Congress paused on Wednesday to thank the air travelers who possibly saved their lives on Sept. 11, 2001 by fighting back against the al Qaeda hijackers who had taken over their plane.

In a brief ceremony, congressional leaders unveiled a plaque inscribed with the names of those aboard United Airlines Flight 93, who forced the hijackers to crash the plane in a Pennsylvania field before reaching its target, presumed to be the Capitol or the White House.

Hijackers diverted the San-Francisco bound plane and pointed it toward Washington that morning as part of a coordinated attack that also crashed three jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The plaque, mounted near the Capitol rotunda, notes that those aboard the plane “not only saved countless lives but may have saved the U.S. Capitol from destruction.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader John Boehner and other lawmakers read out the names of the 40 passengers and crew, occasionally stumbling over the pronunciation of their names.

Marilyn Johnson, a relative of the plane’s co-pilot LeRoy Homer Jr., said she was pleased by the recognition.

“You know how people say sometimes, ‘Oh, move on,’ but I’m happy that people know that this was a great accomplishment. … We know that our loved ones will never be forgotten,” she told Reuters.

Lawmakers later gathered in a nearby hall to sing “God Bless America,” the song that also provided a brief moment of unity when they sang it on the Capitol steps in 2001.

“We stand in a building that might not be here but for these heroes,” Reid said.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Jonathon Ernst (A flag flies in front of the U.S. Capitol)

President Barack Obama is making a speech to Congress on healthcare at 8 p.m. tonight and we will live blog it here.

As Washington focuses on President Barack Obama’s address to Congress on healthcare reform, another voice is demanding to be heard — or at least read — on this same subject.

Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and former Republican vice-presidential candidate, weighed in on her “fundamental” disagreement with the president’s plan. And yes, she brought up those “death panels” that raised such a furor when she mentioned them in a Facebook post in August.

Writing in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, Palin took aim at the Obama administration’s idea for a congressionally appointed Independent Medicare Advisory Panel, saying this would be “an unelected unaccountable group of experts charged with containing Medicare costs.”

She cited an April New York Times article that quoted Obama as saying this panel would guide medical decisions regarding the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives.

“Given such statements,” Palin wrote, “is it any wonder that many of the sick and elderly are concerned that the Democrats’ proposals will ultimately lead to rationing of their healthcare by—dare I say it—death panels? Establishment voices dismissed that phrase, but it rang true for many Americans.”

The “death panels” idea has been debunked by voices inside and outside the political establishment, and by Obama himself, who has said in the bluntest possible language that his healthcare plan would not “pull the plug on grandma.”

Palin’s Wall Street Journal column also questions whether the Obama healthcare plan will cut costs, and accuses Democrats of wanting to solve this problem with more government spending. But the “death panels” trope is likely to be the one to raise alarms — as it has in the past.

So today’s question: what is this latest missive from Palin meant to achieve? Steal the president’s thunder? Raise her own policy profile? Keep her before the public? Make her a standard-bearer, outside elected government, for those who oppose healthcare reform? Let us know what you think.

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Photo credits: REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder (Sarah Palin at the annual Governor’s Picnic in Fairbanks, Alaska, July 26, 2009)

REUTERS/Carlos Barria (A supporter of the health care reform holds a sign outside a health care town hall meeting with U.S. congressman Kendrick Meeks (R-FL) in Miami, April 9, 2009)

President Barack Obama heads for Capitol Hill tomorrow to address a joint session of Congress on one of the most pressing issues of the day, healthcare reform. For those with middling-to-long memories of Washington, this may have a familiar ring. Another Democratic president argued for healthcare reform on another September day some 16 years ago, and somehow healthcare remains unreformed.

Back then, it was President Bill Clinton, who spoke to Congress on September 22, 1993. That speech was full of sounding phrases like “healthcare that can never be taken away” and “security, simplicity and savings.” It also paid tribute to contributions from then-first lady and now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose efforts to change U.S. healthcare went down to defeat.

Obama tried out some sounding phrases of his own on Labor Day in Cincinnati, calling on Congress to pass healthcare legislation this year.

Those who question Obama’s plans to reform the American health insurance system have noted the earlier Clinton efforts to do the same thing — and the earlier failure. Fox News warned about “echoes” of the Clinton plan. Politico.com said “history does not seem to be on (Obama’s) side”, citing the Clinton speech and noting that the Clinton healthcare reform plan was dead a year later.

It’s a different time, a different economy, a different president. But will it be deja vu all over again when Obama gives his prime-time health care speech tomorrow? Let us know what you think.

