White House denies report it's considering scaled-back HCR plan

According to the Huffington Post, the White House is denying a Wall Street Journal report that the President is considering a scaled-back health care reform plan that's much smaller than the one he proposed for tomorrow's summit with Democratic and GOP leaders. An administration official says that while a fallback option had been developed after the Massachusetts election defeat, the administration isn't considering it at the moment. I don't know what to think, but it's not very helpful having this information out there on the eve of the summit. The White House needs to get these leaks under control, and keep its overall messaging on point. Read More......

'The Republican Party is the wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry.'

And, Republicans did not like it when Rep. Anthony Weiner called them out today during the debate on the antitrust bill. But, he's right. Even if his words had to be stricken from the record, they live on:
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NYT publishes the real exposé about NY governor Paterson. It ain't pretty.

From the NYT:

Last fall, a woman went to court in the Bronx to testify that she had been violently assaulted by a top aide to Gov. David A. Paterson, and to seek a protective order against the man.

In the ensuing months, she returned to court twice to press her case, complaining that the State Police had been harassing her to drop it. The State Police, which had no jurisdiction in the matter, confirmed that the woman was visited by a member of the governor’s personal security detail.

Then early this month, days before she was due to return to court to seek a final protective order, the woman got a phone call from the governor, according to her lawyer. She failed to appear for her next hearing on Feb. 8, and as a result her case was dismissed.

Many details of the governor’s role in this episode are unclear or in dispute, but the accounts presented in court and police records and interviews with the woman’s lawyer and others portray a brutal encounter, a frightened woman and an effort to make a potential political embarrassment go away.

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Greece pushes back against EU members, cites Germany's Nazi past and the robbing of Greece by German troops

The current government has been saddled with problems left over from the previous conservative government so it's hard not to push back against the piling on from fellow EU member states. Greece complained that Italy was even more aggressive with its risky Wall Street deals but they saved the harshest criticisms for Germany. The German politicians have been excessive with their attacks and Greece returned the favor. Reuters:

Pangalos criticized Germany's attitude towards the Greek crisis, saying Athens had never received compensation for the economic impact of the Nazi occupation during World War Two.

"They took away the Greek gold that was at the Bank of Greece, they took away the Greek money and they never gave it back. This is an issue that has to be faced sometime in the future," he said.

"I don't say they have to give back the money necessarily but they have at least to say 'thanks'," he said. "And they shouldn't complain so much about stealing and not being very specific about economic dealings."

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Nicaragua denies cancer treatment due to pregnancy, citing anti-abortion law

The American religious right is no doubt thrilled with this decision. The Guardian:

Nicaraguan authorities have withheld life-saving treatment from a pregnant cancer patient because it could harm the foetus and violate a total ban on abortion.

A state-run hospital has monitored the cancer spreading in the body of the 27-year-old named only as Amalia since her admission on February 12 but has not offered chemotherapy, radiotherapy or a therapeutic abortion, citing the law.

The decision has ignited furious protests from relatives and campaigners who say the woman, who has a 10-year-old daughter and is 10 weeks pregnant, will die unless treated. The cancer is suspected to have spread to her brain, lungs and breasts. They have petitioned the courts, government and the pan-regional Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to intervene.

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McCain tries to tie conservative GOP primary opponent to birthers

This is fascinating. A Republican using the birthers, who are in bed with the Teabagger movement, to tar his opponent. Remember, the birther conspiracy theory - that President Obama wasn't really born in the US and thus is not constitutionally eligible to be president - was highlighted, and well-received with a standing ovation, at the recent Teabagging conference in Tennessee. So it's actually quite interesting that McCain is trying to use the fringe in a negative way, rather than embracing them. Then again, they don't quite like him anyway. But still, it means McCain suspects that Arizona Republicans aren't as fringe as the birthers and possibly the Teabaggers.

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House passed bill to repeal health insurance industry's anti-trust exemption by 406 - 19 margin

Reining in the health insurance industry really is bipartisan:

By a vote of 406-19, the House passed the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act (HR 4626), introduced by Reps. Tom Perriello (D-VA) and Betsy Markey (D-CO). This bill is designed to restore competition and transparency to the health insurance market – by repealing the blanket antitrust exemption afforded to health insurance companies by the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945. Under this legislation, health insurers will no longer be shielded from legal accountability for price fixing, dividing up territories among themselves, sabotaging their competitors in order to gain monopoly power, and other such anti-competitive practices.

