Monthly Archive for August, 2009

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The Conspiracy Theorists Got One Right

by Zack Stephenson | 10 Comments

Normally I’m pretty skeptical of conspiracy theories, and I’m sure I didn’t believe it was true at the time, but Tom Ridge is about to confirm the fears of many on the left regarding the 2004 election:

Tom Ridge, the first head of the 9/11-inspired Department of Homeland Security, wasn’t keen on writing a tell-all. But in The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege…and How We Can Be Safe Again, out September 1, Ridge says he wants to shake “public complacency” over security. And to do that, well, he needs to tell all. Especially about the infighting he saw that frustrated his attempts to build a smooth-running department. Among the headlines promoted by publisher Thomas Dunne Books: Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was “blindsided” by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush’s re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over.

Writing a tell-all book is nice and all, but if Ridge had any integrity at all, he would have resigned in protest when they asked him to raise the terror alert, instead of waiting to quit until a month after the election and waiting to tell his story until five years after the fact.

August 20, 2009, 10:29 am | Category: Misc. National Politics |

He’s On Fire!

by Sean Broom | 13 Comments

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Fox News: The New Liberals
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Healthcare Protests
August 20, 2009, 9:29 am | Category: General |

Dems tried their hardest to include the GOP

by Jeff Rosenberg | 2 Comments

Anyone who has followed the health reform debate has seen the Democrats agonize over finding just a few Republican votes — in fact, the Dems have bent over backwards for the Republicans. The Republicans, for their part, have spread disinformation, stated their intention to vote against any health reform bill the Democrats pass, and just generally refused to take part in the legislative process in good faith. The Democrats have done everything possible to include the GOP, but there’s only so long you can beat your head against a brick wall.

It’s become pretty clear at this point that the Republicans aren’t willing to vote for anything — and I mean anything — that has Democratic support. They’ve decided to go for broke, seeking nothing less than the complete failure of any sort of health reform whatsoever. So it’s time to give up on the Republicans and pass health reform without them. Americans can hardly say that the Democrats haven’t tried their best to be inclusive.

In fact, if the polls are accurate, Americans will not be particularly disappointed to see the Republicans taken out of the health reform debate. Only 21 percent approve of the way Republicans have handled health care reform. Obama and the Democrats would be better served taking all of the energy they’ve been devoting to the struggle for Republican support and applying it to rebutting Republican lies.

August 20, 2009, 9:00 am | Category: Misc. National Politics |

More On Heath Insurance Reform

by Sean Broom | 22 Comments

I want to bring your attention to a Yglesias post from yesterday that pretty accurately sums up my opinion on a ‘public option’.

Consider that the following things would need to happen for a health reform bill to become law:

1. Senate Finance Committee writes a bill.
2. Finance bill is reconciled with HELP bill.
3. Reconciled Senate bill passes full Senate.
4. House Rules Committee reconciles the slightly different versions of the House bill.
5. Reconciled House bill passes full House.
6. Conference Committee reconciles House and Senate bills.
7. House passes conference report.
8. Senate passes conference report.
9. President signs bill.

Right now, the most important thing is to get through steps (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5). At the moment it appears that you can’t do (4) and (5) without a public option. It also appears that you can’t do (1), (2), or (3) with a public option. And that’s all just fine since this is what step (6) on the process is there for. At step (6) the appropriate thing to do is to press for a conference report that includes a public option. If progressives win that fight, then step (7) should be easy and there’ll be a tough fight over step (8). If progressives lose that fight, which I think may well happen, then I really do think it would be time to give up on the public option. I think it would be silly for the House of Representatives to vote “no” on a basically good health reform package merely because it didn’t include a public option.

Until anyone can tell me how we get through steps 1, 2, 3, 6 and 8 with a public option I’ve got to say again, please sweet God in heaven, do not kill this bill if it doesn’t contain a public option.

August 20, 2009, 8:59 am | Category: General |

I Just Wanted To Post This

by Sean Broom | 15 Comments

Because my subscription to the Economist has to be worth something.

Moderate is the new liberal

IF, WITH Barack Obama’s acquiescence, Senate Democrats drop the public plan from their health-care reform bill, that measure will likely end up looking very much like The Economist’s vision for health-care reform in America. Which is odd, because I never considered this paper a bastion of socialist thought…

There seem to be three rings that move from left to right across the stage (and political spectrum). In the first ring, liberal Democrats are having a debate with their moderate colleagues over the merits of different aspects of reform. Right now, it appears, the moderates are winning. In the second ring, moderate Republicans are having a debate with their conservative colleagues over reform. That debate seems to be going nowhere, with most Republicans staunchly opposed to any reform. In the third ring, we have the freak show: people screaming about socialism and death panels, and a few even packing heat outside presidential events…

Perhaps it’s a matter of perspective. If you like the status quo, then these changes (and any change that seriously addresses the flaws in America’s health-care system) are probably going to seem radical to you. But if you believe that the American system is not functioning as it should and, therefore, needs to be reformed, the changes currently on the table are actually quite moderate. Or maybe, just maybe, we’re all socialists.

