Obama can't hurry fast enough to sign a bill, one he won't even read, for health care reform. But for Afghanistan, Obama won't make a decision to save a life, a life of soldier fighting by his orders in Afghanistan.

News You Can Use:

Congress (the Democrats) are raising the national debt ceiling to $13 trillion. They just raised it to $12 trillion 6 months ago. The Democrats are burning through a trillion dollars of deficit spending every six months! That's what the Democrats mean when they say they have to have "Something for the children", Sure they do, the bill.

Bush left office with a $10 trillion dollar debt, $5 trillion more then when he took office 8 years ago. Obama will add $3 trillion more to the debt before his first year in office ends.

Tough Love:

The big news last night was the White House slashing the salaries of Wall Street executives. If the executive didn’t listen, or thought they could bully the government, there should be consequences.  If banks are more into making profits than making sensible loans to the middle class, then there should be some tough love—like cutting their salaries in half.  

What was laughable were the excuses given by banking executives. “We will lose all our good talent.” was one excuse.  Well, where in the hell will these top-paid executives who caused the economy go south go?  Answer: To another bank who also has to cut the salaries of their executives.  There will be no talent drain, just musical chairs.

Then there are the crocodile tears about losing half of an executive’s salary. (That is going from a 38 million dollar salary to a 19 million dollar salary.)  Next they are going to say that they cannot live on a 19 million dollar salary.  Sorry, no sympathy here. If you would have made loans in the first place, like you were supposed to do, maybe tough love would not have been necessary.

BTW: It was a very smart move for the Obama administration to allow small banks to loan money to small businesses. Small businesses are the country’s economic backbone and this act alone will reduce the unemployment and help get the economy moving again.


CW: Conventional Wisdom is Correct about Half the Time:

Conventional wisdom says the minority party (the Republicans) should attack, vote “No”, and be oppositional to the majority party (the Democrats).  The Republicans are following that dictum to the hilt.

But CW is often wrong. What should the Republicans do for their own survival? Yes, I do mean survival. The solution is an alien thought to Republicans so I feel pretty safe in giving a great big clue.  There are two parts to the clue: 1) Start working on behalf of the American people instead of a flawed ideology, and 2) Cooperation works better than competition.  It is not a surprise that women understand cooperation better than men. Case in point: Olympia Snowe.  By negotiating and working with the opposition, you gain respect and votes…and that is why Olympia will be the Senator of Maine for a long, long time.  Can Republicans learn to cooperate?  Only the smart ones.

Pat and Clara: I miss your thoughtful posts.  Those creative juices will return soon.

Morsels & Tidbits:

Uh oh!  Chuck looks like we’re going to get to see your ‘baby face’.  I would like to suggest you shave the goatee on The Week Ahead to debut your ‘new’ look. Just a thought!

Can’t wait to see WHAT the spoon fed talking point de jour will be from the right wing lunatics today!  The Nixon thing yesterday was soooo obvious & lame!

Just when we thought it was safe… out ‘pop’s the cowardly DRAFT DODGER to scare the cr@p out of the neocons!  Taking advice from the Dick on war strategy would be like going to your mechanic for bypass surgery!

If Dick is such a HAWK?  Why was he begging & whining to extend his Secret Service detail?  After all he’s got he’s got his Lizard (aka the spawn of Satan) to protect him!

Typical Republican’t… all tough talk…NOTHING to back it up!

We NEED to elect MORE Democrats like Alan Grayson who’s not afraid to get into the whack job’s faces and tell it like it is! They sure can ‘sling’ it but suck as ‘catchers’!

Harry Reid needs a ‘spine’ transplant!

I wish the GEENOPEE all the luck in the world  ‘re-energizing’ their ‘base!  That would be ALL 20 %! Lots of luck with those numbers!  ;0) lol lol lol

Loved Larry O’ on Morning Joke this morning – he sure knows how to ‘push’ Jokes buttons!  lol lol lol


___________________

I seriously can not find a job.  I look every day.  I've been to all the fast-food joints.  There is nothing remotely close to my house.  I am hurting.  I look on line.  I walk door-to-door to all the businesses in my area.  There is nothing


Willing to Work (Sent Wednesday, October 21, 2009 11:12 AM)
____________________

Cry me a river… boo freakin hoo!

Here’s a clue:  Maybe if you did what you CLAIM to above instead of blogging on FR BETWEEN the hours of 8 & 5 you MIGHT find something!

Ever hear of regular ‘business’ hours?  Save your BS because I’m not buying it for a minute!

I have ZERO patience or compassion for either a blatant liar, RNC paid blogger or a ditto-head!

