Where The Rubber Meets The Road (3/31/10)

As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week (lots going on, mostly related to HCR - and I also posted here)...

House

Health-bill passage. Voting 219-212, the House sent President Obama a Senate-passed bill (HR 3590) overhauling American health care, which he signed into law. The House also sent the Senate a bill (HR 4872, below) containing changes in the new law requested by House Democrats. This year's final health-care law will be a combination of the two measures.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).

Voting no: John Adler (D., N.J.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Congratulations to everyone who voted in favor of the most important piece of legislation to emerge from the U.S. Congress in over 40 years, and an utter pox on those who voted No (this tells us the traitorous John Adler has sealed his fate, and to respond to the same awful decision by Tim Holden, click here).

Health-bill changes. The House passed, 220-211, a bill (HR 4872) similar to HR 3590 (above) but with changes designed to attract wavering Democrats. The bill contains an unrelated measure that would shift student loans to a system of direct lending by the Department of Education, excluding the private-sector lenders that now dominate the government program. This would save more than $80 billion over 10 years, with most of the savings used to expand the Pell Grants by which low-income youths pay for college tuition.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

Voting no: Adler, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

And though voting in opposition to this also isn’t quite as bad as opposing health care reform, it still stinks to high Heaven (and even with “Man Tan” Boehner “holding” the private lenders “in his trusted hands,” as noted here, it still passed – good times).

Abortion dispute. Voting 199-232, the House defeated a Republican bid to add antiabortion language to HR 4872 (above). Democrats said that the new health law would contain "Hyde Amendment" language, which bars federal funding of abortions except in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother, and that President Obama would reinforce the Hyde policy by executive order.

A yes vote backed the GOP motion.

Voting yes: Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

Voting no: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

And what is stated in the writeup is exactly what happened, which is unfortunate, really (meaning that the federal order adhering to "Hyde" was issued...love to see what would happen if men had to jump through the same hoops to get coverage for Cialis or Viagra as women have to jump through for abortion coverage).

Health-care repeal. Voting 184-239 against, the House defeated a bid by Republicans to repeal two revenue provisions of the new health law. The motion to HR 4849 (above) sought to repeal the law's $2,500 cap on contributions to Flexible Spending Accounts as well as its ban on using both FSAs and Health Savings Accounts to pay for over-the-counter drugs.

Voting yes: Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

Voting no: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz and Sestak.

Personally, I would like to have seen an amendment introduced banning FSA funds from being used to pay for abortion – maybe someday (not much to say about these votes because, again, except for Adler and Holden, it’s all party-line stuff).

Summer jobs, disaster aid. Voting 239-175, the House sent the Senate a deficit-spending bill (HR 4899) to provide $600 million for summer jobs for youths and $5.1 billion for federal disaster relief. The bill defines the disaster aid as emergency spending and thus exempt from the "pay as you go" law. The bill extends until May a provision of last year's economic stimulus allowing the Small Business Administration to guarantee up to 90 percent of certain loans to companies.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

Voting no: Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

And oh yes, please tell me once more how the Repugs are supposedly “the party of small business” again when they oppose this (And why should the “gumint” have to pay for summer jobs for kids? Let ‘em all clean toilets and pick up trash at McDonald’s, right?)

OK, snark mode off…

Jobs bill. Voting 246-178, the House passed a deficit-neutral bill (HR 4849) providing tax breaks to spur investment in small businesses and public-works construction by states and cities. The $18 billion-plus cost would be offset by other changes in the tax code. Under the bill, those who make certain small-business investments before Dec. 31 would receive a 100 percent exemption from capital-gains taxes on stock held for at least five years.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Castle, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

Voting no: Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

I guess the “carrot” of the capital gains tax reduction was enough to bring Mike Castle on board; it looks pretty certain that he’ll get the Biden/Kaufman Senate seat and flip it to an “R” this fall, sadly...love to be wrong, though.

(And yet another banner week for Joe Pitts comes to a close; to do something about it, click here.)

Senate

Health-law changes. Senators passed, 56-43, a bill (HR 4872, House vote above) making several changes in the new health law. In part, the changes consist of removing special deals for states such as Florida and Nebraska; increasing Medicaid funding for all states; narrowing the doughnut hole in the Medicare prescription-drug plan; delaying until 2018 a new excise tax on high-end medical insurance, and starting Medicare taxation of well-off taxpayers' investment income. The bill was sent to the House for technical corrections and then to President Obama for his signature.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Ted Kaufman (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), and Arlen Specter (D., Pa.).

This is the “reconciliation” fix that Harry Reid should have sought last year to prevent this soap opera from dragging out for another three months as I and many others called for (of course, I took hallucinogenic drugs and watched “School House Rock” and didn’t know what I was talking about…or something).

Health-law repeal. Voting 58-39, the Senate tabled (killed) a Republican amendment to HR 4872 (above) to immediately repeal the new health law.

A yes vote was to kill the amendment.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

“Diaper Dave” Vitter, come on down! (re: he sponsored this amendment…nice try – all amendments listed here).

