Now that the House and Senate are both leaning towards the public option, Obama reportedly wants to stick with Olympia Snowe

Let's seriously hope that CNN and Politico are wrong.

Earlier tonight, John wrote a post titled, "Major momentum suddenly for the public option, in just the few hours - while Snowe tries to kill the bill." Finally, it seemed, the Democrats in the Senate are on a roll. The House has said it will have a robust public option in their plan, and finally Senator Reid is strongly hinting at the same. So what if Olympia Snowe still opposes the public option? She's only one GOP Senator. And nobody believes that one GOP Senator's vote will somehow convince the public that this legislation is bipartisan.

But guess who is reportedly still siding with Olympia Snowe, even at this late hour, despite the new-found momentum? Your president.

I first got wind of this tonight at Politico.com, and granted, I don't believe everything I read at Politico (but CNN follows):

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is leaning toward putting a public insurance option in the Senate health reform bill — a signal that Reid increasingly believes he can get the votes needed for a plan that would allow states to opt out of the program, senators said Thursday.

But President Barack Obama stopped short of endorsing the approach during a hastily called meeting Thursday with the Senate Democratic leadership at the White House, according to an administration official.

Instead, one Democratic source said Obama appeared to prefer a “trigger” option put forth by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who has proposed allowing states to join a national insurance plan if affordable coverage was not widely available. This would suggest the president has not abandoned his goal of striking a bipartisan deal.

Huh? If it were just Politico.com, I'd wonder. But, CNN has not "one Democratic source," but "two administration officials" telling the same story:

In recent days, two administration officials have told CNN that the prevailing White House opinion is for the Senate health care bill to include a so-called "trigger" mechanism proposed by Snowe that would bring a public option in the future if thresholds for expanding coverage and lowering costs go unmet in coming years.

The source familiar with Thursday evening's meeting said Obama "pushed for a so-called trigger, because it's the more bipartisan way to go," due to Snowe's support for the concept. A critical White House goal in passing a health care bill is the ability to call it bipartisan, so Obama officials are wary of doing anything to alienate Snowe.

If these stories are true, then the White House is now undercutting progress on health care reform. It was one thing, though still unacceptable, for the White House to be less than enthusiastic about the public option when they thought it couldn't win (a little presidential pressure could turn that around). But it's quite another for the Democrats in Congress to tell the White House that they think they might now be able to pull this off, to get a public option as the president promised in the campaign, and for the White House to respond "nah, we still want the less effective, more expensive, plan because Olympia Snowe's vote is more important than the substance of the actual reform package." Is the White House that tone deaf? Or has the Obama brain trust cut some kind of deal with someone, promising to kill the public option no matter what?

And if the stories aren't true, if Politico and CNN got it wrong, if President Obama isn't trying to scuttle his own campaign promise when we're on the verge of success, then the White House needs to immediately repudiate these stories. And that has to happen fast. President Obama has to side with the Democrats on the Hill and declare his support for the public option -- and mean it. Read the rest of this post...

Federal Reserve proposes to monitor banker pay

Perhaps, but does anyone out there really trust Bernanke? For that matter, Geithner would be included as well since he was in charge of the NY Fed last year during the bailout. Even the best of intentions and ideas are viewed with suspicion after this bonus fiasco which is still playing out. Even looking back, it's hard to believe that the Fed was not aware of what was going on during the credit bubble before it burst. There's a significant trust issue here and it's yet to be resolved.

The Federal Reserve for the first time would police banks' pay policies to ensure they don't encourage employees to take reckless gambles like those that contributed to the financial crisis, according to a proposal unveiled Thursday.

Unlike a Treasury plan to slash pay at certain companies that were bailed out with large sums of taxpayer money, the Fed proposal would cover thousands of banks, including many that never received a bailout.

Read the rest of this post...

Jobless numbers better, but still bad

From Meteor Blades at Daily Kos:

while today's Labor Department report on unemployment compensation claims shows a continuing downward trend that began last spring, it is increasingly likely the first month of job growth will not take place until 2010. And the report provides more evidence that we face the possibility of what is described by that insulting term invented in 1992, a "jobless recovery."

