Christiane Amanpour has accepted the offer from ABC to host this This Week and work on other shows. She will be leaving CNN and joining ABC in August. ABC News President David Westin says that besides hosting This Week Amanpour will “provide international analysis on the issues of the day, as well as anchor primetime documentaries on international subjects for the network.”
Jake Tapper will be the “regular, interim anchor” of This Week until August.
There have been a lot of ridiculous attacks on health care reform, but this might be the most absurd (via Think Progress):
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) — speaking with Fox News host Glenn Beck on his radio show this morning — said the timing of the vote is unholy. He warned that Democrats intend to “take away the liberty that we have right from God” on “the Sabbath, during Lent.” Beck agreed, calling the Sunday vote an “affront to God,” and something “our founders would have never” done “[o]ut of respect for God”:
KING: They intend to vote on the Sabbath, during Lent, to take away the liberty that we have right from God. […]
BECK: You couldn’t have said it better. Here is a group of people that have so perverted our faith and our hope and our charity, that is a — this is an affront to God. And I honestly, I don’t think anybody is like, “yes, and now what we’ll do is we’ll vote on the Sabbath.” But I think it’s absolutely appropriate that these people are trying to put the nail in the coffin on our country on a Sunday — something our founders would have never, ever, ever done. Out of respect for God.
Think Progress also points out that the Republicans did pass at least one measure on a Sunday:
On Palm Sunday in 2005, the Republican-controlled Senate passed a controversial bill to allow a federal court to intervene in the case of Terri Schiavo. The House passed the same bill shortly after midnight on Monday morning.
That is one vote which should not have been held–not because of religion but because of violating the principle of keeping the government off our backs.
The House Democrats have received the types of number they were hoping for from the Congressional Budget Office. They found that the revised health care plan is fully paid for and will reduce the deficit:
1. CUTS THE DEFICIT Cuts the deficit by $130 billion in the first ten years (2010 – 2019). Cuts the deficit by $1.2 trillion in the second ten years.
2. REINS IN WASTEFUL MEDICARE COSTS AND EXTENDS THE SOLVENCY OF MEDICARE; CLOSES THE PRESCRIPTION DRUG DONUT HOLE Reduces annual growth in Medicare expenditures by 1.4 percentage points per year—while improving benefits and lowering costs for seniors. Extends Medicare’s solvency by at least 9 years.
3. EXPANDS AND IMPROVES HEALTH COVERAGE FOR MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES Expands health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans Helps guarantee that 95 percent of Americans will be covered.
4. IS FULLY PAID FOR Is fully paid for – costs $940 billion over a decade. (Americans spend nearly $2.5 trillion each year on health care now and nearly two-thirds of the bill’s cost is paid for by reducing health care costs).
With these numbers released today it is anticipated that the House will vote on the measure on Sunday.
