That's right, I said it. The late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat went to a Republican Tuesday night in a Massachusetts special election because apathy is rampant within the Democratic Party.
I'm not talking voters -- there was apparently quite the turnout on Tuesday, in spite of poor weather conditions and the fact that voters never turn out for special elections. I'm talking within the party itself; if Democrats truly cared about securing this filibuster-proof super majority in the Senate, and working to make sure President Obama's agenda was realized, they would be putting up more effort than they have in the year since Obama took office.
My personal theory? Once President Obama was sworn in last Jan. 20, solidifying Democrats' hold on the House, Senate and White House. With 60 members in the Senate, conventional wisdom was that Democrats could do just about anything, and the Republicans could do nothing about it. And even if the Democrats lost a seat -- which was a possibility, given Kennedy's health and Robert Byrd's age -- they were probably sure they'd keep their 60.
Because let's face it ... who honestly thought Kennedy's seat would go to a Republican?
Complacency set in for Democrats, who thought they could milk voters' disappointment in the previous administration long enough to keep their majorities in D.C. Even as health care reform derailed, because some Democrats are less liberal than others, the party figured it would be able to pass Obama's signature initiative.
Even when Republicans won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, Democrats assumed they were okay. There was no way voters would give control back to the Republicans in 2010 ... right?
If Tuesday night is any indication, wrong.
I won't pretend to know what Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts means for the 2010 midterms -- I'll leave that to the talking heads on cable. But it should serve as a wake-up call to Democrats to a) start finding better candidates, b) either back incumbents or find strong primary challengers and c) actually bring about the change Americans want now, rather than trying to acquiesce to the Republicans.
Give us the change we want now, because your seats in Congress are not necessarily safe. If a Senate seat from a state are reliably blue as Massachusetts can turn red, then no seat is a safe bet -- particularly when a lot of Democrats voted to Congress in 2008 are centrist party members hailing from traditionally-conservative states (i.e., Montana, Arkansas, North Dakota, etc.).
Democrats have been reluctant to use reconciliation to pass health care -- probably because they figure they could defeat a filibuster with their big majority in the Senate. But with Brown's win, reconciliation might be necessary -- which could play right into the hands of progressives, who feel such measures as the public option or a Medicare buy-in can pass through such a process.
But the Democrats have to do something; it's obvious now that they've been sitting on their hands for the past year, and there's a chance they'll pay the price for it come November. If President Obama thinks he's having a hard time getting his agenda passed now, he should see how it will be if more Republicans are in Congress.
Get with it, Democrats. Better now than in 10 months ...
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
To Help Those in Haiti
The Mobile Giving Foundation has already raised more than $375,000 today to go toward relief and rescue efforts in Haiti following the devastating earthquake that leaves thousands dead and devastated an already struggling country. There are countless ways to help -- whether you have the means to travel to Haiti to lend a hand, or you simply have $10 to spare in donation -- and the following text-message-based services are available:
***Text the word "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to the Yele Foundation, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean.
***Text the word "Haiti" to 25383 to donate $5 to the International Rescue Committee.
***Text the word "Haiti" to 85944 to donate $5 to the Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International.
***Text the word "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.
***Text the word "Haiti" to 20222 to donate $10 to the Bill Clinton Foundation.
***Text the word "Haiti" to 45678 (In Canada Only) to assist the Salvation Army in Canada.
When you make a donation through text message, 100 percent of the proceeds go to the foundation in question, and the charge will later show up on your cell phone bill. Donating via text message is a quick and easy way to do your part to help those in such desperate need in Haiti.
Five or 10 dollars might not sound like much, but if 100 people donate $10, that comes out to $1,000 of aid. Every little bit helps; you don't have to pull back building parts and cry in front of TV cameras to save lives.
Sometimes, just texting can help.
***Text the word "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to the Yele Foundation, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean.
***Text the word "Haiti" to 25383 to donate $5 to the International Rescue Committee.
***Text the word "Haiti" to 85944 to donate $5 to the Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International.
***Text the word "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.
***Text the word "Haiti" to 20222 to donate $10 to the Bill Clinton Foundation.
***Text the word "Haiti" to 45678 (In Canada Only) to assist the Salvation Army in Canada.
When you make a donation through text message, 100 percent of the proceeds go to the foundation in question, and the charge will later show up on your cell phone bill. Donating via text message is a quick and easy way to do your part to help those in such desperate need in Haiti.
Five or 10 dollars might not sound like much, but if 100 people donate $10, that comes out to $1,000 of aid. Every little bit helps; you don't have to pull back building parts and cry in front of TV cameras to save lives.