Pretty shocking to see so many Republicans vote against their insurance industry benefactors. They must be hoping that the insurance industry controls enough votes in the Senate to kill this bill. But, it is pretty amazing that so many hard-core GOPers didn't want to be seen as supporting protecting the insurers.

Here's the list of the 19 Republican House members who chose to stick with the insurance companies, a cabal that includes some of the worst of the worst in the House GOP caucus. You'll note the Minority Leader is one of them: Akin (KS), Boehner (OH), Brady (TX), Broun (GA), Buyer (IN), Franks (AZ), Garrett (NJ), Jenkins (KS), Jordan (OH), King (IA), Lamborn (CO), Linder (GA), Moran (KS), Paul (TX) Price (GA), Ryan (WI), Sensenbrenner (WI), Tiahrt (KS) and Westmoreland (GA).

This is the second time this week that the "party of NO" said yes. Five GOP Senators voted to end the Republican filibuster of the jobs bill on Monday night. Then, six of the GOP hypocrites who filibustered (Alexander (TN), Cochran (MS), Inhofe (OK), Lemieux (FL), Murkowski (AK) and Wicker (MS)) ended up voting for final passage today. Read More......

Anthem Blue Cross is moving ahead with 39% rate increases

Someone should shut them down.

In good news, the President is now supporting legislation to remove the anti-trust exemption protecting health insurance companies. Now the President needs to actually do something to help get the votes to make this law.

The Obama administration on Tuesday threw its weight behind a bid to repeal an anti-trust exemption protecting health insurers, keeping the industry in its crosshairs as it prepares to host a bipartisan summit on revamping U.S. healthcare.

"Today the president announced the administration's strong support for repealing the anti-trust exemption currently enjoyed by health insurers," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said at a daily news briefing.

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Dems agree on strategy for tomorrow's White House HCR meeting

Plum Line:

At a private meeting today, top Democrats settled on a strategy for tomorrow’s summit: They will strive to project a strong sense that they’re in listening mode, even as they make it clear that under no circumstances will they scrap their plans and start again, sources say.

Top Dems also agreed to make a concerted effort to highlight Republican ideas that are already in Obama’s bill, in order to disarm GOP charges that Dems aren’t serious about compromise, the sources add.

More from TPM:

Congressional Democrats have acknowledged privately one reason health care hasn't passed yet is that they lost control of the message sometime last year, and they say they aren't about to let that happen again now that they see the finish line.

They say the angry town halls of August - when members in most cases didn't have a plan to defend, or couldn't get talking points together in the face of heated criticism nationwide - won't be repeated if they get the messaging straight.

Overall they blame themselves for not moving quickly. The House blames the Senate for dilly-dallying in the Finance Committee to try and win Republican votes. The Senate blames the White House and President Obama for not giving them more direction or a specific bill early in the process.

That's one reason the momentum has shifted to actually getting health care done now that Obama has put his own stamp on a plan.

Exactly. Read More......

Reid storms out of meeting with CEOs

The public likes their politicians with some populist fire in their belly. This is good for Reid. It's the kind of ire the President should be showing as well. Read More......

C-SPAN dot f'g org

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CREW: $28 million worth of health industry contributions at the White House HCR summit tomorrow

This shouldn't come as a surprise, but it's still quite shocking just how much the health care types spend on lobbying. No doubt, their views will be well-represented at the health care summit. They've paid for their seats at the table. CREW compiled the numbers:

On the eve of President Obama’s health care reform summit, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released data showing that since 2005, health care special interests have invested at least $28 million in the campaigns of House and Senate leaders, chairs and ranking members of committees with primary jurisdiction over health care legislation. Additionally, President Obama received over $18.6 million during his presidential campaign.

According to CREW’s study, the five summit invitees who have received the most health care dollars since 2005 are:

· Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), who has received over $2.5 million in contributions, $777,113 from the pharmaceutical/health products sector alone;

· Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has received over $2.2 million, $802,500 of which came from doctors, other medical professionals and their trade associations;

· Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), who has received nearly $2 million, $483,750 of which came from the insurance, HMO and health services industries;

· Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), who has received almost $1.9 million, $572,237 of which was contributed by hospitals and nursing homes; and

· Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who has received over $1.8 million, and like Sen. McConnell, received a large portion of that -- $709,261 -- from health professionals.

