry Reid. Sing it out loud and proud. Cloture, baby, […]

Posted on April 29th, 2009 by Debby
Filed under: Election 2010, Senate, Senate Races, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »