Change you can believe in: Sen. Harry Reid and Jay Rockefeller are working on getting the votes needed to delay the Environmental Protection Agency's climate regulations for two years.
A vote on Rockefeller's plan would be merely symbolic as the Democrat controlled House has no plans to take up this measure, which also faces an insurmountable veto threat by the White House.
Rockefeller's reasoning for the lame duck session vote is so Republicans in the next Congress don't go for further than two years. This makes no sense whatsoever. All this vote accomplishes is getting Senate Democrats on-record voting against curbing greenhouse emissions. Reid will still be majority leader in the next Congress. If Reid was a real leader he would keep his caucus in line. What Reid and Rockefeller are signaling to House Republicans is the Senate Democrats can be rolled over on environmental regulations.
Rockefeller's actions make sense when viewed through the prism of campaign contributions. Peabody Energy, American Electric Power, General Electric, CONSOL Energy and Allegheny Energy are listed on OpenSecrets.org as Rockefeller's all-time contributors. Reid doesn't have near the energy industry influence on him. Reid knows his caucus members receive contributions from major energy players and he doesn't want that influence being swayed to Republicans. This vote is all about money.
Democrats want to know why the base stayed home in 2010. Stupid votes like this are the reason.
The AP is reporting that the Senate Dems have come to a tentative deal, which drops the Public Option from the senate health care bill. What is in its place, if anything, is not clear.
The Associated Press lacks details about why the public option was dropped. What is clear is Majority Leader Harry Reid ruled ruled cloture to pass the public option with less than 60 votes. This is a tactical mistake. I understand the Senate health care bill would be debated and voted on in piece meal. I actually think that is a great idea.
The good news is Sen. Ben Nelson's anti-abortion amendment failed on a 54 to 45 vote. Nelson said the amendment's failure "makes it harder to be supportive." Like Nelson was actually going to vote for the public option. Nelson just wanted to get his amendment in.
What is clear is President Barack Obama's lack of leadership on the public option. Mainly, the President and Rahm Emanuel have been trying to kill the public option. As much as people such as Kenneth Quinnell, want to have you believe the fantasy that Obama supported the public option. Obama told Senate Democrats he prefers a trigger. Obama spoke to Senate Democrats this weekend and didn't once mention the public option or Nelson's anti-abortion amendment. Obama is not conserned with protecting women reproductive rights or creating a competitive health care market. Obama wants a political victory and to increase business of the health insurance industry. The lobbying money from insurance companies will help Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.
Cenk Uygur blasts Obama for not lobbying for the public option. Is this the change Democratic voters were expecting?
This afternoon, Jay Rockefeller said that the new proposal to expand Medicaid coverage for those who are 133% to 150% above the federal poverty line was dropped during a meeting of key legislators this morning. “I was sad this morning,” Rockefeller told me and a few other reporters. “We walked in, and it was 133[%] to 140[%], then it’s staying at 133... So we didn’t get anything.”
Kent Conrad said Governors did not want to pay funding into Medicaid. Considering the current economic situation that is understandable.
Update: the opt-out public option is gone. Medicare will be expanded for people 55 to 64 for people 133 percent above the poverty line. The idea is to reduce cost. We just added people to the Medicare rolls that can't afford health insurance. There are good arguments to add these people for medical and humanitarian reasons. The Senate is not addressing rising health care cost. That was the whole point of the debate. This is a victory for the health industry lobbyists.
I am not even going to waste my time discussing the trigger.
Sen. Bill Nelson voted against the Jay Rockefeller amendment. Nelson did vote for the watered down public option amendment authored by Chuck Schumer.
"It seems to me that this is very important that we have this competition. It has all safeguards in it ..." Nelson said.
The Schumer amendment failed 10 to 13. All the cynical outreach efforts by President Barack Obama to get Republican votes failed. I previously wrote the Obama and Baucus were crafting legislation that would mandate citizens buying private insurance and protect pharmaceutical industry profits. Lindsey Graham explained to Ezra Klein that Obama never pressed Congress on the public option.
