"Kick Me"

So the Democratic strategy for tomorrow's health care summit has now been revealed......and its the equivalent of walking in with a "kick me" sign on their back.

At a private meeting today, top Democrats settled on a strategy for tomorrow’s summit: They will strive to project a strong sense that they’re in “listening mode,” even as they make it clear that under no circumstances will they scrap their plans and start again, sources say.

Top Dems also agreed to make a concerted effort to highlight Republican ideas that are already in Obama’s bill, in order to disarm GOP charges that Dems aren’t serious about compromise, the sources add.

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the other Congressional Dems attending the meeting gathered today behind closed doors to chart their plan for tomorrow. Attendees agreed on the need to strike a balance between projecting openness to GOP ideas, while leaving no doubt that if Republicans don’t compromise, Dems will move forward.

“The consensus that was arrived at is that we have to be in listening mode,” one senior Dem aide familiar with the meeting tells me. “We will say, `We are listening to your ideas, we have been and we’ll continue to do so. But at some point, if you are not gonna be willing to vote for this, we have to move forward.’”

Yeah, good luck with that.

The Repubicans are going to come in with flamethrowers tomorrow and they are going to try to burn down as much of the support for the bill as they can in six hours. They have already telegraphed that they won't be bringing any ideas of their own so what do the Democrats think they will be doing with their time?

Listening mode, heh. Welp, if the Dems really fall through on this strategy you can full expect the Republicans to frame the entire debate tomorrow and you will see even more skittish Dems running for the hills. This has all the makings of an unmitigated disaster.

"No Bed Wetting"

David Plouffe has penned an op-ed to be run tomorrow in the Washington Post, giving great direction to Democrats on how they should handle governing and compaigning until the midterm elections in November. I have a somewhat radical proposition. Why not make Plouffe the DNC chairman? I think I am going to spread this around....

Here was the most salient part of his advice in my honest opinion.

-- No bed-wetting. This will be a tough election for our party and for many Republican incumbents as well. Instead of fearing what may happen, let's prove that we have more than just the brains to govern -- that we have the guts to govern. Let's fight like hell, not because we want to preserve our status, but because we sincerely believe too many everyday Americans will continue to lose if Republicans and special interests win.

Congressman Massa Brings The Awesome Sauce AGAIN

Congressman Massa in addition to his appearance on the Ed Show last night has now also penned a diary on dailykos.

I for one am sick and tired of these Bush-era chicken hawk politicians that never served in uniform attacking Democrats on National Security when in fact, they are largely to blame for our Nation's current national security problems. Apparently former Vice President Cheney and the likes of Senator Jim DeMint actually believe that they can score political points by forcing America to remember the incredible failures of the previous Administration and to that I say - "Bring it on." I have no problem running against their record of global economic failure, avarice, corporate greed run amok, no-bid insider contracts, and disastrous foreign policy decisions that left us isolated on the international stage at the very moment when we needed to count our allies. I welcome the opportunity for the Vice President to relive his glory days. And I welcome the opportunity to call him out and debate him one on one. Personally, I think it's time for Vice President Cheney to either put up or shut up.

If it were up to me the DNC, DCCC and the DSCC would print out his diary and hand it out to all their members to memorize so the rest of the Democrats in Washington can learn how to attack Republicans where they live instead of hiding their heads in the sand and hoping it all blows over. I hope the Democrats who remain silent on this issue are just opening themselves up to the very same attacks that President Obama is facing now, later. You can either attack now and put them on the defensive, or get attacked later and look like a weakling. Your choice.

Ladies And Gentlemen, We Got Em!!!

By a count of 220 to 215 the House just passed their version of a health care reform bill. One Republican, Anh Cao of New Orleans, joined 219 Democrats to give us change we can believe in!!!

Now its on to the Senate where hopefully Lieberman and Snowe aren't allowed to hijack the bill.

Lets get it done!

Update: Here is the final vote tally. Why in the fuck is Heath Shuler even listed as a Democrat at this point?

Update II: President Obama's statement after the passage of the bill.

Tonight, in an historic vote, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would finally make real the promise of quality, affordable health care for the American people.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act is a piece of legislation that will provide stability and security for Americans who have insurance; quality affordable options for those who don't; and bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and the government while strengthening the financial health of Medicare. And it is legislation that is fully paid for and will reduce our long-term federal deficit.

Thanks to the hard work of the House, we are just two steps away from achieving health insurance reform in America. Now the United States Senate must follow suit and pass its version of the legislation. I am absolutely confident it will, and I look forward to signing comprehensive health insurance reform into law by the end of the year.