*** Collins/Gingrich vs. Club for Growth/Dick Armey: A conservative Republican emails First Read that Dick Armey is heading up to New York-23 today to endorse conservative third-party candidate Doug Hoffman over the more moderate GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava, who has been backed the Susan Collinses of the world but also by Newt Gingrich. “Tea partiers from all over the country going to help GOP leadership
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PLEaeeeeese
Check the website for the Tea partiers there aren't very many signing up despite the FOX infomercials.

A warning to the “dopes of nope” (whiners) who seem intent to flood our comment section with FOX-IFICATIONS. Save your keystrokes.  All it does is show  how slavish and truly brainwashed you are with your meaningless, distorted data and hollow threats; dopes!

Is Obama going to take a 90% paycut and force members of Congress to take a paycut too?

They are not performing well and they are the recipients of the biggest bailout there is... US Taxpayer money.

I would rather get a root canal after spending six hours at the DMV!!
Pam, San Pedro, California

You just described ObamaCare.

So, the Treasury Department is expected in the next few days to order companies that received huge government bailouts last year to slash the base salaries of their top executives by an average of 90 percent and cut their total compensation in half.  I’m sure many Americans are just fine with that and it’s not hard to understand why.  But that doesn’t make it right.

Let’s set aside for the moment the issue of the culpability of government for getting us into this economic mess in the first place: lax oversight; a central bank that kept interest rates too low for too long, thereby fueling the easy money lending frenzy that ultimately collapsed; and of course the Barney Franks of the world who for years had been pressuring financial institutions to loosen their lending standards so that more folks could achieve the American dream of home ownership.

Set all that aside, if you can, and just ponder what government is doing to us now.  The specter of government entering the boardrooms of corporate America and dictating how much folks can be paid is deeply troubling.  The danger is that now that government has started doing this sort of thing, the slippery slope looms large.  More to the point, any assessment of how much compensation is ‘too much’ is a value judgment that is heavily influenced by the biases of those making the assessment.  And that makes it a political football subject to the whims of whoever is in power at the moment.

In today’s climate, the phrase ‘populist retribution’ is written all over that football.  But while it may make us feel better to extract our pound of flesh from Wall Street today, we need to be wary about whose flesh will be on the cutting board tomorrow.  Because in a free society, every American should have the opportunity to maximize their compensation up to the limit that the market will bear.  In a free society we want folks to be rewarded for their skills, not fearful that a whimsical government may one day cast its wandering gaze on their salary.

That wouldn’t be a good thing.  In fact, it would be chilling. And that’s why the government should get out of the compensation business and let the market determine how much private sector companies should pay their people.

Dear Mr. President,

Where is the "deficit-neutral" healthcare you promised? MSNBC reports "As McConnell’s office points out, this contradicts Obama’s stated health-care goal about reducing costs."

There are no provisions in the Constitution allowing President Obama to dictate the salaries of executives of private corporations and if permitted to do so, nothing will stop the government from enacting price controls shortly thereafter. Obama and Congress have no Constitutional authority to compel people to buy health insurance or any other goods and services. The power to tax for the purpose of creating revenue for the operation of government is NOT the same as mandating compulsory purchase of insurance, or anything for that matter.

Obama’s frightening proliferation of “czars” and other bureaucrats outside the auspices of Congressional scrutiny and beyond the reach of the ballot box is cause for serious concern. Surrender more of your freedoms for the warm, fuzzy protections of cradle-to-grave socialism. The Left shrieked at the perceived infringement of our Constitutional rights by the Bush Administration in exchange for protection from terrorism, but the Left has no problem whatsoever ceding these freedoms in exchange for costly social welfare benefits from the Obama Administration.

The Obama Administration is in a hurry to put these health care changes through because as soon as people realize what a raw, unconstitutional power grab this is, they will launch challenges against it, as is already happening. Despite Obama’s army of internet brownshirts who shout down critics and a generally sycophantic liberal media, people understand their liberties are being eroded under the guise of a perverse notion of fairness.

Vilifying the Republican Party and retroactively ascribing blame for all current problems to President Bush may buy President Obama some time but eventually the accountability will reside with the Obama Administration. Let Gibbs rant and rave about unsympathetic news outlets and anti-Obama editorials but when your point a finger Mr. Gibbs, three point back at you. Obama’s ineptitude and constant vacillation on the issues has caused this backlash from the disagreeing elements in the media, internet and the silent majority. The American people do not want to live under a dictatorship run by condescending, erudite Ivy League eggheads.

