Ohio GOP Senator Voinovich on "the GOP's biggest problem"

Voinovich unplugged:

“We got too many Jim DeMints (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburns (R-Ok.). It’s the southerners. They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr.' People hear them and say, ‘These people, they’re southerners. The party’s being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?’ ”

What the hell they got to do with most of America? But, that's today's GOP. Read the rest of this post...

Rahm built the Blue Dog caucus, now he can't control the Blue Dogs

Via the Campaign Silo at FDL, we get a clear explanation of the Blue Dogs from Rep. Maxine Waters. Basically, Rahm can't rein in the Blue Dogs.


And, you'll see the guest co-host is our good pal, Kerry Eleveld, who is the D.C. correspondent for The Advocate. Read the rest of this post...

Rush and his fellow right wingers not even subtle about race-baiting anymore

It's getting really ugly out there in right wing whacko world. They went nuts over the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor. That seemed to open up the floodgates of racism and hate-speak. Rush and company aren't even trying to hide it anymore:
Read the rest of this post...

Research proves danger of texting while driving, although it should be obvious

Okay. The results of this study shouldn't be a surprise. What is surprising is how many people text while driving:

The first study of drivers texting inside their vehicles shows that the risk sharply exceeds previous estimates based on laboratory research — and far surpasses the dangers of other driving distractions.

The new study, which entailed outfitting the cabs of long-haul trucks with video cameras over 18 months, found that when the drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which compiled the research and plans to release its findings on Tuesday, also measured the time drivers took their eyes from the road to send or receive texts.

In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices — enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field.

I've had my car for 10 years now and the odometer just hit 32,000 miles. I just don't drive much. I am, however, always walking around D.C., mostly with my dog. I live right off Connecticut Avenue, which is a pretty major thoroughfare for this city. It's amazing to me how many people are fiddling with their blackberries or iphones while driving. Lots of people are talking on the phone, which is illegal. But, more and more, I see people looking down at their handheld devices -- while driving. This being D.C, people here are very, very important and must always be checking emails and texts. That's more important than paying attention to the road. Read the rest of this post...

Cornyn confuses India and China

That's okay, we often confuse Cornyn for a real Senator. Read the rest of this post...

Sen. Grassley, rolled Baucus and Conrad on reform, then attended GOP fundraiser with donors who want to kill reform

It's usually hard to sort out who is the biggest idiot in Congress on a given day. Right now, my money is on Senator Max Baucus and Senator Kent Conrad. Baucus has been caving on key health care policy provisions to get Republican support. Conrad, has been abetting Baucus, while trying to prove he's smarter than everyone else. We got the first leaks about the Baucus/Conrad-backed GOP health care proposal last night. AP headlined its article: AP Sources: Senate group omitting Dem health goals.

The sad thing is that they've both been duped by Iowa's Chuck Grassley. Look what Baucus' bi-partisan pal was doing last night:

Top Republican senators involved in crafting health care reform legislation participated in a health-care specific fundraiser Monday evening. Guests were asked for a $2,000 contribution to the National Republican Senatorial Committee to attend a "Roundtable on Healthcare Issues" -- and $5,000 for both the roundtable and dinner with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.).

The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation cited the event for its upfront offer of special-interest access. All three senators sit on key health committees. Grassley is the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, currently embroiled in negotiations with Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) over the pending reform bill. Enzi sits on the Finance Committee and serves as ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, of which Burr is a member as well.

Those Republicans probably had some good laughs about how easy it is to play Baucus. And, keep in mind, Baucus' former chief of staff, Jim Messina, is now the Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House. So, the GOPer probably realize they've got a direct line into the Obama White House, too.

Jed Lewison summed this situation up on Twitter:

Did we spend 2008 & 2009 beating up the GOP just so Conrad & Baucus could let them control health care reform?

Read the rest of this post...

Palin as poetry

Saturday morning, I linked to John Lundberg's Huffington Post piece titled, Sarah Palin, the Anti-Poet. John explained that, unlike poets who offer enlightenment, Palin "offers delightenment--if that were like, you know, a word. Quote unquote. All those things."

Last night, on the Tonight Show, Conan figured out that Palin's farewell speech was a poem. So, William Shatner read it as such:

Read the rest of this post...

