Without fear, the goal

“Becoming Fearless” is a new featured section in Huffington Post.  I discovered this because I follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter.  I also follow a few of her guest columnists, as well as Howard Fineman, her very fine editorial director.

Huffington is fearless.  I am not read-it-all consumer of The Huffington Post; it is just too much.  But I greatly admire the fact that the “HuffPo” has been so very successful at monetizing its popular website.  Ms. Huffington herself is a model of fearlessness when it comes to striding out.  So some reflections about “Becoming Fearless” seem in order.

First, Huffington is wealthy.  Note the tie-in with Arianna Huffington’s 2006 book of essays titled, On Becoming Fearless.... in Love, Work, and Life.  Find it at Amazon.com: Kindle edition–$8.99, hardcover-$4.40, paperback-$10.73.

Second, Huffington is careful.  Read the disclaimer at the bottom of the website page.

This website is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Third, the assumption is that women have more fears than men.  The Blog section features a list of current blog posts with 10 female writers and 6 male writers.  Look also at one of the the current Sponsored Links list.  It is two-thirds pitched towards women:

Fear of being fat - “Get Skinny By Summer” by www.DietRatings.org

Fear of being old - “53 Year Old Mom Looks 33” by www.consumerproducts.com

Fear of President Obama – “Romney vs Obama” by www.msn.com.  (AP photo copyrighted by Mary Schwalm)

Fourth, advertising aims at our emotions, including fear and anxiety.  Another sponsor list  for the Front Page sub section plays on the fears of readers:

Fear of being afraid - “3 Herbs that Beat Anxiety” by www.WiseLifestyles.com

Fear of identity theft - “LifeLock Official Site” to purchase their identity protection plan at www.Lifelock.com

Fear of being in the 99% forever - “Penny Stock Jumping 856%” at www.MyPennyStocks.com

Fifth, the Huffington Post Wants you to read as much as you can on their website.  Note the tie-in with HuffPo’s Healthy Living section, aka "Fear of Dying."  Here are that page’s sponsors:

Fear of Being fat - “5 Diet Pills that Work” at www.DietRatings.org

Fear of identity theft - “LifeLock Official Site” to purchase their identity protection plan at www.Lifelock.com

Fear of a heart attack – “Heart Attack Triggers” at www.Newsmax.com 

Sixth, sponsors want something for their investment.  So they maximize exposure to the product through advertising.  It might even be fun and beneficial:  Enter Toyota Corolla’s “Most Fearless Tweet” contest.

Official Rules:
1. To enter the Contest, you must first create a Twitter account. It's free! Go to Twitter.com for the how-tos.
2. Follow @HealthyLiving.
3. Tweet about fear or fearlessness in your own life by sending a tweet to @HealthyLiving and using the hashtag Third, notice the tie-in with Huffington’s 2006 book of essays On becoming Fearless. . . In Love, Work and Life. New from $4.40; Kindle $8.99.#becomingfearless. It's that easy!

Seventh, there is widespread assumption that we are more fearful than usual these days. For example, out of some sort of morbid fascination,  I have watched a good number of the Doomsday Preppers shows on the National Geographic channel. They are a really scary bunch who base their lives on preparing for the worst things that they imagine could happen.  Somehow I cannot imagine these folks ever reading the new Becoming Fearless section of the HuffPo.

It is hard to put into words

Because it feels like a very important day, I must try to express it, however feebly.  The health care bill signing ceremony at the White House is the occasion for my full heart.

Almost 5 years ago I started writing my blog, South by Southwest.  I had a lot to say then, not so much now.  And much of what I had to say about politics and the circumstances of my country was pretty negative.  I came to learn the meaning of the blogosphere term "rant."

In recent years I haven't had nearly as much reason to rant, because my party captured the leadership roles in Congress and the White House.  For whatever reason, I developed an internal calm about the potential well-being of our country with Democrats in power.

Today marks one of the reasons I had confidence.  It is the day that health care for all Americans becomes a right and no longer a privilege for the "haves."  It will need to wait on Senate reconciliation action this week to be in its more proper form.  But, even if it has to go back to the House for another vote, it will happen, because it was supposed to happen.  It is now high time.