Health-law opt-out. Voting 58-41, the Senate tabled a Republican amendment to HR 4872 (above) under which states could opt out of the new health law on grounds that it usurps powers reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment.

A yes vote was to kill the amendment.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

Next up, we have Kay Bailey Hutchison, fresh off her failed attempt to unseat “Goodhair” Perry as governor of Texas (here).

Medicare savings. Voting 56-42, the Senate tabled a GOP amendment preventing the new health law's $500 billion in Medicare savings from being used to subsidize premiums in the state-based insurance exchanges. The amendment to HR 4872 sought to use the savings instead for Medicare solvency.

A yes vote was to kill the amendment.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

I believe this came from Judd Gregg (I’ll never understand why Obama ever wanted him as Commerce Secretary, by the way).

Medical-device taxes. Voting 56-42, the Senate defeated a GOP amendment to HR 4872 that sought to strip the new health law of its $40 billion in taxes on medical devices over 10 years. That sum accounts for about one-tenth of the new law's revenue stream.

A yes vote was to kill the amendment.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

Pat Roberts of Kansas, it’s your turn (thanks for playing our game – here are some lovely parting gifts).

Federal aviation budget. Voting 93-0, the Senate passed a bill (HR 1586) authorizing $70 billion for aviation programs through fiscal 2012. In part, the bill funds the operation of the Federal Aviation Administration, improvements at airports, air-service subsidies for smaller cities, and a sweeping upgrade of air-traffic control.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez and Specter.

This week, Congress is in Easter-Passover recess until the week of April 12.

Tuesday Stuff

Gosh, what are you Carly, a shmegege or something?...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

...and Gramps ("Country First") McCain claims here that "no Americans were killed or wounded in Iraq in the last three months"...would that that were true, but it isn't (I swear, that man can screw up stuff like this forever and STILL be taken seriously)...



...and oh yeah, based on this, it sounds like the "family values" party strikes again (CNN's Rick Sanchez tries not to laugh too hard)...



...and I have a feeling that, by the time their campaign is over, the Carly Fiorina people will be singing the title of this song a lot (tune only - no vid).

For Pro-Israel Blather, Price Isn't Right

(And I also posted here.)

Over at The Hill, Repug Georgia U.S. House Rep Tom Price tells us the following (here)…

In just over a week, the Obama Administration has successfully called into question the United States’ unwavering commitment to the people of Israel and further progress in the Middle East peace process. The Administration began with an inappropriate response to Israel’s announced plan to construct new homes in Jerusalem – claiming the White House was 'insulted' by Israel’s timing on the announcement. The President determined this was reason enough to condemn our strongest ally in the Middle East. That was followed by an unprecedented cold-shoulder for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Here the media was shut out and the two leaders had what has been reported as a less than cordial exchange.

Being honest and straightforward with our allies is an important part of international diplomacy. But delegitimizing Israel through a series of public rebukes will only strain the US-Israeli relationship which significantly undermines the peace process.

(Oh, and before I forget, I thought this was an interesting little item involving Price.)

In a strange way, I’m happy that Price concocted this dreck because it gives me an excuse to mention this New York Times column on Sunday from Tom Friedman, who I otherwise would pillory except for the fact that I thought he made some good points…

In the last decade, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process — for Israel — has gone from being a necessity to a hobby. And in the last decade, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process — for America — has gone from being a hobby to a necessity. Therein lies the problem.

…

(As) Newsweek’s Dan Ephron wrote in the Jan. 11, 2010, issue: “An improved security situation, a feeling that acceptance by Arabs no longer matters much, and a growing disaffection from politics generally have, for many Israelis, called into question the basic calculus that has driven the peace process. Instead of pining for peace, they’re now asking: who needs it? ... Tourism hit a 10-year high in 2008. Astonishingly, the I.M.F. projected recently that Israel’s G.D.P. will grow faster in 2010 than that of most other developed countries. In short, Israelis are enjoying a peace dividend without a peace agreement.”

Now, in the same time period, America went from having only a small symbolic number of soldiers in the Middle East to running two wars there — in Iraq and Afghanistan — as well as a global struggle against violent Muslim extremists. With U.S. soldiers literally walking the Arab street — and, therefore, more in need than ever of Muslim good will to protect themselves and defeat Muslim extremists — Israeli-Palestinian peace has gone from being a post-cold-war hobby of U.S. diplomats to being a necessity.

And I would argue that this is the case primarily because of AIPAC (water wet, sky blue I know); this Antiwar.com post by Justin Raimondo includes the following from the blogger Billmon:

“While the marriage may look like perfect conjugal bliss from the Washington end, the Jerusalem end has a different point of view – and always will. The Israelis understand, even if their American patrons do not, that they live in another country, one with its own national interests, its own strategic ambitions and its own enemies, none of which necessarily overlap with America’s.

“They don’t even make much of an attempt to hide it, as this writer for David Horowitz’s Frontpage (to Israel what the Daily Worker once was to the Soviet Union) makes clear: ‘A more independent Israel is determined to make its own mark on the world – questioning U.S. authority more frequently in order to establish its own autonomous relations with other countries.’

