video Will Washington survive this weekend's health care vote? (And if it didn't would that be the worst thing ever?) NPR's Morning Edition has been packed with stories this morning about the pressure the Dems are under to pull together enough Yes votes for this Sunday's epic Health Care vote. Double that for Bart Stupak who is holding on to his No vote come hell or highwater. No Air Force One rides will sway him! Or will they? (more...)

video Remember the other week when the political phrase du jour was "reconciliation" and Rachel Maddow spent not a little amount of time illustrating how the Republicans who were in an uproar over the "nuclear option" were actually total hypocrites who had had no problem implementing the procedure when it suited there aims? Well, looks like the shoe is currently on the other foot (color us shocked). (more...)

video You remember Congressman Bart Stupak, he took a starring role in the health care debate back in November when he strong-armed his Stupak amendment into the House version of the Health Care bill. The amendment imposed "tight restrictions on abortions that could be offered through a new government-run insurance plan and through private insurance that is bought using government subsidies." At the time Rachel Maddow described it as the "biggest restriction on abortion rights in a generation." The Senate basically did away with the amendment in their version, but it may not matter. Stupak is back. Big time. (more...)

video George Stephanopoulos' political contacts paid off for ABC today. The network scooped everyone with news that former President Bill Clinton had been hospitalized with reported chest pains. ABC News broke into Oprah to report the news. Stephanopoulos reported that Clinton had been admitted to Columbia Presbyterian hospital and "that it is related to his heart and likely a stent procedure." Video below. (more...)

Media critics are, among other things, a spiteful and jealous lot. Covering programming decisions made by TV execs lends itself to actions and attitudes most similar to the worst type of sports fans -- taking for granted any successful or smart decision, while relishing the chance to boo every bad play or mistake. (more...)

video Season's greetings? Speaking on This Week With George Stephanopoulos this weekend, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman warned that there is still a "reasonably high chance" of a sharp economic contraction in 2010. As optimistic as the financial markets have been, Krugman said that he doesn't see "where it's supposed to come from," and is especially worried about the second half of the year. (more...)

After weeks of speculation, ABC has finally confirmed what everyone knew all along: George Stephanopoulos has been named host of Good Morning America, headline a series of moves that effectively reshuffles the ABC talent assignments. The other big news is that fan favorite Chris Cuomo will now host 20/20. Cuomo's spot at GMA will now be filled by JuJu Chang. Full press release after the jump. (more...)

Did President Obama's Sunday media blitz make a difference? It's hard to tell, though the headlines would suggest that the takeaway thus far seems to be split between issues of race and Obama's ability to manage the media. Also, the lack of a takeaway line -- beyond the fact Obama is still holding out for the White Sox -- is telling. Kanye West may be a jackass but he also has his own viral twitter avatar -- rude works! As the President is apparently painfully aware. Alas, considering the White House prides itself on being our first 2.0 presidency they don’t appear to package soundbites all that well these days! (more...)

The conference call is a myth! It’s a total myth. It’s a myth! It’s not true. I talk to Carville, I talk to Rahm, I talk to Paul, but we never have been on a conference call once in our lives. Ever. It would be malpractice of me as the chief Washington correspondent of ABC News not to try to talk to the White House chief of staff as much as possible. I’m also friends with him. -- George Stephanopoulos on the Politico story which reported that he, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, and former Clinton advisers Paul Begala and James Carville share a daily, morning conference call. (more...)

video ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos appeared last night on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor to talk about health care. So that's what they talked about - but the question is why is an ABC anchor going on a Fox News program? Maybe because nearly four million people watch it every night. (more...)

EXCLUSIVE For the first time in more than 10 years, ABC's This Week was the top-rated Sunday morning public affairs show last week in both total viewers and the A25-54 demographic. Since David Gregory officially took over NBC's Meet the Press in December, the race each week has tightened between NBC, ABC and CBS' Face the Nation. We asked This Week's anchor George Stephanopoulos for his thoughts on the reason for the win, Bill Clinton's return to the spotlight and more. (more...)