Watkiss: Texas was a bad move for FLDS
Officials in Texas filed suit to seize the compound where the followers of imprisoned FLDS leader Warren Jeffs live. KTVK investigative reporter Michael Watkiss has been covering the polygamous sect for years. He reports from the Utah-Arizona border.
Letters to the President #1410: 'Is this how DC does business?'
Reporter's Note: President Obama is embroiled in new talks about taxes, the budget, and...well, we all know where that is going...
Dear Mr. President,
It's disappointing to hear that you and your Republican pals are once again rapidly coming to loggerheads over this tax business. Fool that I am, I actually enjoyed a few delusional moments of thinking that both sides might want to work something out before we go vaulting over the fiscal cliff, and spinning to the canyon floor like Wile E. Coyote, but I guess I was wrong.
Of course it goes without saying that your fellow Dems are already blaming the Repubs for everything, and vice versa. I'm not sure how that gets us closer to a solution. I actually think heaving around snarky comments about the opposition probably does more to impede progress than to spur it on.
And yet sometimes you DC types seem like you just can't help yourselves. There really is something of a junior high quality to it. Put downs. Taunts. I'm surprised I don't hear members of Congress insulting each other's mothers.
And again: Who benefits? Does anyone really imagine that the other side is going to respond positively to such tactics?
Insults delivered in such a public setting are doubly damned; not only do they inflame tensions against agreement, but they also force foes into defensive corners from which they can not emerge without appearing weak.
It's something for both sides to consider, if you truly want things to work out. Sorry for writing so late tonight. Hope you're not already asleep.
Regards,
Tom
Ellison: I won't sacrifice the interests of the poor
Rep. Keith Ellison says a fiscal cliff deal must protect seniors, low-income Americans and those with disabilities.
Matalin: Obama's proposal is despicable
Mary Matalin and Cornell Belcher react to the tax proposal President Obama offered as part of fiscal cliff negotiations.
U.N. victory for Palestinians
The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to grant Palestinians "non-member observer state" status. Frederik Pleitgen reports from the West Bank.
Activist: Syrian regime collapse visible
Zaidoun, a Syrian activist, discusses the civil war raging in Syria and the countrywide Internet outage.
Syrian crisis nearing end game?
CNN's Arwa Damon is inside Syria and reports on the significant gains made by the rebels.
Company accused of giant Medicare fraud
It started with a chance conversation between a doctor and a nurse several years ago. But that brief encounter may end up exposing what could be one of the largest Medicare frauds in U.S. history.
Dr. Alon Vainer, a medical director at dialysis clinics in Georgia, was discussing clinic procedures with one of the nurses, Daniel Barbir. The two men say they saw something they believed was very wrong: expensive medicine, and lots of it, was being tossed in the trash. And the clinic workers were being told to do it, the two men say.
"When we sat down and started talking about it and getting into details, we actually realized exactly what was going on," Vainer said.
The alleged waste was being carried out on a massive scale and, the nurse and the doctor said, they knew why almost immediately. They claim it was a way for their company, DaVita Inc., to defraud the government, overbill Medicare and Medicaid and make a fortune.
KTH: Tax cuts and political reality
Wolf Blitzer looks at why some Republicans are calling for a compromise with President Obama that would mean higher taxes for top income earners.
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