“A good idea. It’s just a shame our own political lap dogs and their media water carriers won’t do likewise.”

When it comes to “making its own mark in the world,” I think this post, featuring some truly revolting historical revisionism about Israel’s latest incursion into Palestine from PM “Bibi” Netanyahu, tells you exactly what they think of U.S. perceptions, along with those of the rest of the world (again, not ceding the moral high ground to the Palestinians completely here either – also, here is an example of just how long a reach the “Israel lobby” has).

Also concerning AIPAC, it should be noted that they recently held their annual conference in Washington on March 21^st, as noted in this story, including the following:

(Attorney and Philadelphia delegate Len) Feldman observed that “being a strong Zionist is not tied to being Jewish. Clarence Jones, an African American, and one of Rev. Martin Luther King's speechwriters said, Rev. King was a Zionist based on morality.”

In response, I give you the following here from Ira Chernus, professor of religious studies at Boulder, CO (and that would be a negative in response to the King claim, just to let you know).

Also, Crooks and Liars notes here (in comments) of AIPAC’s involvement with Freedom’s Watch, the happily-now-defunct outfit that helped whip public opinion into supporting Dubya’s Mesopotamian catastrophe as well as punish those who opposed them (and let’s not forget the prominent role played by this guy). Finally, this post from profmarcus citing Professor Juan Cole gives us a map in four parts that tells the story of Israel’s conquest more dramatically than any words I could conjure up here or elsewhere.

Returning to Tom Price of Georgia, I have to say I agree with him when he says that “being honest and straightforward with our allies is an important part of international diplomacy.” And that’s all the more reason why AIPAC should be called out, and the state of Israel, given their prosperity while our country tries to spackle our economy back together, should get financially cut off at the knees by our government (here).

Monday Stuff

K.O. returns again with "Worst Persons" (Senator Teabag is still trying to raise money on the rumor that Rachel Maddow will oppose him for his Senate seat when Brown runs again, which, mercifully, will be only after a three-year term...interesting to see what would happen if Keith opposed him, though, seriously, there's no reason why he should; Moon Unit Bachmann is back for another citation, this time for telling everyone to bang garbage can lids together....you just have to watch the rest because it's so unbelievable - people have actually voted for this dingbat; but, inevitably, we end up with either Beck or Bill Orally, and this time it's the latter - he spoke to the It Happened To Alexa Foundation, and on a flight back from doing so, he took out a copy of Playboy to read on the flight in plain sight of parents with children, after greeting all of his admirers on the flight of course...let's see, hypocrite, fraud, voyeur who doesn't have enough common sense to take his business behind closed doors - yep)...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

...and I dedicate this to Pope Benny, who has become almost Nixonian in his behavior lately (here - h/t Atrios).

Monday Mashup (3/29/10)

(And I also posted here.)

1) In an otherwise shockingly sensible column in The Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday, Michael Smerconish said the following…

It occurs to me that something else was gaining momentum during (the era of the Clinton Inquisition, written about in a book profiled by Smerky): the rise of talk radio, cable news, and the Internet. And the convergence of the three against the backdrop of Monica Lewinsky and the impeachment proceedings gave rise to what we see today.

Well said (and to get an idea of how disproportionate the media coverage was for the Clinton stuff versus a story of actual Constitutional importance such as the NSA illegal spying scandal, read this from Jamison Foser of Media Matters).

However, given this item telling us how Smerky once called out to Roger Waters of Pinky Floyd, who was onstage performing a concert at the time (Waters being a proponent of the Palestinians, among other causes Smerky doesn’t like), I think the columnist doth protest too much. Let me know if and when he ever apologizes for that, and I’ll consider him an expert on civil behavior, but not before.

2) And speaking of Inky columnists (I’d say they were “right wing,” but that would be redundant), Torture Yoo was given more column real estate yesterday to inflict the following (here)…

This "individual mandate" forms the centerpiece of the federal government's latest, greatest intrusion into civil society. Obama staked his presidency on the nationalization of one-sixth of the economy, with measures requiring employers to offer insurance, regulating the policies offered by insurers, and eventually setting the prices for medical procedures.

There’s probably a lot more I could take issue with, but I’ll focus on this piece of wingnut fiction for now; as Paul Krugman tells us here…

The first of these myths, which has been all over the airwaves lately, is the claim that President Obama is proposing a government takeover of one-sixth of the economy, the share of G.D.P. currently spent on health.

Well, if having the government regulate and subsidize health insurance is a “takeover,” that takeover happened long ago. Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs already pay for almost half of American health care, while private insurance pays for barely more than a third (the rest is mostly out-of-pocket expenses). And the great bulk of that private insurance is provided via employee plans, which are both subsidized with tax exemptions and tightly regulated.

The only part of health care in which there isn’t already a lot of federal intervention is the market in which individuals who can’t get employment-based coverage buy their own insurance. And that market, in case you hadn’t noticed, is a disaster — no coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, coverage dropped when you get sick, and huge premium increases in the middle of an economic crisis. It’s this sector, plus the plight of Americans with no insurance at all, that reform aims to fix. What’s wrong with that?

