Who needs gimmicks?

Pourmecoffee led me to this video, noting:

I don't think enough people have seen it. It doesn't need to have a monkey to make my point, but it has a monkey. Also: free money? THAT'S SOCIALISM!

Read the rest of this post...

Reid "cautiously optimistic" about getting health insurance bill to the Senate floor

David Dayen reports the Senate health insurance reform bill will be available for Democratic Senators tomorrow.

The Washington Post reports that Majority Leader Harry Reid is feeling "cautiously optimistic":

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) scrambled Tuesday to lock down votes behind a health-care bill that he may unveil as early as Wednesday.

Reid would not confirm that he had received commitments from all 60 members of the Democratic caucus to overcome GOP procedural objections and bring the legislation to the Senate floor, saying only, "I feel cautiously optimistic that we can do that. I think we're together as a caucus."

The leader was more outspoken in describing his bill, boasting to reporters: "Of all the bills we've seen, it'll be the best: saves more money, is more protective of Medicare, is a bill that's good for the American people."

Looks like we'll know more tomorrow (but, we've said that before.)

Last weekend, Sam Stein reported that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to drag out the debate for at least six weeks. And, Senator Coburn (R-OK) is making a big deal out of his plan to have the full bill read on the Senate floor. David Waldman explains how that will work and notes "it's just not going to do that much. It won't take all that long to read it." Waldman probably understands this process better than Coburn and his staff. Read the rest of this post...

House Dems. promise new jobs bill before Christmas break

The focus on the Hill is now jobs, jobs, jobs:

Democrats hope to pass jobs legislation through the House before lawmakers leave for Christmas on Dec. 18, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has asked key committee chairmen for ideas on job creation, which Hoyer (D-Md.) said could be wrapped into one bill.

“It's my hope we will adjourn by Dec. 18,” Hoyer said in his weekly session with reporters. “I would certainly hope we would move something on jobs before that.”

Hoyer declined to give a dollar figure for what Democrats are planning, but he said he expects Democrats will at a minimum extend unemployment benefits and COBRA health insurance assistance for the unemployed.

Other options include aid to states to preserve public-sector jobs, tax breaks for creating jobs and spending on public works like highways, he said. Democrats have consulted extensively with a group of economists, but Hoyer said there have been “differences of opinion” on what tactics are most effective.

If Democrats have any hope in 2010, they better put aside those "differences of opinion" and get a good, solid jobs bill ASAP. Too often, on Capitol Hill, "differences of opinion" means the Blue Dogs and conservatives are being cranky. That hasn't worked so well for the party this year. They should have done a bigger stimulus earlier this year, but too much compromise weakened that legislation's punch. And, it was those "differences of opinion" among Democrats that slowed down health insurance reform so badly. And, it's still not done.

Markos has some sage advice for Hill Democrats who are freaking out over the polls and the economy:

2010 will be a base election. Any Democrat hoping to meet a fate similar to [Virginia's Creigh] Deeds' should follow his campaign plan and abandon the party and its agenda. No one doubts Republicans will be energized. Failure or success next year will come down to whether our side turns out.

The Democrats on the Hill need to fulfill the party's agenda on jobs and other key issues, not abandon it.

Perhaps, the President could exert some leadership here. Read the rest of this post...

Obama will do interview with FOX News

Last week, Drudge reported that Obama was going to do an interview with Major Garrett from FOX News. The White House denied that report to Politico.

It pains me to say this, but, Drudge was right:

President Barack Obama will give an interview to Fox News Channel's Major Garrett, perhaps signaling a thaw in relations between the network and administration. The White House confirmed Tuesday that Garrett will be included among a round of network interviews that the president is giving Wednesday in Beijing. Garrett also posted news of the interview on Twitter.

Good thing we all rallied behind the White House effort to demonize FOX. I mean, FOX should be demonized because it's nothing but a right-wing propaganda machine. And, we were right to support the White House. I just thought maybe the White House was serious about challenging the network that wants Obama's presidency to fail. I was wrong.