Four other participants, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ), each have received over $1.6 million from the industry.

The industry has been getting its money's worth from some of these players. The public option was the third rail for the insurance industry. And, they won. Read More......

Sec. of Transportation: Toyotas on recall list ' are not safe'

The Chairman of Toyota is on Capitol Hill today. So, is the Secretary of Transportation, Roy LaHood:

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) confronted Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who had earlier skirted a direct question from Oversight and Government Reform committee chairman Ed Towns (D-N.Y.), who asked: Are Toyotas safe to drive?

Cummings said, "I don't think you really answered the question, 'Are Toyotas safe to drive?' "

LaHood came right back and answered directly this time: "For those cars that are listed on our Web site...those are not safe. We've determined they're not safe. We believe we need to look at electronics in these cars because people have told us that's an issue."

He continued: "For now, any car that's on the Web site needs to go back to the dealer because they're not safe."

The DOT's recall list is here.

It's just stunning that this problem got to this point without anyone, either at Toyota or in the government, addressing it. This didn't just endanger Toyota drivers, which would be bad enough, it put every driver at risk. Read More......

Senate passed jobs bill with votes, 70 - 28, including support from six GOP hypocrites who voted for filibuster on Monday

Monday night, the Senate broke a GOP filibuster of the $15 billion jobs bill with votes from Senators Bond (MO), Collins (ME), Voinovich (OH), Snowe (ME) and Scott Brown (MA). The roll call for that vote is here. And, wow, the teabaggers aren't too happy with Brown because of his vote. And, Ben Nelson sided with the GOP, but we're used to that.

Today, the final passage of the jobs was secured by a vote of 70 - 28.

So, this means that a number of GOP Senators who voted to block a vote on the bill on Monday, ended up voting for the bill today. Once the roll call list is online, I'll post the list of the GOP hypocrites. These are the hypocrites who were willing to prevent the jobs bill from even getting a vote, but ended up supporting it: Alexander (TN), Cochran (MS), Inhofe (OK), Lemieux (FL), Murkowski (AK) and Wicker (MS). Senators Burr (NC) and Hatch (UT) didn't vote on Monday, but voted yes today.

For Republicans, jobs are just another political issue. They'd rather obstruct than solve problems. Read More......

Republican spin on reconciliation is wrong. GOPers used it to pass health reform many times.

This morning, I awakened to a report on NPR about the use of reconciliation on issues involving health care. By the way the GOPers, particularly the Senate GOPers are squawking, one might think that reconciliation has never been used for health related legislation. That's what Republicans want people to think. But, it's wrong:

Budget reconciliation, Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) told reporters Tuesday, "was never designed for a large, comprehensive piece of legislation such as health care, as you all know. It's a budget exercise, and that's why some refer to it as the 'nuclear option.'"

"The use of expedited reconciliation process to push through more dramatic changes to a health care bill of such size, scope and magnitude is unprecedented," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) wrote in a letter to President Obama on Monday, urging him to renounce the possibility of trying to pass a bill using the procedure.

But health care and reconciliation actually have a lengthy history. "In fact, the way in which virtually all of health reform, with very, very limited exceptions, has happened over the past 30 years has been the reconciliation process," says Sara Rosenbaum, who chairs the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University.

NPR provided a table noting when reconciliation has been used. I put in bold the pieces of legislation passed when Republicans controlled at least one chamber of Congress:

For 30 years, major changes to health care laws have passed via the budget reconciliation process. Here are a few examples:

1982 — TEFRA: The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act first opened Medicare to HMOs

1986 — COBRA: The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act allowed people who were laid off to keep their health coverage, and stopped hospitals from dumping ER patients unable to pay for their care

1987 — OBRA '87: Added nursing home protection rules to Medicare and Medicaid, created no-fault vaccine injury compensation program

1989 — OBRA '89: Overhauled doctor payment system for Medicare, created new federal agency on research and quality of care

1990 — OBRA '90: Added cancer screenings to Medicare, required providers to notify patients about advance directives and living wills, expanded Medicaid to all kids living below poverty level, required drug companies to provide discounts to Medicaid

1993 — OBRA '93: created federal vaccine funding for all children

1996 — Welfare Reform: Separated Medicaid from welfare

1997 — BBA: The Balanced Budget Act created the state-federal childrens' health program called CHIP

2005 — DRA: The Deficit Reduction Act reduced Medicaid spending, allowed parents of disabled children to buy into Medicaid

So, reconciliation isn't new. And, when Republicans controlled, they sure used it to pass health care laws.

