Why the health care takeover failed

As the Massachusetts blame game unfolds, the president’s unpopular health bill leads the list. But the substantive provisions of the bill were just part of the problem.

Headline news worthy of a click

• WASHINGTON – No, maybe he can't. President Barack Obama, who insisted he would succeed where other presidents had failed to fix the nation's health care system, now concedes the effort may die in Congress. (more...)
• WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly declined in January, but the economy continued to shed jobs and revisions painted a bleaker picture for 2009, casting doubt over the labor market's strength. (more...)
• Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republicans' standard-bearer in 2008, is facing a surprisingly strong primary challenge from the right, evidence that even party leaders aren't safe from the swell of conservative activism heading into the 2010 midterm elections. (more...)
• The line between the Ron Paul movement, the Tea Party and the Sarah Palin phenomenon continue to blur. Yesterday, the former Alaska governor endorsed Rand Paul in the Kentucky Senate race. Dr. Paul, an eye surgeon, is the son of Texas congressman Ron Paul, an ob/gyn who ran for president as a Libertarian and again in 2008 as a Republican. (more...)
• As Congress begins picking through President Obama's vast election year budget, many Democratic incumbents and candidates seem to be finding something they love — to campaign against. (more...)
• It reads like a dream order for a wild frat party: Maker's Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Bailey's Irish Crème, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewars scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniels whiskey … and Corona beer. (more...)
• WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is missing President Barack Obama's State of the Union address in order to attend a conference in London, but she is not the only absentee Cabinet member. (more...)
• JAKARTA — Indonesian authorities said Monday they are considering a petition to tear down a statue of US President Barack Obama as a boy, only a month after the bronze was unveiled in Jakarta. (more...)
• Figures on government spending and debt now total more than $12.2 trillion dollars. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Figures-on-government-apf-2178072020.html?x=0&.v=2
• Bill Clinton didn’t know he was in big trouble until the very eve of the November 1994 election. Barack Obama knows now, barely a year into his presidency. While the party loyalists can blame Martha Coakley’s defeat on her ignorance of Red Sox baseball, it was clearly a message to the president and his party. (more...)
• Boston, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Republican Scott Brown won a major upset victory in Tuesday's special election for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy. (more...)
• (CNN) -- On Tuesday, the eyes of the political world will be turned to Massachusetts where an unexpectedly close special election is being held to determine who will succeed Ted Kennedy in the Senate. (more...)
• ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - U.S. forces have not taken up a policing role in Haiti but do have the authority to protect "innocent Haitians" and themselves if necessary, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday. (more...)
• WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration says it will allow Haitians already in the U.S. illegally to remain because of this week's catastrophic earthquake. (more...)
• WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama ends his first year in office with his to-do list still long and his unfulfilled campaign promises stacked high. (more...)