Couldn't the supposedly tough guys at the White House have held out for at least a couple weeks? Looks like they lost a lot of testosterone when Anita Dunn left. Read the rest of this post...

GOP's Judicial Filibuster Fail

Today, by a margin of 70 - 29, the Senate broke the filibuster on the nomination of David Hamilton to the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Ten Republicans, led by Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, voted to proceed. The others were: Alexander (TN), Chambliss (GA), Collins (ME), Cornyn (TX), Gregg (NH), Hatch (UT), Murkowski (AK), Snowe (ME) and Thune (SD).

Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III led the GOP filibuster. Just a couple years ago, Sessions was vehemently opposed to filibustering judicial nominations. Marge Baker from People for the American Way provides some context -- and has some advice for Senate Democrats:

“It was just a few short years ago that Republicans like Senator Jeff Sessions denounced judicial filibusters in the strongest possible language and pursued the ‘nuclear option.’ Sessions even said judicial filibusters violate the Constitution. But some time after November 4, 2008, his interpretation of the Constitution must have changed dramatically.

“Now Sessions and many of his colleagues are vehemently pro-filibuster. They didn’t just flip-flop a bit. They went from one extreme to the other, and are seeking to obstruct the President by blocking votes on crucial nominees. Senate Democrats must see to it that this effort fails.

“Sessions claimed that Judge Hamilton an experienced judge and consensus pick met the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ standard of the Gang of 14. But in doing so, he rendered the term meaningless and revealed the willingness of most Senate Republicans to filibuster virtually any nominee put forward by the President. In response, Senate Democrats should isolate the obstructionists and push forward with the agenda, and nominations, that they and President Obama were elected to achieve.”

Yeah, get moving on the judicial appointments. And, all GOP filibusters should fail, not just the judicial ones. Read the rest of this post...

US banks fighting back against change, again

Too big to fail? Bah! Last year was so last year so it's best that we all forget about the worst banking crisis since the Great Depression. The bankers feel terrible and they've done nothing but drink themselves silly with Dom Pérignon thanks to the generous bonuses. Sure they would have gone bankrupt without the bailout and no bonuses would have been handed out but that was so long ago. Can't we all just get along? Reuters:

Some of the world's largest financial firms on Monday urged a top U.S. lawmaker not to pursue big bank break-up legislation, an idea attracting interest in Congress and causing alarm on Wall Street.

The Financial Services Forum, a lobbying group for CEOs of firms including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, said empowering regulators to break up "too-big-to-fail" banks "could lead to long-term damage to the U.S. economy."

Read the rest of this post...

ADL takes on Glenn Beck

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has had enough of the hatred and Nazi imagery being promoted by teabaggers and Glenn Beck. Today, ADL issued a report, Rage Grows in America: Anti‑Government Conspiracies. This report has heft coming from ADL. It should cause concern among the GOPers who are fomenting the rage. (It should, but it won't.)

ADL singles out Glenn Beck from FOX News for special recognition. Here's part of what the organization had to say about Beck:

The most important mainstream media figure who has repeatedly helped to stoke the fires of anti-government anger is right-wing media host Glenn Beck, who has a TV show on FOX News and a popular syndicated radio show. While other conservative media hosts, such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, routinely attack Obama and his administration, typically on partisan grounds, they have usually dismissed or refused to give a platform to the conspiracy theorists and anti-government extremists. This has not been the case with Glenn Beck. Beck and his guests have made a habit of demonizing President Obama and promoting conspiracy theories about his administration.

On a number of his TV and radio programs, Beck has even gone so far as to make comparisons between Hitler and Obama and to promote the idea that the president is dangerous.

That's Glenn Beck in a nutshell -- a radical, extremist nutshell. Read the rest of this post...

