“What is the core of that protest, and why is it increasing in terms of the people it’s attracting?” Vice President Joe Biden recently said. “The core is the bargain has been breached with the American people. The American people do not think the system is fair or on the level.” And Democratic whip Steny Hoyer defended the movement from criticism from House leader Eric Cantor, who called the group a "mob."
“I don’t know whether Mr. Cantor watched any of the town meetings that we had in August of ‘09,” Hoyer said, according to talkradionews.com. “They were much more confrontational in many respects than these demonstrations are. This is a democracy and one of the good aspects of democracy is people get the opportunity to express their concerns and hope that action will be taken to address those grievances....One of the problems that we have in this country is that a minority controls the United States Senate and that the majority of the representatives of the United States Senate are precluded, too often, from considering the merits of proposals which have a majority support but not 60 votes support,” he said. “I think that’s unfortunate.”
One would think that the Democratic establishment's embrace of Occupy Wall Street would preclude these politicians from fraternizing with those whom the protesters are directing their anger toward. But that doesn't seem to be the case.
Today, at a State Department luncheon featuring the South Korean president, Biden and Hoyer are sharing a table with Lewis B. Kaden, the vice chairman of Citigroup bank, Michael K. Wirth, Chevron Corporation's executive vice president for Downstream & Chemicals, and banker James B. Flaws, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Corning Incorporated.
The State Department's menu does sound pretty tasty:
Appetizer: ROASTED TOMATO, AVOCADO, QUINOA TOWER with pistachio mint pesto, fennel, caper dressing
Entrée: LEMONGRASS SESAME CHICKEN with ginger-tamarind sauce, carrot-ginger puree, broccolini, pearl onions
Dessert: WARM CHOCOLATE TART with milk chocolate mousse and malted milk ice cream
And the design pretty snazzy:
The luncheon will feature a mix of Sky Blue, Cerulean Blue, and Apple Green linens inspired by the beauty, color and tranquility of the South Korean mountain range. The floral arrangements will be comprised of a mix of Pink Lotus flowers and bamboo branches.
Today's pooler, Jennifer Epstein of Politico, adds: "A harpist welcomed more than 200 guests to the eighth floor of the State Department, leading them to drinks in an anteroom and, from there, into the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room, a high-ceilinged space with eight chandeliers that State’s website says are Adam-style cut-glass."
Earlier this evening, the House of Representatives voted against a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government past September 30. Forty-eight Republicans broke with their party's leadership and joined 182 Democrats in opposition of the bill. Reuters reports:
Can the debt deal pass the House of Representatives? House speaker John Boehner has said he believes he has the votes from the Republican caucus, and Steny Hoyer, the Democratic minority whip, says he can deliver 80 to 100 votes from his side of the aisle.
The Emergency Committee for Israel is running the following ad in a significant cable news buy, thanking “Israel’s true friends, Democrats and Republicans alike,” for supporting Israel when “President Obama sided with the Palestinians.”
I can't help but feel there may be hope for the nation yet when progressives start getting nervous about what Democrats are saying on entitlements.
Fred Barnes highlighted Obama's entitlement opportunity in a Wall Street Journal column yesterday, pointing out that Deficit Commission Chairs Democrat Erskine Bowles and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson have both been entitlement reformers in the past:
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Thursday he and Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a mistake when they called anti-health care protests "un-American" last year.
"That was not a good phrase, not a good use of language, it was not correct," Mr. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, said, adding that he did not see anything wrong with vigorous debating of philosophies.
I just got back from a Tea Party protest and an anti-war protest (And, they think the righties are the unreasonable ones???), so I'm catching up on healthcare news.
The latest is that the House will push ahead with two real votes— one on reconciliation and one on the Senate bill. They're likely to vote on the reconciliation bill first, and there is reportedly a letter from more than 50 senators promising to vote for the House reconciliation bill. Steny Hoyer said the Senate bill, once voted on by the House will go directly to the president for his signature.
House majority leader Steny Hoyer has informed his colleagues of the CBO health bill score. Politico reports:
The bill would cost $940 billion, and reduce the deficit by $130 billion over the first 10 years and $1.2 trillion in the second 10 years. The deficit numbers Democrats have been most worried about, and will be key to convincing moderates to coming on board with the bill.
Keep in mind that the second decade estimate is incredibly speculative. Overall, though, this score may move some undecided congressmen into the Yes column. Whether those congressmen will be members who voted No last year is another question entirely, however. Perhaps they will have seen this video:
More CBO details, and the final reconciliation language, are expected later today. A Sunday morning vote is now likely. Gentlemen: Start your engines! The countdown has begun.
Democratic leaders in the House are apparently moving towards the "Slaughter Solution" of avoiding a direct vote on the health care legislation and instead passing the Senate health care bill by voting to "deem" it passed. As they do so, they keep reassuring the media--and each other--that the American people don't care.
Let's say you're a Democratic congressman from a swing district. Your constituency actually went for McCain in 2008 while sending you back to Washington on a split ticket. You had some rowdy town hall meetings during the 2009 August recess and decided to vote No on the House health care bill last November. Now the White House is saying that if you don't vote for the Senate bill in the coming weeks, the president won't appear in your district this fall or raise money for you on the road. And the DNC chairman is saying a Yes vote will be rewarded with support from Obama, Organizing for America, and the national party.
Here's the thing: What good would any of this do? To preserve your seat in an anti-incumbent, anti-Washington, anti-big government year, you have to distance yourself from Obama and the national Democrats anyway -- which is why you want to vote No in the first place!
Carrots and sticks don't matter. What matters is how your district will react to a Yes vote. And fear of reprisal -- not from Obama, not from Tim Kaine, but from the people -- is why Pelosi is still coming up short.
The House Democratic whip said yesterday he does not have the 216 votes necessary to pass the Senate health bill. In order to get there, he, Nancy Pelosi, and Steny Hoyer must flip some of the 39 House Democrats who voted No on the House bill last November to Yes. The latest whip count is here.
You'll note that not a single Democrat who voted No in November is counted under the "Lean Yes" or "Firm Yes" column. Meanwhile, there are 35 "Lean Nos" and "Firm Nos," and 72 "Undecided" members. The maximum number of Democratic defections is 37. The health care bill can be defeated.
Rep. Joe Donnelly, in an interview with his home paper, says he'd rather take the health-care bill piece by piece, and confirms he is a Stupak Democrat:
