I don't Care if Obama is Still smoking

Of course I have concern for his health, but I already had those concerns. Can any smoker alive imagine trying to quit while doing his thankless job. I'm not sure Bush stayed sober and smoking is much less dangerous to the rest of us.

Now, can we please get off the man's back about the tobacco?

What Obstruction Cost Us All

CONGRESS

The Real Consequences of Obstruction

For the past year, Republicans have embarked on an aggressive obstructionist agenda, determined to block any progress the Democratic majority may try make on health care, jobs, or even approving presidential nominees essential to keep the government running. This week, the country saw the real-life effects of this partisan game. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) became a "poster child" for GOP obstruction and demonstrated the outsized influence a determined minority can exert over policies affecting the entire country. Although he's not the first obstructionist, he likely won't be the last. Most recently, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) put a blanket hold on President Obama's nominees in order to secure pork funding for his state. Although he eventually relented on most of the nominees, he continues to block several military officials. Since last week, Bunning had been blocking legislation that would offer a 30-day extension on unemployment and COBRA health benefits, which expired on Sunday for millions of Americans, over objections about how the bill would be funded. Although the blockade was primarily Bunning's work, he was aided by a party that either stayed silent or even cheered on his obstruction. Even when Bunning finally relented last night and allowed a vote to go forward on the legislation, 18 Republican senators joined with him to vote against the temporary extension of benefits. Although the suffering of millions of Americans has now been eased, their well-being will continue to be subject to the whims of dysfunctional obstruction if lawmakers continue to put their partisan interests over the best interests of their constituents.

OBSTRUCTION FOR OBSTRUCTION'S SAKE: The callousness of obstruction was best demonstrated on Thursday, when Bunning became incensed at repeated Democratic attempts to pass the unemployment benefits extension -- because they made him miss a college basketball game. At one point, while Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) were asking him to relent, Bunning blurted out "tough sh*t" from the back row of the chamber. Additionally, it's not clear why Bunning waited until the last minute to insist on certain funding mechanisms for the legislation. It was widely known that these unemployment benefits were set to expire and a temporary extension would be coming up for a vote; Bunning could have raised his concerns earlier -- in a way that wouldn't have held Americans hostage. Yesterday on the Senate floor, Bunning simply said, "The question I've been asked mostly is 'why now?' Well, why not now? What better time for it than to stand up when the Majority Leader has the ability to do exactly on this bill what he has done on 25 bills in the last five months?" Democrats countered that the temporary extension qualified as emergency spending, and was therefore not subject to pay-as-you-go rules. Of course, Bunning's rhetoric on fiscal discipline rings hollow, since he and his fellow Republicans all recently voted against such a measure, which requires "new spending measures be offset in the budget by other funds." Additionally, an investigation by The Progress Report found that in 2003, Bunning not only voted for an unpaid-for unemployment benefits extension, but he also put out a glowing press release lauding the measure as "hopeful news for our most needy families in Kentucky."

GOP AIDING AND ABETTING: Only two Republican senators -- James Inhofe (OK) and Susan Collins (ME) -- publicly condemned what Bunning was doing. Others stayed silent or sided with obstruction, in line with what Republicans have consistently been advocating. Yesterday on the Senate floor, Collins asked for unanimous consent for the Senate to proceed on the unemployment benefits legislation, saying that she was speaking on behalf of "numerous members of the Republican caucus." However, it's unclear who those senators were, since they were too cowardly to speak up themselves and join Collins' criticism that Bunning was "hurting the American people." Collins reportedly had the "blessing" of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), but he avoided the topic. Even though he spoke after Collins on the Senate floor, he refused to follow her lead and discuss Bunning, instead launching into "a speech criticizing Democrats on health care legislation." When reporters pressed McConnell yesterday on whether Bunning was "speaking for the Republicans," McConnell repeatedly tried to dodge the question, finally giving up and asking, "Are there any questions on any other subject?" Other members of the GOP were outspoken in their full-throated endorsement of Bunning's obstruction. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) told reporters that Bunning's block was "not as big of a deal as some of you are trying to make it."


