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In a lengthy interview on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman, Congressman Dennis Kucinich explained why he would not vote for the present health care bill and defended his position against attacks from people on the left like Markos Moulitsas. He also spoke about the subjects of Afghanistan, campaign finance, and the passing of activist Granny D.
I mean, I have a responsibility to take a stand here on behalf of those who want a public option. There's about thirty-four members of the Senate, at least, who have signed on to saying they support a public option. If I were to just concede right now and say, "Well, you know, whatever you want. All this pressure's building. Just forget about it," actually weakens every last-minute bit of negotiations that would try to improve the bill. So I think that it's really critical to take this stand, because without it, there's no real control over premiums. Without it, we have nothing in the bill except the privatization of our healthcare system.
Although I haven't gotten an answer from the Brunner campaign yet on the Patriot Act, I did have a conversation where I made sure that they were aware of my presence on Daily Kos. While I was doing some searching to complete my opposition research concerning Afghanistan, I came across some interesting and ultimately telling items concerning Lt. Governor Lee Fisher and the front page of Daily Kos also shows why former Congressman and Bush Trade Representative Rob Portman cannot be seriously considered a good candidate for Senate. I will save the those bits for last.
Good afternoon, Progressive Electorate readers. This is your afternoon open thread to discuss all things Hill-related. Use this thread to praise or bash Congresscritters, share a juicy tip, ask questions, offer critiques and suggestions, or post manifestos. We'll be here all weekend.
This is an open source project, so feel free to add your own insights. Here's the news I found lurking around the Internets...
C Street Family members Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA16) and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI1)had a plan to strip women of their right to make decisions about their own bodies, and they would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for those darned kids women!
If you were pissed when Joe Wilson shouted YOU LIE at President Obama I want you to channel that same sort of anger and aim it in support of Connie Saltonstall and Lois Herr as they take C Street head on.
Good afternoon/evening, Progressive Electorate readers. This is your afternoon open thread to discuss all things Hill-related. Use this thread to praise or bash Congresscritters, share a juicy tip, ask questions, offer critiques and suggestions, or post manifestos.
This is an open source project, so feel free to add your own insights. Here's the news I found lurking around the Internets...
While I am very interested in the question of "Who paid Bart Stupak's rent? " I would also like to know who was paying the rent of his roommates. Some of those roommates were . . .
Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Senator John Ensign (R-NV)
Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Rep Zach Wamp (R-TN)
Rep Mike Doyle (D-PA)
Who wants to bet Fox asks Doyle about this but not DeMint, who is the front man for their Tea Party astroturfed Corporatist movement.
But that is not the BIG QUESTION I want to ask Stupak and his Christian Mafia cult members. No, my question to them is . . .
"Should we kill our gays now, or wait until later?"
We've come a long way in the last two years when I was writing 90% of the posts and 100% of the comments.
Thanks to all of our fellow travelers which have been with us lurking, writing and participating in our growth through promoting our site.
As we've gotten daily contributors in the past year, I've been able to spend time on other projects. With a lot of hard work and a good bit of luck we have gotten fairly popular in the progressive blogosphere. We've gotten linked on a number of the more well known and established sites.
That being said, I'm also at a crossroads as we enter the thick of the 2010 elections. I have a full time job as an attorney and also work with local campaigns on a regular basis. But I also love what we do here and want this site to continue.
It's certainly not about the money, but it would make it easier if we could self sustain instead of my having to come out of pocket each month. If you have a business and two years in you aren't making some sort of a profit or at least a light at the end of the financial drain tunnel you would likely fold. That being said, I'm not necessarily looking at this as a business although I do need to make a decision. I've recently gotten some unique business propositions that I want to consider.
Some of the options I am considering are
1. Try and sell the domain to someone who will keep it going in the current platform
2. Leave the site as is and take a hiatus
3. Shut down the site
4. Find a way to generate enough revenue to afford to be able to stay active
I feel like I've been trying both 2 and 4 over the past few months with little success. That being said I need to seriously consider options 1 and 3.
Let's not make this a sky is falling diary. Please give me some constructive feedback and ideas.
The floor is now open.
I believe that it is right to demand an up or down vote on health reform. I strongly believe that in order to get health reform passed, the House should pass the Senate bill, and the Senate should pass by majority vote by the use of the budget reconciliation process, targeted changes to fix certain areas that are specific budgetary policies (amount of subsidies, putting all states on a level footing on Medicaid funding, and closing the Medicare Part D prescription coverage loophole).
However, there has been what I believe to be a misunderstanding among many who claim that a public option - a health insurance option run by the federal government to compete with the private insurers on the exchanges that the current health care proposal sets up - can also be passed with a simple majority vote via the budget reconciliation process. After all, SCHIP and COBRA were major changes to our health insurance system, and those were pushed through by reconciliation, right?