And in writing about the so-called “Commerce Clause” in the Constitution which (I would argue) allows the federal government to enact legislation that is largely beneficial, Yoo calls it “the Ryan Howard of federal power” (trying to sound “local”…ha ha), when he probably would have been more “spot-on” if he had invoked LA Dodgers Matt Kemp or James Loney, since Yoo is based at The Hoover Institution in Southern California.

3) Finally, this New York Times story yesterday tells us about the upcoming battle for financial reform…

One of the more public campaigns against the Democrats’ reforms does not come from Wall Street, however. It comes from an obscure, Republican-leaning group that is seeking to cast the plan as a boon to Wall Street.

The group, the Committee for Truth in Politics, has spent an estimated $5 million on advertising against the proposals, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, which monitors political advertising. The ads portray the financial reforms — misleadingly, the administration says — as a $4 trillion bailout for big banks.

The group’s membership and financing have been kept secret, and it has refused to divulge its donors; it is suing the Federal Election Commission, claiming the rules for disclosure in political advertising are an unconstitutional impediment to free speech.

James Bopp Jr., the lawyer and conservative advocate who represents the group in its lawsuit, said in an interview that the ads accurately reflected a section in the House bill that would allow the Federal Reserve to spend up to $4 trillion to stabilize the financial system in a liquidity crisis. He said characterizing the bill as anything other than a bailout “is a typical Washington lie where politicians do one thing in Washington, which is to advance the Obama socialist agenda, and lie about it when they go home because they don’t want anyone to know about it.”

But Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who guided the bill through the House, calls the ad campaign “a complete mischaracterization” of the legislation, which he said would limit the Fed’s ability to support otherwise healthy banks during a liquidity crisis and prevent the type of bailouts that have gone to A.I.G. and other giant firms.

Buzzflash tells us more here, including the following…

Obviously, the Committee for Truth in Politics is a finely-tuned lie machine. In its short history, the Committee has spent the majority of its time and money on straight-up falsehoods. One anti-Obama ad wrongly claimed that the then-candidate supported early release programs for convicted sex offenders.

National Public Radio's Secret Money Project reported that the group is estimated to have spent at least $1.2 million on anti-Obama ads during the 2008 campaign. It's likely they've spent much more, but they're arguing with the Federal Elections Commission that they shouldn't have to disclose how much money they have or how much they've spent and on what. In the interim, they're flouting the law by refusing to file legally-required paperwork.

So, in addition to calling out the lies in the ad, (Montana Sen. Jon) Tester calls on the "secretive organization" to disclose its donors. The nonprofit corporation is registered with the Secretary of State in North Carolina as of September 2008, but it has failed to file with the Federal Elections Commission as well as the IRS.

Hence the lawsuit that kept the committee from fully functioning until after the Citizens United case was decided (Bopp is a member of Citizens United and had a lot to do with the legal challenge that led to the horrific decision by the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR).

But the recent decision doesn't mean the Committee for Truth in Politics is out of hot water. Quite the opposite, really. The Supreme Court affirmed eight-to-one that disclosure laws should remain in place. That means that while Bopp's groups can spend whatever they want to spread their lies, they still should have to disclose who they're lying for.

So Bopp, ultimately, is the bag man for a bunch of corporate malefactors who want to keep ripping us off in secret with impunity. And Bopp will earn their favor as long as he can keep conniving legal tricks to keep it that way.

Friday Stuff

Click here to sign the petition...

…and here are the enablers of the fanatics (typically cowardly for Eric Cantor to try and blame the targets of all of the garbage getting spewed instead of attacking the spewers (word?) themselves)…



...and though it is completely unsurprising to me that our somnambulant corporate media refuses to connect the dots between the inflammatory rhetoric of Republican politicians and the vile acts that have recently occurred, I am very reluctantly featuring one of the heroes of the teabaggers and other militia types once more; it’s not so much her call for a revolution that is disturbing to me, though it is, but the petulant, pouting rage she displays at the end as she describes Obama as a “college professor,” as if that’s supposed to be some kind of an insult…



...OK, enough of all of that - in a wholly other vein, here is a tribute to Johnny Maestro of The Brooklyn Bridge and The Crests, one of the truly great voices in pop (somebody better make sure that those 50-something old fogies stop groping each other on the dance floor :-).

Friday Mashup (3/26/10)

1) I'm not going to do the Area Votes in Congress thing this week because there wasn't much going on in the week prior to this one. The only vote I wanted to highlight was on H Res 1190 by the Repugs to keep Democrats from using a "self-executing rule" to both pass the Senate health bill and change parts they dislike (the writeup is here).

As you might expect, all local area Democrats in the House voted against the measure, with all Repugs voting in favor. All Democrats, that is, except the pitiful John Adler and Tim Holden who, in their stupidity, opposed health care reform (to respond to Holden, click here – as far as I know, Adler doesn't have a primary opponent, but he should).

2) Someone named Jamie M. Fly at Irrational Spew Online tells us the following about the arms control agreement signed today by Presidents Obama and Medvedev of Russia (built upon the START treaty with an effective term of ten years, reducing nuclear missiles and launchers – more here).

