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Friday, February 26, 2010
Reconciliation is a rule used in Senate just like the filibuster. Will Republicans drop the filibuster?
That's tonight's deep thought, courtesy of DNC chair Tim Kaine.
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Stiglitz on the need for a second stimulus
Nobel economist Joe Stiglitz talks about the stimulus - the first one, and the need for a second.
ZC: We've talked a lot about banks so far, but there is more to the economy than banking. It's been a really bad year for American households. Do we need a second stimulus? If so, what should it look like?Read the rest of this post...
JS: We clearly need a second stimulus. There are a couple of ways of seeing this. When the Obama administration first moved on the stimulus, it posed a scenario that was not really rosy, but one that proved a little too optimistic. It expected unemployment without the stimulus it would be around 10 percent, with the stimulus it would be brought down to 8 percent. Others like me thought things were going to be much worse, that without the stimulus, unemployment would be around 12 percent and with the stimulus, it would be about 10 percent. And the pessimists were right. Well, when the world turns out to be worse than you thought it would, you have to adjust what you do.
But even a much bigger stimulus would have only brought the unemployment rate down to about 8 percent, which is still totally unacceptable. So right now I am very much in favor of a second round of stimulus. Hopefully, it will be better designed and more targeted to job creation and actually stimulating the economy. The tax cuts in the first round weren't designed really to stimulate the economy very much and didn't work very effectively.
ZC: And what do you do to create jobs? Are we talking fiscal aid to states? Unemployment benefits? A new WPA?
JS: The first thing I would do is aid to the states. The states have balanced budget frameworks. The revenues are down by around $200 billion because of the recession. If they don't get aid, they have to either raise taxes—which is very hard in the current environment—or cut back expenditures. And what they inevitably cut are teachers, nurses, firefighters and a whole set of crucial public services which are all the more important in an economic recession.
So the first thing is to provide states with money, and that spending goes right to the economy very quickly. You don't have to set up new programs and it really does save jobs. I would also do one of the things that Obama is pushing now which are job credits to encourage companies to hire more workers. Focus a little bit more direct attention on jobs. We don't know how effective these are going to be. There is some debate, but it seems to me that if we don't try we're not going to get anywhere.
If it's Friday, Glenn Beck is back to defending the 'death panel' lie
I realize that Beck is entertaining, and he is. But he's also a huge liar. An entertaining liar. But still a liar. Too many FOX viewers confused entertainment and tenacity with truth.
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GOP House member: Blacks worse off today than under slavery
Um, no.
FRANK: In this country, we had slavery for God knows how long. And now we look back on it and we say "How brave were they? What was the matter with them? You know, I can't believe, you know, four million slaves. This is incredible." And we're right, we're right. We should look back on that with criticism. It is a crushing mark on America's soul. And yet today, half of all black children are aborted. Half of all black children are aborted. Far more of the African American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by policies of slavery. And I think, What does it take to get us to wake up?Read the rest of this post...
Increasing movement towards using reconciliation for health care reform
From Greg Sargent:
Okay, there have been a few scattered developments that, when taken together, make it clearer and clearer that a reconciliation vote on the health bill is becoming a foregone conclusion.Read the rest of this post...
First: A top Nancy Pelosi ally, Dem Rep George Miller, went on MSNBC this morning and said unequivocally that there will be such a vote:“The choreography gets a little complicated here, but the House will present a reconciliation bill.”Emphasis mine. Second: Another key House Dem on health care, Rep Rob Andrews, said on a conference call with reporters this morning that Dems had little doubt that they’d muster the votes for it in the end (an opinion not widely shared among pundits and reporters):“This Speaker has never brought a piece of legislation to the floor and failed to pass it. And she is not about to start now.”
Dems could learn a thing or two from GOP Senator Jim Bunning
From Taylor Marsh:
Via Politico, after the Democrats’ milquetoast performance on health care leadership over the last year and counting, who doesn’t appreciate Sen. Bunning’s bluntness?Read the rest of this post...In a colloquy with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Jeff Merkley, a freshman Democrat from Oregon, was pleading for Bunning to drop his objection, when the Kentucky Republican got fed up.Everyone understands the importance of unemployment benefits extensions, but can you imagine any Democrat standing up to say: Tough sh–, I want the public option, because it’s the only thing that keeps down health care costs for Americans, and I won’t stop until we vote on it.