Sometimes, just texting can help.
Petition Frenzy
One of the ways in which we can make our voices heard in Washington is the online petition. An organization -- like MoveOn.org, CREDO Action or TrueMajority.org -- drafts a petition about a certain subject, posts it to the Internet and gets people around the country to sign it before delivering said petition to the applicable politicians.
On top of the methods of letter-writing, phone calls and emails, online petitions are a nice way for the grassroots level to tell Washington what they want. In theory, such an en masse voice can combat the far richer voices of the corporate lobbyists -- and, ideally for ordinary Americans, signing a petition only takes seconds, so you can make your voice heard without making too much of a dent in the rest of your day.
I still make time for the other communication methods, but petitions are also a part of what I try to do to make sure change actually comes into being. There's no real tangible way to measure the effects of online petitions, but they can't hurt.
A few of the petitions making the rounds through the Internet today:
TrueMajority.org -- Tell President Obama to Enact a Bank Tax: http://act.truemajorityaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=48
EarthJustice -- Stop Clean Air Attacks in the U.S. Senate: http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/cleanair_0110/i8uke7urf7jx7i78?#startform
Consequence Campaign -- Stop the Dirty Air Act: http://act.consequence09.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=552&1
In addition to the above sites, you can find other petitions related to progressive causes at Change.org, FireDogLake and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. These petitions take seconds to complete, and you can alert others to them via Twitter and Facebook. You can also find petitions if you frequent such political sites as The Huffington Post, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo.
In short, making your voice heard about the issues that matter to you doesn't have to be hard, time-consuming exercise. By all means, attend rallies, volunteer for candidates who speak to you and personally correspond with your elected officials -- but don't ignore the online petition. They might work better than you think.
On top of the methods of letter-writing, phone calls and emails, online petitions are a nice way for the grassroots level to tell Washington what they want. In theory, such an en masse voice can combat the far richer voices of the corporate lobbyists -- and, ideally for ordinary Americans, signing a petition only takes seconds, so you can make your voice heard without making too much of a dent in the rest of your day.
I still make time for the other communication methods, but petitions are also a part of what I try to do to make sure change actually comes into being. There's no real tangible way to measure the effects of online petitions, but they can't hurt.
A few of the petitions making the rounds through the Internet today:
TrueMajority.org -- Tell President Obama to Enact a Bank Tax: http://act.truemajorityaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=48
EarthJustice -- Stop Clean Air Attacks in the U.S. Senate: http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/cleanair_0110/i8uke7urf7jx7i78?#startform
Consequence Campaign -- Stop the Dirty Air Act: http://act.consequence09.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=552&1
In addition to the above sites, you can find other petitions related to progressive causes at Change.org, FireDogLake and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. These petitions take seconds to complete, and you can alert others to them via Twitter and Facebook. You can also find petitions if you frequent such political sites as The Huffington Post, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo.
In short, making your voice heard about the issues that matter to you doesn't have to be hard, time-consuming exercise. By all means, attend rallies, volunteer for candidates who speak to you and personally correspond with your elected officials -- but don't ignore the online petition. They might work better than you think.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Obama's First Year: Busier Than You Think
A popular refrain, from both sides of the political aisle, is that President Barack Obama hasn't done anything in his first year in office to make the country better. Conservatives will argue that the president is making things worse, while liberals are mad that Obama hasn't done nearly enough.
Never mind the whole he's-only-been-in-office-for-one-year thing and the fact that he's facing a ton of horribly complicated issues. These are things that won't be fixed instantly with the stroke of a pen. Even if reforms currently in the works are incremental at best, they're a start.
Rachel Maddow took on the subject on Tuesday night's show, and rather than highlight everything myself, I'll just let her do it:
Once again proving that Maddow is willing to touch subjects and ideas that the mainstream media won't dare -- because let's face it, who in the mainstream media actually wants to do any work?
Never mind the whole he's-only-been-in-office-for-one-year thing and the fact that he's facing a ton of horribly complicated issues. These are things that won't be fixed instantly with the stroke of a pen. Even if reforms currently in the works are incremental at best, they're a start.
Rachel Maddow took on the subject on Tuesday night's show, and rather than highlight everything myself, I'll just let her do it:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Once again proving that Maddow is willing to touch subjects and ideas that the mainstream media won't dare -- because let's face it, who in the mainstream media actually wants to do any work?
Monday, December 21, 2009
More Health Care Musings
Let's be completely honest with ourselves here: the Senate version of health care reform sucks. Whether that's the fault of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the Obama administration or any number of other factors is up for debate -- and somewhat pointless now.