Change The Conversation

For any liberals or progressives who have the honor of being on TV whether as a member of Congress or a Democratic strategist or a DFH blogger, there is one way to help change the conversation that I think isn't being utilized. Right now the Villager media conversation centers on whether the left in Congress will cave on a public option. First of all it should be noted that the overwhelming majority of Democrats in Congress, not just the progressive caucus, endorses the idea of a public option and one has been included not just in the 3 House bills but also in one of the two Senate bills. So what we should be striving to do is change the conversation to put the pressure where it really belongs, on the ConservaDems in the Senate. A few points.

1. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has already said a health care reform bill will not pass the House if it doesn't include a public option.

2. The Blue Dogs in the House have already negotiated on a public option and have not blocked any bill from coming out of committee which includes one.

3. So far there have not been ten Democrats in the Senate who have come out and said they would vote against a bill which includes a public option so any speculation that it wouldn't pass in the Senate is just that, speculation.

4. Ted Kennedy's committee passed a bill out of committee in the Senate with a robust public option.

5. The question really should be would ten or so Democrats would really be willing to vote against a bill with a public option that the overwhelming majority of people in America support and the overwhelming majority of Democrats in Congress and the President support?

6. Majority rules in this country as Judd Gregg reminded us a few years back when he was fighitng for reconciliation, so what is wrong with Democrats using it?

7. If over 200 Democrats in the House and over 50 Democrats in the Senate are willing to vote for a health care reform bill with a public option in it, then wouldn't a bill without a public option actually be the fringe ideal?

8. Ask the question of any one interviewing, name ten Democrats in the Senate who have committed to vote against a health care reform bill that includes a public option. Make them name names or admit they don't know of ten Democrats who have committed to do such a thing.

I really believe that if we get this message out and change the conversation ahead of President Obama's speech we can help effect public opinion and push the momentum towards keeping a public option.

77% Support "Choice" Of A Public Option

New polling data shows once again if you ask the polling question properly, they overwhelming majority of Americans support a public option in health care reform.

A new study by SurveyUSA puts support for a public option at a robust 77 percent, one percentage point higher than where it stood in June.

But the numbers tell another story, as well.

Earlier in the week, after pollsters for NBC dropped the word "choice" from their question on a public option, they found that only 43 percent of the public were in favor of "creating a public health care plan administered by the federal government that would compete directly with private health insurance companies."

Opponents of the president's agenda jumped on the findings as evidence that backing for the public option was dropping. Proponents responded by arguing that NBC's tinkering with the language of the question (which it had also done in its July survey) had contributed to the drop in favorability for a public plan.

SurveyUSA's poll, which was commissioned by the progressive group MoveOn.org, a proponent of the public plan, gives credence to those critiques. While arguments about what type of language best describe the public option persist --"choice" is considered a trigger word that everyone naturally supports -- it seems clear that the framing of the provision goes a long way toward determining its popularity.

In asking its question SurveyUSA used the same exact words that NBC/Wall Street Journal had used when conducting its June 2009 survey. That one that found 76 percent approval for the public option: "In any health care proposal, how important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance--extremely important, quite important, not that important, or not at all important?"

Now think about something for a moment. If the wording of a question when polling the popularity of a public option can make a major difference then it stands to reason that the wording from people advocating for a public option will also make a huge difference on how it will be received. That is why for months now I have been saying that President Obama and other prominenet Democrats in Congress should be using the word "freedom" in association with the public option. I have no doubt in my mind that if our Democratic leaders started saying that providing a public option gives people

"the freedom to choose"

what kind of insurance they want that they would see a major bump in their approval ratings. While it is on some levels cynical to rely heavily on messaging tricks, the truth is it actually does work. The word "freedom" appeals to most Americans on a visceral level and just makes them more open to which ever proposal is offering them more of it.

Its still not too late to start injecting this into the messaging during the fight for health care reform I just don't know if they will ever do it. For the life Of me I can't understand why nobody on our side has seen this before. Everything Republicans talk about damn near begins and ends with the word freedom. This is an easy but effective way to turn that right back on them. At the very lease somebody could do it as a trial balloon to see the results. If anybody knows somebody that knows somebody that works for somebody, please pass this along.

There Will Be Blood

Now this is something we should ALL get behind.

Former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean fired one of the clearest warning shots at hesitant Democratic lawmakers on Thursday, insisting that if the party was unable to produce a health care bill with a public plan, there would be electoral consequences.