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Photo credits: REUTERS/Larry Downing (Colette Carl listens to U.S. President Barack Obama speak at an AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati, Ohio September 7, 2009)

REUTERS/Pool photo (President Bill Clinton in the House chamber before his State of the Union address, with House Speaker Newt Gingrich in background, February 4, 1997)

America's "Religious Left" is jumping into the healthcare debate with a plan to launch a "40 Days for Health Reform" initiative starting Monday.

The move comes as conservative resistance hardens to President Barack Obama's attempts to overhaul America's healthcare system. This has taken the form of angry scenes at townhall meetings and has been driven in part by the "Religious Right," which claims on Christian radio stations and on the blogosphere that, among other things, "Obamacare" will result in taxpayer-funded abortion. That's a point disputed by most Democrats and their allies. 

The pro-faith-based healthcare reform campaign is organized by liberal leaning religious groups such as Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Faith in Public Life. Borrowing a page from the Religious Right, the conservative Christian movement that rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s as a key base for the Republican Party, the campaign will feature prayer rallies and a national TV ad.

 It brings together evangelicals, Catholics and mainline Protestants and  includes heavyweights from the Religious Left such as Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners. There are many people of faith in the United States who believe that coverage needs to be extended to the nearly 46 million Americans with no health insurance because of biblical calls to care for the poor and the sick.

In his campaign for the White House Obama had tapped into the religious community and frequently invoked his own Christian faith. It remains to be seen if the faith community can inject some energy into what some see as a faltering drive at health care reform.

One wonders if this part of Obama's ambitious domestic agenda has a prayer without such help.

A half-dozen fake letters, signed by people who don't seem to exist and who work at made-up jobs, are causing a bit of buzz in the environmental world -- mostly because the letters urged a Virginia congressman to vote against a cap-and-trade system to curb climate change.

The Sierra Club calls it "dirty tricks." The Union of Concerned Scientists points out that the PR firm said to be behind the fake-letter lobbying effort has a history of working against climate legislation. Rep. Ed Markey, who chairs a House committee on energy independence and global warming, said the committee will investigate. The Daily Progress newspaper in Charlottesville published a detailed story.

The congressman, Tom Perriello, voted for the cap-and-trade bill anyway. It passed by a slim margin and the Senate is expected to take up this matter in September.

The alleged forgeries came in letters made to look as if they were sent from two civil rights organizations: the local branch of the NAACP and Creciendo Juntos, a network for Charlottesville's Hispanic community -- neither of which oppose cap-and-trade. The Daily Progress tracked the letters to a Washington lobbying firm, Bonner & Associates. A partner at the Bonner firm apologized to Creciendo Juntos, but that probably won't be the end of the matter.

Jack Bonner, the president of Bonner & Associates, responded to a call for comment by e-mail: "We take our business very seriously. A temporary employee—lied to us—and contrary to our policies sent these letters. We—no one else—we on our own found this out. We immediately fired the person. We then, called those effected, explained what happened and apologized. In the case of the group in the story—we did it in person and by letter. This should not have happened—we had a bad employee—but through our internal checks, we found the problem, and on our own initiative took the step to notify the affected group."

Interesting thing about the Bonner firm: its acknowledged specialty is "grassroots" lobbying -- even though grassroots politics used to mean efforts that come from the ground up, from the rank-and-file members of a group. The Union of Concerned Scientists, which strongly favors the legislation that Bonner's clients presumably oppose, pointed reporters to a now-defunct Web site Bonner put up for the Western Fuels Association to oppose the carbon-capping Kyoto Protocol back in the 1990s.

The association said the site generated 20,000 e-mails in opposition, including one from a mythical "George Jetson." The cartoon character complained that he would have to pay an extra $24,239,987.52 a year if Congress ratified the Kyoto pact. They didn't, and the United States is now the only industrialized country that hasn't joined the protocol.

Carl Pope, Sierra Club's executive director, praised Perriello for voting for the bill and for looking into the efforts of "the dirty, old business-as-usual players who tried to sway his vote." Pope also noted that other members of Congress may have received the same kind of forged letters, urging them to vote against the bill: "It is disturbing, to say the least, to think that some congresspeople may have, in good faith, voted thinking they were representing their communities when in fact they were not."

So the question is: did this lobbying effort, and others, sway the vote on the climate bill in the House? Will the same efforts come into play in September in the Senate? And is this an outrage, or just the way Washington works?

Photo credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (U.S. Capitol dome, February 24, 2009)

Over the past few days, with the healthcare reform debate raging in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has lit into the U.S. insurance industry.

