Dog Bites Man: Lanny Davis Punches Hippies

post from TalkLeft on 20 January 2010 02:36:00 PM. © TalkLeft

Lanny Davis has a form WSJ/NY Post column he pulls out to punch the hippies for any occasion. Here's his Blame The Left (the literal title of his Wall Street Journal op-ed) piece explaining Massachusetts:

We Democrats had to explain to Massachusetts voters and other Americans why non-Nebraskans and nonunion members have to pay more taxes, while Nebraskans and union members get to pay less. Those two deals seem to have alienated most people across the political spectrum. That's not easy.

Somehow, in the last 12 months, we allowed the party of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to morph into the party of George McGovern (or more accurately, his most ardent supporters) and Howard Dean, who called for the defeat of the Democratic health-care bill if it had neither a public option or Medicare buy-in.

Heh. Now the "hippies" are responsible for Ben Nelson's sweet heart deal and for the unions taking care of themselves regarding the excise tax. Lanny Davis is one strange dude. But what is funny tell me this is not exactly what you are hearing from some blogs.

Speaking for me only

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WH communications director doesn't deny Obama
pushing for pared down HCR bill

post from AMERICAblog News on 20 January 2010 02:33:00 PM. © AMERICAblog News

In response to the article linked in this post, saying that the President is now pushing for a pared down health care bill that drops many of the current provisions included in the House and Senate bills, the White House put out this statement late this afternoon. From the White House Web site:

On Next Steps for Health Reform
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer on January 20, 2010 at 05:46 PM EST

Right now there are a lot of discussions going on about the best path forward. But let's be clear that the President's preference is to pass a bill that meets the principles he laid out months ago: more stability and security for those who have insurance, affordable coverage options for those who don?t, and lower costs for families, businesses, and governments.

Obama's "preference" is for the "principles."

The Senate bill is over 2,000 pages long. Giving us three principles - that the President "prefers," rather than actually wants - does not answer the question as to what President Obama does and doesn't want to see in the final bill. Why can't he just take a position, explain it, defend it, and then fight for it?

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The People Vs The Party

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 20 January 2010 02:28:20 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

Massachusetts isn't about anything other than one thing....People Want Change. If the Dems won't give it to them....they will look somewhere else.And in a two party system there is only one place to look..Analyze, parse, spin, do whatever you want. It[...]

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"Reality-Based" Community

post from Talking Points Memo on 20 January 2010 02:22:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

TPM Reader JB gets his call back from Barney Frank and learns about the "new reality" ...Congressman Frank called me and I had the opportunity to speak with him. He was very annoyed by my characterization of his statements as chickening out, chastising[...]

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At Least We're Clear on That

post from Talking Points Memo on 20 January 2010 02:20:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

I went to lunch about an hour and a half ago and came back to learn the president has decided to throw in the towel. I guess we have our answer. [...]

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Today's #hcr Action Item: Sign Here (Updated)

post from DemConWatch on 20 January 2010 02:17:46 PM. © DemConWatch

Read this:

And this:

Last night, Democrats lost Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in a bitter special election. This is already a sad day for all of us who loved Ted Kennedy. But to make it even worse, conservative Democrats and Washington talking heads are claiming that the loss happened because Congress was "too far to the left."

They're wrong again -- and we can prove it.

We had Research 2000 poll voters immediately after the Election ended: Even Scott Brown voters want Democrats to be bolder and they want healthcare reform that includes a public option.

The message is clear there is only one way out of this mess if Democrats want to win in 2010: It's time to pass healthcare reform with a public option. The Senate can do it with 51 votes using reconciliation.

Please add your name to the petition and spread the word. The more signatures we have -- and the faster we collect them -- the greater chance that Democrats in Washington will get the message.

Sign the petition here. Please sign, and then send it out on Facebook, Twitter, via email and carrier pigeon. The sooner Washington gets the message, the sooner things can start to change. You remember change...it's what we voted for, and it is NOT what we received. Not yet. But there's still time.

UPDATE: Full poll results here.