So keep printing money Mr. President, it won’t help the unemployed, but it sure facilitates the Democrat facade of appearing to helping the downtrodden.  For example: 10/22/09- “The U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits rose 11,000 to 531,000 in the week ended Oct. 17. The median estimate of economists surveyed by MarketWatch was for claims to be 510,000.” Those 600,000 jobs your Administration claimed they would create this summer sure would have helped. But it is the thought that counts, thus Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. I will buy my little nephew a chemistry set, maybe he will get the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for what he MIGHT discover.

Jobless claims up again, more then expected. Good thing Obama is focused on limiting exec pay at bailed out companies rather then on unemployment. Wouldn't want Obie working on a real problem or anything.

So what the GOp got locked out. BIG F^%$#ing Deal! They were only going vote "NO" anyhow. Nothing ventured; noting gained.
A warning to the “dopes of nope” (whiners) who seem intent to flood our comment section with FOX-IFICATIONS. Save your keystrokes.  All it does is show  how slavish and truly brainwashed you are with your meaningless, distorted data and hollow threats; dopes!
-

Obama has done NOTHING.

The GOP just does not get it. Instead of realizing that supporting a MODERATE GOP in local/national elections ie., upstate N.Y. the right wingers like Armey continues to reinforce the stupidity of catering to less than 25% of the base.

Wisconsin is WI. I don't know which state is WS.

FOX NEWS LIE OF THE DAY

Remember the Nancy Pelosi Marsh Mice and the high speed rail from Disneyland to Las Vegas lies?

I knew you would! :P

Confronted with the truth, Hannity refused to back down from debunked mouse, LA-Vegas rail falsehoods

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/02/14/fox-mouse-fact-check/

*** Also as part of our focus on women: On MSNBC at 3:00 pm ET, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
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I'd rather watch Andrea Mitchell interviews  Speaker Nancy Pelosi than MICA meager, (skimpy, inadequate)   ideas  Brenshezski.

So, Darth Cheney says the Obama Administration needs to stop "dithering" on Afghanistan and "do what it takes to win."

Really?

Mr. Cheney, when you were Vice President, what did you do to win in Afghanistan?

<crickets>

Well, it would appear that HCR will actually be sort-of-deficit-neutral now that the Medicare cuts freeze bill failed...no thanks to Reid and Co.  It's good to see the moderates taking the lead on this.

HA! West coast observer. Usually too late to comment but I happened to be up at this hour.

Is Daggett the next Jesse Venture? Corzine is the unpopular incumbent, Christie is the Republican with no vital plans and is under investigation for expense account abuse. In a 'hold your nose and vote' scenario, can Daggett come from behind and win just as Ventura did in Minnesota? Be careful what you wish for since that didn't turn out to be such a good thing.

Democrats will probably give up on Virginia; no surprise, but will take New Jersey and districts in New York as the Republicans eat their own.

President Obama  signs into law the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act. Kudo s for another campaign promise fulfilled. The law “will make the money for Veterans Affairs dependable by taking that portion of money out of the Beltway budget battle and allow the agency actually to plan. This aims to protect veterans’ medical programs from interruptions in funding when Congress is late passing a budget bill - as it has been for 20 of the last 23 years.

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Blame Bush for the last 8 years!

What good does it do to cap executive pay when they're allowed to reap millions in bonuses?  Millions of taxpayer money, that is.  Just smoke-and-mirrors to try and cover up Obie's corruption.

Obama spends an inordinate amount time demonizing a few executives at some companies he chose to bailout. In total, Obama may reduce the pay of executives by maybe a few hundred million dollars. That while unemployment is causing the government to lose hundreds of billions of dollars because of lost tax revenue. So where does Obama spend his time? Not on solving the unemployment problem, but instead he rants against Fox News, demonizes insurance companies, and try's to limit executive pay at a few companies (is that even legal?).

Who are they going to get to run AIG for less than $200k per year? I understand the general outrage that the US bailed out the company, but now we've got a $180b dollar investment into a company that won't be able to hire a single talented senior exec. Couple that with having Congress constantly looking over their shoulder and every move making it into the press, and no one will work for AIG or any other company with those pay restrictions. Good thinking Obama!

Hello, First Read.  Say, can you fellows help me with the meaning of the word 'dither'?  I say it means grabbing 4 draft deferements, while a friend says it means taking your eyes completely off a target, and substituting a completely different, irrelevant target.
I need help with this, as I am preparing to accuse the duely elected leader of this great country of 'dithering.
Thanks for your help.

I could be wrong, but I believe Joe Scarboro said the Bush white house forbade appearances on MSNBC.  Not sure if this is correct, but it certainly would not be hard to believe.

Wisconsin is WI. I don't know which state is WS.
ChuckInSeattle


WS is one of the 57 states Obama has visited. Obama likes WS very much because, like him, it's motto is "State of Denial".

