Amazing Dumb Quote from Reince Priebus

RNC chairman Reince Priebus made a bizarre comment denying that the GOP has waged a war on women's health care.

“If the Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars and every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we’d have problems with caterpillars,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt” airing this weekend. “It’s a fiction."

Notice that Priebus doesn't actually address the issue that members of his party are denying contraception to women. With the exception of Olympia Snowe, every senate Republican voted for the Blunt-Rubio amendment. Roy Blunt and Marco Rubio claimed that an employer could denying contraception coverage. Blunt and Rubio maintained that they were doing this for religious freedon. What Blunt and Rubio were actually doing was imposing their religious views on women.

Rick Santorum is against rape victims getting abortions.

"I believe and I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created - in the sense of rape - but nevertheless a gift in a broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given you. As you know, we have to, in a lot of different aspects of our life. We have horrible things happen. I can't think of anything more horrible. But, nevertheless, we have to make the best out of a bad situation.

Yet Priebus has the audacity to claim these attacks against women reproductive rights are a fiction.

Obama: Horrible Dealmaker

Stories like did where Obama actually believed his bipartisan spin is always amazing. Didn't Obama pay attention to the Republicans he served with in the Senate? Remember all that time the White House wasted trying to win the health care votes from people like Charles "Death Panel" Grassley. A Democratic strategist told David Corn that the White House was repeatedly warned that they would never get any Republican support.

It took "so goddamn long," of course, partly because the president and his aides were overly deferential to Congress—especially to a few Senate Republicans they were trying to rope in. "We told the White House repeatedly," says the Democratic Senate strategist, "that it was a mistake to think they could negotiate with Republicans. They never listened."

Sen. Mike Enzi admitted he only worked with Democrats to delay the health care bill.

"If I hadn't been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care."

The only vote the White House ever got was Olympia Snowe in the Finance Committee. Her vote wasn't needed for passage. Snowe and every Republican voting against the final health care legislation. I wonder if Obama still believes in bipartisanship.

Russ Feingold on Disclosure and Transparency in Elections

So much for Olympia Snowe and Scott Brown being centrist Republicans. All 41 Republican Senators voted to not allow a floor vote on the Disclosure and Transparency in Elections bill. The bill would require 527 and other political groups to publicly disclose being behind ads. Obviously, there was no way Senate Republicans were going to let voters know that BP and the NRA are behind their ads.

Longtime campaign finance reform champion Russ Feingold sent out this press release.

Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold

On Efforts to Block Disclosure and Transparency in Elections

Washington, D.C. – Today, a minority of Senators blocked the Senate from taking up the DISCLOSE Act, legislation requiring political advertisers to disclose their donors and stand by their ads, as well as barring foreign-controlled corporations from making political expenditures. Following the vote, Senator Russ Feingold, a cosponsor of the bill, released the following statement:

"It is very disappointing that a minority of senators decided to block the Senate from even considering this bill to increase transparency and disclosure in elections. While the bill is not perfect, it was our best chance to provide voters with adequate information about exactly who is behind the onslaught of political ads they can expect to see this fall. Instead, a minority of senators sided with wealthy special interests and wouldn’t even allow the bill to be debated, and potentially improved. While today was a setback, I will continue working to protect the integrity of our elections in the wake of the Supreme Court’s misguided Citizens United decision.”

The Opt Out

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will include the public option in the final health care bill. Reid announced Democrats are united.

“I’ve conclude with the support of the White House and Sens. Dodd and Baucus, that the best way to move forward is to include a public option with the op-out provision for states,” Reid said at a press conference.

Sen. Max Baucus has fought to keep the public option out of the health care bill. Reid publicly announcing Baucus's support means conservative Democrats are fearful of backlash from the progressive base. Baucus will probably work behind to scenes to kill the public option. Reid is in a tough election and Nevada voters have expressed support for the public option. Baucus has lost the Majority Leader. Reid is willing to lose Sen. Olympia Snowe. The latter said she vote vote against any health care bill containing the public option.

Reid will add legislation that will allow states to opt out of the public option. We can expect to see red states opt out and have the most uninsured patients. Conservatives will wonder why health care cost won't go down. Republicans will say health care needs to be 100 percent privatized and propose no regulations for oversight. Conservatives will say, "Let the free market decide." I say Republicans and conservatives need to take an economics class. The status quo is unsustainable. The U.S. Government Accountability Office describes the cost of health care as "unsustainable." The GAO reports warns health care will become a drain on our economy, produce greater taxes and affect the United States ability to compete in a global economy. Republicans and conservatives would rather shout bumper sticker slogans than read government health care reports.

The Chronicles of Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson is mad at Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe for voting for the Senate Finance Committee health care reform bill. Given the choice being a constructive activist or behaving like a clown, Erickson chose the latter.



Yes, Erickson is urging RedState.com readers to send rock salt to Maine. Winter is around the corner. Snowe won't have to worry about buying rock salt for her sidewalk and driveway. That should really teach her a lesson. Snowe lives in Maine. It snows there.

Erickson is under the impression Snowe once resided Narnia. I had to Google Narnia. I'm sorry, but I don'r speak geek.

Hat tip to John Cole.

Obama Pushes For Insurance Exchanges

Conservatives have supported health insurance exchanges. The Heritage Foundation and U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio have advocated taking health care coverage away from employers. The advantage of employer-based health insurance is private companies can negotiate cheaper coverage with insurers. Citizens don't have that power. That is the same reason why the proposed co-opts have limited leverage with insurance companies. The public insurance option will be big enough to leverage for cheaper medical treatment.

Obama has caved in to Sen. Olympia Snowe and is proposing insurance exchanges.