On this bright morning President Obama dedicated the occasion to his late mother.  He also recognized many others from the past and present who had helped to make the long awaited new health care law possible. It came too late, however,  to help his mom and others in attendance who had lost loved ones before this momentous signing day. Let us hope that it has not come too late for "Natoma," who came to symbolize the plight of thousands of very ill people who do have not the benefit of health care insurance.

At last change has come however.  The promised change will happen incrementally, and with fits and starts.  It will be accompanied with hand wringing "No!"s by those motivated by loss of power, anger at "others" and fear of change.  Narrow visioned pundits will spend countless hours examining the miniscule bits of so-called "news," casting everything in the light of politics.  And members of my party will make many more mistakes as they try to do the right things and hold on to power at the same time.

In time, in other words, everyone will be exposed as merely human.  God bless us all.


[Post date - March 23, 2010.  Image credit: Wordle.net]


See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.

Blogs: My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. My creative website is at Making Good Mondays. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

Technorati tags: health care reform congress obama

WaPo provides chart on how House members might vote this weekend.

Chris Cillizza, who blogs at The Fix at The Washington Post  published a chart of how House Members, as of March 19th, are reportedly planning to vote. When health care reform reconciliation legislation is decided, possibly on Sunday, here is the segment of his report that pertains to my home state of Texas. Kudos to Chris for this information via a HootSuit tweet, which could prove very enlightening on Member motivations. 
Column heading key:

1. Current leaning
2. November 7 vote
3. Member name
4. Political party
5. State & District
6. Campaign contributions from health industry
7. Percentage of uninsured in District

1                    2            3                             4    5               6                 7

Yes	Yes	Green, Alexander N.	D	TX-9	$61,950		37.30%
No	No	Brady, Kevin Patrick	R	TX-8	$603,676		22.50%
No	No	Culberson, John Abney	R	TX-7	$302,709		17.60%
No	No	Barton, Joe Linus	R	TX-6	$2,976,021		23.30%
No	No	Hensarling, Jeb	R	TX-5	$262,327		25.80%
No	No	Hall, Ralph Moody	R	TX-4	$865,183		22.90%
No	No	Sessions, Pete	R	TX-32	$1,646,684	†	35.70%
No	No	Carter, John Rice	R	TX-31	$277,624		16.90%
Yes	Yes	Johnson, Eddie Bernice	D	TX-30	$173,580		38.40%
No	No	Johnson, Sam	R	TX-3	$78,752		24.00%
Yes	Yes	Green, Raymond Eugene	D	TX-29	$859,644		43.00%
Undecided	Yes	Cuellar, Henry Roberto	D	TX-28	$472,544		35.50%
Yes	Yes	Ortiz, Solomon Porfirio	D	TX-27	$157,180		32.00%
No	No	Burgess, Michael Clifton	R	TX-26	$1,461,373		21.10%
Yes	Yes	Doggett, Lloyd Alton	D	TX-25	$598,552		26.30%
No	No	Marchant, Kenny	R	TX-24	$109,400		20.50%
Yes	Yes	Rodriguez, Ciro D.	D	TX-23	$365,930		26.20%
No	No	Olson, Pete	R	TX-22	$96,519		19.60%
No	No	Smith, Lamar Seeligson	R	TX-21	$599,459	†	16.40%
Yes	Yes	Gonzalez, Charles A.	D	TX-20	$602,724		31.30%
No	No	Poe, Ted	R	TX-2	$293,850		21.50%
No	No	Neugebauer, Randy	R	TX-19	$310,330		22.60%
Yes	Yes	Jackson-Lee, Sheila	D	TX-18	$425,016		36.00%
No	No	Edwards, Thomas Chester	D	TX-17	$712,471		23.20%
Yes	Yes	Reyes, Silvestre	D	TX-16	$201,990		34.60%
Yes	Yes	Hinojosa, Rubén	D	TX-15	$416,650		36.60%
No	No	Paul, Ronald Ernest	R	TX-14	$1,135,934		24.00%
No	No	Thornberry, William McClellan	R	TX-13	$357,327	†	23.70%
No	No	Granger, Kay	R	TX-12	$511,652		25.70%
No	No	Conaway, K. Michael	R	TX-11	$336,752		27.00%
No	No	McCaul, Michael T.	R	TX-10	$187,134		20.80%
No	No	Gohmert, Louis Buller	R	TX-1	$409,419		25.50%

Red State Texas will not be helpful to Democrats' efforts to enact health care reform.  It looks pretty bleak for the Progressive Wing of the party, but not for an overall Democratic victory.  I am cautiously optimistic, and impatient for the outcome.

