I think that this is good news good news.
Harkin is actually more liberal on the safety net, he is kind of classic New Dealer, and Dodd knows banking, and has been relatively tough on the banks.
Category: Congress
Joe Kennedy will not Seek Teddy’s Old Seat
This is probably a good thing, as it avoids a whole bunch of potential nepotism issues.
My finger is not on the pulse of Massachusetts politics, but if I were a betting man, I’d bet on Martha Coakley for the Democratic nomination, and for the general.
Al Franken as Contrasted with Barney Frank
Much more thoughtful and receptive than Barney Frank, but the ravening beast in me prefers Barney Frank.
Liberals Draw Line in the Sand
Barack Obama has called just about everyone in Washington, DC for a meeting at the White House, insurance companies, doctors, Republicans, Blue Dogs, etc., but he hasn’t called in the progressives.
While members of his staff are making it clear that they intend to Sistah Soulja the liberals, the Liberals, or more accurately the Progressive Caucus in the House, are hitting back:
In a letter delivered to the White House moments ago, the two leaders of the bloc of House progressives bluntly told President Obama that they will not support any health care plan without a public option in it — and demanded a meeting to inform him face to face.
The bullet points of the letter are that in order to have them support the plan, there must be a public option, built on Medicare providers and using Medicare rates.
Note that there three things that can happen:
- Obama can stick with, and pass, most likely under reconciliation in the Senate, a bill with a real public option.
- Which means that the progressive caucus wins, and the Democratic party wins, particularly in the long run, when people see that government works for them.
- The bill gets killed in the house when 40+ Democrats vote against it.
- Which means that the progressives win, because they show that they have the power to stop things, and the electoral repercussions hit the Blue Dogs from close districts, not the Progressive, and Barack Obama. It means that they have to be negotiated with in the future, and the Powers That Be of the Democratic Party’s efforts cannot be exclusively dedicated to providing anilingus to the Blue Dogs.
- They fold like a bunch of wet broccoli, and vote for a milquetoast bill that allows Barack Obama to claim that he has done something to reform our healthcare system in 2012
- This is a lose for the progressives, and they go back to being people that everyone in Washington, DC can ignore with impunity.
The only way that these guys lose is if they blink…..Then again, never underestimate the capability of Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Needless to say, the argument that is apparently being fronted by Rahm and His Evil Minions™:
Should Obama jettison the public option, progressives will come under tremendous pressure to back the plan anyway. White House advisers will likely insist that liberals mustn’t deny the president a historic victory and enable a defeat that could cripple the first African-American presidency.
Is one of the most repellent things that I’ve read…well this week….It’s a bull market for repellent these days.
I would also add that the only person crippling Barack Obama, whether its on marriage equality, DADT, banking reform, healthcare, torture, accountability, etc. is Barack Hussein Obama.
Letter from Congressional liberals below:
Dear President Obama:
Thank you for continuing to work with Members of Congress to draft a health reform bill that will provide the real health care reform this country needs.
We look forward to meeting with you regarding retaining a robust public option in any final health reform bill and request that that meeting take place as soon as possible.
Public opinion polls continue to show that a majority of Americans want the choice of a robust public plan and we stand in solidarity with them. We continue to support the robust public option that was reported out of the Committees on Ways and Means and Education and Labor and will not vote for a weakened bill on the House Floor or returning from a Conference with the Senate.
Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, a public option built on the Medicare provider system and with reimbursement based on Medicare rates-not negotiated rates-is unacceptable. A plan with negotiated rates would ensure higher costs for the public plan, and would do nothing to achieve the goal ofproviding choice and competition to keep rates down. The public plan with set rates saves $75 billion, which could be lost if rates are negotiated with providers. Further, this public option must be available immediately and must not be contingent upon any trigger.
Mr. President, the need for reform is urgent. Every day, 14,000 Americans lose their health care coverage. We must have health care reform that will effectively bring down costs and significantly expand access. A health reform bill without a robust public option will not achieve the health reform this country so desperately needs. We cannot vote for anything less.
We look forward to meeting with you to discuss the importance of your support for a robust public plan, which we encourage you to reiterate in your address to the Joint Session of Congress on Wednesday.
Lynn Woolsey
Raul Grijalva
Bad Hair News
Upon his indictment about 7 years ago
Leaving Prison with hair in a pony tail.
Corrupt Congressman James Traficant has been released from prison after serving 7 years.
Normally, I would not note this, but when I first found the web, I decided that it was impossible for me to create a particularly useful web page, so instead I attempted create the most useless page.
It was dedicated bad hair days, and it’s been kind of moribund for years, but Mr. Traficant is there front and center.
Bringing on the Stupid, Lynn Jenkins (R-2nd District, Kansas)
She was talking about politics at a town hall, and let slip the following:
U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins offered encouragement to conservatives at a town hall forum that the Republican Party would embrace a ‘great white hope‘ capable of thwarting the political agenda endorsed by Democrats who control Congress and President Barack Obama.
I am speechless.
While I Would Not Trust Ron Paul with My Lunch Box,
When Barney Frank says that he supports an audit of the Federal Reserve, and that the bill will pass the House in October, and I believe that his assesment is an honest one.
That being said, I think that the Senate is more receptive to Bernanke’s protestations as to the need for opacity independence, and have been more thoroughly bribed by Wall Street are more concerned about market repercussions, while Obama’s economic advisors are Wall Street stooges and influence peddlers very supportive of the current regime at the Fed, which makes his signing a bill dubious.
As to Representative Paul, it’s a case of a stopped clock being right twice a day.