The Dow at 10,000 last week does not mean anything. They manipulate the stock market with high speed computers buying stocks pushing the market and manipulating it to make more money for themselves. I would not trust the stock market right now no matter how they try to manipulate it, I have lost alot of money in the stock market like millions of other people, and we should know by now we are playing a losing game. These people are too smart, the wall st. crooks are the very brightest-- "remember" the brightest at being "crooks."

RE: Health insurance reform.

Where did the teabaggers go? It becomes clearer each day that health care reform will pass WITH a public option. This is a great day in history that isn't just about whether I will be able to live longer. It's about a shift in the political and philosophical foundations of the country.

Change is scary. It's hard and is often seen as the enemy until we're much further down the road (see Medicare). But when enough people recognize it is necessary, then politicians should do what is right and what they were elected to do and make it happen.

My prediction: The first Republican who realizes that health care reform is necessary will be a hero (Well, after Olympia Snowe, but even she is still on the fence). I mean, can you imagine a hard line Republican who finally opens their mind and says, 'you know, maybe there is something to this health care reform worth getting behind'.

You wana be a rock star? Give the PEOPLE what they want.

FR: The great American health-care fight: Staying with health care, Senate Minority Leader McConnell’s office brings to our attention a new Gallup poll, which finds that “Americans have become more likely to say the costs their family pays for healthcare will get worse if a healthcare bill passes.” As McConnell’s office points out, this contradicts Obama’s stated health-care goal about reducing costs.
---------------------------------------------------

You FR people seemed unhappy with the recent Washington Post poll that showed a whopping 57% majority of the public favored an insurance plan created by the government.

But you seem to like this Gallup poll much better, probably because it fits the almighty narrative that Mitch McConnell et. al. have written for you to recite.

But what you apparently did NOT like about the Gallup poll, because you didn't mention it, is that the total percentage of respondents who say HCR will either not affect or will lower their health care costs is 49% -- EXACTLY the same as the percentage who thought their health care costs would rise.

But to you, the most important thing is that the Gallup poll "contradicts" Obama -- if you're selective in how you report what the poll actually says.

GREAT AMERICAN HEALTH CARE?

It's not the great American health care fight, it the great Obama Healthcare Takeover Plan, designed to ruin the lives of the elderly, strip your doctor from you and leave America with a traumatic doctor shortage. Long lines at medical centers and emergency rooms will also add to the death toll.

And now Pelosi wants to ring up another "stimulas" but she doesn't want to refer to it with the same name since the first one was a big, big, big, big slap in the face to the current administration, meaning it failed.

Man, didn't we say a long time ago that Obama/Reid/Pelosi don't know their collective butts from a toadhole in the ground. We were right all along.

Keep in mind that Obie will tell you the opposite just like he said about so many other frikkin' things that never happened or failed. You can't believe the chosen, "frozen" one anymore. You never could in the first place. He's juat makes promises that he knows won't happen.

"Frozen" means he's basically stuck in the mud with no direction, unable to make a decision, But we all know that, don't we?




Radical Prez
Tombstone Shadow
Fortunate Son ... and the rest.

God bless Dick Cheney. Keep talking sir. Love how you get the libs panty's in a bunch. LOVE IT

I wish the GEENOPEE all the luck in the world  ‘re-energizing’ their ‘base!  That would be ALL 20 %! Lots of luck with those numbers!  ;0) lol lol lol
Fiesty Retard

The thing is independents like myself are sick of both parties.  They both are drunk with power when they get it and they both spend tax payer money with no thought of the future.  I can't predict what will happen but if credible third party candidate emerges who promotes fiscal responsibility and is in the mainstream on social issues there will be a substantial amount of support waiting for them.

Interesting, McDonnell may be a moderate.  How did he get past the "cleansing" machine of the Club for Growth?  Probably because Virginia has changed, it has rejected the extreme views of the far right.  I don't think the NJ or VA races points to a swing right for the nation.  As for winning in either, the GOP will be touting that for weeks as a referendum on Pres Obama and democratic leadership but a new poll finds that in a generic race, 51% of voters will vote for the democrat and only 39% for the republican.  Also the Washington Post/ABC poll shows a decline from 25 to 20% of people identifying themselves as republicans.  That's hardly a movement toward regaining power.  

FR has picked up on Rachel's report about the NY 23rd district race--this is one to watch because it points out the battle between two elements of the GOP.  If the extreme right wins, it may signal doom for the republican party nationwide.  Most Americans have rejected the extreme views of the Club for Growth and in fact, find them disturbing.

