http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/69039-d...

Centrist Democrats acted appropriately in supporting a healthcare reform bill with a public option, senior Democrats Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.) said Sunday on NBC's "Meet The Press," vowing a vigorous fight until the end of the coming debate.

On the heels of the Senate's 60-39 vote on Saturday night for the Democratic-written healthcare bill, Feinstein immediately adressed the concern among centrist Democrats that the bill's cost is too high.

"You have the vote, and I think the vote will decide," Feinstein said, referring to the nature of Saturday's procedural vote, which is far from a final vote. "To not to vote, to not to consider this question... America's in serious problems with respect to healthcare. Virtually every other developed country has a better system than we do. Ours is costly, in places it's ineffective, it's deeply troubled, and the time has come to really see that people who have no insurance can really get insurance."

Feinstein touted the phased-in nature of the bill, noting its small-business tax credits start immediately while more controversial aspects such as the public option component come online in 2014.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-roo...

Liberal Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Sunday morning that a small group of centrist Senate Democrats should not "dictate" the form of the public option during the debate over healthcare reform.

Brown, a supporter of a strong public option, said that liberals in the caucus should not cater to centrists on the government-run, public healthcare option even though their votes might be needed to invoke final cloture on the bill, a measure that requires the support of 60 senators.

"In the end, I don't want four Democratic senators dictating to the other 56 of us and to the country, when the public option has this much support, that it is not going to be in it," Brown said on CNN's "State of the Union" the morning after the Senate moved forward on its first procedural motion on the bill. "They will have their chance to in the amendment process."


Dem senators explain costs of health care reform bill (video)
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/...

John King speaks with three Democratic senators about the health care bill: Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Michael Bennet of Colorado, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/health/p...

Senate Democrats moved to the brink of a crucial preliminary victory on major health care legislation as Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, one of two last hold-outs, announced on Saturday afternoon that she would vote in favor of bringing the bill to the floor for weeks of full debate.

Ms. Landrieu’s remarks, shortly before 1 p.m., came as Democrats made a forceful case for legislation to revamp the nation’s health care system, condemning the practices of insurers and decrying the plight of the uninsured in a parade of floor speeches aimed at cementing party unity ahead of a first crucial vote.

“I have decided there are enough significant reforms and safeguards in this bill to move forward, but much more work needs to be done.” said Ms. Landrieu, whose decision left Senator Blanche Lincoln, Democrat of Arkansas, as the only member of the Democratic caucus yet to commit to support opening formal debate.

She said that her vote on Saturday should not be construed as an indication of how she might ultimately vote on the bill. “It is a vote to move forward to continue the good, and essential, and important and imperative work that is underway,” Ms. Landrieu said

http://www.americablog.com/2009/11/dallas-...
Dallas Fed President: stop 'coddling' and break up 'too big to fail'


Big Banks Should be Broken Up, Not 'Coddled': Fed's Fisher
http://www.cnbc.com/id/34051559

Banks that are considered too large to fail should be dismantled rather than "coddled," Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said on Thursday.

(snip)
Fisher suggested the only way of ensuring that such financial giants do not pose recurrent problems is by making them smaller.

"This means finding ways not to live with 'em and getting on with developing the least disruptive way to have them divest those parts of the 'franchise,' such as proprietary trading, that place the deposit and lending function at risk and otherwise present conflicts of interest," Fisher said in prepared remarks to the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.

It was one of the strongest calls to date from a sitting Fed official for an actual breaking up of large financial institutions.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7053459...

Sen. Orrin Hatch joined 11 other GOP senators in a letter Friday criticizing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for saying legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants would be a boon to the economy.

However, Hatch himself has previously called for ways to legalize aliens short of giving them amnesty and has pushed bills to repeal sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers, as well as bills to allow illegal immigrants to receive federal loans and work-study assistance for college.

However, Hatch and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, more recently have been under attack by Utah conservatives who say they sometimes are too liberal. The critics include several conservatives who are challenging Bennett in his re-election bid next year and have said he is not tough enough on illegal immigration.

Amid that, Hatch joined the group of GOP senators in their letter to Napolitano that criticized a speech where she said, "Requiring illegal immigrants to register to earn legal status … will strengthen our economy as these immigrants become full-paying taxpayers."

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/20/missou... /

Fired Up! Missouri points out that the Lafayette County Republican Central Committee is highlighting a new billboard in the state with steps for a “citizens guide to revolution of a corrupt government“:



This billboard replaces one that warned that the socialist “Obama-Nation” is “coming for you.” It’s unclear who the owner of the billboard is, but the first one was the work of a “Missouri businessman.” (HT: Oliver Willis)

http://www.oliverwillis.com/2009/11/19/mis...

http://thehill.com/blogs/twitter-room/othe...