“Tough s—t,” Bunning said as he was seated in the back row, overheard by the floor staff and others in attendance.
I know it’s very impolitic and counter-intuitive for me to say this given the legislation Bunning’s blocking, but I have a begrudging respect for someone who won’t take any crap from weaker politicians on the Democratic side who won’t stand and fight for anything. That’s just how sick of this sh– I am.
The moral of this story: Republicans are mean; Democrats are patsies.
Why don't Senate Dems force the GOP to have a REAL filibuster?
As you probably know, GOP Senator Bunning is filibustering the extension of unemployment benefits, and has so screwed things up that now those benefits will run out on Sunday before this bill can pass.
The thing is, the Democrats aren't making Bunning conduct a "real" filibuster. A real filibuster is just like in the movie "Mr. Smith goes to Washington." A Senator has to sit on the Senate floor forever, continually talking, or else the filibuster is broken and we can move on. But that's not what's happening. The Democrats let Bunning go home last night to get a good night's rest, and now he's back at it this morning. Even worse, for the past hour the Senate has been in a quorom, where the room remains empty and nothing happens while someone reads the Senators' names. The quorom is a way for Senators, like Bunning, to take a break and still be able to come back and hold their place when they feel like it (it's the legislative equivalent of calling "save!" when a kid gets out of his seat while watching TV). The thing is, Democrats can stop Bunning from "saving his seat" by simply objecting to the quorom call. Then Bunning would have to keep talking and talking, and not even be allowed a bathroom break unless some other GOP Senator stepped in to help him.
That's what a REAL filibuster is. And they're a real pain in the ass to organize and keep going.
So why aren't Democrats forcing the Republicans to mount a real filibuster? Read the rest of this post...
The thing is, the Democrats aren't making Bunning conduct a "real" filibuster. A real filibuster is just like in the movie "Mr. Smith goes to Washington." A Senator has to sit on the Senate floor forever, continually talking, or else the filibuster is broken and we can move on. But that's not what's happening. The Democrats let Bunning go home last night to get a good night's rest, and now he's back at it this morning. Even worse, for the past hour the Senate has been in a quorom, where the room remains empty and nothing happens while someone reads the Senators' names. The quorom is a way for Senators, like Bunning, to take a break and still be able to come back and hold their place when they feel like it (it's the legislative equivalent of calling "save!" when a kid gets out of his seat while watching TV). The thing is, Democrats can stop Bunning from "saving his seat" by simply objecting to the quorom call. Then Bunning would have to keep talking and talking, and not even be allowed a bathroom break unless some other GOP Senator stepped in to help him.
That's what a REAL filibuster is. And they're a real pain in the ass to organize and keep going.
So why aren't Democrats forcing the Republicans to mount a real filibuster? Read the rest of this post...
McCain's new threats, and the perils of missed messaging
As you know, GOP Senator Bunning is currently conducting a filibuster of a bill to extend unemployment benefits. The current benefits expire Sunday, and they're going to be cut off - because of the GOP filibuster, there's not enough time to pass the bill before the benefits run out. Bunning wants to take the remaining stimulus monies and use them for the benefits instead.
At the same time, John McCain is now saying that there will be "cataclysmic effects" if the Democrats use Reconciliation to break a GOP filibuster of health care reform.
Why are the two events related? Because they're both happening because of bad Democratic messaging come back to bite us in the behind.
Bunning's filibuster is really a two-fer. First, he's taking advantage of the fact that the administration did a bad job selling and defending the stimulus, so that now only 6% of the public thinks the stimulus created any jobs, when in fact, CBO found last week that the stimulus has created up to 2.1 million jobs. Remember what it was like just one year ago. Banks weren't lending. The stock market had plummeted. Even George Bush's outgoing cabinet warned that the country was in dire straights. The stimulus saved us. It wasn't big enough, and that's why our recovery is still relatively flat, but it saved us from another Great Depression. But because the public doesn't think the stimulus worked, after the GOP lied for a year about it, Bunning feels comfortable demanding that the rest of the stimulus be scotched, risking our entire economic recovery.