Enjoyed Elizabeth Warren's take on the WH's decision--arrogance on the part of these bailed out companies to think they are entitled to huge salaries and huge bonus packages.  What baffles me is Congressional republicans are saying the US should completely deregulate the banking system--talk about dumb and dumber.  Proof that stupidity begots stupidity; that a complete lack of any economic sense by the GOP.  That's how we got into this mess.  Time to demand to put Glass Steagall and other regulations back on the legislative books.  These banks can't seem to control themselves, why should we give them our money either individually or as tax payer funded bailouts.

The Veteran's bill is common sense in action and should have been done years ago.  One more of President Obama's campaign promises checked off and done.  

Here’s a clue:  Maybe if you did what you CLAIM to above instead of blogging on FR BETWEEN the hours of 8 & 5 you MIGHT find something!
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You're right!  Then when he gets a job, he can spend all of his time on the job blogging like you do instead of doing any actual work.

Obama can't hurry fast enough to sign a bill, one he won't even read, for health care reform. But for Afghanistan, Obama won't make a decision to save a life, a life of soldier fighting by his orders in Afghanistan.

AZ Voter (Sent Thursday, October 22, 2009 9:29 AM)
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Bush left office with a $10 trillion dollar debt, $5 trillion more then when he took office 8 years ago. Obama will add $3 trillion more to the debt before his first year in office ends.
John Allen, Union City CA (Sent Thursday, October 22, 2009 9:30 AM)
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Union John
Bush squandered the surplus check out the CBO for the next ten years.
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Bush AZ Voter
the president is the CIC and does need to listen to war mongers like Haliburton/KBR/XE and Lockheed Martin lining up to grab their largess for their shoddy work.

A warning to the “dopes of nope” (whiners) who seem intent to flood our comment section with FOX-IFICATIONS. Save your keystrokes.  All it does is show  how slavish and truly brainwashed you are with your meaningless, distorted data and hollow threats; dopes!

I love the way the media ignores all the progress that the Obama Administration is making in negotiations with Iran.

After flogging Senator Obama for a year for being "naive" enough to think that he could actually "talk" to nations and leaders we don't agree with, after the President does just that and gets positive results, barely a PEEP from the smug and all knowing "media".

Not even a mention of Iran releasing a long held Newsweek reporter from custody - just like Roxanna Saberi was released . . . seems like the "Axis of Evil" is responding pretty well to diplomacy.

More crow for the "pundits".

====================================
Iranian officials accept draft deal on uranium

transferhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/21/AR2009102100636.html?hpid=moreheadlines


Maziar Bahari Released
The NEWSWEEK reporter and filmmaker had been detained in Iran since the June elections.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/218283

Don't ya just love a good cat fight,Newt vs Dick Army,Army and his Army at "Freedomworks"(you know the guy that has paid all those baggers to ride on his bus from town to town,causing a ruckus at the hall meetings),where Dick hides behind his phony republiklan support team,and Newt,the once boy wonder of the part,round one about to start.Meowwwwww.Tea anyone?But get there early,we all know that republiklans are good at sending others to fight there battles,so this one might be over before they sing the anthem.Here pussy,pussy......

First thoughts: McDonnell vs. GOP Posted: Thursday, October 22, 2009 9:22 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: First Thoughts From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** McDonnell vs. the GOP: With Bob McDonnell (R) comfortably leading Virginia’s gubernatorial race, according to the polls, some national Republicans are eagerly anticipating the outcome -- even arguing that a GOP win could sidetrack health-care reform, because Republicans will have won a key battleground state (maybe by a wide margin) that Obama carried last fall. But if you carefully look at the ads McDonnell is airing in Virginia, they really don’t gibe with message we’re hearing from many Republicans. One McDonnell ad features Democrat Sheila Johnson, who calls McDonnell a “bipartisan leader who gets results.” Another ad touts the Republican’s desire to boost transportation and infrastructure spending (something we really didn’t hear from the GOP the stimulus debate). And another ad has McDonnell talking to the camera, saying that 90% of his measures in the Virginia legislature “passed with strong bipartisan support.”

*** The middle or the base? So while it’s true that McDonnell has whacked Creigh Deeds (D) on health care, cap-and-trade, and card check, much of McDonnell’s success so far has come by tacking to the middle -- which is standard fare for campaigns normally, and yet not all that consistent with what we’re hearing from many Republicans nationally. Of course, the big issue Republican strategists are excited about regarding this race is the issue of taxes and spending. They think it's the one TRUE trend taking place in Virginia that can be extrapolated nationally. But here's the big caveat on McDonnell: He didn't have a primary, so he had the luxury of being able to straddle the middle and the base, which brings us to...