The bill cleared a major hurdle early Monday morning with a 60-40 vote that split along party lines. Two more such votes are expected before the bill would be able to move forward for conference negotiations with the House of Representatives.
There is no public option in the Senate bill, nor is there a Medicare buy-in option for Americans aged 55 or older. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) made sure stricter anti-choice language was included in the bill -- all of these moves essentially showcased just how ineffective the Senate really is, and how one or two disgruntled and self-serving Senators can almost derail any piece of major legislation.
So what we're left with is a bill that requires Americans to buy insurance, offers subsidies for citizens who can't afford coverage of their own and puts in place insurance industry regulations that might be easily circumvented. A lot of progressive voices -- including former DNC chair Howard Dean -- have called for the bill to be killed, and while part of me has agreed (I've been a loud public option advocate from the beginning), I realize this isn't the final version.
Even with the progressive cry of "Kill the bill!," not one Democrat voted against the bill on Monday. But I've got my own theory with regards to that.
When Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) voted for the health care reform bill that came out of the Senate Finance Committee back in September, she wasn't necessarily voting for the bill. In all actuality, Snowe was voting simply to move the process forward; when she cast her vote, she said she was voting to bring the bill to the full Senate, and that her vote then wouldn't influence her vote now.
For those of you keeping score, Snowe voted against the bill on Monday.
Maybe progressives in the Senate are doing the same thing; maybe they were simply voting for the bill not because they liked it, but because they knew it would move the process along. Progressives are perhaps heartened by the fact that the House bill is more liberal than the Senate bill -- it includes a public option, has more generous subsidies, offers tighter industry regulations and even removes the insurance industry's anti-trust exemption.
By moving the bill to conference, progressives are hoping they can improve the final product -- especially since some in the House have intimated that the Senate bill as it stood would never pass the House. Lieberman and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) have said they would filibuster the final product if it was more liberal than what we currently have in the Senate, but at this point, there's no telling if that will actually come to pass.
Progressives have lost the message regarding health care reform at every step; the mainstream media instead has focused on the loud anti-reform protests, the GOP obstructionists and the centrist Democrats who are given far too much power by inane and convoluted Senate procedural rules. A president reluctant to butt heads and twist arms hasn't helped matters, and progressives who stand up publicly and call for real reform (like, say, Dean) are brushed aside and mocked.
This is our chance to finally be heard.
Petitions are making the rounds all over the Internet, thanks to the likes of the PCCC, Democracy for America, CREDO Action and FireDogLake. Sign them. Call your elected representatives, in every chamber. Call the White House. Write emails to all of them, write letters to all of them. Visit their offices if you can.
We must be heard.
Threaten to take away your vote, threaten to take away your donations. Change voter registration if you so desire. Stop donating to the DNC, but instead donate, if you can, to individual candidates. Come the next election cycle, support and vote for more progressive primary candidates -- or even third-party candidates.
But we cannot be silent, and we cannot stay home from the polls. That's exactly what the GOP wants, and if you think the White House's agenda is having a hard time passing now ... imagine how hard it would be if Republicans gained seats.
This is our time. This is our cause. If the health care bill is to be improved in conference, it must be in part because we got loud and put the pressure on the government officials we put into office. We gave Democrats a huge mandate for change last year, not a pass to make us buy expensive and ineffective products from an industry that would rather pocket our money than provide the service for which we've been paying.
We are the change we are looking for. It's time we start acting like it.
The bill cleared a major hurdle early Monday morning with a 60-40 vote that split along party lines. Two more such votes are expected before the bill would be able to move forward for conference negotiations with the House of Representatives.
There is no public option in the Senate bill, nor is there a Medicare buy-in option for Americans aged 55 or older. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) made sure stricter anti-choice language was included in the bill -- all of these moves essentially showcased just how ineffective the Senate really is, and how one or two disgruntled and self-serving Senators can almost derail any piece of major legislation.
So what we're left with is a bill that requires Americans to buy insurance, offers subsidies for citizens who can't afford coverage of their own and puts in place insurance industry regulations that might be easily circumvented. A lot of progressive voices -- including former DNC chair Howard Dean -- have called for the bill to be killed, and while part of me has agreed (I've been a loud public option advocate from the beginning), I realize this isn't the final version.
Even with the progressive cry of "Kill the bill!," not one Democrat voted against the bill on Monday. But I've got my own theory with regards to that.
When Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) voted for the health care reform bill that came out of the Senate Finance Committee back in September, she wasn't necessarily voting for the bill. In all actuality, Snowe was voting simply to move the process forward; when she cast her vote, she said she was voting to bring the bill to the full Senate, and that her vote then wouldn't influence her vote now.
