House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on "The Rachel Maddow Show" Thursday and weighed in on everything from Bart Stupak's threats to derail health care reform, to Eric Massa's resignation, and Republican obstructionism in the Senate.
While agreeing with Maddow that Rep. Bart Stupak is wrong -- there is no language in either health care reform bill that would allow federally funded abortions -- Pelosi told Maddow that she believes the Michigan Democrat wants health care reform and that he wold vote for the final legislation. "Bart Stupak wants health care reform. This is something he understands. He's on the committee of jurisdiction for it. I don't think that he's part... that he himself would be one to say that 'I'm taking down health care reform because of it.' But I think others who are part of that, who have stronger connections to the Republican party do want to bring down the bill."
More...
March 12, 2010
Arianna: If Obama Supports Public Option, It Could Pass Senate
Arianna appeared on "The Ed Show" Thursday to talk about health care reform and the growing possibility that a public option could be approved in the Senate.
Arianna told Ed Schultz that she's convinced that if President Obama comes out and supports the public option, the Senate will support it. "It's clear that we can easily have 50 [votes], or even 53 [votes] provided the White House makes it clear that they want the public option."
More...
Arianna told Ed Schultz that she's convinced that if President Obama comes out and supports the public option, the Senate will support it. "It's clear that we can easily have 50 [votes], or even 53 [votes] provided the White House makes it clear that they want the public option."
More...
March 11, 2010
Roy Sekoff: Massa Is The Navy’s Problem Now (VIDEO)
Roy Sekoff appeared on "The Ed Show" Wednesday to weigh in on yesterday's bizarre media blitz by former Democratic congressman Eric Massa.
When asked by Ed Schultz if Democrats should respond to Massa's claims that the health care reform bill will "destroy this country," Sekoff argued that the party should let it go. Massa isn't their problem anymore. "Yesterday, it was a problem for the Democrats. Last night it was a problem for Glenn Beck. Today it's a bigger problem for the Navy."
More...
When asked by Ed Schultz if Democrats should respond to Massa's claims that the health care reform bill will "destroy this country," Sekoff argued that the party should let it go. Massa isn't their problem anymore. "Yesterday, it was a problem for the Democrats. Last night it was a problem for Glenn Beck. Today it's a bigger problem for the Navy."
More...
March 10, 2010
Markos Moulitsas To Kucinich: You’ll Be Primaried If You Kill Reform
Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas warned on Tuesday night that if Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) plays a role in killing health care reform, a Democratic primary challenger would almost certainly await him in the next election.
In an appearance on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Moulitsas conveyed pointed frustration with the Ohio Democrat's pledge to oppose reform on grounds that it doesn't go far enough. He said Kucinich was practicing a "very Ralph Nader-esque approach" to politics.
More...
In an appearance on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Moulitsas conveyed pointed frustration with the Ohio Democrat's pledge to oppose reform on grounds that it doesn't go far enough. He said Kucinich was practicing a "very Ralph Nader-esque approach" to politics.
More...
March 9, 2010
Liberal Media Again Serves Republican Interests
It happens all the time, of course. The "liberal" media, in its effort to be even-handed and to inoculate itself from the dreaded slander that it is liberal, engages in he-said/she-said journalism. This is at the expense of actually getting the story right, providing useful context or more generally providing the information necessary for individuals to make informed decisions about politics.
As but only the latest instance of this endless abdication of journalistic responsibility concerns coverage of the debate about the use of reconciliation to pass health care reform. As Jamison Foser detailed at Media Matters, when the GOP used reconciliation to "ram through" the Bush tax cuts of 2003 (at a cost of $1.8 trillion), the media barely mentioned the term.
More...
As but only the latest instance of this endless abdication of journalistic responsibility concerns coverage of the debate about the use of reconciliation to pass health care reform. As Jamison Foser detailed at Media Matters, when the GOP used reconciliation to "ram through" the Bush tax cuts of 2003 (at a cost of $1.8 trillion), the media barely mentioned the term.
More...
Sarah Palin’s Canadian Health Care
Sarah Palin's recent statement that, presumably during her childhood, she and her family used to cross the border from Alaska to take advantage of Canada's health care system is not really a gaffe or a verbal slipup, but offers an interesting insight into Palin. It is not exactly surprising, or even"ironic," to use Palin's words, that somebody who has made a name, and a great deal of money, for herself by linking health care reform to some kind of socialist bogeyman, used to take advantage of socialized medicine.
Speaking to a Canadian audience and reminiscing about traveling to Canada for health care as a child is the kind of thing we might expect from a progressive supporter of health care seeking to stress the need for a better health care reform system in the US. Had, for example, Anthony Weiner made this comment while on the Canadian side of the border near New York, you can be sure that Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and, yes, Sarah Palin would be seeking to red bait him out of the congress. There will, of course, be no such consequence for Palin.
More...
Speaking to a Canadian audience and reminiscing about traveling to Canada for health care as a child is the kind of thing we might expect from a progressive supporter of health care seeking to stress the need for a better health care reform system in the US. Had, for example, Anthony Weiner made this comment while on the Canadian side of the border near New York, you can be sure that Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and, yes, Sarah Palin would be seeking to red bait him out of the congress. There will, of course, be no such consequence for Palin.
More...
March 8, 2010
Why I’m Breaking the Law for Health Care
On Tuesday, a drama will unfold in Washington that will be unlike anything we've seen in the first year of the Obama administration.
I will join dozens of leaders of unions and other public interest organizations and thousands of others to protest the major lobby that is blocking real health care reform in Congress. We will hold a rally and then march to a Washington hotel where America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), which represents all the corporate heavies in the health industry, will be plotting their next steps.
More...
I will join dozens of leaders of unions and other public interest organizations and thousands of others to protest the major lobby that is blocking real health care reform in Congress. We will hold a rally and then march to a Washington hotel where America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), which represents all the corporate heavies in the health industry, will be plotting their next steps.
More...
Kucinich Becomes Target Of Health Care Whip Campaign
With the real possibility that a handful of lawmakers -- or even a single vote -- in the House of Representatives could end up deciding the fate of health care reform, advocates are suddenly targeting the chamber's most progressive holdout.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio.) has firmly staked out his opposition to health care reform's passage, citing the timidity of the legislative language and, specifically, the unwillingness of lawmakers to seriously consider a single payer system.
More...
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio.) has firmly staked out his opposition to health care reform's passage, citing the timidity of the legislative language and, specifically, the unwillingness of lawmakers to seriously consider a single payer system.
More...
From “Fired Up and Ready to Go” to “Tired Out and Staying Home”
1). Those who wanted single-payer health care didn't even get a seat at the table, (even though it's the most fiscally responsible of the choices over the long term). And then those who wanted a "public option" or a "Medicare buy-in" had their hopes dashed. These decisions didn't do much to keep health care reform advocates fired up and ready to go.
More...