And I know this will be hard to believe coming from Fly, but his opinion is negative (lather, rinse, repeat)…

Today's announcement only increases the danger that this administration will continue to neglect U.S. allies in Europe while it "resets" relations with Russia. In 2010, arms control and disarmament should not be the raison d'être of U.S.-Russia relations, let alone of American foreign policy.  In its rush to make nice with Moscow, this administration has too often overlooked the real concerns of key U.S. allies such as Georgia, which faces continued threats and provocations by Russian military forces. Even the Czech Republic, which will host the treaty's signing ceremony in early April, will find that occasion an unfortunate consolation prize after Czech leaders were humiliated last fall when President Obama abruptly changed course and canceled plans to deploy a missile-defense radar in that country, failing to notify the Czechs in advance.

Well, says Fly; he's partly right, but as usual, there's another side to this (here)…

Jiří Paroubek, the chairman of the country's Social Democrats, hailed the U.S. decision as "a great victory for the Czech people." The Communists also welcomed the decision. So did the Green Party, which has stressed from the very beginning that they would have supported a NATO-run system but not one built and run by the United States. Missile defense opponents from areas that were to host parts of the planned system didn't hide their enthusiasm for Obama's decision. Local media, however, were quick to point out that their joy wouldn't last, since the $73 million promised by the previous government in an attempt to buy their support will most likely disappear as well.

On the other side, the Civic Democratic Party expressed disappointment with the U.S. decision. Mirek Topolánek, the party's leader and current Czech prime minister, was widely quoted as saying the decision was a sign that Washington has lost interest in Central Europe and that it gave in to Russia. Jan Vidím, a Civic Democrat and chair of the parliamentary committee for defense, was even bolder, saying the decision was "a betrayal" and a sign of "cowardice" on Obama's part in the face of Russian pressure.

The story also tells us that two-thirds of those Czechs polled opposed the deal, including the villagers interviewed for this 2007 BBC story.

"Missile defense" is the moronic dream of Republican hawks who aren't honest enough to admit that it will never work, though it is bound to create untold riches for defense contractors who would be only too happy to engage in the futile pursuit of this technology aptly dubbed "Star Wars" (if any of those supporting it were to try explaining how it could have prevented the 9/11 attacks, maybe I'll listen to them).

3) And my oh my, is Bushco's Dana Perino (now with Fix Noise) in a snit (here)…

(With the student loan reform bill just passed) Competition and choice have been taken away in the student loan market. If the tables were turned, Democrats would be crying foul and demanding an ethics investigation. The American people deserve to know what happened.

You want to know what happened, Dana? Fine; read this (including the following)…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A landmark measure to make college more affordable and create jobs that stay in the U.S. at no cost to taxpayers will be included in the historic health care legislation scheduled for an upcoming vote in Congress, U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, announced today.  The measure represents the single largest investment in federal student aid in history, and includes many of President Obama's key education initiatives.

 

"This legislation offers the most sweeping changes to the federal student loan program in a generation," said Miller, who unveiled the details of the package this morning.  "This is really about making a simple choice. Congress can either continue the longstanding boondoggle that rewards banks with tens of billions of dollars in subsidies at the expense of families and taxpayers – or we can invest that money directly in students and America's world economic leadership.

…

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this change would generate $61 billion in savings over 10 years that will be used to boost Pell Grant scholarships, make student loans more manageable for borrowers to repay, and strengthen community colleges.

Private lenders and banks would still have a role in servicing all federal student loans, which would guarantee borrowers high-quality customer services, maintain jobs in the private sector, and even protect jobs from being shipped overseas. Direct government loans, unlike loans made by banks, must be serviced by U.S. workers..

The news release on Congressman Miller's site tells us that the vast majority of student loans are "direct" from the government anyway, as opposed to "subsidized" loans by financial entities who really don't even need to be part of the equation (they ended up that way as part of a scam perpetrated by the Repugs when they ran Congress, including a certain House Minority Leader, as noted here).

And this is part of a tradition of congressional Democrats reforming the student loan process; related legislation includes the College Opportunity and Affordability Act and the Student Loan Sunshine Act (noted here in the same post in which Perino once lambasted the "do-nothing" Congress responsible for these measures).

4) Finally, if you think Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich (including his "American Solutions" outfit) is an unlikely champion of free speech, you're not alone; as noted here…

On his first day in office, President Obama issued a memo calling for greater transparency and accountability regarding the government's handling of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

…

(However) According to a new audit from the National Security Archive at George Washington University, only 13 out of 90 government agencies could document concrete changes in their FOIA practice as a result of the memo.  The audit also found that only four agencies reported more releases and fewer denials from last year and that old requests -- some as old as 18 years -- were still pending.

The American Solutions post con-vee-niently neglects to mention the following from the linked New York Times story…

The White House, however, took issue with the group's methodology and said that the administration had made clear progress in turning around an executive branch that is often averse to public disclosures.

"What we have done this year is to build the infrastructure to build a lasting change," Norm Eisen, the special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, said Sunday.