A leading labor group launched on Friday to target the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Twitter.

American Rights at Work (ARAW), in an email to supporters, will ask backers to sign a petition and, if possible, post a tweet directed at the Chamber for the business group's opposition to health reform legislation in Congress.

The petition drive, set to begin at 10:00 a.m. EST, will ask activists to post the following tweet:

petition @chamberpost: The U.S. #Chamber doesn't represent me. It's Not My Chamber! http://act.ly/1cc RT to sign #p2 #notmychamber

The goal is to create a "Twitter flash mob," a spokesman for ARAW said about the effort on Friday.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/20/comey-... /

Saying that critics are “understating the criminal justice system’s capacities,” two top Bush Justice officials came out in support of Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other Guantanamo detainees in federal court. Writing in the Washington Post, Jim Comey, former deputy attorney general and U.S. attorney in Manhattan, and Jack Goldsmith, a former assistant attorney general who now teaches at Harvard Law School, wrote that the move is “unlikely to make New York a bigger target” and that civilian courts are a proven venue for terror trials:

There is no question about the legitimacy of U.S. federal courts to incapacitate terrorists. Many of Holder’s critics appear to have forgotten that the Bush administration used civilian courts to put away dozens of terrorists, including “shoe bomber” Richard Reid; al-Qaeda agent Jose Padilla; “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh; the Lackawanna Six; and Zacarias Moussaoui, who was prosecuted for the same conspiracy for which Mohammed is likely to be charged. Many of these terrorists are locked in a supermax prison in Colorado, never to be seen again.

In terrorist trials over the past 15 years, federal prosecutors and judges have gained extensive experience protecting intelligence sources and methods, limiting a defendant’s ability to raise irrelevant issues and tightly controlling the courtroom.

Comey and Goldsmith are hardly the first conservatives to support Holder’s faith in the U.S. justice system. In a joint statement prepared by the Constitution Project, David Keene, founder of American Conservative Union, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, and former representative and presidential candidate Bob Barr wrote Sunday, “We are confident that the government can preserve national security without resorting to sweeping and radical departures from an American constitutional tradition that has served us effectively for over two centuries. … The scare-mongering about these issues should stop.”


Holder's reasonable decision
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/200...

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., remained mum Thursday on whether she will deliver a crucial vote Saturday night to enable the Senate to debate health-care reform when it returns from the Thanksgiving holiday.

But Landrieu has already succeeded in adding a provision to the 2,074-page Senate version of the health care bill unveiled this week that would provide Louisiana between $100 million and $300 million in Medicaid funding in fiscal 2011.

While the Republican National Committee immediately charged that Landrieu has made a "backroom deal with (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid for her support of the government takeover of our health care system,'' Alan Levine, Louisiana secretary of health and hospitals in the Jindal administration, said that even those who oppose the bill ought to be grateful that Landrieu used her leverage to try to fix the state's so-called "FMAP'' problem.

"Look,'' said Levine, who has been lobbying the administration and Congress on the FMAP issue for eight months, "it's good to have a senator in a position to be able to make demands like that.''

"While I don't support the bill, she is doing the best she can to help the state, and she should be applauded,'' he said.

Internal AP Memo Thanks Writers For Successful 'Literary Treasure Hunt' In Finding Sarah Palin's Book
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11...

Before Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue," was released to the public, the Associated Press published a much-heralded fact check that detailed where her claims didn't line up with reality. It was possible in part because the AP snagged a copy of Palin's book early.

There's a lot to how the AP found the books - and beat their competitors - detailed in a weekly internal newsletter to the company's 4,000 employees and obtained by Talking Points Memo.

Mike Oreskes, a senior managing editor, offers staffers a description of the AP's own work tracking down and fact checking the book reads like a spy thriller:

(snip)
In the newsletter, the AP congratulates the two reporters who found the book for their work, and jabs a bit at the competition. The reporters will share a $500 cash prize awarded to the best beats at the AP each week.

Read the "Going Rogue" portion of the weekly newsletter - which also lauds other reporters' unrelated works - after the jump.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/68695-ho...

The House overwhelmingly approved a physician repayment bill to permanently fix the way doctors who cover Medicare patients are reimbursed.

Only one Republican member voted with Democrats for the bill that was approved 243-183.