Catholic Bishops will kill health insurance reform over abortion issue

Flush with victory, the Catholic Bishops sent their new spokesman, Rep. Bart Stupak, to FOX News today to issue an ultimatum on health insurance reform. They'll kill it if they don't get their way:

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-[Mich. Vatican City]) pledged on Tuesday morning to defeat healthcare reform legislation if his abortion amendment is taken out, saying 10 to 20 anti-abortion-rights Democrats would vote against a bill with weaker language.

"They’re not going to take it out," Stupak said on "Fox and Friends," referring to Senate Democrats. "If they do, healthcare will not move forward."

That's it: The Bishops will kill health care reform. If that happens, all those 49 million Americans without health insurance and the rest of us with pre-existing conditions can thank the local Catholic Bishop. And, I'm sure every Catholic hospital will just open its doors to cover the poor and uninsured without expecting any payment. It's not like the church is flush these days. There are already a lot of Dioceses that have gone bankrupt because of the sex abuse scandals.

Mark my words: The Bishops are just warming up. They're willing to undermine President Obama's top agenda item over their own conservative social agenda -- and members of Congress are willing to cede that power to the Bishops. Just wait til they get to issues affecting same-sex partnership recognition. Read the rest of this post...

As Senate preps for debate, support for public option remains strong

At FDL, Jon Walker examined the numbers from the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll on health care. The public option is still popular, despite unrelenting attacks:

The parts of the health care reform championed by the “political left” and opposed by so-called “centrists” in Congress continue to have very high popular support: the public option and the employer mandate.

53% of Americans support having the “government create a new health insurance plan to compete with private health insurance plans,” while only 43% oppose it. The opposition is much weaker than this one question would indicate. 40% of people who said they opposed the public option would support it if it were restricted almost exactly like it is in the House bill, to “only people who do not receive insurance through an employer, or through the existing Medicare or Medicaid programs.”

The health insurance industry/Republican attack message against the public option does seem to be gaining a lot of traction. A strong majority (60%) do think the public option “would force many private health insurers to go out of business.” However, even with that belief, support for the public option still remains strong. It just might be that Americans don’t really care if many inefficient private health insurance companies go out of business because they can’t compete against a public option.

So, what's perceived as "the left" by many members of Congress (including too many Democrats) is actually the predominate view in America.

Lowell at Blue Virginia also noted a key finding from this poll:

people who say they understand health reform support it by a 13-point margin, while those who admit they don't understand it also don't support it, by a 19-point margin. Very striking.

Very striking. And, that may explain why so many members of Congress voted against the health care bill in the House. They really didn't understand it -- or want to understand it. Read the rest of this post...

Another record high for mortgage delinquencies

The good news is that the pace is at least slowing. The fact that another record high has been hit is obviously troubling news.

The good news is that the pace at which people fell behind on their mortgages slowed during the summer for the third quarter in a row. The bad news is the overall delinquency rate hit another record.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, 6.25 percent of U.S. mortgage loans were 60 or more days past due, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion. That's up 58 percent, from 3.96 percent, a year ago.

Read the rest of this post...

Nobel economist Joe Stiglitz didn't receive invite to Obama "Jobs Summit" either

I reported the other day that Nobel laureate in economics Paul Krugman had not received an invite to President Obama's "Jobs Summitt" in early December. I now have an update from Anya Schiffrin, Joe Stiglitz's wife, who just emailed me (the email is real, we know each other):

I saw your post mentioning Joe. We never saw an invitation. It is possible they sent one and it didn't get passed on to us, but I am guessing he was not invited.

Read the rest of this post...

TARP recipients falling behind on payments

Especially in light of the soft touch on Wall Street, this is very troubling. Neither the Bush administration nor the Obama administration has had the stomach to be firm with the financial industry despite their deep responsibility for the recession. Maybe it's wishful thinking or perhaps too many have bought into the Wall Street centric view of the world. Wall Street is important for the future growth of the US but we can't overlook the severe damage that they inflicted on everyone else.