For those of you keeping score, Snowe voted against the bill on Monday.
Maybe progressives in the Senate are doing the same thing; maybe they were simply voting for the bill not because they liked it, but because they knew it would move the process along. Progressives are perhaps heartened by the fact that the House bill is more liberal than the Senate bill -- it includes a public option, has more generous subsidies, offers tighter industry regulations and even removes the insurance industry's anti-trust exemption.
By moving the bill to conference, progressives are hoping they can improve the final product -- especially since some in the House have intimated that the Senate bill as it stood would never pass the House. Lieberman and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) have said they would filibuster the final product if it was more liberal than what we currently have in the Senate, but at this point, there's no telling if that will actually come to pass.
Progressives have lost the message regarding health care reform at every step; the mainstream media instead has focused on the loud anti-reform protests, the GOP obstructionists and the centrist Democrats who are given far too much power by inane and convoluted Senate procedural rules. A president reluctant to butt heads and twist arms hasn't helped matters, and progressives who stand up publicly and call for real reform (like, say, Dean) are brushed aside and mocked.
This is our chance to finally be heard.
Petitions are making the rounds all over the Internet, thanks to the likes of the PCCC, Democracy for America, CREDO Action and FireDogLake. Sign them. Call your elected representatives, in every chamber. Call the White House. Write emails to all of them, write letters to all of them. Visit their offices if you can.
We must be heard.
Threaten to take away your vote, threaten to take away your donations. Change voter registration if you so desire. Stop donating to the DNC, but instead donate, if you can, to individual candidates. Come the next election cycle, support and vote for more progressive primary candidates -- or even third-party candidates.
But we cannot be silent, and we cannot stay home from the polls. That's exactly what the GOP wants, and if you think the White House's agenda is having a hard time passing now ... imagine how hard it would be if Republicans gained seats.
This is our time. This is our cause. If the health care bill is to be improved in conference, it must be in part because we got loud and put the pressure on the government officials we put into office. We gave Democrats a huge mandate for change last year, not a pass to make us buy expensive and ineffective products from an industry that would rather pocket our money than provide the service for which we've been paying.
We are the change we are looking for. It's time we start acting like it.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Countdown Special Comment: Kill the Bill
I know I've repeatedly cautioned on this site not to give in to emotional reactionism every time there's a development in Washington with regards to health care reform. I know I've constantly reminded the two or three people who actually read this blog that the process isn't over, that we may yet get the reform we want.
But alas, if all we're left with in the Senate is a watered-down bill that forces us to buy private insurance without really holding those companies accountable, I'm afraid I might have to reluctantly agree with the likes of former Vermont governor and DNC chair Howard Dean:
Maybe it's best to kill the bill.
Keith Olbermann, one of the media's most outspoken health care reform advocates (whose views I've posted numerous times on this blog), delivered a Special Comment on Countdown Wednesday night, in which he echoed the feelings I must now admit I feel with regards to this issue. With the bill as watered-down as it is, and the debate as muddled and incoherent as it is, maybe we are better off cutting our losses and starting over.
Problem is, I don't really want to. Olbermann's Special Comment below:
But alas, if all we're left with in the Senate is a watered-down bill that forces us to buy private insurance without really holding those companies accountable, I'm afraid I might have to reluctantly agree with the likes of former Vermont governor and DNC chair Howard Dean:
Maybe it's best to kill the bill.
Keith Olbermann, one of the media's most outspoken health care reform advocates (whose views I've posted numerous times on this blog), delivered a Special Comment on Countdown Wednesday night, in which he echoed the feelings I must now admit I feel with regards to this issue. With the bill as watered-down as it is, and the debate as muddled and incoherent as it is, maybe we are better off cutting our losses and starting over.
Problem is, I don't really want to. Olbermann's Special Comment below:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Single-Payer Headed For Senate Vote
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will introduce an amendment to the health care reform bill either Tuesday or Wednesday that would establish a federally-regulated single-payer system that would be administered by states. This will mark the first time a single-payer system has ever come up for a vote in the Senate; it's not expected to pass, or even receive many votes.
Still, the fact that this amendment -- written in conjunction with Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Roland Burris (D-Ill.) -- is coming to a vote is a victory of sorts.
Read the amendment here. Read the fact sheet from Sanders' website here.
Still, the fact that this amendment -- written in conjunction with Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Roland Burris (D-Ill.) -- is coming to a vote is a victory of sorts.
Read the amendment here. Read the fact sheet from Sanders' website here.
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