Today in America there is a big and under-reported issue. There are actually people out there, some of them unbelievably in Congress, crazy enough to challenge that great American institution, the military industrial complex. Who doesn't love Halliburton? Or Dick Cheney? Or the Iraq War? Or useless projects that do nothing more than enrich and empower an already powerful and rich elite?
I'll tell you who. 65 good for nothin' Congresspeople. They're the ones who today voted against a symbolic resolution to get our troops out of Afghanistan.
Now, cutting the snark, so many of the other 356 don't even have the gall to vote against a symbolic resolution to end a war! I understand that some people honestly support it, but when less than half of the country supports the war in Afghanistan, it's a bad sign that all of these Congresspeople still do:
In what is described by TheWonkRoom over at thinkprogress.org as "a terrifyingly honest assessment of conservative priorities" the GOP "Road Map to America's Future" is exposed for what it is, socialism for the rich.
- Federal taxes would be lower for the richest 10 percent, and higher for all other income groups, than they would be if President Obama's proposals were enacted.
- The bottom 80 percent of taxpayers would pay about $1,700 more, on average, than they would if President Obama's proposals were enacted.
- The richest one percent would pay about $211,300 less on average than they would if President Obama's proposals were enacted.
- The poorest 20 percent would pay 12.3 percent of their income more than what they would pay under the President's proposal, while the richest one percent would pay 15 percent of their income less than they would pay under the President's proposal.
More on this proposal by the party of Mr. Burns beolow the fold.
Good afternoon, Progressive Electorate readers. This is your afternoon open thread to discuss all things Hill-related. Use this thread to praise or bash Congresscritters, share a juicy tip, ask questions, offer critiques and suggestions, or post manifestos.
This is an open source project, so feel free to add your own insights. Here's the news I found lurking around the Internets...
This week, the five of us who helped found Peanut Butter PAC are focusing our attention on Jennifer Brunner in keeping with this week's unofficial theme. I hope to be able to get Brunner's position on the Patriot Act by this Friday. I have contacted her campaign about it and am still awaiting a reply. Since it is Wednesday and the middle of the work week, I figured it was a good day to tackle what each Ohio Senate Candidate plans on doing about the jobs problem. It should certainly be the number 1 priority for Democrats once health care reform is put to bed for this year.
Our blogfather Markos over at the DailyKos has finally weighed in on this healthcare reform bill and ideological purity from the left.
A little late but better than never. For the last 6 months at least I've been a little surprised that Markos hasn't spoken up more in support of healthcare reform. His book Taking on the System's main message was incremental progress. The idea that you get the best you can but you have to be in the game to play it. Or as The Rolling Stones said you can't always get what you want but if you try sometimes you get
WHAT WE NEED. A Great Accomplishment.
This is the message we need to be running with, healthcare reform is a great accomplishment and we need to pass it and use it as a foundation for even greater things. Did you know there's a part of this bill that allows states to setup their own single-payer systems? That's where we need to take healthcare reform next, to California and Pennsylvania. PA is closer than CA, they've got a governor who will sign single-payer. It got to Schwarzenegger's desk twice and died.
Haddock gained national recognition when she walked across the country to call attention to the issue of campaign finance reform. The trip started in 1999 and ended in 2000.
"At 90 years old, I walked across the country -- 3,200 miles," she told News 9 in a January interview. "I walked every step."
Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas called her a "dedicated but soft-spoken person."
"She was a dedicated person in pursuit of all of her goals, not the least of which included her passion for campaign finance reform," Gatsas said. "My thoughts and prayers are with her family."
Haddock was the Democratic nominee for Senate in 2004, when she lost to incumbent Republican Sen. Judd Gregg. Haddock mustered 34 percent of the vote against Gregg. Her slogan during that race was "Run Granny Run."
"Doris 'Granny D' Haddock always stood for Granite State values," said state Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley. "Her commitment to fair and open democracy should inspire us all to work even harder for reform. She will sorely be missed and always remain in our hearts."
Granny D was a Paul Bunyan like legend in Democratic politics the last ten years or so. She was someone who clearly made a difference and a lasting impression upon so many in New Hampshire and thankfully many other parts of the country. There will never be another Granny D, but she inspired many.
Good afternoon, Progressive Electorate readers. This is your afternoon open thread to discuss all things Hill-related. Use this thread to praise or bash Congresscritters, share a juicy tip, ask questions, offer critiques and suggestions, or post manifestos.
This is an open source project, so feel free to add your own insights. Here's the news I found lurking around the Internets...
So it is March, and that means the Meta Pie fight season is now open.
But I have bigger fish to fry.
I have ZERO interest in punching hippies, nor do I care for berating Dems who are more moderate than myself (with some exceptions). I mean no offense to the parties involved, but if that is your thing, good luck to you. I have bigger rotten fish to fry.
Now, having gotten that off of my chest, where do I begin?
I guess you'll have to go below the fold to find out . . . .
Parker Griffith, as you might recall, is the former Howard Dean supporter and Congressman who switched to the GOP in hopes of boosting his re-election chances.
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