To repeat, rescuing the financial industry had to be done. There is little doubt that the recession could have been much more painful without the bailout. The terms were all too often botched, which is why we are seeing failures, more money and a two-tiered financial industry based on the haves and have-nots. (Goldman Sachs, obviously is on the "haves" list.) So will the banks will be treated differently from individuals who can't meet the terms of their agreements. Surely they will, but this round needs to push back against the banks instead of providing a wish list for the banks. As we are seeing from AIG and others, the initial round was about as poorly implemented as possible. Unfortunately, the current team were leading the first bailout so it's hard to imagine any major improvement or lessons learned. Washington Post:

Officials poured about $700 billion into investments in scores of companies, from giants such as the automaker General Motors and the insurer American International Group to smaller regional banks. Of them, 46 had missed required dividend payments to the government as of the end of September, according to the inspector general overseeing the program.

On Nov. 6, United Commercial Bank of San Francisco failed, becoming the first recipient of the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, to collapse. The cost to taxpayers: $299 million.

Analysts expect more bailed-out firms to fail in the months ahead. Others may survive but will struggle to repay the government. Steven Rattner, the former head of the government's efforts to bail out the auto industry, said recently that the full public investment in GM is unlikely to be repaid. Meanwhile, AIG is dismantling itself, selling healthy subsidiaries at what critics say are bargain prices in an all-out effort to get cash to repay the government.

Read the rest of this post...

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President is still in China. Today, he kept pushing his message of human rights -- and he should. (On one of his foreign visits to a country with full marriage equality, however, it would be interesting to hear a leader encourage Obama to support rights for all of his citizens -- and move beyond the "separate, but equal" position that he now holds.)

Still waiting for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score on the health insurance reform bill submitted by Harry Reid. The Republicans are threatening to use every trick in the procedural book to prevent any action on that bill. Reid will have to keep his caucus in line -- but, they need a bill first. That could come today. And, I'm still very concerned about the shape of the Senate bill. With every day that passes, Democrats on the Hill become more freaked out about the elections. Instead of becoming bolder and actually delivering for the American people, which they should do, my fear is that Democrats do the opposite.

One last thing: I am already so over Sarah Palin. Enough already.

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

China censors Obama during visit

Go figure. Communist China censoring when the topic of discussion is free speech and no internet censorship. Let's hear it again for the IOC since they changed everything with the Olympics.

President Barack Obama prodded China about Internet censorship and free speech, but the message was not widely heard in China where his words were blocked online and shown on only one regional television channel.

China has more than 250 million Internet users and employs some of the world's tightest controls over what they see. The country is often criticized for its so-called "Great Firewall of China" — technology designed to prevent unwanted traffic from entering or leaving a network.

Read the rest of this post...

Bush-Geithner bailout of AIG raises more questions

Not that it's going to have any impact on Geithner at this point, but it again shows how poorly he implemented the bailouts during his time at the Fed. It also makes you wonder how Obama even chose Geithner. Many people like to lay all of the blame on Geithner and yes, there's plenty of blame to hand out. It still doesn't change the fact that he was chosen and has been supported by Obama, who is the person in charge. As fair as the criticism of Geithner may be, it's difficult to see how this doesn't reflect poorly on Obama. How is it possible to have any faith in Geithner?

The report says New York Fed officials mismanaged the negotiations with other banks, removing the threat that AIG would go bankrupt and bowing to a demand from French regulators that French banks holding AIG's debt insurance be paid in full.

The initial bailout "was done with almost no independent consideration of the terms of the transaction or the impact that those terms might have on the future of AIG," the report says.

As a result, billions more than necessary went to U.S. banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.; Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America Corp.; and Wachovia, now part of Wells Fargo & Co.; and European banks including Societe Generale, Deutsche Banke, UBS and Calyon, it says.

Read the rest of this post...