La Raza smacks GOP leaders for blowing off its national conference

Republicans seem to be going out of their way to tick off the Latino community. They let Jefferson Beauregard Sessions lead the charge against Sonia Sotomayor after a slew of blatantly racist attacks by Newt Gingrich and Tom "La Raza is the Latino KKK" Tancredo.

According to Greg Sargent, the National Council of La Raza is not too pleased that top Republican leaders turned down invitations to speak at the group's national meeting:

This one won’t help the GOP’s minority outreach efforts.

The National Council of La Raza, a top Latino civil rights group, is taking a shot at RNC chair Michael Steele and several prominent GOP figures for skipping its ongoing annual conference, saying it raises questions about the GOP’s interest in wooing Latinos.

NCLR spokesperson Marie Watteau confirms to me that Steele, along with three Republican governors, were all invited to its conference, which is concluding today with a big speech by DNC chair Tim Kaine. But Steele and the three governors — Mississippi’s Haley Barbour, Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty, and Puerto Rico’s Luis Fortuno — all declined the invitations through the RNC, Watteau says.

DNC Chair Tim Kaine addressed the group today. But, one gets the sense that Republicans really aren't even trying here. Read the rest of this post...

Blue Dogs teaming up with House GOP to kill health care reform

It gets worse.

Some Blue Dogs are sidling up to House Republicans to kill health care reform:

The Blue Dog revolt against the House Democratic leadership’s health care bill took a new turn Tuesday morning, when several members of the centrist faction made overtures to House Republicans about joining forces to slow and reshape the measure.

Republican aides said there was great interest among GOP lawmakers in trying to work with dissidents in the 52-member Blue Dog Coalition to try to stop the legislation.

The article named two Blue Dogs who want to work with the GOP: Reps. Charlie Melancon (LA) and Jim Cooper (TN).

Jim Cooper helped kill health care reform back in 1993-94. Now, he's trying to do it again. What's really bad is that Cooper was a surrogate for the Obama campaign -- on health care reform. Read what Mike Lux had to say about Cooper back in February of 2008:

I was part of the Clinton White House team on the health care reform issue in 1993/94, and no Democrat did more to destroy our chances in that fight than Jim Cooper. We had laid down a marker very early that we thought universal coverage was the most essential element to getting a good package, saying we were to happy to negotiate over the details but that universality was our bottom line.

Cooper, a leader of conservative Dems on the health care issue, instead of working with us, came out early and said universality was unimportant, and came out with a bill that did almost nothing in terms of covering the uninsured. He quickly became the leading spokesman on the Dem side for the insurance industry position, and undercut us at every possible opportunity, basically ending any hopes we had for a unified Democratic Party position. I was never so delighted to see a Democrat lose as when he went down in the 1994 GOP tide.

Unfortunately, he came back, like a bad penny.

It is such a huge mistake for Obama to use a guy like this to defend their position on health care. The signal it sends to reporters, organizations, and activists like myself who know something about the old health care battles is that Obama truly doesn't care about comprehensive health care reform or universal coverage, and that the health care package you would propose if President would be a conservative, pro-insurance industry bill. The campaign ought to be trying to reassure folks who care about this issue, and using a guy like Cooper does just the opposite.

And, now Cooper is trying to cut deals with Republicans. A very bad penny. Read the rest of this post...

Blue Dogs deciding if they'll kill real health care reform (even if it benefits their constituents)

When will progressives in the House have the power of the Blue Dogs?Jane Hamsher has been hammering this point for weeks over at FireDogLake. She's right. If progressive House members stuck together, they'd be calling the shots right now. Instead, progressives cede power to the conservative members of the Democratic caucus.

Seven of the Blue Dogs are determining the future of health care reform:

During a crowded, hot meeting on Tuesday morning, the entire Blue Dog Coalition got a chance to review the conceptual healthcare compromise offered Monday night by Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), but the only agreement reached was to let the seven Blue Dogs on Waxman’s committee decide the proposal’s fate.

“We’re not there yet,” Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.), a Blue Dog co-chairman and member of the Energy and Commerce panel, said upon leaving the meeting. “We’ve had a good discussion with the Blue Dogs here this morning, and we’ll take it from there.”

Hill then retreated to his personal office along with Reps. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), Zack Space (D-Ohio) and John Barrow (D-Ga.), three of the seven Blue Dogs who hold the keys to unlocking the healthcare bill from the Energy and Commerce Committee. That group was gathering to consider whether to accept Waxman’s proposal or to make a counter-offer and keep the negotiations going.

“The seven of us have to meet to decide exactly how we believe we should proceed,” Ross said. “I think we’ll have something to say about that later in the day.”

The seven of them get to decide. That's what is has come to.

What makes this so scary is that the Blue Dogs are hypocrites. Yesterday, Paul Krugman told us the Blue Dogs "aren't making sense." In an op-ed in today's Washington Post, Jacob Hacker also deconstructs the positions of the Blue Dogs and finds their arguments inconsistent:

The main worry expressed by the Blue Dogs is that the Congressional Budget Office has predicted that leading bills on Capitol Hill won't bring down medical inflation. The irony is that the Blue Dogs' argument -- that a new public insurance plan designed to compete with private insurers should be smaller and less powerful, and that Medicare and this new plan should pay more generous rates to rural providers -- would make reform more expensive, not less. The further irony is that the federal premium assistance that the Blue Dogs worry is too costly is the reform that would make health-care affordable for a large share of their constituents.

The Blue Dogs are right to hold Obama and Democratic leaders to their commitment to real cost control. But they are wrong to see this goal as conflicting with a new national public health insurance plan for Americans younger than 65. In fact, such a plan, empowered to work with Medicare, is Congress's single most powerful lever for reforming the way care is paid for and delivered. With appropriate authority, it can encourage private plans to develop innovations in payment and care coordination that could spread through the private sector, as have past public-sector innovations.

The Blue Dogs are hypocrites. They're pushing policies that hurt their own constituents. And, right now, they're holding the rest of us hostage. Read the rest of this post...

Sotomayor's nomination approved by Senate Judiciary Committee

Sotomayor's confirmation will be heading to the full Senate for a floor vote.

The Senate Judiciary Committee just approved the nomination by a vote of 13 - 6. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was the only Republican voting yes. But, that makes this a bipartisan vote and we know bipartisanship is the most important thing ever...

Sotomayor will be confirmed and become the next Supreme Court Justice next week before the Senate recesses. Read the rest of this post...

CQ: House Democrats Sitting Pretty for 2010

Iglesias writes:

It’s part of the nature of things that the more seats you hold in the House of Representatives the more likely you are to lose ground in the next election. With Democrats holding a majority, in other words, by definition a lot of Democrats are representing more-conservative-than-average districts. Nevertheless, CQ reports that the 2010 outlook for Democrats actually looks pretty good and “The only three contests in which CQ Politics rates an advantage to the challenging party are all for seats now held by the Republicans and targeted by the Democrats.” Leading the way is Rep Joseph Cao of New Orleans who’ll face the challenge of running against someone who’s not the scandal-plagued William Jefferson.

Meanwhile, the geography of the 2010 Senate races is also highly favorable to the Democrats.

I worry about Democratic turnout, and how that will affect these predictions. I can imagine a lot of Democrats becoming increasingly uninspired about voting in 2010. Read the rest of this post...

Palin at the same place in the polls as Hillary?

Nate says no to some people who are claiming that Palin's poll numbers are very close to where Hillary's were going into the primaries, thus arguing that the former Alaska governor could become president. But as Nate notes, among other things, Hillary didn't win. Nate also goes into the numbers to show that Hillary was actually better off in the polls than Palin is now. Read the rest of this post...

Health care reform and messaging

Richard Cohen writes a piece in today's Washington Post that, intentionally or not, gets to the crux of the problem our side of the health care reform debate is having when it comes to ginning up public support for reform.

As far as I could figure out, the president turned over health-care reform to about 24 committees of the House and about eight committees of the Senate, and they have all come up with plans that simultaneously sell out to the private sector and yet somehow socialize medicine . . . as we know it. They are also partisan, nonpartisan, bipartisan (don't ask, don't tell) and in the out years -- and at the end of the day -- mind-numbingly boring. I am thinking outside the box here.