You make people afraid of opposing you or you get them rewarded for helping you. There's no fear for opposing Obama's public option, and the reward is for opposing it. Right now, Republicans feel no political exposure from opposing the president's health-care initiative.
Obama reneged on his campaign promise to hold open meetings with insurers and the pharmaceutical industry. Health insurers will get more customers and drug prices will continue to escalate. It is up to Nancy Pelosi and Democrats in the House of Representitives to keep the public option alive.
Update: the Democrats whom voted against the Rockefeller amendment were Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Blanche Lincoln, Tom Carper and Nelson.
Max Baucus just announced he won't for Chuck Schumer's public option amendment because it won't get 60 votes. It certainly won't get 60 votes if one of the members of the Democratic caucus votes against the amendment. That one Senator would be Mr. Baucus. Open Secrets lists Baucus's campaign contributions from the insurance industry at $558,075 and pharmaceutical companies at $507,313. These corporations are Baucus's true constituents.
Update: Baucus against Jay Rockefeller public option amendment.
The Russ Feingold amendment S.2248 is to "prohibit reverse targeting and protect the rights of Americans who are communicating with people abroad." The amendment only received 38 yea votes. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama dodged the controversial wiretapping issue by not voting.
Democrats voting against the Feingold amendment.
Jay Rockefeller Dianne Feinstein Tim Johnson Mary L. Landrieu Blanche Lincoln Daniel K. Inouye Mark Pryor Ken Salazar
As usual, Joe Lieberman broke from the Democratic caucas. Joementum is stumping for McCain. There is less reason to let Lieberman chair the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
In other exciting news: John "the Maverick" McCain did not vote on S.2248 or the economic stimulus bill. The latter bill failed to pass a filibuster 59 to 40. Harry Reid changed his vote for parliamentary reasons. So the tax rebate bill can be voted on again.
Political courage is in short supply. But the media can still call McCain a maverick.
Karl Rove and Scott Jennings have been subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democrats sent a letter to Solicitor General Paul Clement. They have asked special counsel to investigate to investigative if Alberto Gonzales perjured himself to Congress.
Gonzales made claim that he visited John Ashcroft's hospital room. There have been news stories that Gonzales was seeking approval to continue a classified surveillance program. Gonzales wished to circumvent acting Attorney General James Comey. Ashcroft turned down Gonzales's request.
Gonzales testified that he visited the hospital on the behave of Democrats. Tom Daschle, Jay Rockefeller, Jane Harman and Nancy Pelosi stated that is false. Futhermore, an Office of the Director of National Intelligence document reveal that Democrats did not dicuss reauthorization of the domestic surveillance program during the March 10, 2004 meeting. Gonzales's cover story has been blown by eyewitnesses and documentation.
Testifying before a Congressional committee is the same as testifying in court. The laws of perjury apply. Elliott Abrams pleaded guilty to Congress to two felonies for perjuring himself to Congress. Abrams said these word to John Kerry about Contra funding.
"I can say that while I have been assistant secretary, which is about 15 months, we have not received a dime from a foreign government, not a dime, from any foreign government."
Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia funneled 32 million of his country's money to the Contras. The current President gave him the nickname Bandar Bush.
In other news: The House Judiciary Committee voted to file contempt charges against Joshua Bolton and Harriet Miers. Bolton accompanied Gonzales to visit Ashcroft. Miers was part of the email exchanges dealing with the U.S. Attorneys purging.
“In our system of government, no one is above the law,” Rep. John Conyers, the committee’s chairman, said in a letter to the White House.
Tony Snow responded by kicking out a Yiddish diss. I swear I'm not making this up.
“This is pathetic,” said White House spokesman Tony Snow. “We have hundreds of hearings that have produced bupkis.”
The literal definitions of bupkis is beans. Perhaps Snow is confusing the judiciary committees the House Committee on Agriculture.
If that was the case then Mr. Snow wouldn't be in full spin mode.