"It's not enough for us to make initial, strong pronouncements. How do you really turn the battleship to achieve a lasting impact?" he asked. He said that throughout the executive branch, public information officers "are really trying to turn that battleship, and the initial returns are positive," with more documents being released in the last year under Freedom of Information Act, or F.O.I.A., requests. But "there's much more to do" and it will probably take another year before the changes are fully seen, he added.

As you read the American Solutions post, though, what you end up discovering is that this is all a lead-in to some alleged conspiracy (yet another "-gate"), or, as Gingrich and his pals put it, "the continuing saga of trying to find out from the (Department of the Interior) the results of the six month long public comment period for new offshore oil and gas development. After numerous delays and extensions, DOI finally sent us a partial response which included internal emails revealing a deliberate attempt to hide the results of the comment period from the American people."

By the way, reading about the "numerous delays and extensions" reveals a case study in how the right-wing noise machine influences simpatico politicians (including some Democrats who should know better) by manufacturing imagined conspiracies and cover-ups (hilarious, actually, when you consider what the last Republican to occupy An Oval Office did concerning the Freedom of Information Act, as noted here).

I'm not going to waste any more time on what Gingrich alleges here, since it was established long ago that we're not going to "drill, baby, drill" our way to energy independence, which should be the ultimate goal here.

Besides, Gingrich is, to say the least, an unlikely free speech advocate, since he advocated here for what would be tantamount to a new Sedition Act (and as noted here, he is responsible for the repulsive and cowardly statement today that Democrats are somehow responsible for recent death threats and violence "because of the way they conducted the health care debate").

I and many others will keep a careful record of such statements in the event that a "President Newt for 2012" exploratory committee is ever formed.

Note: I had trouble with the first Gingrich link - that's why it doesn't link directly to the post in question, but only to the American Solutions site.

Thursday Stuff

This is sweet (and yes, the health care reform law leaves a few things to be desired, but it is still a momentous first step)...



...and there's no video here, but I just think this is a great new song by John Hiatt; I featured his fellow Little Village alum Nick Lowe last night, so I guess putting this up now makes sense.

Thursday Mashup Part Two (3/25/10)

(Part One is over here.)

1) In their seemingly inexhaustible efforts to prevent health care reform from being enacted in this country for upwards of 40 million uninsured Americans, the U.S. Senate Republicans have introduced (at last count) 32 amendments as part of the reconciliation process (here).

They are all ridiculous, but the most outrageous one may have been proposed by Tom Coburn of Oklahoma (figures), which states as follows:

"To reduce the cost of providing federally funded prescription drugs by eliminating fraudulent payments and prohibiting coverage of Viagra for child molesters and rapists and for drugs intended to induce abortion." (Amendment #3556)

In response, TPM tells us the following (here)…

The Louisiana Democrats released a snarky little statement today, calling out Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who has introduced a health care amendment to the try to prevent states from providing drugs like Viagra to convicted sex offenders.

Said the Dems of Coburn: "Surely he would agree that anyone who has admitted or been found guilty of involvement with prostitution should not be covered either."

(Among other reasons why Coburn’s amendment is stupid is because it would never stand up to the inevitable court challenge.)

Of course, the Louisiana Dems were taking a well-deserved shot at Diaper Dave Vitter, who has been found guilty of soliciting prostitutes and still, as a living, breathing testimony to Republican hypocrisy, continues to serve in the U.S. Senate.

As noted above, though, this is really just another stunt by Coburn to make abortions less safe in this country (with the highlighted text in the amendment “flying under the radar” while everybody else focuses on the “Viagra for child molesters” thing) by making it harder for women to obtain the drugs for this still-legal procedure. And to get an understanding of why it should remain this way, please click here to read the heartbreaking story of “K.B.” (I’m trying in my admittedly small way to put a human face on this issue, a task our corporate media refuses to perform possibly because they may be criticized with the evergreen right-wing lie of “liberal bias”).

Update: Looks like Coburn is taking a page out of the Jim Bunning play book here (how proud those single-digit-IQ life forms in Oklahoma must be for sending this cretin back to Washington).

2) Also, it is a further testimony to the infantile state of the Republican Party in this country that one of their “leaders,” House Rep Eric Cantor of Virginia, refuses to criticize the violent actions of those opposed to health care reform, but instead here, with his typically cowardly deceit, uses the issue as an excuse to blame Democrats for “fanning the flames,” as noted here by Dem House Rep Tom Perriello of Virginia; see, the wingnuts attacked what they thought was Perriello’s house by cutting the gas line – real nice; lucky that an inferno didn’t take place – but it turned out that it was the house of Perriello’s brother instead (Rachel Maddow discussed this last night, I know).

(Oh, but Cantor’s house was supposedly shot at also, so that makes Cantor’s criticism of the Democrats for inciting the violence OK….WHAAAA?????!!!!!).

Oh, and “Man Tan” Boehner said that those engaged in violent acts should “channel their anger into campaigns.”

Uh, no…

"I thought his statement was fairly outrageous," Perriello said. "What he was saying was, 'For those of you who are threatening people's children, we want you to channel that anger into the campaign.'

"No, we want those people to go to jail," Perriello said. "As my very conservative attorney general (in VA) said, these people need to be prosecuted, not brought into the campaign room."

Now, can anybody tell me why people who pose as reasonable adults like Cantor and Boehner can’t utter those words?

At least Mike Pence of Indiana had this to say (here)…

(The health care reform law) is no excuse for bigotry, threats or acts of vandalism and I condemn such things in the strongest possible terms. People who engage in such acts undermine our cause and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Of course, Pence would be a lot more credible on this had he not participated in “Lonesome Rhodes” Beck’s little “9/12” party here, and said the following…

As Ronald Reagan said in 1964, it's about whether 'we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.' My money is on the American people. My money is on freedom. My money is on the future.

This great national Capitol is filled with memorials to freedom's heroes. Americans whose faces are carved in bronze, whose names adorn monuments, and just across that river, lie the remains of Americans who paid freedom's price so we could gather here today. In their time, they did freedom's work as citizens and patriots. Now it's our turn.

Let us do as those great Americans we remember in this city have done before: let us stand and fight for freedom. And if we hold the banner of freedom high, I believe with all my heart that the good and great people of this country will rally to our cause, we will take this Congress back in 2010 and we will take this Country back in 2012, so help us God.

“American Revolution”? “Our turn” to “(pay) freedom’s price”? Images of memorials to “freedom’s heroes”? “Stand and fight for freedom”?

Call me a filthy, unkempt liberal blogger, but that to me sounds like an incitement to violence.

So help me God.

Update 1: And isn't this a charming correspondence?

Update 2: And so much for the "threat" on Cantor (here).

Update 3/26/10: God, is Cantor an idiot (here).

3) Finally, I don’t know about you (and I’ll admit that there’s even more of a theme to these three items than I first thought), but I’m getting tired of reading stories like this one, in which Senate Republicans basically are refusing to do their jobs and are shutting down the function of government (and as Think Progress tells us, this is actually a big deal, particularly concerning a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting in which “a couple of the commanders had traveled long distances to attend today’s hearing, from as far away as Japan,” though “Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), speaking on behalf of Republicans, objected and blocked the request” to proceed with the meeting).

(Oh, and by the way, to do something about Burr, click here.)

I’ve done a bit of digging through Senate history to look for some kind of a precedent upon which to base a response to those who refuse to do what they were elected to do, and this article tells us that, when ten southern senators joined the Confederacy at the onset of The Civil War (perhaps appropriate?)…

Daniel Clark (R-NH) on July 10, 1861, submitted a resolution asking for their expulsion from the Senate. Clark cited the failure of these senators to appear in the chamber and their active involvement in the Confederate government as evidence that they had participated in a conspiracy against the peace and union of the United States government. The resolution he introduced stated:

Whereas a conspiracy has been formed against the peace, union, and liberties of the people and Government of the United States; and in furtherance of such conspiracy a portion of the people of the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas, have attempted to withdraw those States from the Union, and are now in arms against the Government; and whereas [the senators from those states] have failed to appear in their seats in the Senate and to aid the Government in this important crisis; and it is apparent to the Senate that said Senators are engaged in said conspiracy for the destruction of the Union and Government, or, with full knowledge of such conspiracy, have failed to advise the Government of its progress or aid in its suppression: Therefore,

Resolved, That the said Mason, Hunter, Clingman, Bragg, Chesnut, Nicholson, Sebastian, Mitchel, Hemphill, and Wigfall be, and they hereby are, each and all of them, expelled from the Senate of the United States.

Now I’ll grant you that our circumstances, though still dangerous, are less extreme than they were in 1861, and a resolution such as this would never be passed, but it would get the attention of obstructionist Republicans, if nothing else.

And if the resolution fails and they keep obstructing, then keep introducing it. Give these idiots a taste of their own medicine (and would it really be a bad thing if the resolution somehow were to actually pass after all?).

Wednesday PM Stuff

Yep, I think "Man Tan" Boehner ended up creating what will be one of the most popular vids in the history of You Tube last Sunday with his little hissy fit - only a matter of time before someone came up with what follows...



...and I know it's hard to keep track of the Repug nutballs without a scorecard, but let's not forget the latest contribution from Louie Gohmert of the House (Gohmert is from Texas, of course; "pass this," you hic - and altogether now...WAAAAHHHH!!!!!!)...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

...and happy birthday to Nick Lowe (Elvis Costello and the Attractions covered this song in a slammin' version on "Armed Forces," but Lowe wrote it)...



..and as Melissa McEwan reminds us, Robert Culp also joined "I-Spy" co-star Bill Cosby in civil rights causes, "and when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 the pair traveled to Memphis, Tenn., to join the striking garbage workers King had been organizing"...farewell, "Kelly Robinson."

Wednesday AM Stuff

After a brief mention of President Obama's signing of health care reform into law, Rachel Maddow tells us of the life form known as Mike Vanderboegh of Pinson, AL (it is my fervent hope that he someday is convicted and spends the remainder of his days in prison, without the benefit of the Social Security check received from the government he so despises)...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

...and Maddow also tells us once more of Virginia's efforts to retreat to the dark ages (and I hope all those independents out there who voted for that "moderate" McDonnell are happy, as well as everyone who voted for Chris Christie in New Jersey, who is now slashing the pensions of state workers and otherwise balancing the budget on the backs of the poor, sick, elderly, and the public schools...finally, I wish we had a hell of a lot more Democrats like Ed Rendell).