[Post date - 3/19/10]


Blogs: My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. My creative website is at Making Good Mondays. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

Health Care Reform: a work in progress for Congress

Congress is back in town this week. While they were away, however, the news and opinion resources I follow on Twitter have been busily posting on the issue of health care reform that currently dominates the legislative agenda.
 
But first -- Twitter posts, "tweets" are limited to 140 characters.  If you are not familiar with this great news resource, to begin, it can be a serious news site, depending upon whom you follow.  Second I recommend the site TweetDeck as a great way to organize your news gathering.  A couple of notes about the following news bullets:  RT = ReTweet (a repetition of an earlier post and a compliment to the originator).  All entries that begin with a hash mark (#), denote a Twitter search subject.  For example, #hcr stands for health care reform.  The phrase <@author's name> is who wrote a tweet/post.
 
Links to other articles begin with "http://. . . "  The posts are in chronological order:

Christopher Hayes* --chrislhayes Great RT @KimAbramson: will #HCR vary in how it's implemented State to State? #thebreakdown

Taegan Goddard -- pwire  Senate begins health care debate as new poll shows Americans "tilting against" the reform legislation... http://pwire.us/Vi

Matt Yglesias -- mattyglesias RT @wonkroom: Even if lawmakers do not take a day off until Christmas, Senate has just 25 days to pass bill before year's end. #hcr

McClatchy Newspaper -- McClatchyDC  Congress poised to clash over national debt http://bit.ly/84GxOA

John Dickerson -- jdickerson To get votes of Maine senators Harry Reid going to make "being flinty" a condition for which you get a $200 subsidy

Roll Call News -- rollcall GOP Rep: Health care bill's passage would be an '"internal" terrorist attack' http://bit.ly/obIuW

*chrislhayes $40b MORE per year than we're gonna spend on hc RT @marcambinder: DNI announces '09 intelligence budget: My unofficial total estimate: $130b

Karen Tumulty -- ktumulty best quote from interview i just did w john dingell: "insurance companies hate this like the devil hates holy water." #publicoption #hcr

In summary, public opinion ab out the need for reform has diminished.  Congress has less that one month of work days before year's end.  There is less and less of an appetite for government spending. The Intelligence budget is higher than HCR would be, however. Bipartisan support for reform is all but nonexistent.  Republicans and the health care industry are dead set in their blanket opposition.  So, we will see what happens.

[Post date November 30, 2009]

My all-in-one Home Page of websites where I post regularly: Carol Gee - Online Universe
Technorati tags: news news and politics congress twitter health care reform

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Posted via email from Southwest Postings

The state of the debate over health care reform is unclear following Saturday night's close Senate vote.

The future of the public option in any health care reform bill remains as a central question for progressives and for hometown public debate, even with the advent of the Thanksgiving holidays.  Senate floor debate resumes after the recess this week. 

Where senators stand -- Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark) supports the public option, according to Matt Yglesias.  Several conservative Democrats voted to bring the bill to the floor but would not vote for the bill in its present form, Reuters reports.  We learned from The Hill today that, "Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont says that there are many Democratic senators who would vote against a Senate bill lacking a strong public option."  Senate Whip, Dick Durbin (D-Ill) says he is open to changing the public option in order to pass the bill.  Colorado's Freshman Democratic Senator Michael Bennet has said that he is willing to lose his seat for his support of passage of the bill.

The White House and Democratic leaders will also be focusing on winning support for the bill from certain key Republicans, reports Carl Hulse in the Sunday New York Times.  As you might guess, the targets are the two senators from Maine, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe.