Now, if you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who don't currently have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices. If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you will be able to get coverage. We will do this by creating a new insurance exchange - a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices. Insurance companies will have an incentive to participate in this exchange because it lets them compete for millions of new customers. As one big group, these customers will have greater leverage to bargain with the insurance companies for better prices and quality coverage. This is how large companies and government employees get affordable insurance. It's how everyone in this Congress gets affordable insurance. And it's time to give every American the same opportunity that we've given ourselves.

This will take health insurance coverage from employers and into the private markets. Companies save money by not offing insurance and insurers can charge higher prices per person. This is not health care reform. Obama is offering a financial giveaway to insurers and businesses. My fears have been proven to be true.

Snowe told David Shuster she will not support a public option. Snowe is optimistic about Obama's speech. Health care advocates should be worried.



Update: After watching speech, it appears a scaled down version of the public option is still on the table.

Obama Ready For Another Round of Bipartisanship

The so-called bipartisan Republican Senators Charles Grassley and Mike Enzi embarrassed the White House by revealing they were never committed to a health care bill. Grassley spreaded the death panel myth. Enzi admitted his only goal was to delay a health care bill. CNN's Ed Henry reports Obama is now reaching out to Olympia Snowe.

My colleague Dana Bash and I have learned from a source, each one of us, that this White House right now is very quietly in serious conversations with Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, a key moderate.

She is basically the last Republican out of those gang of six senators who have been negotiating, really the last Republican that has an open line to this White House right now.

What we're hearing that she's talking about with White House staff is sort of a scaled-back bill that would focus on insurance reforms that both sides could agree to, but would not have a full public option, instead, would have a so-called trigger. What that means in layman's terms is basically that the insurance companies would have a couple of years to make some dramatic changes.

If they do not make those changes, then a public option would be triggered. So, it would be used down the road. They would hope that this would appease liberals by saying it's not completely off the table. And the big hope is that this could bring along another moderate Republican, like maybe Susan Collins of Maine, some conservative Democrats, like Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu in the Senate, who don't want a public option, but would sort of potentially be open to a trigger like this.

The trigger means there will be a delay of years into taking action on health care. If costs run too high then a trigger mechanism will take effect. Costs of private insurance are already out of control. The Kaiser Family Foundation chart shows premiums rising 68.2 percent from 2001 to 2006.

The Differences In How Obama & Frank Deal With the Right

Evidence that Barack Obama still doesn't get it. White House Press Sec. Robert Gibbs said the President believes Charles Grassley, Olympia Snowe and Mike Enzi are working "in good faith" on health care reform. The last time Obama praised Grassley, The Senator said Democrats were advocating euthanasia.

“You have every right to fear. You shouldn’t have counseling at the end of life, you should have done that 20 years before. Should not have a government run plan to decide when to pull the plug on grandma.”

Enzi wrote an op-ed in USA Today against Obama's plan.

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, a government-run component would actually increase health care spending, cause millions of people to lose the care they like and have, and add trillions to the national debt.

For millions of Americans, the government-run plan would turn into a bureaucratic nightmare, with the efficiency and customer service of the Department of Motor Vehicles or the IRS. Washington bureaucrats would literally decide whether patients would live or die by rationing newer, more expensive therapies.

A CBO report found only 9 million would switch to the pubnlic option. One of the cost savings not calculatyed by CBO is hospitals spent $35 billion in uninsured care. Hospitals paston this cost is passed on to the insured. Preventive and more insured care will lower costs.



Snowe argued in favor of Americans continuing to pay for overpriced insurance.

"If you establish a public option at the forefront that goes head-to-head and competes with the private health insurance market ... the public option will have significant price advantages," Snowe said. But this was her argument against making the public option available as soon as the bill becomes law.

Grassley, Enzi and Snowe will never back a public option. Democrats know this. Obama continues to court the right out some bizarre need for their personal approval. It is disturbing.

Rep. Barney Frank has the correct idea. A female tea bagger referred to health care reform as a "Nazi policy" and held a photoshop picture of Obama as Hitler. Frank asked, "What planet do you spend most of your time."

That is the way to deal with the nutcases. Obama wants to win their approval and feels the progressive base is not important. The result is Senate Democrats abandoning health care reform. Great strategy, Mr. President.

It's America Man

The first scene from the brilliant television show The Wire explains the stupidity of the government bailout out AIG. AIG in turn used the money to reward bonuses to the executives that helped sink the company.

Det. Jimmy McNulty questions a young black man about the murder of Snot Boogie.

McNulty: Every Friday night your boys would shot crap, right? And every Friday night you pal Snot Boogie, he'll wait until there was cash on the ground and then he would grab the money and run away?

Young black man shakes his head yes.

McNulty: You let him do that?

Black male: I mean we catch him and beat his ass but ain't nobody ever go past that.

McNulty: I got to ask you. If every time Snot Boogie would grab the money and run away why did you even let him in the game.

Black male: What?

McNulty: If Snot Boogie always stole the money why you let him play?

Black male: Got to. This America man.

AIG waited until the federal government gave out $170 million in bailout money. AIG rewarded executives with $165 million in bonuses. It's America man.

The Federal Reserve owns 80 percent of AIG's stock. I haven't heard anyone about using the majority stock ownership to leverage AIG. That is a better option than Harry Reid's idea of taxing AIG bonus money.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D) and Olympia Snowe (R) wrote an amendment to the TARP bill that would "clawback" any bonus money over $100,000. CEOs voiced their disapproval. Republicans backed the business community and Democrats backed out down under the pretense of "legal concerns." The clawback amendment was killed. It's America man.