Second, Bunning is taking advantage of the missed messaging on the budget deficit. Democrats rightly passed a nearly $800 billion stimulus in order to stop the country from plunging into a second Great Depression. But, because they didn't adequately defend it, Democrats are now talking about the need to massively cut the deficit above all else. That kind of talk is dangerous while the economy is still teetering. Cutting spending now would reduce demand, and reduced demand in a weak economy could force the economy to contract again, i.e., another recession or worse. Mind you, economist are still worried that the economy may contract again this fall in any case. So cutting spending will only risk making it worse. But, Democrats decided to agree with the GOP talking about, so now we're all about cutting spending. Thus, Bunning is on a crusade to make sure we stop spending the "wasteful" stimulus monies, and we "cut spending" at the same time. He's doing this because our messaging enabled it.
Then there's McCain. Why does he feel comfortable blasting reconciliation? Because Democrats did a bad job selling health care reform, and selling the use of reconciliation for passing it. On health care reform, a recent Newsweek survey found that Americans tend to oppose President Obama's health care reform plan until they find out what's actually in it, then they like it. A lot. McCain feels comfortable trying to block reconciliation, and thus block health care reform, because of bad messaging on HCR over the past year. Second, on reconciliation itself, we found out only last week that the congress, and particularly the GOP, had used reconciliation repeatedly in the past to pass major health care reform bills. The Democrats have been talking about possibly using reconciliation, to get around the never-ending GOP filibusters, for almost a year now. Why did it take a private think tank to do the research that Democrats should have done a year ago? As Joe would say, that's pretty pathetic.
And finally, McCain feels comfortable arguing against reconciliation because Democrats have done a poor job educating the public about the incessant GOP filibusters. When the Democrats blocked far fewer GOP court nominees than the Republicans are blocking bills today, the GOP went ballistic and it was all the national news how the Dems were abusing the filibuster. Now that the GOP is abusing it far more than the Dems ever did, it's not that big a story. And blame the media all you want, but if you feed them the right story, very often they run with it. But you have to feed them the right story.
And actually, there's one more reason that John McCain feels comfortable threatening legislative armageddon if the Democrats use reconciliation to pass HCR. Republicans have learned that if you threaten a Democrat, they usually cave. Conservative Democrats have learned the same lesson. Democrats have turned legislative appeasement into an art, especially in the last year. So, McCain knows that if he threatens to be really really mean, a lot of Democrats, including the President, will feel an uncontrollable urge to make nice, in the hopes of averting the imminent mean-ness by caving outright to the GOP's demand. Of course, as a result, McCain and the Republicans will continue to loose armageddon on the Democrats regardless of what the Democrats offer to make it stop. The appeasement won't work. But history tells us that the Democrats don't learn their lesson.
My point in this post is to show you how political actions have consequences. Everything the Republicans are doing to us today is based on bad moves Democrats made in the past. Every time the Democrats screw up their messaging, or cave to a GOP (or conservative Dem) demand, they set the stage for even more problems in the future. Nothing happens in a vacuum. It's all cumulative. And that is why a lot of us complain about every Democratic mis-step. Because we know that the error will come back to haunt us, sooner rather than later. Read the rest of this post...
At the same time, John McCain is now saying that there will be "cataclysmic effects" if the Democrats use Reconciliation to break a GOP filibuster of health care reform.
Why are the two events related? Because they're both happening because of bad Democratic messaging come back to bite us in the behind.
Bunning's filibuster is really a two-fer. First, he's taking advantage of the fact that the administration did a bad job selling and defending the stimulus, so that now only 6% of the public thinks the stimulus created any jobs, when in fact, CBO found last week that the stimulus has created up to 2.1 million jobs. Remember what it was like just one year ago. Banks weren't lending. The stock market had plummeted. Even George Bush's outgoing cabinet warned that the country was in dire straights. The stimulus saved us. It wasn't big enough, and that's why our recovery is still relatively flat, but it saved us from another Great Depression. But because the public doesn't think the stimulus worked, after the GOP lied for a year about it, Bunning feels comfortable demanding that the rest of the stimulus be scotched, risking our entire economic recovery.