“Immoral” and “villains” are among the words she has used to describe the companies for their opposition to a publicly run health plan.  And she has castigated their policies of refusing to take care of pre-existing medical conditions and capping benefits of cancer patients.

“The glory days are coming to an end,” Pelosi warned those companies, vowing to build support for the bill she’s pushing.

But will the tough talk bring to an end insurance industry campaign contributions to Pelosi?

For the current 2009-2010 election cycle, insurance industry contributions to Pelosi total $41,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Only health professionals have given her more money, $113,000, according to the group, which tracks campaign contributions to lawmakers and lobbying activities. In the 2007-2008, of the top 20 industries contributing to her, insurance contributions ranked fifth, totaling $177,000 out of a total $3.78 million raised.

“As the Speaker’s opposition to the health insurance companies being in charge of America’s health care shows, there is no link between political contributions and positions on policy,” said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Pelosi.

Dave Levinthal, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, said of the mismatch between the contributions and Pelosi’s criticisms: “They have a right to donate money to her.  She has a right speak her mind.”

He notes that insurance industry campaign contributions to Pelosi’s re-election campaigns and a separate “leadership” campaign fund have risen dramatically in the last couple years, as healthcare reform prospects have risen.

“It is possible they may look in a different direction” if they conclude she’s not going to be “receptive to their influence,” Levinthal adds.

Cue up Bruce Spingsteen and “Glory days, well, they’ll pass you by.”

Photo credit: REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (Pelosi at July 22 news conference)

President Barack Obama has targetted healthcare reform as his top legislative priority. Now he just has to convince Congress to make it work.

Over the past week, Obama has stepped up pressure on lawmakers, speaking out each day about the need for an overhaul of the unwieldy system. He also has invited key lawmakers to the White House for a little personal persuasion.

Four Republican senators made the trip down Pennsylvania Avenue to see the president on Wednesday and today he’ll meet with Republican Senator Olympia Snowe and Democrat Ben Nelson. Yesterday Obama also took the opportunity of congratulating the newest congresswoman — Judy Chu of California — on her victory to make a special mention of healthcare and the need to reform the system and lower costs for Americans.

When they’re not being wooed by the president, lawmakers will stay busy talking about healthcare on Capitol Hill today. The thorny issue of taxes will take center stage in the congressional debate.

The House Ways and Means Committee begins debate, and may vote, on proposed taxes and fees in the House Democratic healthcare proposal. Those include a tax on richest Americans to help pay for the healthcare overhaul. Two other House committees — Energy and Commerce and Education and Labor — are working on their portions of the bill.

The Senate Finance Committee meets in closed session again for debates on how to pay for the overhaul. They are considering whether to tax any portion of employee healthcare benefits.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor heads back to the hearing room to face senators in the Judiciary Committee for the fourth day in a row. Though Republican lawmakers have tried to paint her as a judicial activist who will stamp the court with Obama’s liberal agenda, Sotomayor has held steady and remained calm with measured assurances that she is not an activist.

After pressing the lawmakers on healthcare, Obama has a busy few hours in New York. He’ll speak at a fundraiser for Governor Jon Corzine, deliver remarks to the NAACP’s 100th anniversary conference then attend a Democratic National Committee fundraising dinner.

After that he flies back to Washington. Phew.

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Photo credit: REUTERS/Larry Downing (Obama at Rose Garden after speaking about healthcare reform)

Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett may no longer be with us, but Congress is still hanging around. Good thing, too, as they’ve got plenty of work to do.

The House of Representatives is poised to vote today on one of the most significant environmental bills in history. It could be a nail-biter as Democratic leaders are still scrambling to ensure they have enough votes to pass the measure, which aims to wean industry off of carbon-emitting fuels blamed for global warming.

After that it has to clear the Senate, where Republicans will have an easier time derailing it if they so desire.

They’re still plugging away on healthcare reform. Senators say they’re closer to agreement on a $1 trillion bill that would extend coverage to nearly everyone without adding to huge budget deficits.

On top of that, President Obama wants Congress to tackle immigration and overhaul financial regulation by the end of the year. He also hopes to get Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court by September.

Something’s got to give, and that appears to be transportation spending. House Democrats have been working on a $500 billion package that would create a new fund for road repairs and increase spending on transit and rail.

That could require new gas taxes — never a popular option with voters — and Obama’s told Congress to wait until after the 2010 midterm elections to take it up.

So what’s the best metaphor for the transportation bill? Is it:

a. Stuck in traffic?

b. Derailed?

c. In a holding pattern?

photo credit: REUTERS/Nigel Roddis (A tribute to Michael Jackson in London, June 26)

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