The immediate benefits of the law are not widely known; 14 provisions actually would kick in immediately upon passage.  Hat tip to "blackwaterdog" at Daily Kos for this good summary.  Despite that fact, according to the most recent Rasmussen poll, support for the Democrats' Health Care plan has fallen to a new low, 38% in favor.

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Posted via email from Southwest Postings

What the polls are saying these days is of passing interest to some --

Polls appear to be the only reality to others, particularly the mainstream media. For me they are an interesting snapshot of what people are feeling these days. They should not be taken as "the gospel truth," however. Popularity polls and approval ratings can vary widely from week to week, for example, while polls about deeply held beliefs will be more stable over time. The leaders depicted at Mount Rushmore achieved their popularity only after the lessons of history were learned and their achievements came into more realistic perspective.

People think President Obama is doing a bit better these days as the leader of the USA. The president's job approval rating increase is associated with his handling of a number of issues. Among them are the economy, unemployment, health care, terrorism, the budget deficit, taxes and the war in Afghanistan. The only decline was shown to be the war in Afghanistan. The headline, "Poll: Obama's approval rating jumps 6 percent," is from The Huffington Post (10/6/09). It regards a new AP poll. To quote:

President Barack Obama's approval ratings are starting to rise after declining ever since his inauguration, new poll figures show as the country's mood begins to brighten. But concerns about the economy, health care and war persist, and support for the war in Afghanistan is falling. . . The economy was the biggest concern, with 88 percent saying they consider it extremely or very important. . .

People think Congress is doing worse. And it is no wonder. August saw a Republican push for "tea party" demonstrations against health care reform, disrupted town hall meetings, and slow progress by the Senate Finance Committee. And both Democrats and Republicans are upset with Congress. The approval rating has fallen from 39% in March, to 31% last month, to 21% currently. "Approval of U.S. Congress falls to 21%, driven by Democrats," is the Gallup headline (10/6/09). To quote:

Congressional approval rose sharply in the months after President Obama's inauguration, from 19% in January to 31% in February and 39% in March. Approval then began to slip gradually, dipping to 31% by the end of the summer, before falling precipitously in October. Given the current 21% reading, it appears that any "honeymoon" period for the 111th Congress has eroded.

Poll results can vary by race. In this case it has to do with how well people feel the economic stimulus package worked to help the economy. The headline, "Poll:Stimulus views vary by race," is from Politico (10/6/09). To quote:

The poll, sponsored by New America Media, a corroboration of 2,500 ethnic media outlets, reported that less than 40 percent of whites, Hispanics and Native Americans said the stimulus has made the economy better, compared to 59 percent of African-Americans and 47 percent of Asian-Americans.

Among the overall sample of 1,000 respondents, 40 percent said the stimulus has made the national economy better.

“The American public currently believes that the stimulus package has not had a major impact on the national economy,” wrote pollster Sergio Bendixen in his analysis of the survey. “Only African-Americans believe that President Obama’s stimulus package ‘has made the economy better.’”

People are not optimistic about the war in Afghanistan. Many feel that the U.S. is bogged down in the region. The Presidential election results also may have fed the feelings of pessimism. "Americans expecting no resolution in Afghanistan," is the headline from CQ Politics (10/5/09). To quote:

Majorities of American adults think the war in Afghanistan cannot be won and that its most likely conclusion would be no conclusion at all, according to a poll by Clarus Research Group conducted Oct. 1-4.

To summarize, at the moment the President is up, and so are feelings about the economy (except for unemployment). Congress is down and so are feelings about the war in Afghanistan. It all could change next week, so stay tuned and remember polls are not reality.

Posted via email from Southwest Postings

Obama speech reactions - via Twitter

Image via CrunchBase

"Aim of Obama Health Speech: Reigniting a Presidency," is by Adam Nagourney of the New York Times (9/9/09). The reason we all read the NYT is because of its ability to analyze the news in a sophisticated and insightful manner. This piece leads my post today because Nagourney so effectively hit the make on President Obama's address to the joint session of Congress. See also, "Obama's Health Care Plan Builds on Others' Ideas," by Robert Pear and Jackie Calmes (another of my favorites) in the Money and Policy section of the Times.