*** Collins/Gingrich vs. Club for Growth/Dick Armey: A conservative Republican emails First Read that Dick Armey is heading up to New York-23 today to endorse conservative third-party candidate Doug Hoffman over the more moderate GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava, who has been backed the Susan Collinses of the world but also by Newt Gingrich. “Tea partiers from all over the country going to help GOP leadership and Gingrich feeling the heat,” this conservative Republican says. As we have pointed out before, the Scozzafava-Hoffman split could very well result in the Democrat, Bill Owens, winning this race, which would be the first time a Democrat has controlled this congressional seat since the 19th century (!!!). This is NOT the extrapolation the Republicans want to see in 2010, but this fight in NY-23 is a good preview of what we may see in GOP primaries all over the country in 2010.

*** Pound of (greenback) flesh: Leaving the 2009 horse races, there seems to be bipartisan agreement in the Obama administration’s decision to radically cut the pay of executives at the firms who received the most (and still have the most) bailout funds. This was all about optics, as last week's Dow 10,000 seemed to jump start the "is Wall Street recovering at the expense of Main Street?" narrative. So the admin is getting their pound of flesh. Of course, in practical terms, what will this pay cut do? Will it change the behavior at Wall Street firms who no longer have government bailout money? Unlikely. Will it feed the narrative of government intervention? Maybe (but notice most Republicans aren't eager to defend the bankers right now). Will it bring attention to all of the TARP money that has NOT been paid back? Most definitely, and that's something that always seems to anger the public.

*** What’s up, docs? The other big political news -- as it relates to the health-care debate -- was yesterday’s defeat in the Senate of a $247 billion measure that would have imposed a freeze in cuts in Medicare payments to doctors. Per The Hill, “The setback immediately raised questions among fellow Democrats over [Senate Majority Leader] Reid’s handling of healthcare reform strategy and gave Republicans an opening." As it turns out, 13 Dems joined the Republicans to vote against this effort. The 13 Dems come from the predictable red/purple states or the moderate/conservative wing of the party, including: Sens. Byron Dorgan (ND), Robert Byrd (WV), Kent Conrad (ND), Joe Lieberman (ID-CT.), Jon Tester (MT), Jim Webb (VA), Mark Warner (VA), Ron Wyden (OR), Herb Kohl (WS), Russ Feingold (WS) Bill Nelson (FL), Evan Bayh (IN), and Claire McCaskill (MO). It's just another example of how difficult it is for the Democrats to find 60 votes, let alone 50, when it comes to anything regarding fiscal issues these days. By the way, some are wondering why Reid brought this bill to the floor if he did KNOW he had the votes? Was this done on purpose to signal House Dems of his issues? Was he trying to send a message? There may be more to this decision by Reid than folks realize. And quick question about the eventual health care conference committee fight: Will some Dems (particularly in the House) demand to know IN ADVANCE who is on the conference committee before committing to vote?

*** The great American health-care fight: Staying with health care, Senate Minority Leader McConnell’s office brings to our attention a new Gallup poll, which finds that “Americans have become more likely to say the costs their family pays for healthcare will get worse if a healthcare bill passes.” As McConnell’s office points out, this contradicts Obama’s stated health-care goal about reducing costs.

*** Congressional lock out: We clipped this story yesterday, but it bears repeating and it's getting a lot of follow-up today in the other insider publications: "Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) locked Republicans out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee room to keep them from meeting when Democrats aren’t present.” This kind of story only feeds the narrative how ridiculous Congress looks to the rest of the country. Remember, Towns only got control of this committee when Henry Waxman gave up this gavel to take over the Commerce Committee. And some Dems are wondering, quietly, whether Towns has control of this committee, a la Waxman. It doesn’t appear so. Incidents like this should bring more attention to the very dysfunctional way Congress operates -- no matter which party is in charge. This committee/subcommittee system coupled with seniority, etc. has helped create a branch of government that is less trusted than any other branch, and it's not even close.

*** A pox on both houses, Part 2: Yesterday, we noted GOP pollster Glen Bolger’s analysis of a Democracy Corps (D) poll, which showed (in part) that Democratic issue-perception problems were growing while the Republicans’ were fading. Per Bolger, it was evidence that this is no longer becoming a “pox on both houses” political environment. The Democracy Corps folks, however, disagree. While they don’t quibble that Democrats will probably lose House seats, especially in the South and in districts that McCain carried in 2008, they point out that the Republican Party’s fav/unfav remains near all-time lows. “Put simply, the Republican Party is as unpopular as they have ever been and the internal dynamics of their party will only serve to reinforce this unpopularity with the middle of the electorate.” Speaking of the "pox on both houses" rhetoric, don't miss the latest NJ GOV poll showing Daggett hitting 20% for the first time in ANY poll. Smart strategists have been telling us that any result in NJ that includes Daggett nabbing 20% is a message to BOTH parties -- particularly since it's so hard to even FIND Daggett on the ballot. It will mean voters were motivated to send a message to BOTH parties: clean up your act!