On the Senate floor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) said of Bunning, "I respect him for the courage he's showed." Similarly, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) has said that Bunning's move is something that the Senate should "honor," and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has said that he "admire[s]" the obstruction. Yesterday, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) even put up a blog post praising Bunning, saying he was "stand[ing] up for taxpayers." Perhaps realizing that significant political backlash Republicans may receive from this stunt, Cornyn was backing down yesterday, insisting that Bunning was just "one senator. This does not represent the position of the caucus." Nevertheless, he joined Bunning and voted against final passage of the unemployment benefits extension.

ACTUAL EFFECTS: Obstruction has real consequences, and this point was hammered home by Bunning's extreme stunt. On Monday, 2,000 federal transportation workers were furloughed without pay, since the legislation being blocked also contained transportation funding. The Department of Transportation had to halt "critical construction projects," and "safety programs that operate in partnership with the states and advocacy groups" -- such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving -- were disrupted. On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) pointed out that as many as 1.5 million people would be "unable to watch local TV stations," since the bill included a "satellite television extension" allowing rural residents to watch local TV stations via satellite. According to MultiChannel news, without the extension, "satellite operators will not be allowed to import distant affiliate TV station signals to viewers who cannot receive a viewable version of their local affiliate." Doctors faced a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments, and small businesses and flood insurance were also affected. Stories in local newspapers around the country added up the toll, with 54,300 New Yorkers, 27,400 Texans, more than 23,000 South Carolinians, and 4,300 Kentuckians, for example, put at risk because of the GOP obstruction. As Durbin said yesterday, "Sometimes just because we have the power to do things, we ought to think twice before we use that power."

GLOBAL WARMING -- FIFTEEN STATES HAVE POLLUTER-DRIVEN RESOLUTIONS TO DENY CLIMATE THREAT: On Monday, the South Dakota Legislature passed a resolution telling public schools to "balance" their teaching about the "prejudiced" science of climate change by a vote of 37-33. Earlier language that ascribed "astrological" influences to global warming was stripped from the final version. South Dakota's denialism is not an anomaly -- Utah and Alabama have already adopted resolutions calling for the overturn of the Environmental Protection Agency's global warming endangerment finding, and a Progress Report investigation identified 13 other states in tow. Several of these resolutions suggest the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change is actually a conspiracy, citing the so-called "Climategate" e-mails. Every resolution makes the false claim that protecting citizens from hazardous climate pollution would hurt the economy. Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Alaska lawmakers talk about being "dependent" on the coal and oil industries, whose lobbyists are fighting climate legislation. Alaska, West Virginia and Alabama support national efforts to rewrite the Clean Air Act, led by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND). These attempts to subvert science are being supported by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a national organization that brings conservative state lawmakers together with industry lobbyists. ALEC promotes a resolution opposing the endangerment finding drafted by its Natural Resources Task Force, which includes over 120 lawmakers from around the nation and a similarly sized group of corporate representatives. While ALEC does not have an official position on the validity of climate science, the organization is "actively involved in helping people get together and share ideas," a representative told the Progress Report. For example, the spring ALEC task force meeting will feature Exxon Mobil-backed global warming denier Paul Driessen, the author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) soundly defeated challenger Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) in the Texas gubernatorial primary yesterday, successfully avoiding a runoff by getting more than 50 percent of the vote. With "nearly all of the state's more than 8,000 precincts reporting, Mr. Perry had 51%, while Ms. Hutchison had 31%."

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) will step down temporarily from his post as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee as dozens of Democrats joined a Republican call urging him to do so. The House ethics committee found that Rangel "broke congressional rules by not properly disclosing trips to the Caribbean that were paid for by companies."

Yesterday, Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-DE) became the 34th senator to commit to supporting the public option through reconciliation. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee previously announced that it would begin to run ads in his home state encouraging him to get on board the effort.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) "will announce an ambitious set of reforms" today to "change many of the rules under which" the Senate works, "including an effort to restrict earmarks and limit the filibuster." Bennet "will propose eliminating anonymous holds, banning private-sector earmarks, freezing pay and budgets for members of Congress, and barring lawmakers from lobbying for life."

