This Just In: Senate Republicans block Medicare bill

From Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office:

REID: SENATE REPUBLICANS BLOCK IMPROVED CARE FOR SENIORS AND ALLOW CUTS FACING DOCTORS Washington, DC — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today after Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would prevent the impending 10.6 percent cut in payments to physicians who care for the 44 million American seniors in Medicare, and to make other key improvements to the program: “Our seniors and the health-care providers who care for them have only Senate Republicans to blame when Medicare payments are cut and other key protections expire. The House overwhelmingly passed a good bill in bipartisan fashion that ensures Medicare works better for every American senior and saves taxpayers billions of dollars – but Senate Republicans insist on standing with President Bush to protect insurance companies at the expense of patients and providers. This is nothing short of putting politics above the seniors and people with disabilities who depend on Medicare.”

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Gays with guns

I found it rather odd that any gay group would take a position on gun control, let alone issue a press release about it. But suggesting that gays needs guns to protect themselves from anti-gay violence? Uh, okay.

Log Cabin Republicans applaud the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling striking down Washington, DC's 32-year-old ban on hand guns.

"This is an excellent decision for all Americans-gay and straight," said Log Cabin Republicans President Patrick Sammon. "We're grateful the U.S. Supreme Court re-affirmed the constitutional right for all Americans to own a gun.

"Unfortunately, too many LGBT Americans still face the threat of anti-gay violence," said Sammon. "We're happy the Supreme Court has affirmed the right for us to protect ourselves and our families from harm. Self defense is not a privilege, it's a right.

"Gun ownership is a cherished and historic American right enshrined in our Constitution.

"Today, the right to bear arms lives on for all qualified, law-abiding citizens," said Sammon.

That's a bit of a stretch. I got mugged several years ago, and regardless of the motivation of my attackers, after I broke free from them trying to strangle me I was pretty shaken up. I can't imagine I'd have been a real great shot firing at the kids as they ran away from me. I could have just as easily hit the couple standing on the corner right behind the kids. Read More......

AP does it again

Because journalism is hard.

An AP article stated that Sen. John McCain "chid[ed] [Sen. Barack Obama] for never receiving a briefing from Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in [Iraq]." The article reported McCain's claims without challenging them -- it made no mention of the fact that Obama has twice questioned Petraeus on the situation in Iraq during Senate hearings.

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Yes, the gay Republicans DID have a scheduled meeting with McCain

There's been some confusion over the past 24 hours, most because of conflicting statements from the McCain campaign, as to whether or not John McCain "met" with gay Republicans leaders, or whether McCain just "dropped by" a meeting where the gays were present. It seems that McCain's people have now confirmed that the meeting with the Senator was in fact scheduled, meaning, it was intentional. Oh to be a fly on James Dobson's wall right about now. Read More......

Does Obama need Hillary as much as the media claims?

From Chuck Todd, et. al.:

Does Obama need the Clintons as much the media claims? Or does Obama need to get this Clinton situation behind simply so the press stops covering the story? Considering the bounce Obama's getting in some polls, it's clear that the unity issues in the party with Clinton and Obama are all inside the Amtrak corridor and nowhere else. Also, after reading today’s New York Times piece on Clinton and Obama -- which notes that some in Hillary Land are upset that Obama hasn’t written Clinton a $2,300 check, that his campaign isn’t hiring more of her staff, and that uber-lawyer Bob Barnett is negotiating things like Hillary’s role at the convention -- ask yourself this: Do you think Obama’s folks would be able to make similar complaints/demands, without getting laughed at, had the roles been reversed? Four years ago, remember, the Kerry campaign hired very few Howard Dean people, and no one batted an eyelash. Is this just another example of how Clinton folks continue to shape the campaign narrative, thanks to their personal relationships with media members inside the Amtrak corridor?

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McCain surrogate blasts Obama for not working with GOP Senators, except of course, when Obama repeatedly worked with that McCain surrogate

Mr. Magoo does it again.

Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas learned a lesson today that other John McCain surrogates might be wise to learn: Before you say Barack Obama never worked across the aisle, make sure he never worked with, for example, you.

On a McCain campaign conference call with reporters this morning, Brownback — who was briefly one of McCain’s rivals for the Republican nomination — said Obama was all talk and no action when it came to working across the aisle.

“John McCain’s a maverick. He’s fought for a bipartisan fashion,” Brownback said. “I think that the biggest thing I’ve seen from Barack Obama is a willingness, aggressiveness, to talk bipartisan and yet to vote the hard left — most liberal member of the United States Senate.”

So Obama’s rapid-response team quickly fired off an e-mail listing the projects on which he worked with Brownback. They include a Brownback bill that authorized sanctions against people who were involved with the genocide in Darfur, a version of which became law in 2006. They also teamed up on an Obama bill that required the administration to provide humanitarian relief and other aid to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Brownback also co-sponsored Obama’s bill to impose sanctions against Iran. And the two were involved — though not the principal players — in the 2006 immigration overhaul effort that McCain worked on with Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

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Another very rough day for the economy: Dow drops 358; Oil hits new high

About the economy, you know, the issue of which John McCain admits he doesn't know all that much: It's not getting better.

The Dow dropped over 3% today -- 358 points. It was bad across the board:

The Dow Jones industrial average sank 358.41 points, or 3.03 percent, to end unofficially at 11,453.42 while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 38.82 points, or 2.94 percent, to end unofficially at 1,283.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 79.89 points, or 3.33 percent, to close unofficially at 2,321.37.

Oil hit a new high:

Oil futures shot above $140 Thursday after OPEC's president said crude prices could rise well above $150 a barrel this year and Libya said it may cut oil production. The advance raised the likelihood that gasoline prices would also extend their advance, and that prices of goods and services throughout the economy would also keep rising.

Light, sweet crude crossed the $140 level minutes before the New York Mercantile Exchange closed Thursday, then retreated slightly to settle up $5.09 at a record $139.64. In after-hours electronic trading, prices rose as high as a record $140.39.

The economy is a mess and the American people blame George Bush. Don't forget that McCain wants to inherit the Bush mantle:

Three out of four Americans, including large numbers of Republicans, blame President Bush's economic policies for making the country worse off during the last eight years, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll released Wednesday, reflecting a sharp increase in public pessimism during the last year.

Nine percent of respondents said the country's economic condition had improved since Bush became president, compared with 75% who said conditions had worsened. Among Republicans, 42% said the country was worse off, while 26% said it was about the same, and 22% thought economic conditions had improved.

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San Francisco may name sewage treatment plant after Bush

Okay, now that's funny. Read More......

Welcome to Denver

Denver Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO), who recently did a chat with us, is going to be posting a series of videos about Denver on the Democratic Convention Web site - sort of a "what to see, what to do" while you're at the convention. Okay, I just watched the video. It made me remember the last time I passed through Denver, oh about 30 years ago. You can see the mountains. Yeah. This should be fun. Are any of you going? We'll be there. Read More......

Lots of Senate campaign updates

OR: The Chamber of Commerce (yep, you read that right) released a poll showing Gordon Smith barely squeaking by Jeff Merkley 38-34.

AK: The good folks at MyDD continue their series profiling the MyDD Road to 60 list.

CO: Remember this ad from the DSCC? Well, turns out it was right on - tonight Schaffer's benefiting from a big fundraiser sponsored by the Ukrainian-Americans for Bob Schaffer 2008.

NC: Shock! Apparently being a big-name Republican isn't such an asset when everyone hates Republicans.

TX: Rick Noriega has a great post on the HuffPo talking about his two weeks training soldiers.

GA (1 and 2): Jim Martin launches his first ad of the cycle while Kos talks about his chances in the Hill.

NJ: Lautenberg is up 45-28 on Dick Zimmer. Read More......

Dems who supported FISA legislation, were they bought off by telcoms?

Looks like it.

House Democrats who flipped their votes to support retroactive immunity for telecom companies in last week’s FISA bill took thousands of dollars more from phone companies than Democrats who consistently voted against legislation with an immunity provision, according to an analysis by MAPLight.org.

In March, the House passed an amendment that rejected retroactive immunity. But last week, 94 Democrats who supported the March amendment voted to support the compromise FISA legislation, which includes a provision that could let telecom companies that cooperated with the government’s warrantless electronic surveillance off the hook.

The 94 Democrats who changed their positions received on average $8,359 in contributions from Verizon, AT&T; and Sprint from January, 2005, to March, 2008, according to the analysis by MAPLight, a nonpartisan organization that tracks the connection between campaign contributions and legislative outcomes.

As Joe noted earlier, something happened to get all these Dems to switch. And it seems that for a lot of them, what happened was $8,359. Hell of a cheap price to sell out your country. Read More......

Senator John Cornyn's (R-TX) big bad gay porn moment

Conservative, and somewhat dim, US Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has a new campaign ad out. It's, um, a bit odd, to say the least. Though my favorite part is the guy doing the voice over. His voice is so absurdly baritone, and reeking of mock gravitas, that he sounds like he's doing a gay porn flick (Oh yeah, Big Bad John, baby, yeah, you like that?). Seriously, watch it and enjoy. (From the DSCC, they also have Jon Stewart's take on the commercial - oh, apparently he makes a gay joke too :-)



We've set up an ActBlue page to help Rick Noriega defeat Cornyn in November. Read More......

Supreme Court overturns DC handgun ban

We live in one hell of a country. Spying illegally on Americans because, you know, we must keep people safe, Mein Herr? Sure! Telling people in a crime ridden city that they can't have handguns? Oh no! The Constitution must be preserved AT ALL COSTS, who cares about public safety! Too bad we don't have any real gun control groups any more. They, along with most of the traditional left in this town, gave up the ghost years ago. Read More......

Running for third term, McBush attacks Obama -- as another Repub. mocks Obama as Jesus

This attack was from the Bush part of the duo seeking Bush's third term:

At Laurel Manor in suburban Livonia, Bush laid out a traditional Republican attack on Democrats and, by extension, Obama, accusing them of seeking to raise taxes, support liberal judges and go wobbly on terrorism and the Iraq war.

"The Democratic Party has consistently shown they would take America in the wrong direction," Bush told the crowd of about 325.

That's a good one. Bush talking about the taking the country in the "wrong direction" when almost 80% of Americans think the country is heading in the wrong direction after eight years of Bush. Makes selling a third term all that much harder.

And, just when you think the GOP attacks on Obama can't get any more bizarre, they do:

The only mention of Obama during the entire event came from Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, who attempted a joke in which he argued that media outlets had portrayed the presumptive Democratic nominee as Jesus Christ.

"Apparently Barack Obama was born in a manger," Cox said. "...Whether there was any room at the inn, I don't know."

Jesus Christ. Those Republicans really have no shame. Can you imagine any Democrat invoking Jesus to mock another candidate? It seems very un-Christ like -- and I'd imagine a bad joke like that will spark outrage from James Dobson, Bill Donahue and the rest of the right wing religious types. Right? Read More......

The beast that never dies

Hillary's top fundraisers are whining that Obama isn't doing enough to help Hillary retire her massive debt that she accumulated trying to destroy Obama after she'd already lost the race. Oh, and they also want more respect, or something. Clearly it's Obama's fault that Hillary's top fundraisers were unable to, well, raise sufficient funds for Hillary's race. It's not about winning for these people. It's about their egos. Add this to the list of reasons that Obama needs to pick anyone but Hillary as VP. Otherwise, these people will never, ever go away. Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The Senate will be debating FISA. I want the back story on how that bill reared its ugly head again. Who influenced Jay Rockefeller and Steny Hoyer? Who told the Democratic leadership that passing this bill was good politics? All of these decisions are filtered through a political lens. Who was sitting at the table when they decided to go forward? Which Hill staffers, which lobbyists, which Democratic consulting firms, which which interest groups helped make this happen? That's what I want to know.

Today is also the last of the session for the Supreme Court.

Start threading... Read More......