The hypocrisy from Republicans knows no limits. Fortunately, at least one media outlet chose to fact check their talking points. Read More......

$20 billion for Wall Street bonuses

That's a lot of quality health care for a lot of Americans right there. After all, most of the profits generate by Wall Street were from taxpayer money. There is a serious problem with priorities among the political class of America. They're every bit as guilty as Wall Street. If this is the best they can do, it's no wonder people are so tuned out of this sorry excuse for a system. Elections happen and parties change but somehow it's always the same.

Employees at Wall Street financial firms collected more than $20 billion in bonuses in 2009, the year after taxpayers bailed out the financial sector amid the economic meltdown, New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Tuesday. The payouts were about 17 percent higher than the previous year's bonuses.

Total compensation at the largest securities firms grew beyond that figure and profits could surpass what he calls an unprecedented $55 billion last year, DiNapoli said. That's nearly three times Wall Street's record increase, a rate of growth that is boosted in part by the record losses in 2008 of nearly $43 billion, the Democrat said.

"Wall Street is vital to New York's economy, and the dollars generated by the industry help the state's bottom line," said DiNapoli. "But for most Americans, these huge bonuses are a bitter pill and hard to comprehend. ... Taxpayers bailed them out, and now they're back making money while many New York families are still struggling to make ends meet."

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

One more day til the big health care summit. We do know one thing for sure: The White House won't fight for the public option. Apparently, including that provision would require the White House to lobby for it on the Hill -- and that is something this White House doesn't do. As Adam Green said so well, "The White House obviously has a loser mentality -- but America rallies around winners."

A trio of corporate villains will be testifying on Capitol Hill today: Akio Toyota to explain why his company took so long to address the serious problems with its cars; Angela Braly, the President and CEO of WellPoint/Anthem to explain why her company is raising rates up to 39%; and Ben Bernanke (yes, I know he's chair of Federal Reserve, but what he did with AIG and the banks makes him a corporate villain for me.)

And, the prospects for repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell look unclear. A moratorium is not a repeal. Just a reminder, this is what Obama said in the State of the Union:

This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.

A moratorium does not finally repeal the law. And, it won't end DADT this year.

Let's get it started... Read More......

IMF: too early to remove stimulus programs

Both the Republicans in the US and the Tories in the UK are calling for an end to the stimulus programs. As in the stimulus programs that have prevented even deeper recessions. Yes, in the US, the same stimulus programs that the CBO said created over 2 million jobs and added significant growth to the economy. Everyone fully realizes that these programs are temporary and can't go on forever. Everyone also understands that bringing an end to these programs or not having them in the first place would have been painfully damaging to the world economy. But supporting these programs doesn't always make for good politics. Attacking them repeatedly is great for whipping fools into a frenzy.

In a rebuff to David Cameron's avowed intention to start repairing the public finances as soon as this spring's election is over, the Washington-based IMF said the fragility of the global economy meant stimulus packages should be left in place well into 2010.

The detailed study – Exiting from Crisis Intervention Policies – was published as data from the British Bankers' Association for January showed a dip in mortgage borrowing, a sharp drop in lending to businesses and a repayment of credit card debt for the 10th successive month.

"In general, fiscal and monetary stimulus may need to be maintained well into 2010 for a majority of the world's economies, including several of the largest, although the timing of the exit is likely to differ substantially across countries," the IMF said. It added that the recovery from the global economy's most severe downturn since the second world war had been stronger in the leading emerging economies such as India and China than it had been in the developed west.

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Murdoch's UK tabloid blasted in parliamentary report

Despite what Murdoch's team have suggested, this is much more serious and more widespread than a single, rogue reporter. The Guardian:

The 167-page report by a cross-party select committee is withering about the conduct of the News of the World, with one MP saying its crimes "went to the heart of the British establishment, in which police, military royals and government ministers were hacked on a near industrial scale".

MPs condemned the "collective amnesia" and "deliberate obfuscation" by NoW executives who gave evidence to them, and said it was inconceivable that only a few people at the paper knew about the practice.

The culture, media and sport select committee was also damning of the police, saying Scotland Yard should have broadened its original investigation in 2006, and not just focused on Clive Goodman, the NoW's royal reporter.

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