Second, Bunning is taking advantage of the missed messaging on the budget deficit. Democrats rightly passed a nearly $800 billion stimulus in order to stop the country from plunging into a second Great Depression. But, because they didn't adequately defend it, Democrats are now talking about the need to massively cut the deficit above all else. That kind of talk is dangerous while the economy is still teetering. Cutting spending now would reduce demand, and reduced demand in a weak economy could force the economy to contract again, i.e., another recession or worse. Mind you, economist are still worried that the economy may contract again this fall in any case. So cutting spending will only risk making it worse. But, Democrats decided to agree with the GOP talking about, so now we're all about cutting spending. Thus, Bunning is on a crusade to make sure we stop spending the "wasteful" stimulus monies, and we "cut spending" at the same time. He's doing this because our messaging enabled it.
Then there's McCain. Why does he feel comfortable blasting reconciliation? Because Democrats did a bad job selling health care reform, and selling the use of reconciliation for passing it. On health care reform, a recent Newsweek survey found that Americans tend to oppose President Obama's health care reform plan until they find out what's actually in it, then they like it. A lot. McCain feels comfortable trying to block reconciliation, and thus block health care reform, because of bad messaging on HCR over the past year. Second, on reconciliation itself, we found out only last week that the congress, and particularly the GOP, had used reconciliation repeatedly in the past to pass major health care reform bills. The Democrats have been talking about possibly using reconciliation, to get around the never-ending GOP filibusters, for almost a year now. Why did it take a private think tank to do the research that Democrats should have done a year ago? As Joe would say, that's pretty pathetic.
And finally, McCain feels comfortable arguing against reconciliation because Democrats have done a poor job educating the public about the incessant GOP filibusters. When the Democrats blocked far fewer GOP court nominees than the Republicans are blocking bills today, the GOP went ballistic and it was all the national news how the Dems were abusing the filibuster. Now that the GOP is abusing it far more than the Dems ever did, it's not that big a story. And blame the media all you want, but if you feed them the right story, very often they run with it. But you have to feed them the right story.
And actually, there's one more reason that John McCain feels comfortable threatening legislative armageddon if the Democrats use reconciliation to pass HCR. Republicans have learned that if you threaten a Democrat, they usually cave. Conservative Democrats have learned the same lesson. Democrats have turned legislative appeasement into an art, especially in the last year. So, McCain knows that if he threatens to be really really mean, a lot of Democrats, including the President, will feel an uncontrollable urge to make nice, in the hopes of averting the imminent mean-ness by caving outright to the GOP's demand. Of course, as a result, McCain and the Republicans will continue to loose armageddon on the Democrats regardless of what the Democrats offer to make it stop. The appeasement won't work. But history tells us that the Democrats don't learn their lesson.
My point in this post is to show you how political actions have consequences. Everything the Republicans are doing to us today is based on bad moves Democrats made in the past. Every time the Democrats screw up their messaging, or cave to a GOP (or conservative Dem) demand, they set the stage for even more problems in the future. Nothing happens in a vacuum. It's all cumulative. And that is why a lot of us complain about every Democratic mis-step. Because we know that the error will come back to haunt us, sooner rather than later. Read the rest of this post...
Republican Senators block extension of unemployment benefits
Jed Lewison got the video of the Senate proceedings last night. The Republican Senator from Kentucky, Jim Bunning, kept objecting to a unanimous consent agreement on passing an extension of unemployment benefits. Those benefits expire on Sunday, February 28th.
The Senate convenes at 9:30 a.m. this morning. Democrats will try again to extend the program.
The Republicans got us into the economic quagmire. And, they've done almost nothing to help get us out. But, filibustering a bill to extend unemployment benefits has got to be a new low.
Read the rest of this post...
The Senate convenes at 9:30 a.m. this morning. Democrats will try again to extend the program.
The Republicans got us into the economic quagmire. And, they've done almost nothing to help get us out. But, filibustering a bill to extend unemployment benefits has got to be a new low.
Read the rest of this post...