*** The women of 2010: As part of the NBC/MSNBC focus this week on women, First Read takes a look today at some of the female candidates to watch in next year’s midterms. On Monday, we mentioned three women running for governor -- Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) of Texas, Alex Sink (D) of Florida, and Meg Whitman (R) of California -- who, if they win, could be presidential or vice-presidential possibilities in 2012 and 2016. But here are some other names to watch: Kelly Ayotte (running for the open Senate seat in New Hampshire), Robin Carnahan (running for the open Senate seat in Missouri), Jane Norton (running for Senate in Colorado), Sue Lowden (running to challenge Harry Reid in Nevada), and Mary Fallin (running for governor of Oklahoma). With the exception of Carnahan, all of these women will most likely face primaries next year. But if they win, they’ll all become familiar names to political junkies next fall. And for the GOP, who have their best lineup of women running for Senate than they've had in years (perhaps ever), it's a BIG chance for them to diversify their image.

*** Also as part of our focus on women: On MSNBC at 3:00 pm ET, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

*** Obama’s day: At 2:15 pm ET from the White House, the president signs into law the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act. Per the White House, this fulfills a promise Obama made on the campaign trail. The law “will make the money for Veterans Affairs dependable by taking that portion of money out of the Beltway budget battle and allow the agency actually to plan. This aims to protect veterans’ medical programs from interruptions in funding when Congress is late passing a budget bill - as it has been for 20 of the last 23 years.” Also today, the president meets with U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry (at 10:00 am), Speaker Nancy Pelosi (at 12:30 pm), Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner (at 3:15 pm), and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (at 3:45 pm).

Countdown to Election Day 2009: 12 days
Countdown to MA Special Primary: 47 days
Countdown to MA Special Election: 89 days
Countdown to Election Day 2010: 376 days

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Comments
Obama can't hurry fast enough to sign a bill, one he won't even read, for health care reform. But for Afghanistan, Obama won't make a decision to save a life, a life of soldier fighting by his orders in Afghanistan. AZ Voter (Sent Thursday, October 22, 2009 9:29 AM)

News You Can Use:

Congress (the Democrats) are raising the national debt ceiling to $13 trillion. They just raised it to $12 trillion 6 months ago. The Democrats are burning through a trillion dollars of deficit spending every six months! That's what the Democrats mean when they say they have to have "Something for the children", Sure they do, the bill.

Bush left office with a $10 trillion dollar debt, $5 trillion more then when he took office 8 years ago. Obama will add $3 trillion more to the debt before his first year in office ends. John Allen, Union City CA (Sent Thursday, October 22, 2009 9:30 AM)

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Just think how bad it would've been if Georgie inherited 2 wars, an economy almost as bad as the great depression, and a slew of questionably unconstitutional presidential actions to reverse.  

Not to mention our current president inherited 1.2 trillion dollar deficit.  See the link below.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/cost-of-the-bush-era-11-point-5-trillion.aspx



When President Obama took office, the deficit was 10.6 trillion, not 10 trillion.

The current deficit is 12.9 trillion, which means in 9 months (3 months short of a year his tenure started about this time in January) in an amazingly dire economy, the president is responsible so far for 300 billion in deficit spending.

I could be wrong, but I believe Joe Scarboro said the Bush white house forbade appearances on MSNBC.  Not sure if this is correct, but it certainly would not be hard to believe.
Drive-By Observer

The Bush WH focused their attention on news outlets with more then 7 viewers.

Hello, First Read.  Say, can you fellows help me with the meaning of the word 'dither'?  I say it means grabbing 4 draft deferements


Hey libs, I would drop the 'draft deferment' line of attack if I were you.  Biden had 5, as many as Cheney did.

Here’s a clue:  Maybe if you did what you CLAIM to above instead of blogging on FR BETWEEN the hours of 8 & 5 you MIGHT find something!

I have ZERO patience or compassion for either a blatant liar, RNC paid blogger or a ditto-head!
Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL (Sent Thursday, October 22, 2009 9:31 AM

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
YEAH! Stop stealing valuable bandwidth from the Obama Amen Choir.

You RNC paid trolls don't make nearly the money the Soros MoveOn and ACORN AFL/CIO Ballot Stuffers Union Local 69 make. Get a real job!

Millionaire Michael Moore is looking for some sad-sack extras for his next Bolshevik blockbuster!