For me, health-care reform is Missiles Redux -- specifically the Reagan-era disputes over SS-20s and such, not to mention throw-weight, which is measured in kilograms or metric tons, whatever they are. I was expected to know something about such matters, being a Washington columnist and all, but I could never keep the damn terms and numbers straight. I would bone up, talk to the experts, read the stupefying reports, write the requisite column -- and promptly forget it all. The Soviet Union collapsed anyway.

Joe and I keep asking each other, what's the message? What's the talking point? What one thing is President Obama pushing for in this debate? What one thing about health care in America do Obama and the Democrats want to fix? It's just not terribly clear. The White House abdicated its role in health care reform at the beginning (whether because, like with Don't Ask Don't Tell and DOMA, the president doesn't believe he should get involved in legislative battles, or whether simply because it's easier to claim victory when you've never fully picked one side or the other). That's changed now, to a degree, but the messaging around this issue is still terrible, and terribly confusing (snails).

And I don't buy for a minute the argument that health care reform IS confusing, that it's such a big issue there's no way to condense it into a talking point. That's bs. Everything can be condensed, everything. When I was in grad school, we had to summarize in one page the cause, current status, and a proposed solution to the Middle East crisis and the Cold War, among other intractable problems at the time (each problem got one page). I remember fellow classmates from Europe complaining that the exercise was ridiculous, and minimized the complexity of each issue. Good luck, some of us told them, when you have to explain this issue to your boss or the voting public. We need more people working on these issues who can explain themselves in a talking point, rather than a thesis. Read the rest of this post...

Gibbs asked about birthers

Says Obama was born in Hawaii. Surprise. It's always an interesting, and difficult, question as to when you ignore these kind of loony fringe attacks, and when you take them head on and squelch them. Sometimes taking them on gives them air, and life, other times ignoring them lets them fester. It's really a gut instinct, knowing when and how to react to something in a way which won't itself cause the thing to become a bigger story (the Heisinberg Uncertainty Principle of PR). Read the rest of this post...

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Last night, John wrote a post about the GOP health care bill, which has been joined by three sell-out Democrats: Max Baucus (MT), Kent Conrad (ND) and Jeff Bingaman (NM). Basically, those three gave up a lot just to get the GOP on board. Republicans must sit back and laugh their asses off at some of these Democrats. They've played Baucus. It wasn't hard. But, why didn't Baucus' former Chief of Staff, Jim Messina, who is now the Deputy Chief of Staff in the White House, intervene?

Some Democrats just compromise with themselves into order to engage Republicans -- who don't compromise. Republicans just sit back and wait for Dems to cave.

Four days til the House is supposed to recess... do they pass health care reform or go on vacation? Read the rest of this post...

Kids who eat more dairy live longer

This sounds like a Chris post. It kind of makes sense. Mother's milk and all, evolutionarily, should have some pretty significant benefits.

Some 4,374 UK children from a 1930s study were traced 65 years later by researchers in Bristol and Queensland.

They found those who had had high dairy and calcium intakes as children had been protected against stroke and other causes of death, journal Heart reports.

Despite dairy containing artery furring fat and cholesterol, high consumption did not raise the heart disease risk.

But what about cows that eat more kids? Read the rest of this post...

Kentucky's Senator Bunning to retire, setting up battle for the open seat

Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, who has provided some great amusement with his attacks on his colleague from Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, is retiring. It wasn't unexpected. But, it sets up an intense fight for the open seat:

The open seat will likely attract Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R), who outraised the senator by a two-to-one margin last quarter. National Republicans are excited for the prospect of a Grayson candidacy, which sources have told The Hill would be announced shortly after Bunning's departure.

But Grayson will not be alone in the Republican field. He could also face former Ambassador Cathy Bailey, a wealthy former Republican National Committee member who has expressed interest in a bid and has suggested she could help finance her own campaign. Physician Rand Paul (R), the son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), is already running.

Bunning said he would not endorse a candidate in the Republican primary, though he said he hopes "a strong conservative" wins the nomination.

"The Republican Party needs more people with strong principles and convictions that can stand up to the temptations of political power that have engulfed so many of our leaders after they arrive inside the beltway," Bunning said in his statement.

On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo (D), the once-little known state senator who nearly upset Bunning, is already engaged in a bitter battle with Attorney General Jack Conway (D). Mongiardo began with a strong fundraising performance, but Conway easily outpaced him, raising more than $1.3 million in his first three months as a candidate.

Read the rest of this post...