....The drop in unemployment claims previously this month indicates that the number of layoffs in October - which we will find out about on November 6 - will be less than September's unexpected surge. But there is a good chance layoffs will still be above 200,000 for the month and official unemployment will hit 10% or more.

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7,000 a day running out of unemployment benefits

At least the bank bonuses are flowing. Maybe some are going retro in DC and think that trickle down economics is back in style. Looking at how bizarre many are treating the banks (and allowing them to go back to their old ways) anything is possible. For those not working in the upper echelons of banking, life is different.

Another day, another 7,000 people run out of unemployment benefits.

One month after the House passed a bill extending unemployment benefits, the issue is still being debated in the Senate.

Democratic leaders in the Senate introduced a bill two weeks ago to lengthen benefits in all states by 14 weeks. Those that live in states with unemployment greater than 8.5% would receive an additional six weeks.

Meanwhile, Orrin Hatch wants everyone to focus on college football. How clueless could he be? Read the rest of this post...

BREAKING: Major momentum suddenly for the public option, in just the few hours - while Snowe tries to kill the bill

Something is going on in Washington, behind the scenes. And it's absolutely fascinating.

TPM, WaPo's Plum Line, ABC and the NYT all suddenly have stories showing a sudden last-minute rise in optimism that the Senate could end up passing a health care reform bill with a real public option. All the while, Olympia Snowe, true to form, is now trying to kill the bill.

In the last few hours, we've learned:

Democratic Senators are telling the NYT that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is leaning towards including the public option in the legislation he sends to the Senate floor. And we really like this from the NYT story:

Mr. Reid and other Senate Democratic leaders were headed to the White House late Thursday afternoon for a hastily called meeting, where Mr. Reid was expected to ask President Obama to help secure the needed votes.

WaPo's Plum Line has a Senate aide saying that while Reid doesn't yet have the public option votes, he's now more optimistic.

TPM concurs that moderate Senate Dems look like they might not vote for a filibuster, provided they get a chance to vote for stripping the public option from the bill (which they wouldn't have enough votes to do, but at least they'd get political cover at home by voting to strip it).

And finally, ABC reported that Reid is heading towards including the public option, but just as importantly, they report that Olympia Snowe seems to be pulling out all the stops in order to kill the legislation. Now she thinks that finishing the bill by Christmas is too soon. That, my friends, is talk aimed at killing the bill. The longer you drag it out, the longer it gives Republicans and their TV network time to try to gin up protests. Olympia Snowe just showed her true colors today, and they're yellow.

And don't think for a minute that all of you didn't make this to happen. It's not soup yet. It's actually in quite dangerous territory - you know Baucus is circling the waters, trying to undo this on behalf of his insurance industry donors. But we wouldn't even be talking about the public option as a possibility at this late date if it weren't for every single one of you speaking out and raising hell that our elected officials seemed to be chickening out.

It's going to be very hard for them to walk away from this now. People will flip out. Stay tuned. Read the rest of this post...

Big protest of health insurance industry today in DC

I just got back from a really large protest that HCAN and the unions organized to protest a meeting of AHIP, the health insurance lobby, at the local Capital Hilton hotel. They did a great job turning out the crowd. I took a quick video, below, and then posted a number of photos - as always, you can click a photo to see a larger version.













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Dick Cheney puts US troops in harm's way in Afghanistan

That's the headline you'd read, about us, if a lead Democrat had suggested that our commander in chief was "afraid" of making a foreign policy decision. And surprise, it's Dick Cheney making the charge. The man who personally got us into the mess in Iraq, and personally led the charge to take Bush's eye off the ball in Afghanistan.

So when we read that Dick Cheney has any advice at all to give Barack Obama, the old cliché about "listen to his advice and do the opposite" comes to mind.

PS: I will say, as an aside, that the White House needs to be very careful with this "Obama is afraid" theme. It's out there. Mostly because of the White House's somewhat confusing positions on its various domestic campaign promises like immigration reform, gay rights, and health care reform (being for a public option, kind of, but not being willing to fight for it). The longer the White House reinforces this message at home with its own actions, the more the GOP will try to take advantage of it, at home and abroad. Cheney is still a jerk, but he's a smart jerk - there's a larger problem here that the WH needs to address. Read the rest of this post...