"I do think there will be primaries as the result of all this, if the bill doesn't pass with a public option," Dean said, in a phone interview with the Huffington Post.

The former Vermont governor added the caveat that he thought "cooler heads" would ultimately prevail and that a government run option for insurance coverage would be passed. But his remarks are some of the most threatening yet to be directed at Democrats from within the party.

Dean, who is a keynote speaker at the Netroots Nation conference at Pittsburgh this week, said he was "in favor" of holding recalcitrant senators and congressman accountable on health care related issues.

As he has done before, Dean criticized talk of substituting a government run program with co-operative insurance plans, calling the latter a "fig leaf."

"This talk about co-ops is a political compromise it is not a policy compromise," he said, of the discussions currently underway in the Senate Finance Committee. "And I think most people, on both sides of the aisle know that co-ops won't work."

Now this isn't just some random DFH blogger talking. This is the man who oversaw the Democrats retaking both houses of Congress and the Presidency. So when he talks about people getting primaried that has heft to it. And he has the clout to help recruit those primary challengers to make sure we have a viable progressive candidate to support.

Democrats need to be Democrats or risk getting held to account for a change. It is what it is!

The Proper Response To The Leaked Memo

Think Progress has gotten its hands on a leaked memo from FreedomWorks where they give directions for their activists go in and disrupt the townhalls of Democratic members of Congress.

– Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”

– Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”

– Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.”

My advice is that every Democratic member of Congress should get intimately familiar with this memo. And at if they plan on holding a townhall during the break they should employ what I like to call the "8 Mile" strategy. For those who never saw the movie, Eminem's character wins the rap battle at the end by predicting all of the lines of attack that his opponent will use and then he goes in on his opponent. By the time his turn comes Em's opponent is flustered because for one he didn't have any disses left to use and for two because Eminem had ripped him up. So he just hell the microphone and froze.

The first thing these Democrats should do is present the memo and inform the audience of all of the things that are to come. That there will be people yelling, and interrupting and they will also fan out to inflate their numbers. And then they should point out that these people do not want honest debate. They are there for one thing only and that is to deprive the rest of the attendees of the opportunity to learn about health care reform and have their voices heard. And then they can always point out that these people are paid for by the health insurance companies. (whether that is true or not isn't really important) Once they get that out of the way they will have the audience on their side and against the obstructionists. Instead of allowing these people to hijack the townhall, more than likely what will happen is the audience will turn on them and boo them out of the event.

That, to me, should be a no brainer. Why even give them an opportunity to try to derail the discussion? Or for that matter why try to act like they won't be there when its likely that they will. Just punch them in the mouth first and then you win the battle before it gets started.

Can We Just Fire Harry Reid Already?

If you thought Congressional Democrats had changed their stripes just because President Obama got elected you would be wrong. The are still political cowards especially in the Senate where they are led by the perinnial bed wetter Harry Reid. I can't describe how frustrated and angry Reid's statement today on closing GITMO makes me. And the truth is this has nothing to do with he public good. It has everything to do with being too much of a pussy to get in front of the American people and fend of partisan attacks from Republicans about the "dangers" of putting GITMO detainees in American jails. Lets take a look at this dithering idiot's words.

Accepting the right wing’s baseless premise, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) declared in a press conference today, “We will never allow terrorists to be released into the United States.” In several tense back and forths with reporters, Reid said he opposes imprisoning detainees on U.S. soil, saying flatly, “We don’t want them around the United States”:

REID: I’m saying that the United States Senate, Democrats and Republicans, do not want terrorists to be released in the United States. That’s very clear.

QUESTION: No one’s talking about releasing them. We’re talking about putting them in prison somewhere in the United States.

REID: Can’t put them in prison unless you release them.

QUESTION: Sir, are you going to clarify that a little bit? …

REID: I can’t make it any more clear than the statement I have given to you. We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States.

Later, Reid repeated that he would not support Guantanamo detainees being transferred to U.S prisons..."

Update: After the press conference today, Reid's office released the following statement:

"President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, Secretary Colin Powell, President Obama and I all agree – Guantanamo must be closed. President Obama’s approach is a responsible one. [...]

“The amendment Chairman Inouye has offered today recognizes that it would be premature for Congress to act before the Administration proposes its plan. I support his amendment. On two important points, however, we do not need to wait for any instruction – and there should be no misunderstanding. Let me be clear: Democrats will not move to close Guantanamo without a responsible plan in place to ensure Americans’ safety. And we will never allow a terrorist to be released into the United States.