"The Obama Health Care Speech," is a quick take by Karen Tumulty of Time Magazine's Swampland Blog (9/9/09), concluding with this key question, "Within the House Chamber, he has provided the guidance that lawmakers have been begging for. But the real question is this: Has Obama provided the reassurance it will take to bring back the rest of the country?" Tumulty's Tweet said poignantly, "Grief on Vicki Kennedy's face is enduring image of this speech."

"Obamacare 2.0," is by John Dickerson of Slate Magazine (9/9/09). One of my favorite reporters takes a rather skeptical look at the President's speech, but gives some credit where it is due. His cleverly compares the daunting task that Mr. Obama faces, that of putting health care in place, with the "ease of installation" that Steve Jobs provides with a his brand new Apple application. Also, Dickerson Tweets the link to the new White House health care plan website: "The Obama Plan: Stability & Security For All Americans."

"Morning Fix: First (and Second) Thoughts on Obama Address," is by Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post (9/10/09). Cillizza notes that Rep. Joe Wilson's unruly outburst will provide a much needed foil for the President. He also reported that the reaction from Blue Dog Dems is "more muted." See also, "First Thoughts," which is more expansive (9/9/09).

"A Passionate Appeal to Salvage the Impossible," is by Mike Lillis at The Washington Independent (9/9/09). This excellent article features quotes from the President's speech combined with tight little bits of background clarification. For example:

Early signs, however, indicate that the Republicans are ready to continue fighting the Democrats’ plans. When Obama took on the GOP myth that the Democrats’ proposal would cover illegal immigrants, for example, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) screamed, “You lie!” Responding for the GOP afterward, Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), a physician who’s accepted more than $1.2 million from health and insurance interests in the past five years, blasted the president’s vision with the popular conservative criticism that it proposes a government takeover of the nation’s health care system. And, most importantly, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), an influential member of the Gang of Six, issued a statement afterward saying she “would have preferred that the [public plan] were taken off the table.”

"Analysis: Obama speech to Congress unlikely to be game changer," is by Sam Youngman and Bob Cusack at The Hill (9/10/09). This piece was very heavy on characterizing the President's speech as offering nothing new and noting that Congress did not find a clear path in the speech as to how to proceed. The Hill's Mike Soraghan said that "Congress had its own rowdy town hall Wednesday," devoting his entire piece to the congressional audience reaction.

"The Speech: Obama defends health-care reform before joint session of Congress," is an excellent analysis, with points about the pros and cons of the speech, by Michael J.W. Stickings at The Reaction (9/9/09). Later Michael called the speech, "Obama at his finest" (9/10/09).

"My Take on Obama's Speech," is by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News (9/9/09). Stephanopoulos provided one of the best posts so far, including a thorough explanation of the specifics of the administration's plan, along with a nod to the very emotional tone of the President's address.

"Obama Shows His Progressive Spine," is by Katrina Van Den Heuvel at The Nation Magazine (9/9/09). Her analysis fits well with my own and concludes,

In many ways, it was Obama's fullest, most eloquent and formal defense of liberalism and the clearest exposition of his view of government's role. It was not the full-fledged antidote to Reagan's decades of government-is-the-problem conservative narrative. Yet Obama spoke eloquently of a new and progressive role for government. We must build on it.

There is work ahead to fulfill the promise of shaping a more humane and healthier future. But on the evening of September 9th, eight years after President George W. Bush spoke to a joint session of Congress, President Obama has set us on a path we must seize in the critical days and weeks ahead.

Twitter post script -- "Biggest disappointment of evening, the total lack of respect shown by one member for the President.Never acceptable to behave like a jerk;" a Tweet by Senator Claire McKaskill illustrates why I follow this fine legislator. Mark Knoller, CBS News White House Correspondent, does Twitter posts that offer a unique here-and-now writing style that has become an important part of my news scan every day. Click on his name to read his fascinating thread of news bites during the speech. Chris Hayes of The Nation Magazine blogs, "Does Joe Wilson Believe the President Was Actually Lying?" To quote the gist of his post:

(Quick review: deft explanation of the policy, a few unnecessary political concessions, extremely aggravating lefty-bashing, and genuinely fantastic inspirational finish). . . fascinating. There's been a ton of viral emails floating around the right-wing making the claim that the bill covers illegal immigrants, and talk radio has been whipping up the fervor as well. Wilson clearly thinks that is, indeed, the case. . . . that sums up the House GOP caucus. By and large it's made up of absolute and total wingnuts, people who are in ideology disposition and even function much more like talk show hosts or RedState commenters than they are legislators.