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Obama Speaks ... But Not Forcefully

post from Talking Points Memo on 20 January 2010 02:17:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

The President sat down today for an interview with ABC's George Stephanpolus, and while only a portion of the transcript of the interview has been posted online, I'm not hearing a rallying cry from Obama or seeing evidence that he's applying pressure to[...]

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Politico cites GOP polling firm on health care
reform, omits ties to health care industry

post from Media Matters for America - Latest Items on 20 January 2010 02:15:17 PM. © Media Matters for America - Latest Items

A Politico article cited exit polling data from Republican firm Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates, in asserting that opposition to health care reform "was the most important issue" in Republican Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts Senate election. Politico made no mention of the fact that some of Fabrizio, McLaughlin and Associates' clients have expressed opposition to aspects of health care reform legislation, including the U.S. Chamber of Congress, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, and the American Health Care Association.

**In reporting firm's polling on health care reform, Politico ignored its health care industry clients**

Politico: "Brown's opposition to congressional health care legislation was the most important issue," according to Fabrizio, McLaughlin. From the January 20 Politico article:

Scott Brown's opposition to congressional health care legislation was the most important issue that fueled his U.S. Senate victory in Massachusetts, according to exit poll data collected following the Tuesday special election.
Fifty-two percent of Bay State voters who were surveyed as the polls closed said they opposed the federal health care reform measure and 42 percent said they cast their ballot to help stop President Obama from passing his chief domestic initiative.
"I'm not surprised it was the top issue, but I was surprised by how overwhelming an issue it was. It became a focal point for the frustration that has been brewing with voters, and it's a very personal issue that affects everyone," said Tony Fabrizio of Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates, a Republican firm that conducted the exit poll of 800 voters.
"A plurality of voters said their vote was to stop the president's health care plan -- more than those saying it was a vote against his policies in general," Fabrizio wrote in a memo that accompanied his exit polling.
With all the precincts counted, Brown defeated Martha Coakley Tuesday by a five point spread, 52 to 47 percent. No news organizations conducted exit polls of the race.
According to Fabrizio's findings, 48 percent of Massachusetts voters said that health care was the single issue driving their vote and 39 percent said they voted for Brown specifically because of his vocal opposition to the measure.

Politico ignored Fabrizio, McLaughlin's industry clients that have opposed aspects of health care reform. Despite quoting Tony Fabrizio of Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates stating, "I'm not surprised [health care reform] was the top issue, but I was surprised by how overwhelming an issue it was," the Politico article did not mention that the firm's clients include nonprofit and corporate clients that have expressed opposition to at least some provisions in health care reform legislation that has been considered during the 111^th Congress. Fabrizio, McLaughlin's list of clients includes:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which responded to Senate passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by stating that "the bill that was passed by the Senate today is counterproductive, does little to lower the cost of health care, and it is not reform. It implements crippling new taxes, and hurts our ability to create jobs at the worst possible time for the economy."
Blue Cross-Blue Shield, which responded to House passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act by stating that "the bill creates a new government-run plan that jeopardizes affordability and access to coverage for the 160 million people who receive their benefits through their employers today; makes health coverage much more expensive, particularly for individuals and small employers; and represents a massive federal takeover of state regulatory functions."
The American Health Care Association, which has advocated against Medicare cuts in health care reform legislation.

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Time to do a gut-check and man the hell up

post from They gave us a republic... - Front Page on 20 January 2010 02:15:00 PM. © They gave us a republic... - Front Page

The putrid smell of burning hair must be filling the air in DC today as Democrats rush to set their locks alight and then cut hard to the right in an effort to outrun the fire.

That is because they are idiots.

There is no reason to panic. Not if they would just stop for a second, catch their breath and asssess the reality of the situation. If they were to do that, they would be gobsmacked by the simplicity of the way forward.;

In one day - one lousy day! - the House could hold a roll-call vote on the Senate bill as-is and send the fucker to the President for his signature.

That would put the republican pig-fuckers in the position of having to run on a platform of not just stopping us from getting something we have never had, but of running to take away something that we have and want to keep.

Man-up, boys and girls. Cast that vote and move on.

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