“This amendment is as clear as day. It explicitly bars using the funds in this bill to ‘transfer, release or incarcerate’ any of the Guantanamo detainees in the United States. When the Administration closes Guantanamo, we will ensure it does so the right way.”

What a steaming pile of feckless cowardly bullshit! Who the fuck is really scared of people locked up in a supermax prison or a military facility? And yet here is Harry Reid giving Republicans and their fearmongering arguments all of the legitimacy they have never deserved and all in the interest of politics. Make no mistake about it this is just a political game of cover your ass. Its the same political game that gave us that shitty assed FISA bill last year so as to not "hurt Democratic chances in the election". Now that we have a damn near filibuster proof Senate and the Presidency and the House by a wide margin this muthafucka still doesn't have the balls to do the right thing instead of the most politically correct thing. If there are any Democrats who disagree with Harry Reid I hope they ring the bell loud and often and hopefully someone could challenge his dumb ass for the Majority Leader's seat. What fucking difference does it make to elect Democrats if at the first sign of Republicans attacking they fold like cheap lawn chairs?

Fucking unbelievable.


(h/t gunny)

Congressman Moran KINDA Gets it

Congressman Jim Moran has an op ed in the Washington Post about Alexadria Virginia potentially hosting some of the trials for the GITMO detainees. It goes a lil something like this.

While closing Guantanamo would go a long way toward removing this stain on our national character, the decision to do so was the easy part. What to do with the detainees who remain of the more than 700 sent there since 2001 is much more difficult.

Like those in any other congressional districts, we Virginians would rather not have terrorism suspects held and tried in our back yard. Should some of the detainees at Guantanamo be sent to the Alexandria courthouse, there is no question that people in the immediate vicinity -- more than 10,000 residents and workers during business hours -- would be affected. The strain on local law enforcement and other public safety officers would be significant. The media attention following such a decision would probably generate public outrage in some circles over safety concerns, regardless of the security measures implemented.

Often, though, doing the right thing is neither popular nor convenient.

By and large, Alexandrians are civic-minded people and are ready to do their duty if it serves the greater good. They have shown this public spirit time and again. The "20th hijacker," Zacarias Moussaoui, who participated in planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon, was held and prosecuted in the Alexandria courthouse. Others who have been brought to justice in the court include the "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh; Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad; and spies Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames.

In each case, Alexandria demonstrated the kind of courage and patriotism that can be traced to the city's roots as the home town of George Washington and Robert E. Lee.

Taking the easy route and joining the chorus of those crying "not in my back yard" is appealing. But that's not the Alexandria I know and have represented in Congress for nearly 20 years. Even before that, I served as mayor of the city, and I am confident that if asked to step forward, Alexandria would demonstrate resolve for a higher purpose, echoing John F. Kennedy's call to accept the challenge presented because it is what happens to be right and good for our nation.

Trying the accused, no matter how heinous the accusation, in a fair and transparent judicial procedure will reestablish our international moral authority and thus strengthen our national security.

Let there be no mistake: I'm not advocating for this burden. If there are more suitable locations in which to try the detainees, it would be a relief to all in this area.

But should President Obama determine that Alexandria needs to play a reasonably limited role in a nationwide effort to bring justice to the Guantanamo detainees and close this unfortunate chapter of American history, I am confident that Alexandrians will stand strong as they always have: gritting their teeth, stiffening their spines and carrying the load required so that the American values of justice and the rule of law are not overridden but, rather, respected and honored, as is our heritage as a great nation.

I am happy on the one hand to at least have Congressman Moran speaking out in favor of Virginians stepping up to the plate for detainee trials should President Obama determine that they should happen there. But on the other hand he comes off like he is damn near apologizing for asking the people to support this. What I want to know is if he actually did any polling showing that people in Alexandria were truly scared of detainees being housed and tried there. I bet he did not. But because Congressional Dems, especially those who have been in Congress for some time, are afraid of their own shadow I am sure that Moran just convinced himself that everyone MUST be scared because the Republicans keep saying they are. I will give Moran props for stepping up to the plate and being one of the first Democrats to do so but damn can we get someone with a little more courage the next time?

Thank You HIlzoy

I guess I am not the only one who thinks the GOP's NIMBY campaign is utterly ridiculous. Hilzoy made this video in response to the new GOP fearmongering GITMO detainee video and I think it perfectly encapsulates the absurdity at work here.

Hopefully a Democratic lawmaker will see this video and step up to the plate.