I end this post with a pitiful plea to the liberal members of our Congressional delegation,

Please, sweet God in heaven, do not kill this bill if it doesn’t contain a public option. The history of health care reform is long one, the first attempt at universal health care started under Truman and arguably came closest to fruition under Nixon until killed at least partially by liberals and labor unions who thought they could get a better deal under the next President who wasn’t going to be Nixon (he was in the heat of Watergate at the time).

How did that work out for them?

Come September the actual brass tacks of this bill are going to have to be sorted out (the real irony given all of the hyperbole and bullshit now, there is no bill to really be hyperbolic about).  So, to Keith Ellison and any other member of our delegate who is willing to vote against a bill without a public option, please please please think very hard before you vote against health insurance reform if it doesn’t have a public option.  Incremental change is better than no change, particularly if we’re going to have to wait 30 years for another shot at it.

August 19, 2009, 2:13 pm | Category: General |

Will the Democrats go it alone on health reform?

by Jeff Rosenberg | 11 Comments

You would think, given Republicans’ intentions to vote against any health reform, even a compromise of a compromise, that the Democrats would finally decide to take matters into their own hands, like they originally said they’d do. According to the New York Times, they’re finally ready:

Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority’s cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.

…

Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, said the heated opposition was evidence that Republicans had made a political calculation to draw a line against any health care changes, the latest in a string of major administration proposals that Republicans have opposed.

Of course, they’ve been back and forth on this so many times, it’s made my head spin. I’d love to think that the Republicans’ vote-against-everything approach would finally convince the Democrats to go it alone, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

August 19, 2009, 1:00 pm | Category: Misc. National Politics |

Sviggum Out

by Zack Stephenson | 3 Comments

A few weeks ago, former House Speaker Steve Sviggum suspended his gubernatorial campaign.  Sviggum, who is currently Commissioner of Labor and Industry in the Pawlenty Administration, said that he had been advised that the Hatch Act (which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity) might apply to him due to his responsibilities to OSHA.  Sviggum said he would be seeking a formal ruling from federal officials.  According to Mary Lahammer, Sviggum just got his ruling - and it didn’t go his way:

This week the Republican got a letter from the Solicitor General saying the federal Hatch Act prohibits him from being a candidate because of his day job with the Pawlenty administration overseeing federal policy like OSHA. Sviggum told me “it’s a downer.”

Sviggum said he might jump back in the race next year if no other Republican gains traction, but let’s not kid ourselves, Sviggum is done. I think the DFL caught a break on this one. Sviggum has a great political mind, he’s disciplined, he’s a hard worker and he’s very quotable. He would have been a formidable candidate in a general election. Instead, he joins the long, long list of potential Republican candidates taking a pass on this race (Coleman, Ramstad, Sullivan, etc…) and increases the odds that Marty Seifert will be the GOP gubernatorial nominee next fall.

Whodathunkit.

By the way, if you are wondering why Sviggum doesn’t just quit his job as Labor Commissioner, the answer is that he’s worried about his high five. State retirement benefits are based on the salary you draw during the five years when your salary was greatest. Sviggum is taking home a six figure check as a Commissioner, much more than he made during his twenty plus years in the legislature. The longer he stays on as Commissioner, the better his pension package will look.

August 19, 2009, 11:44 am | Category: MN 2010: Governor |

Co-ops are useless

by Jeff Rosenberg | 15 Comments

But don’t take my word for it — listen to Kent Conrad, D-ND, who actually proposed the co-op plan:

ROBERTS: What would they do to reduce costs? Because that is one of the central issues of health care reform.

CONRAD: Well, the important thing is they’d provide more competition. … Beyond that, I think it’s very important not to over-promise here. […]

ROBERTS: So nothing really in driving down the costs of service then?

CONRAD: Uhhh, no. If you believe competition helps drive down costs, then they would certainly contribute to holding down costs.

If reducing costs is over-promising, I think we can agree that co-ops would do pretty much nothing. Especially given that they couldn’t negotiate lower prices until they had enough market clout, but they won’t gain any market clout without lower prices.

Unsurprisingly, despite the fact that co-ops would effectively gut health reform, the GOP is set to vote against even that plan. To me, this proves that the GOP will vote any and every bill proposed by Democrats.

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August 19, 2009, 7:23 am | Category: Misc. National Politics |

Conservatives combine multiple lunacies into one mega-lunacy

by Jeff Rosenberg | 25 Comments

Something bizarre has happened during the right-wing’s organized town-hall protests. It seems that all the paranoid, whacko ideas conservatives have had during the Obama administration have all become mushed together into one combined mega-lunacy.

There are the misinformed who believe that health reform is just a euphemism for killing the elderly, but at least I can understand why they’re protesting health reform, even if they’re wrong. The rest of the contingent, though, is making less and less sense. The teabaggers are a prominent force in the protests, which seems odd given that Obama has pledged that health reform will not add to the deficit. There also appears to be a sizable contingent of birthers involved. There would have to be, given that only a minority of Republicans believe Obama is a US citizen.