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(And by the way, kudos to Michael Morrill at Keystone Progress for this petition telling Corbett to stop wasting taxpayer dollars, as Rendell mentions, on that idiotic lawsuit.)

Tuesday Stuff

(By the way, I just don't know about posting for the next couple of days - maybe yes, maybe no.)

Oh, and on the subject of vice-presidential F-blasts (here), I give you the following (didn't really hear Biden trying to attack someone over it as Deadeye Dick did here, of course - and remember, it started with Leahy quite correctly calling out Big Time over his war profiteering)...



...and oh yeah, Flush, it's definitely not cool to welch on a bed (here), and here's some travellin' music accompanied by some nice scenery that's waay too good for him.

Tuesday Mashup (3/23/10)

1) So based on this story, it looks like PA Attorney General Tom Corbett is going to join that idiotic lawsuit brought by 10 Republican attorneys general against the health care reform law (more here).

I guess Corbett didn’t bother to read this post, which in part tells us the following…

…nearly 66 percent of state residents want universal healthcare. That's up from a similar poll in July 2008, when 64.4 percent of state residents said they wanted everyone to receive the healthcare they need.

Doesn’t sound to me like fighting HCR is a winner of an issue for a PA gubernatorial candidate, does it?

Also, in a Bucks County Courier Times story of Patrick Murphy and Allyson Schwartz rallying support for the health care vote earlier this week (which appeared atop the "story" on pg. 1 of "When is 'Langhorne' really Langhorne?" – I know I always ask that question….zzzzzzz), Mikey The Liar Fitzpatrick returned to spread the following garbage…

"The bill slashes health care for our seniors, increases premiums, raises taxes for working families and fails to cut health care costs," said Fitzpatrick.

I don’t know how Fitzpatrick arrived at those statements, but I do know that this tells us that the law signed today will be helpful to senior citizens; this tells us that the law is similar to that of Massachusetts, which has lowered costs; and this tells us that the bill will save $849 billion over this decade (and by the way, Mikey, Obama has cut taxes, as noted here).

Update: Some more reality-based commentary on HCR here...

2) Also, Fix Noise here is positively giddy, dancing on the metaphorical grave of ACORN here (I guess they have to find a consolation prize from somewhere).

I don’t think there has been nearly enough reporting on what it is that ACORN actually does, to say nothing of the fact that a U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn said the group was innocent of wrongdoing (here) and Congress acted illegally when cutting off its funds (here – nice job, Democrats). With that in mind, this recent New York Times story tells us the following:

In Prince George’s County, Md., the Rev. Gloria Swieringa said she owed her home to Acorn. Ms. Swieringa, 72, who is blind, said her mortgage payment was $1,100 per month, more than she could afford on her fixed income of about $1,500 a month, until Acorn stepped in.

After she tried unsuccessfully to persuade her mortgage company to lower her rate or readjust her loan, Acorn workers began writing letters, making calls and contacting the news media on her behalf. Last May, the company relented and lowered her monthly payments to $771 per month.

“That’s what I know Acorn for,” Ms. Swieringa said. “And that’s why it’s just awful for it to disappear.”

And to get an even better idea of what ACORN is actually about, read this terrific post from BooMan dated last September.

3) Finally, this tells us the following…

The U.S. lost 2.4 million jobs to China between 2001 and 2008, according to a new report issued Tuesday.

Texas and California were the hardest hit but every state has experienced job losses because of increased trade from China, according to the report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

The report blamed high job losses in computers, electronic equipment and parts industries, which are concentrated in those two states.

North Carolina was also hit hard according to the report. That state has seen textile, furniture and other small manufacturing industries shrink as companies faced competition from lower-priced Chinese goods.

While the report said low labor costs in China are a big reason for the trade deficit, it also blamed China’s currency manipulation.

China pegs its currency to the U.S. dollar so that it rises and falls with fluxuations in the dollar’s value. Critics say this means China’s currency is undervalued, and that it lowers the price of Chinese exports while making U.S. exports to China more expensive.

And as noted here, among its myriad other offenses, Bushco didn’t even bother to keep track of the jobs lost under its watch due to offshoring, and of course refused to curtail the tax breaks provided for companies engaged in this heinous practice.

So where does that leave us? Well, this recent New York Times story tells us the following (about the company Applied Materials, one of the first to bail and subsequently turn a handsome profit; the story tells us that the company is “the world’s biggest supplier of the equipment used to make semiconductors, solar panels and flat-panel displays”)…

When Xie Lina, a 26-year-old Applied Materials engineer (in XI’AN), was asked recently whether China would play a big role in clean energy in the future, she was surprised by the question.

“Most of the graduate students in China are chasing this area,” she said. “Of course, China will lead everything.”

Heckuva job, Dubya.