In NY, Paterson's political support evaporates over latest scandal -- UPDATED
UPDATE @ 9:55 a.m. Elizabeth Benjamin at the New York Daily News reports Paterson will announce today that he's not running for reelection. He's not resigning. Just not running, as of now, anyway. She includes this caveat:
What a mess in New York. And, I don't mean the snow storm currently hitting the state.
The last governor quit over a scandal involving a prostitute. The current governor is embroiled in a scandal over domestic violence and its cover up. Since this story broke on Wednesday night, the calls for Paterson to end his gubernatorial campaign are coming from those closest to him:
The governor has a reputation for being wildly mercurcial and changing his mind at the last minute - particularly if he feels he's backed into a corner.________
What a mess in New York. And, I don't mean the snow storm currently hitting the state.
The last governor quit over a scandal involving a prostitute. The current governor is embroiled in a scandal over domestic violence and its cover up. Since this story broke on Wednesday night, the calls for Paterson to end his gubernatorial campaign are coming from those closest to him:
A range of political allies and even some close friends urged Mr. Paterson privately and publicly to end his bid for election. They said his political standing had been irreparably damaged by revelations on Thursday that the State Police had contacted the woman pressing a domestic violence complaint against a close aide, and by the allegation that the governor had spoken with her a day before she was due back in court.If it gets worse, Paterson will probably have to resign. Read the rest of this post...
While no prominent Democrat called for Mr. Paterson to resign, several said it would be impossible for him to both govern and run a campaign while dealing with the allegations, which the governor has asked Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo to investigate. Other officials said that if an inquiry showed that Mr. Paterson tried to influence the woman’s decision not to continue the case, he should resign.
Those calling on Mr. Paterson to suspend his campaign included senior Democratic members of New York’s Congressional delegation, Albany lawmakers and black Democratic officials, including some from Harlem, generally considered Mr. Paterson’s political home base.
“I don’t think his campaign can go forward successfully — quite the opposite,” said State Senator Bill Perkins, a Democrat from Harlem who holds Mr. Paterson’s former seat. “This is a fatal blow, and it will probably only get worse. I just think that it’s clear that this is a storm he has to step away from.”
Friday Morning Open Thread
Good morning.
So, the media is dissecting the meaning to the summit. I thought Obama did a very good job. It's pretty clear the GOPers really are the Party of No. One of the best moments was when Senator Durbin pointed out that many of the things the Republicans were complaining about were part of their taxpayer financed health care -- and that if they thought it was "socialist plot." they should drop out of the system:
Today, Senate Democrats are going to try again today to pass a bill containing an extension of unemployment benefits. Kentucky's Jim Bunning has objected to moving that bill forward five times now, including again last night. The program expires over the next couple days. But, at the last moments, Bunning decided to play political games at the expense of millions of unemployed Americans, including a lot in Kentucky. To top it off, after keeping the Senate in session til almost midnight last night with his objections, he complained about missing the Kentucky - South Carolina basketball game. If there isn't a unanimous consent in the Senate, the program will run out of money over the weekend. Bunning, who isn't running for reelection, is the voice of the GOP opposition, but he's speaking for all GOPers on this one.
Let's get it started... Read the rest of this post...
So, the media is dissecting the meaning to the summit. I thought Obama did a very good job. It's pretty clear the GOPers really are the Party of No. One of the best moments was when Senator Durbin pointed out that many of the things the Republicans were complaining about were part of their taxpayer financed health care -- and that if they thought it was "socialist plot." they should drop out of the system:
Today, Senate Democrats are going to try again today to pass a bill containing an extension of unemployment benefits. Kentucky's Jim Bunning has objected to moving that bill forward five times now, including again last night. The program expires over the next couple days. But, at the last moments, Bunning decided to play political games at the expense of millions of unemployed Americans, including a lot in Kentucky. To top it off, after keeping the Senate in session til almost midnight last night with his objections, he complained about missing the Kentucky - South Carolina basketball game. If there isn't a unanimous consent in the Senate, the program will run out of money over the weekend. Bunning, who isn't running for reelection, is the voice of the GOP opposition, but he's speaking for all GOPers on this one.
Let's get it started... Read the rest of this post...
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