Senator "I've had taxpayer funded health care for most of my life" Landrieu strikes again

Today, Senator Mary Landrieu took the opportunity to blast the public option. It's particularly egregious given her long history of living off the taxpayers.

Back in June, I wrote a post about Landrieu and her long history of taxpayer funded health insurance. The citizens of Louisiana and federal taxpayers have underwritten Landrieu's health insurance for most of her adult life and, most likely, a good chunk of her childhood. She doesn't know what it's like to fight an insurance company or to be without insurance. I rarely ever do this, but I'm reposting the earlier post in full because she is such a hypocrite. Here it is:

I'm intrigued by Senator Mary Landrieu's opposition to the public health insurance option. It got me wondering how long she's had health insurance paid by the government. Now, I know the public option isn't the same as private health care paid for by the government. But, her opposition to making health care more affordable and more available seems inconsistent with a life that's had health insurance paid for by taxpayers.

From various sources, including her own Senate website, I've put together the timeline of Mary Landrieu. She was born in 1955.

Her dad, Moon, was in the Louisiana State Legislature from 1960 to 1966, served on the New Orleans City Council from 1966 to 1970 and then was Mayor of New Orleans from 1970 to 1978. Then, he was the HUD Secretary from 1979 to 1981.

Landrieu herself entered the Louisiana State Legislature in 1980 and served there until 1988. From there, she became the State Treasurer from 1988 til 1996 when she became a U.S. Senator.

That's quite a history of public service. And, it's also quite a history of being a beneficiary of government-sponsored benefits.

Now, I don't know that Moon Landrieu got health care benefits for his family while he served as state rep., city councilor and mayor. But, I do know that right now, the Louisiana legislature provides health care to its members and their families:

Legislative members are eligible to participate in health insurance and life insurance plans provided by the Louisiana Office of Group Benefits (OGB.) The state pays approximately 75 percent of the member’s portion of the premium and approximately 50 percent of the premium for the member’s dependents. Legislators are eligible to keep their benefits when they leave office only if they have retired or meet the definition of retirement as provided by the OGB Rules.

The legislative Office of Human Resources offers members additional health benefits such as vision and dental coverage, however, the members themselves are responsible for payment of those premiums.

Maybe it was different back when Mary was growing up. She should let us know.

I do know that as a federal employee, Senator Landrieu has lots of options for health care. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) handles this for Landrieu, her colleagues and their staffs.

Funny thing, how someone who grew up in government and has been taken care of by government health care is so averse to giving other people a public option. Mary Landrieu has lived a life with good benefits, maybe she doesn't get what it's like for many people. See, taxpayers pay the bulk of Landrieu's health insurance -- and probably have for most of her adult life. She's been well taken care of. Now, she is taking care of the insurance companies, not the taxpayers.

If you're calling Landrieu's office, (202)224-5824, see if you can find out for sure how long she's benefited from health insurance paid with tax dollars. If you're from Louisiana, you've been paying for her family's health insurance for a long time.

Landrieu couldn't be a bigger hypocrite on this one.

Landrieu better vote for cloture on the final bill, which better include the public option. Read the rest of this post...

Olympia Snowe hints at filibuster of Obama health care reform bill unless her demands are met

With "bipartisanship" like this, who needs FOX News. Read the rest of this post...

Glenn Beck frets: Imagine a device, in your car, that speaks to you, and knows where you are...

One of TV's top fictional sitcoms, or Glenn Beck off his meds on America's "favorite" "news" channel? We report the bias, you decide. From Media Matters (short, and funny as hell):

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ABC: Testosterone of McCain Voters Dropped Post-Election

Oh, the jokes just write themselves on this one. Please do have at it with your best jokes in the comments. From ABC:

The lowered testosterone levels the study found in Republican men after the election matches what other researchers have found when men are involved in face-to-face competition. Scientists have shown that more often than not in showdowns such as sports competitions or physical fights the loser ends up with a drop in testosterone....

Republican men nationwide may have experienced a drop in testosterone levels the night Barack Obama was elected president, according to the results of a small study that found another link between testosterone and men's moods.

By taking multiple saliva samples from 183 young men and women on election night, researchers found that the testosterone levels of men who voted for John McCain or Robert Barr dropped sharply 40 minutes after Obama was announced the winner.

Read the rest of this post...