[post date - 9/10/09]

My all-in-one Home Page of websites where I post regularly: Carol Gee - Online Universe

Technorati tags: news news and politics

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"President-elect Barack Obama," a reprise

[Original post date - 11/5/08]--Today's reprise was chosen in order to remind all of us progressives how happy we were just after the 2008 election was over. And I want to emphasize that we might focus of the positives of his election occasionally, rather than our disappointments over the direction health care reform is taking. And we might fight for the kind of reform we want because we elected Barack Obama.

It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? It sounds very new and different; it is a "sea-change." Political reality today is not anything like it was yesterday. So many of us have waited such a long time for this moment, that it is a bit overwhelming.

This post's happy illustration photo was taken before the election. Barack Obama's election victory does not mean his situation gets any easier. Closeups on television during his acceptance speech last night showed that he has more gray hair now. And though his voice was strong, it was unusually subdued. No doubt it was due to the recent loss of his maternal grandmother, to exhaustion after a two-year campaign, and to the weight of the world descending on his slim shoulders.

The 2008 election marks the start of a welcome pendulum swing, a contemporary period of political transition from Right to Left. Moving from conservative to progressive, there is the potential for our people to move from reporting huge disappointment to speaking of a measure of satisfaction. It marks the bare beginnings of a better America, perhaps even a better world. That idea, it seems to me, was likely at the center of the floods of tears reported by so many of us in the blogosphere and seen on television. The origin of my own tears goes deeper than the historical circumstances of Obama's election. They have to do with hope for change and relief that a dark period is coming to an end.

"President-elect Obama" rings hollow, however, if you are a Republican on the losing side. Listening to Senator McCain's speech last night gave me just a bit of hope that his chastened party will be able, as one of them said, be able to move completely through the five stages of grief. It would be good if that happened, if Republicans could be cooperative, but I will not be holding my breath. Democrats made significant gains in both houses of Congress. However, with Democrats shy of the 60 votes needed to quiet permanent minority filibuster mode, recalcitrant Republicans can be a problem in the Senate. They will either get on board or stay angry; they will not be able to make a huge difference. The movement is larger than that, and it feels good to be a small part of it.

The nation is now marching to the beat of a different drummer. And it started immediately. For example, thousands of cheering folks marched on Pennsylvania Avenue to the "People's House" in Washington D.C. -- to the front of the White House, to the house where a new family and a new puppy will be moving in in 75 days or so. Upon reflection it makes me realize that the people in Washington were reclaiming the peoples' house for Obama. It was nothing like an insurrection, however. It was a notice that said, "We're still here!"

Democrats now hold down the winning side -- That unfamiliar phrase sounds like a big change, very new and unusual. Yesterday's election is a result of votes cast by many more change constituencies than mere Democrats. The chorus of new voices formed a strange coalition, Conservatives and Independents and Youth and College-educated and New Englanders and Southerners, etc., etc. The crowd celebrating in Chicago signaled that the new order begins with diversity and will continue with reconciliation. It was absolutely heartwarming to contemplate as our country moves towards the end of the first decade of the 21st century.

True to these modern "wired" times, our newly elected president's biography has already been updated in Wikipedia: Barack Hussein Obama II has entered the history books as the first African-American elected to the U.S. presidency. His family of origin celebrates in Kenya. President Obama and his family will move into the White House January 20, 2009.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo*" and Jon#.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics 2008 elections obama election day democrats republicans congress

See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.