Massachusetts Moving to Accelerate Kennedy Replacement
In 2004, the law was changed to create a replacement by special election, which means that Kennedy’s seat would be empty for at least 5 months, and now the state legislature is looking to change the law so that an interim appointment can be made before the special election.
It’s probably what should have been done in 2004.
Who Got Pictures of Max Baucus Sodomizing an Underage Goat?
Because Max Baucus (DINO-MT) has now explicitly stated that he supports a public option:
U.S. Senator Max Baucus has finally broken his silence regarding his personal position on including a public option in health care reform legislation. Last Monday night (8/17), in an unprecedented conference call to Montana Democratic central committee chairs, the powerful leader of the Senate Finance Committee told his strongest supporters that he supported a public option.
While discussing the obstacles to getting a public option through the Senate, he assured his forty listeners, “I want a public option too!”
….
Seriously, I’m beginning to think that some of the Blue Dog types (technically, Blue Dogs are only a caucus in the House of Representatives) are starting to get some very serious push-back, and it scares them.
Rachael Maddow Explains the Republican Hive Mind
Brilliant!
It’s nice to see a woman to use a sports metaphor, and it’s better than most sports metaphors.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Good Idea
Michelle Bachmann is Pro Abortion Rights?????
She was on Hannity’s show, and she was talking about Obama’s healthcare reform plan, and she said the following at about 5:35 in her interview:
“That’s why people need to continue to go to the town halls, continue to melt the phone lines of their liberal members of Congress,” said Bachmann, “and let them know, under no certain circumstances will I give the government control over my body and my health care decisions.”
You go girl!
Meanwhile, Back in Bizarro world
Guess who is going to hold a fundraiser for the first Virginia Congressman who takes the pledge not to vote for a health plan without a public option?
Terry McAuliffe….Yes, that Terry McAuliffe, a man who has been repeatedly excoriated by lefty bloggers like me as a corporate stooge, and little more than bagman for political contributions from wealthy people and special interests.
In fact, I did a happy dance when he lost the primary race for VA governor for this reason.
But he is sponsoring this initiative:
Terry McAuliffe thinks it is time to “insist” on the public option. We couldn’t agree more. Terry’s agreed to host a fundraiser with Virginia and national bloggers who are insisting on a public option for the first Virginia Congressman who will take our pledge! This will be an awesome event to highlight and honor any Virginia Congressman who shows leadership on this issue. If you would like to be a part of the host committee for this event, shoot me an email at notlarrysabato@hotmail.com. Lowell and I are already on board, and I’m sure there will be many others!
Good for Terry McAuliffe….I cannot believe that I just said that.
I would also be remiss in mentioning that Act Blue has a page to donate to Congressmen who take the pledge not to support any bill that lacks a real public option, and it’s already raised nearly $300K.
I’ve added the link to my Act Blue page too.
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) Is Not Long for This World
He knows that he is dying, and it sounds like he does not expect to make it toa vote on healthcare reform:
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, in a poignant acknowledgment of his mortality at a critical time in the national health care debate, has privately asked the governor and legislative leaders to change the succession law to guarantee that Massachusetts will not lack a Senate vote when his seat becomes vacant.
In a personal, sometimes wistful letter sent Tuesday to Governor Deval L. Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, Kennedy asks that Patrick be given authority to appoint someone to the seat temporarily before voters choose a new senator in a special election.
……
As an FYI, he was not well enough to make it to his sister’s funeral last week.
Mixed Emotions Here
Representative Eric Massa (D-NY) described Senator Charles Grassley’s “Pull the plug on Grandma” talking point as “Treason” (0:41 on the video).
It’s refreshing to see someone pushing back on Republican rhetoric, but there is a reason that treason is the only offense specifically outlined in the Constitution: it’s there because the Kings of England repeatedly misused the charge to go after politically inconvenient people.
So it’s nice to see pushback, but I am far more comfortable with how Barney Frank handles it.
Of course, Massa is a Democrat, which means that he will likely apologize in the next few days.
Have I Mentioned that I Love Barney Frank*
Here he is taking on some teabaggers, though I would suggest that people who think that Act Pink does any good listen to his comments toward the end, when he says that, “Disruption never helps your cause. It makes you look like you are afraid to have rational discussions. You just drive people away.”
*In a 110% purely heterosexual kind of way, of course, as the General would say.
Lawrence O’Donnell vs. Representative John Culberson (R- TX): Complete Pwn463*
O’Donnell, asks if Culberson would vote to repeal Social Security or Medicare, and shows where he is lying.
What’s the word for this behavior???
Oh, right….journalism.
*Ownage.
Rachael Maddow Gets It, MTP Edition
Seriously, there are 60 Dems in the Senate. It is reasonable to expect that all 60 of them will vote for cloture, whether or not they vote for the bill.
Unbelievably Bad Political Analysis
Someone at Political Wire declares that Richard Burr (R-NC) is comfortably ahead of all potential challengers, because he has 43% of the voter against all of the, 43%-31% against Elaine Marshall, 43%-28% vs Cal Cunningham, and 43%-27% against Kenneth Lewis.
Just so you know, the rule of thumb is that undecideds break at least 2:1 against the incumbent,* so any time an incumbent is below 50%, they are in trouble, and an incumbent at 43%, is is very real trouble, particularly when his approval number is 38%.
This number has his campaign staff soiling their drawers.
Morons.
*I ran the numbers against Elaine Marshall and it comes to a 3% margin in the best case.
Primary Challenges Work
Surprise, surprise, with a credible primary challenge, Arlen Specter has flip flopped, and now says that he will support the pro-union Employee Free Choice Act. (EFCA)
So, who’s next on the hit parade?