FOX's war on the White House, month by month

Amazing video by Media Matters, taking a month by month look at the hate and lies pouring out of the GOP propaganda organ known as FOX News.

Read the rest of this post...

Her insurance premiums just went up 32%

You have to wonder if the insurance industry isn't now gouging us even more, expecting health care reform to only give them 85% of the windfall that they had hoped for. Once I hit my 40s, my CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield premiums started going up around 23% a year. That means they'll double in only three years. It's simply outrageous. How will the plans on the Hill specifically help me? I have no idea. I don't think anyone does. I think that's why people are so rallying around the public option. It's the only tangible thing we can grab on to that clearly would lower costs, including our own. Every other proposal, no clue. Read the rest of this post...

As health insurance lobby meets in DC, Congress starts moving bill to strip its antitrust protection

This afternoon, a group of the nation's top insurance company executives are going to be in D.C. for the "State Issues Conference" sponsored by America's Health Insurance Plan (AHIP). That's the lobbying group for the insurance industry. Insurance companies used to always get their way in DC. That's changing.

Yesterday, on Capitol Hill, there was some key action towards reining in insurance companies by taking away their antitrust protection. And, this first vote in the Judiciary Committee was actually bipartisan:

Across the Capitol, the House Judiciary Committee took tough action against the health insurance industry, voting Wednesday to strip federal antitrust protections shielding companies from investigations into price-fixing and other practices.

Although Democrats have led the repeal push in recent weeks, the committee's 20 to 9 vote came with the support of three Republicans: Rep. Dan Lundgren, a former California attorney general; Rep. Louie Gohmert (Tex.), a former judge; and Rep. Tom Rooney (Fla.), a former state assistant attorney general.

"This measure fixes a mistake sitting on the federal statutes for over 60 years," said Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.).

In a letter sent to Conyers before the vote, Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry trade group, criticized the legislation as attempting "to remedy a problem that does not exist."

Of course, Ms. Ignangi doesn't think there's a problem. She also doesn't understand the problems Americans face with health insurers. Although, today, she could and should find out. AHIP's event has generated a protest at the Capitol Hilton. And, seven families who have been directly harmed by the insurers will be holding a press conference, organized by HCAN, at the same hotel. Ignangi and the insurers won't meet with them. Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good moring.

This morning, my radio woke me up to the repeated intonation, "You can't get H1N1 from eating pork." I'm not sure who the speaker was, but she was very adamant. Now, I've got that mantra stuck in my head.

The President has a busy day, including a briefing from Afghanistan and signing the "Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act" into law. He's also having lunch with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I'm sure the President, who supports the public option, will be thrilled to know that the Speaker has the votes to pass health insurance reform with a strong public option. Now, the president has to apply some of presidential muscle in the Senate to get it done.

The Senate will be voting on cloture on the Defense Authorization bill today. That legislation includes the Hate Crimes Act. The GOPers have been playing games with this bill, hence the need to cut off debate, which requires 60 votes.

Let's get threading... Read the rest of this post...

Orrin Hatch thinks Obama has a lot of free time

As much as I enjoy college football, spending even five minutes on the college football BCS problems at this time is foolish. But hey, we're talking about Orrin Hatch after all. Shouldn't Washington be more focused on the economy, unemployment, health care, Afghanistan or any number of other issues before this?

A senator whose undefeated home state school was bypassed for the college football national championship last season urged President Barack Obama on Wednesday to ask the Justice Department to investigate the Bowl Championship Series, citing Obama's own concerns about the way the top team is crowned in building a case for action.

"Mr. President, as you have publicly stated on multiple occasions, the BCS system is in dire need of reform," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in a 10-page letter to Obama calling for an antitrust probe of the BCS. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter.

Read the rest of this post...

More warnings in London against bank bonuses

Their heart is in the right place, no doubt. But what about their actions? Will there even be any action?

Urging bank boards to take the lead on restraining their own payouts, Myners said the culture of City bonuses needed to be reformed in the light of the government support for banks which would otherwise have collapsed a year ago.

"Contemplation of big bonuses in these conditions is nothing short of a market failure," he told an audience of City bankers. Insisting that he was not trying to "bash bankers", he urged the sector to address the bonus issue itself. But, he warned: "We are willing to take action if necessary".

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