Suddenly, in the last few days, the protests have expanded to include a new, completely unrelated group of conservative gripers — gun-toting right-to-bear-assault-rifle activists:

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August 18, 2009, 2:00 pm | Category: General |

Without a public option, health reform will not pass the House

by Jeff Rosenberg | 4 Comments

Republicans can certainly be counted on to vote against any Democratic bill — they don’t even need to bother to read it. They’ll vote against the bill whether it has a public option or not.

Barack Obama and the House Democratic leadership know that, but they expect they have enough Democratic votes to pass health reform anyway. They don’t, though — not if the bill doesn’t include a public option. 60 House Democrats have now committed to vote against the bill if it doesn’t include a public option.

This is serious — we only have one chance to get health reform right, and we don’t want it to be just a giveaway to the insurance companies. We need serious reform that increases competition, reduces costs, and extends health care to as many people as possible. It’s going to be a slog, but the public option is absolutely essential.

Below the break, the letter these progressive Democrats sent to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius:

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August 18, 2009, 7:30 am | Category: Misc. National Politics |

Alternatives to ditching the public option

by Jeff Rosenberg | 10 Comments

Democrats in Congress, terrible negotiators as always, have started floating the idea of dropping the public option to get health reform passed. I hope they won’t give up on meaningful health reform without first considering some of the options available to them.

First of all, once again we have to return to the topic of budget reconciliation, a technique which would allow health reform to pass the Senate with a simple majority. The right used it to pass major legislation during the Bush administration — now it’s time for the left to do the same under Obama. The Democrats threatened the use of reconciliation if the right didn’t contribute meaningfully to the debate, and they should be prepared to follow through. The Party of No has yet to suggest any viable alternatives to the Democrats’ plan — they’ve simply thrown out obstruction after obstruction.

Even if the Democrats won’t follow through and use budget reconciliation like they said they would, there are options before simply scrapping the public option. James Carville, for instance, suggested this Sunday that the Democrats force Republicans to actually show their obstruction by actively filibustering the health reform bill:

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August 17, 2009, 2:00 pm | Category: Misc. National Politics |

Teabaggers visit Betty McCollum

by Jeff Rosenberg | 11 Comments

Doug Grow at MinnPost has a great article about the confrontation, which shows right-wing looniness at its best. Among other things, the teabaggers showed themselves to be in desperate need of a civics lesson:

The people, who didn’t arrive in the best of moods, got even testier when they learned that McCollum was not at the office.

“We pay her salary, where is she?” demanded a woman.

“She’s at her son’s wedding,” [staffer Josh] Straka said. …

“Even if my son was being married right now, I would be at this meeting if I were a congresswoman,” yelled one woman. …

“But we weren’t even given notice you were coming,” said Straka, who explained that the only advance knowledge of the gathering came via the grapevine.

A sterling example of conservative logic. If I were McCollum, I would definitely skip my son’s wedding just in case an angry conservative mob decided to show up unannounced. After all, these days, the chances of that happening have become pretty good.

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August 17, 2009, 7:30 am | Category: Misc. Local Politics | Tags: .

Kline refuses to hold a town-hall meeting

by Jeff Rosenberg | 52 Comments

Sean reported Tim Walz’s offer to John Kline to hold joint town-hall meetings in both of their districts. In The Least Surprising News Ever, Kline has refused, calling it a publicity stunt. Only John Kline, who has always avoided his own constituents like a plague, would consider town hall meetings a “publicity stunt.” Why won’t Kline agree to debate health reform in public?

On this particular topic, I have to agree with GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb: “If you don’t want to be asked questions, if you don’t want to interact with the public, if you don’t want an opportunity to to get a tough question, uh, don’t run for office.”

August 16, 2009, 8:59 am | Category: CD1 and CD2 | Tags: , .

Bill Clinton on health care and Obama’s approval rating

by Jeff Rosenberg | 32 Comments

I agree with Clinton’s assessment of the health care debate completely:

I don’t care how low they drive support for this with misinformation. The minute the president signs this bill, his approval will go up. Within a year, when the good things begin to happen, and the bad things they’re saying will happen don’t happen, approval will explode. [The Economist, via Political Wire]

Legislating — particularly on complicated, high-profile issues — is messy business. It’s never pretty, and it often disgusts the American people while the process is ongoing. Poll after poll, though, shows that Americans want health reform. Once it passes, the rancor from the legislative process will fade into the background and the majority of Americans will be very pleased that they got what they wanted.

August 15, 2009, 7:36 am | Category: Misc. National Politics |

Walz invites Kline to join him for health care townhalls

by Sean Broom | 16 Comments

Representative Tim Walz (the next lion of Minnesota politics) invited Representative John Kline to join him at a health care town hall on Thursday in East Mankato, and in exchange Congressman Walz will join Kline at a similar event in the 2nd district.  Kline hasn’t responded as of yet.

The Dear John letter, after the jump.

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August 14, 2009, 8:51 pm | Category: CD1 and CD2 |