"Senate Republicans are waging a pre-emptive strike against the Senate's parliamentarian," charging that he is biased towards Democrats. Parliamentarian Alan Frumin's ruling on reconciliation "could determine the fate" of health care reform. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said, "I think clearly the majority leader has [Frumin's] ear."
"The Obama administration is weighing the merits of taking China's censorship of Google Inc. to the World Trade Organization as an unfair barrier to trade, a move that could further raise diplomatic tensions," Bloomberg reports. "The U.S. Trade Representative's office is consulting with industry groups about China's Internet policies," said spokeswoman Carol Guthrie.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) yesterday sharply criticized Sen. Chris Dodd's (D-CT) plan to place a proposed consumer protection agency inside the Federal Reserve, instead of creating an independent organization. "I was incredulous," Frank said. "The Fed's such a weak engine, so let's give them consumer protection? It's almost a bad joke."

A new report from the Huffington Post Investigative Fund finds that payday lenders, profiting from "a surge in emergency loans to people struggling through the recession," are spending millions on lobbying legislators to avoid regulation. The industry spent $6.1 million lobbying last year, double what it spent the year before.

The U.S. Postal Service reintroduced proposals to cut costs yesterday, including closing post offices, raising rates, and eliminating some services, such as Saturday delivery. The service is facing "growing deficits and rapid erosion of its business" and without "drastic 
changes," it will run deficits of $238 billion over the next decade.

And finally: "Bunning" is the hot new lingo being bandied about on Capitol Hill these days. "As in, 'You got bunninged!' or 'Hold the doors, don't bunning me!' or 'That guy's always bunning at work.'" Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) joined in the fun yesterday. "I'm not trying to pull a Bunning or anything," Corker joked to reporters as he retreated to the elevator with the doors closing on reporters' noses.
 

There is nothing civil about civil wars!

Reagarding Heathcare and the Public Option

Wouldn't it make more sense to make Medicare available to everyone who is not covered on a policy provided by their employer or unless they are covered under their parent's insurance.

Seems to me that could accomplish a number of things:

1) it would get healthier people (younger people) paying into the program and there would therefore make Medicare more solvent. 

2) Everyone would be covered who is legally employed, disabled or elderly non-working. We, as taxpayers, pay for all of the motorcycle accidents, car accidents and other maladies which strike the "invulnerable" youth of our nation. It's time to share the burden.

3) Much more money would be coming into Medicare and Medicaid even if the working poor and those not covered by their employer were means tested for premium payments. Everyone pays something.

4) Seems that, since the anthrax attacks, national health care that manages to cover everyone is a matter of national security. I mean, just think about it. While anthrax is not communicable like the flu, there are bacteria and viruses out there, now, which are highly contagious. A huge un-ameliorated outbreak of any one of these, not counter-attacked by a close-knitted, efficiently-functioning healthcare system could bring the nation to it's knees.

There will be more of this healthcare reform as time goes on......

The Things Goopers Say. (shocking, not surpising)

it's illuminating to hear what Republicans say when they don't think anyone's listening:

Ben Smith had this major scoop yesterday:

The Republican National Committee plans to raise money this election cycle through an aggressive campaign capitalizing on "fear" of President Barack Obama and a promise to "save the country from trending toward socialism."

e strategy was detailed in a confidential party fundraising presentation, obtained by POLITICO, which also outlines how "ego-driven" wealthy donors can be tapped with offers of access and "tchochkes."[..]

The party's fundraising presentation suggests the Republican National Committee thinks its own supporters are idiots. All the party has to do is exploit contributors' "fears," and expect the checks to come rolling in.

And to stoke those fears, the RNC's message to these dupes includes telling them that contributions to Republicans will help "save the country from trending toward socialism!" One slide in the presentation refers to U.S. leaders as "the Evil Empire," with a picture of the president as the Joker from Batman, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Cruella DeVille, and Senate Majority Leaders Harry Reid as Scooby Doo.

w did such a document reach the media? It wasn't leaked: "The 72-page document was provided to POLITICO by a Democrat, who said a hard copy had been left in the hotel hosting the $2,500-a-head retreat, the Gasparilla Inn & Club."

Oops.

Oops, indeed. Maybe the RNC leadership is about as smart as they think the citizens at which they sneer are.

While I don't relish the ugliness that is sure to come--and the inevitable lies and distortions--I see this as the last desperate grasps of a party that sees a whole lot more hurt in front of them come Election Day than the media will ever acknowledge.

Lifted from Crooks and liars, with some editing. This was just simply too good to pass up