Rush Limbaugh is not only upset with President Obama for leading this country towards what he deems to be a giant “constitutional crisis” but he’s also annoyed with your friends here at Mediaite. Rush previously claimed Obama would be “lawless” if he did not immediately follow the recent court decision declaring Obamacare to be unconstitutional and now he bizarrely takes us to task for not vociferously agreeing with him?

Today in a Florida Federal Court, a major blow was dealt to President Obama’s healthcare reform bill. Judge Roger Vinson ruled that it was unconstitutional for Congress to require all Americans to purchase health insurance, however even more devastating, the opinion went on to say that “because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void.”

Congressman Steve Cohen is continuing to make the media rounds after his assault on what he alleged to be Republican’s Nazi-like propaganda and their spreading of lies about healthcare. In addition to Anderson Cooper challenging Cohen, last night the unapologetic Congressman also spoke with CNN‘s John King and kept the flame on the rhetoric burning high.

Rep. Steve Cohen, Democrat from Tennessee, has heard enough about Republicans complaining of a “government takeover” of healthcare and took to the House floor to express his frustration. Only somehow his speech got a little too heated, suggesting Republicans are using propaganda efforts similar to the Nazis.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appeared on MSNBC last night with Rachel Maddow and vigorously defended all the benefits of the healthcare reform bill that Republicans are intent on repealing. Also when asked, Pelosi agreed that any Republicans in Congress advocating repeal should in fact reject their own government provided health insurance.

Earlier today a Virgina-based federal judge Henry E. Hudson declared that the newly passed Health Care reform law passed by Obama is unconstitutional. But as is the case in most judicial decisions, the story is far from over. During today press briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert GIbbs averred confident that the law is constitutional. Meanwhile, the partial ownership of a GOP consulting firm has brought the federal judge who made the decision under scrutiny.

At yesterday’s White House briefing, the hot topic du jour was the House Democrats’ procedural “Deem and Pass” maneuver, also known as “Demon Pass,” the “Slaughter Rule,” and if I’m not mistaken, the “Cider House Rule?”  I’m not sure about that last one.

All this after Fox News’ Brett Baier spent a good chunk of his POTUS exclusive grilling the President on whether he supports the maneuver. Just to be thorough, I took a shot at the question with First Dog Bo Obama. Not surprisingly, he agreed with the President. Video after the jump.

Last week’s health care summit was largely the result of outrage over the lack of promised transparency in health care reform. While that criticism focused on conference negotiations over the health care bill, the true failure of transparency occurred in the spring and summer of 2009, as the White House met with leaders from the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. I asked Robert Gibbs about it Friday. Listen carefully to what I asked, and to his response:

On last night’s Countdown, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs left host Keith Olbermann shaking his head like a tourist who’d just lost his fun money in a game of 3-card monte. At issue was the contradiction between the President’s call for the Senate not to push anything through in advance of Scott Brown‘s swearing in, and Gibbs’ assertion that the House voting on the Senate healthcare reform bill was still on the table. Gibbs explains, but Keith is still muttering about it long after the pre-taped interview.

This is what I get for watching The O’Reilly Factor.

I’ve found that there are two kinds of people in the world: Those who hate “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” (like me), and those who don’t. I’ve also found that members of the latter group are really, really amused by it. It is for them that I post Ray Stevens’ latest ode to mythological Grandmomicide, “We the People.”

The sparks kicked up by C-Span’s request to televise healthcare negotiations have erupted into a firestorm, as White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was grilled about the President’s campaign promise of complete transparency, and responded testily. CNN’s Jack Cafferty delivered a stinging j’accuse to President Obama, calling the pledge a “lie just to get elected.”

Although most news operations seem more concerned with transparency as it relates to our clothing at airport scanners these days, the White House is taking fire anew over the President’s campaign pledge to strip-search healthcare negotiations in full view of the public. There may be good, reasonable answers to these questions, but what the White House gave us yesterday isn’t it.

On Wednesday, Business Insider reported that Facebook users were being plied with virtual cash (for games like Mafia Wars) to email their Senators to oppose a public health insurance option. The health insurance industry-backed website to which the ads directed users, Get Health Reform Right, is down today. We contacted the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, who runs the site, to find out why.

220-215 may sound close, but given the sad, elusive nature of Universal Health Care in years past, it’s hard for me to see yesterday’s House vote on health care as anything but a massive victory for President Obama.

For 73 days now, I have been investigating the $80 billion deal struck between the PhRMA lobby, the White House, and the Senate Finance Committee. Specifically, I’ve been trying to find out why the White House and the Finance Committee didn’t disclose a monumentally important fact when I asked them about it in June, only to have it leaked by the PhRMA lobby in early August, and confirmed by the White House.

As the debate over health care reform continues to dominate the news, there is the inevitable criticism of media bias from both sides of the aisle. Aside from their editorial pages, the Wall Street Journal is well known for its unique focus on reporting facts, keeping its reputation as an unbiased source of news untarnished. But since its acquisition by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. two years ago, has the WSJ succumbed to the alleged bias that has afflicted other News Corp. properties Fox News and the NY Post?

Ever find that sometimes when you’re talking with friends or co-workers that a certain word keeps getting repeated over and over again? Maybe it’s a flashy one or just a really useful one, but it just keeps making the rounds in e-mails or chit-chat? Well, you’re not alone – the media also loves to reuse and recycle (not so much reduce). Welcome to Mediaite’s Meme Watch, a compilation of the media’s most talked-about words… literally. This edition? Death panels!

Watching a few hours of Fox News these days amounts to a non-stop infomercial opposing the Obama Administration’s effort to reform Health Care. While there is always room for a healthy debate on the issues, please don’t look to FNC for a measured discourse – they rarely, if ever, present a constructive solution to the current health care problems (though there is the occasional admission that there is need for reform.) No single entity seems more entrenched in the opposition to the health care reform than Fox News.

In June, I wrote a story that raised big questions about the value of the government’s $80 billion deal with Big Pharma, and wondered if the deal came with the trade-off of killing legislation that would enable the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices. Such a trade-off would be indefensible. That [...]

The Democratic National Committee released a web ad Tuesday that seems to have hit a “Marathon Man”-style nerve with conservatives online. Entitled “Enough of the Mob,” the ad features clips of recent disruptions at health care town hall meetings, including a “Birther” with what looks like a large wonton wrapper in a Ziploc bag.