Hold Fast

Contra Ben Nelson, there is no need for Senate Democrats to negotiate with Republicans to craft a health care bill that they will vote for. But what does negotiating with Republicans look like? It involves taking key parts of the legislation, watering them down or eliminating them to the point where that specific issue might […]

[Read more →]

Chris Hayes of The Nation has an excellent piece on the rightwing assault on ACORN, aided by the United States Congress. He closes with these powerful lines:
The disparity in the treatment of Blackwater et al. and ACORN is part of a larger American problem, what might be called the Inequality of Accountability. We diligently apply […]

[Read more →]

David Fiderer of the Huffington Post again provides a thoughtful and comprehensive rebuttal of the last round of bogus smears being hurled at Chris Dodd by Republicans who choose to ignore that Dodd was already exonerated of any wrongdoing related to Countrywide mortgages. Congressional investigation showed that Countrywide was not offering bargain rates for VIPs:
Overall […]

[Read more →]

It’s about damned time.
Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) announced today that they will introduce the Retroactive Immunity Repeal Act, which eliminates retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that allegedly participated in President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program.
“I believe we best defend America when we also defend its founding […]

[Read more →]

There has rightly been a lot of attention given to the New York Times article, in which anonymous senior Senate aides float the idea that Harry Reid will not include the public health insurance option in the combined bill that is brought to the floor for a vote. Reid’s office has denied that this is […]

[Read more →]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAjlngQFtOw

Via CT Blogger of My Left Nutmeg, here’s Senator Chris Dodd talking about the state of health care reform. Of particular note is Dodd’s take on the notion that the Democratic Party has been unable to maintain caucus discipline generally and the importance for their to be caucus discipline on the procedural vote to move […]

[Read more →]

David Sirota identifies a crucial problem with President Obama’s engagement on behalf of incumbents in Democratic Senate primaries: he’s stymieing primaries of people that are holding up his legislative agenda. Or, more specifically, he’s squashing primaries that would have the effect of either moving the incumbent to the left or replacing him with a more […]

[Read more →]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDxm–DyavI

This is as good as any coverage of the right wing’s attacks on ACORN as I have seen.

[Read more →]

Eric Boehlert documents and deconstructs John McCain’s mind-boggling 13 Sunday news show appearances so far this year. Boehlert and Steve Benen both not that McCain chairs no committees, is not involved in the health care reform debate, and he isn’t currently pushing any major bills on his own nor is he a key swing vote […]

[Read more →]

Mike Lux is right, courting of Olympia Snowe’s support for health care legislation by the White House has the potential of starting a war within the Democratic Party over what reform will look like and who has the power to determine it. If Snowe comes at the cost of a trigger for the public health […]

[Read more →]