So what the GOp got locked out. BIG F^%$#ing Deal!


So you'd feel the same way if Dems were locked out by the GOP?  

From and earlier thread:
So keep printing money Mr. President, it won’t help the unemployed, but it sure facilitates the Democrat facade of appearing to helping the downtrodden.  For example: 10/22/09- “The U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits rose 11,000 to 531,000 in the week ended Oct. 17. The median estimate of economists surveyed by MarketWatch was for claims to be 510,000.” Those 600,000 jobs your Administration claimed they would create this summer sure would have helped. But it is the thought that counts, thus Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. I will buy my little nephew a chemistry set, maybe he will get the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for what he MIGHT discover.
The Kwyjibo
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Instant gratification for Bushnomics isn’t happening babe. You could have saved your rant. Didn't your party screw up the world’s economy? Appears as though you're still in denial. Still hating on the President's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize I see. Well hot damn! The GOP is at an all time low and damn near in the toilet (where they belong) thank God. You people will stay there and I am so grateful that they Majority of America feel as I do.

Getting a lot of independents now…aren’t you. Many are ashamed to be associated with the GOP….

Very, very interesting, FR.  You most conveniently failed/refused to mention new unemployment claims surging to a much higher than expected 531,000. But MSNBC as an opinion piece and not as a news organization chooses to smear McDonnell in your commentary above.  The 2010 elections will rearrange your dental work so you will not be able to speak with a forked tongue.

Bill, Fairfax will probably hate this in spades, but it's only an idea.  Not saying it's a great one, but one that maybe should be examined:

Vaccines work by introducing just a small bit of the 'bad stuff' into a body.  The body then is able to work to prevent coming down with a huge case of the 'bad stuff' later.
Could it be that introducing just a little bit of the 'bad stuff', in this case, socialism, now might  prevent a huge case of it from becoming widespread later?  You know, like what happened to the Romanov family, or the Shah of Iran?

Just a thought......

Houston: You FR people seemed unhappy with the recent Washington Post poll that showed a whopping 57% majority of the public favored an insurance plan created by the government.


Whopping?

The numbers tank though when people were told that they'd be the ones paying a couple of thousands of dollars out of their pockets for the Option.

By the way, some are wondering why Reid brought this bill to the floor if he did KNOW he had the votes? Was this done on purpose to signal House Dems of his issues? Was he trying to send a message?

was he trying to send a message? we can hope.
My thoughts are that he was trying to get the physicians feeling better about HCR. Despite the polls showing a strong majority in support of the public option - if not the much better single-payer - there are many who feel it is the beginning of the end for them.
What better way to let them know that the Dem's are looking out for them and that the repubs and the DINOs aren't then to put up a bill that tells them we realize you aren't being compensated enough for your efforts.
i don't see a downside.

Blame Bush for the last 8 years!
Beverly in Chicago


Some lefty liberals, 20 years from now have so much hate for George W. Bush that will still be gray and blaming Bush.

For you weak minded green eyed whiners, get over it!

Your guy is in charge now. Nobody made him take the position. He spent millions trying in getting there. A record $$ amount to have the position.

He was a Senator during the Bush years, what did he do during that time, just like now, NOTHING!

Get out of the past, your hate fuels your anger, whining and complaining.

If your guy is any good, quit blaming someone else and lead.

Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, oooooooo-oooooo  scary! Tell them to leave me alone.

The GOP has been allowed here to rebrand and polish up Mr. McDonnel but he remains a graduate of the Pat R. school of nutty conservatism. Just like the Contract with America we will see after election that it is all smoke and mirrors.Mr Deeds beat Mr. McAuliffe in a primary which seems to have made some of the Democratic folks mad. They have somewhat withheld support and in some cases are openly campaining for his opponent and deriding his message even though to me it offers better long term solutions.Analysts want to lay this at Obama's feet when the real question should be why the chairman of the DNC cannot provide enough support in his own state to at least make a better showing than they have. The ammunition was there it just hasn't been properly used.Democrats should look at this very closly so the same thing doesn't rear it's ugly head next year and they are left wringing thier hands and wondering what happened.

Willing to Work ~ You have my sympathies.  Being out of work is tough, and these are tough times for all of us.  No one who really wants to work should be made to suffer that indignity.

But perhaps instead of directing your bitterness toward President Obama, who genuinely wants to help you, you should direct your frustration toward the robber barons on Wall Street, who continue to profit off your misery, and one of whom said just the other day that it makes better economic sense for some people to be fabulously wealthy while the rest remain desperately poor.  

You know, he's probably right.  That worked in the slave economy, too.

Welcome to the new slave class.  

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