KEVIN O'BRIEN

Cleveland Plain Dealer Columnist

When I'm sad or worried, sometimes it helps to sing. Here's your chance to sing along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her cover of a song made famous by the Everly Brothers, "All I Have to Do Is Dream." Deem, deem, deem, deem, Deem, deem, deem, deem. I want a bill in the worst way. I've tried the... Full story »

Nothing else has worked. The votes just aren't there. The Democratic votes just aren't there. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admits, "Nobody wants to vote for the Senate bill." And if she and House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter have their way, nobody will have to vote on the Senate health care reform bill. And -- get this --... Full story »

President Obama is taking a page out of Ronald Reagan's playbook in pushing health care reform, but unfortunately he's getting everything backward, says Kevin O'Brien. Full story »

It's important to avoid the health-care reform the White House and congressional leadership crave, because if it passes, it's game-over for the American character, says columnist Kevin O'Brien. Full story »

Today's health-care meeting isn't to hear ideas from Republicans on the issue, but to give Democrats an excuse for using reconciliation to get a bill passed, says The Plain Dealer's Kevin O'Brien. Full story »

A run of bad luck every bit as relentless as the one that turned into an anti-Republican cascade in November's elections now afflicts the Democrats.  Full story »

It must be time for the Annual Global Warming Column! Full story »

From the last days of George W. Bush's administration, we've been digging an ever-deeper hole for future generations to try to dig out of. Under President Obama, we've been digging faster and deeper.  Full story »

President Barack Obama is telling people what he thinks they want to hear, but it's doubtful the American public will buy it this time. Full story »

A Republican senator in Massachusetts fires a shot heard loud and clear in Congress - and likely to be greeted by sighs of relief from members of each house, on both sides of the aisle. Full story »

An imagined conversation between President Obama and his Cabinet members doesn't inspire confidence. Full story »

I wonder what we won't learn from Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. I wonder how the special prosecutor's investigation of the CIA interrogators is going. I wonder how things will turn out for those three Navy SEALs who are facing courts martial for allegedly giving a terrorist leader a fat lip. I wonder if 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's lawyers are... Full story »

A new decade arrives with new challenges, but Cuyahoga County and Cleveland, the region's core city, face many chronic woes. The Plain Dealer Editorial staff has written extensively on these problems and suggests four areas that must get immediate and sustained attention in the coming year. Full story »

What the Senate Democrats will unanimously shove down Americans' chimneys today, over the unanimous opposition of their Republican colleagues, would cost Americans a bundle, in both money and freedom. Full story »

What an interesting start to the climate change meeting in Copenhagen. The forecast originally called for the salvation of the world through international cooperation and good will, but it has been updated to something a lot more familiar: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Britain's Guardian newspaper reports that "a group of individuals known as 'the... Full story »