Dr. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) endured intense lobbying efforts by his GOP colleagues to oppose the nearly quarter of a trillion dollar bill that Democrats do not offset.

Eleven Democrats joined 176 Republicans in opposing the bill that would fix what both parties described as a “flawed formula” for reimbursing doctors of Medicare patients.


House passes 'doc fix' bill previously defeated in Senate
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/... /

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/68541-r...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has recruited an all-star team of former senators — Vice President Joe Biden, Tom Daschle and Ken Salazar — to push healthcare reform over the finish line.

Reid (D-Nev.) plotted strategy with the vice president, Interior Secretary Salazar and former Majority Leader Daschle (D-S.D.) on Wednesday, days ahead of a crucial vote to begin debate on the bill that needs every Democrat.

Reid’s all-star team indicates that the administration and Democratic leadership are now using all the persuading power and arm-twisting prowess available to them to carry President Barack Obama’s signature agenda item to a successful conclusion.

A handful of Democratic centrists are holding out on the procedural vote, wanting time to read the legislation.



Daschle is still go-to guy on healthcare
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/68533-t...

Fox News airs old footage from 2008 Palin rallies to pump up Palin's 2009 book tour. I filed an FCC complaint!
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/fox-n...

by John Amato

Think Progress caught Fox News using old campaign footage of a McCain/Palin rally from 2008 to make it appear like the crowds she's drawing on her book tour are larger than they are.

Think Progress:

This afternoon, Fox News host Gregg Jarrett proudly announced that Sarah Palin is “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book. Take a look at — these are some of the pictures just coming into us.” But the pictures that the network chose to display on-air appeared to be old file footage of Palin rallies from the 2008 presidential campaign. Individuals in the crowd are seen holding McCain/Palin signs, and others are holding pom-poms and cheering wildly. “There’s a crowd of folks,” an enthused Jarrett observed, referring to the old footage.

Media Matters followed up that report with more facts to support the claim, which in my mind should be called a HOAX.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200911180052

Earlier, Think Progress caught Fox News showing what was clearly footage of 2008 Sarah Palin campaign rallies but claiming that it was video of "huge crowds" attending Palin's book tour.

But in case the McCain-Palin campaign signs and tee-shirts clearly visible in the footage Fox aired aren't enough to make Fox apologize, here's further proof.

Here's a screenshot of the footage of one of the rallies that Fox's Gregg Jarrett showed today and claimed was "just coming into us" as part of the book tour:

And here's a photo posted last year by Florida TV station CFNews 13 of a November 1, 2008, Palin rally in Ocala, Florida:And here's a video of that same rally that TPM posted way back in 2008 -- when it actually happened.

Fox News is not operating like a news organization. It was busted by Jon Stewart of the Daily Show when Sean Hannity used the same technique to make it seem like a tea party rally was bigger than it actually was. And you know Hannity was told to apologize by "legal" over the "Hoax" he tried to get away with. Inadvertent footage doesn't end up on a network show. That's a bogus explanation.

Please email any fake news segments you find to C&L.

I think it's time we started to take action and the first step is to file an FCC report here. Please join me.
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article...

With his prospect of winning the 23rd Congressional District race now almost zero, Conservative Party candidate Douglas L. Hoffman suggested Wednesday in a letter that “ACORN, the unions and the Democratic Party” “tampered” with results to deny him victory.

Mr. Hoffman provided no evidence to support his claims, but asked fellow conservatives to send donations his way to “ensure every vote is counted.”

Jerry O. Eaton, Jefferson County Republican elections commissioner, called Mr. Hoffman's assertion “absolutely false.”

“No one has touched those ballots or has access to those ballots except board of elections staff - and in a bipartisan manner,” he said.

Mr. Hoffman trails Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, by 2,832 votes after 42.6 percent of absentee ballots districtwide were reported Wednesday. Officials are expected to count the 4,262 ballots remaining by Monday.

This afternoon, Fox News host Gregg Jarrett proudly announced that Sarah Palin is “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book. Take a look at — these are some of the pictures just coming into us.” But the pictures that the network chose to display on-air appeared to be old file footage of Palin rallies from the 2008 presidential campaign. Individuals in the crowd are seen holding McCain/Palin signs, and others are holding pom-poms and cheering wildly. “There’s a crowd of folks,” an enthused Jarrett observed, referring to the old footage. Watch it:

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/18/fox-cr... /


The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart recently caught Fox News’ Sean Hannity displaying crowd shots from a rally earlier this year to claim that a recent GOP health care protest drew a larger audience than it actually did. Hannity later acknowledged that he “screwed up.”