Blogs: My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. My creative website is at Making Good Mondays. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

Some Thoughts On Health Care Reform

Re Speaker Pelosi -- As follow-up to my Posterous bit Thursday here, courtesy of Michael J.W. Stickings' tweet, is a Bloomberg story on what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning when Congress comes back into session. To quote: "U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she won’t be able to pass health-care legislation in her chamber if the measure doesn’t include a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers."

The only committee with work left to do is the Senate Finance Committee. What they are considering is some sort of nonprofit cooperative as the public option. The six "negotiators" planned to meet in Washington yesterday at 9:00 PM for about an hour and a half. These senators represent a very small number of the American people. Following are the 2008 estimated state population figures along with the percentage of the total U.S. population (source Wikipedia). The senators include:

• The Chairman Max Baucus (D-Montana, Est. pop: 967,440 - .31%)
  
• Charles Grassley (R-Iowa, Est. pop: 3,002,555 -.98%)
• Mike Enzi (R-Wyo, Est. pop: 532,668 - .17%)
• Olympia Snowe (R-Maine, Est. pop: 1,316,456 - .43%)
• Kent Conrad (D-N.Dakota, Est. pop: 641,481 - .21%)
• Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mex., Est. pop: 1,984,356 - .64%)

That totals only 8,444,956 people or 2.74% of the total estimated population of the entire United States and its territories. By sheer force of numbers, not to mention politics, there is no way these six could be considered to be representative of all of us or our wishes.

Howard Dean has been unflagging in his optimism regarding the future of truly comprehensive health care reform that includes a public option. He has been seen smiling and firmly pro-reform on several TV news shows recently including Rachel Maddow on Thursday night. Rachel's tweet cited a recent poll supporting the public option that Dean referenced during his interview.

Special interest groups: It depends.

Despite his goal of "changing the way Washington does business," President Obama's legislative and policy agenda continues to bob along on waves and waves of lobbyist and special interest money. And whether it is good or bad depends upon which side of the issues you stand. For example, I am happy to have Howard Dean lobby for the passage of health care reform. So we have the good, the bad and the ugly of influence peddling.

The Good -- Now it is a good thing for our own progressive organizations to work to try to have influence over the outcomes of legislation. Clearly that is my bias.

• Democracy for America's Dr. Howard Dean has it right when he said a couple of days ago,
  
  

  Here's what I know: When we work together, we're unstoppable.
  
  As my brother Jim said yesterday, the media has it wrong. The campaign for the choice of a public health insurance option will be over only if we quit or we've won. That decision is ours to make. Not the media's decision - Not the insurance industry's decision - It's our decision.



• Credo Action from Working Assets - The website has petitions to sign urging that the administration come out for a public option in health care reform.

The bad -- Somehow it seems bad for foreign special interests to pay lobbyists to try to peddle influence in the United States. I could be wrong. And if anyone is interested, ProPublica has a nifty new tool for at least keeping up with foreign lobbyists. It is called Foreign Lobbying Influence Tracker. It is a joint project with the Sunlight Foundation.

The ugly -- In an interesting ugly twist, House Minority Leader John Boehner is mad at his old ally, who runs the lobbying group that represents the pharmaceutical industry. To quote:

In a letter to former Louisiana Rep. Billy Tauzin, who heads the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA . . . House Republican Leader John A. Boehner slammed the drug industry Tuesday in a sharply critical letter to the former GOP congressman who heads its trade association.

Boehner accused the drug industry of cutting a deal with the bully,” and calls the group “short-sighted” and “misguided.”

Boehner called PhRMA’s dealings with the Obama administration “appeasement,” an apparent reference to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s strategy for dealing with Nazi Germany in the late 1930s. “Appeasement rarely works as a conflict resolution strategy,” the letter begins.

Bonus special interest group run by another one of the good guys (again my bias): The William J. Clinton Foundation offers a way to send President Clinton a birthday greeting, as August 19 is his birthday. You might thank him for his humanitarian efforts in North Korea. Link: In honor of Bill Clinton’s birthday, send an e-card today with your personal note.

[Post date - Aug. 19, 2009]

See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.

Blogs: My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. My creative website is at Making Good Mondays. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

Technorati tags: news news and politics

The President's bully pulpit could be powerful. Why not use it more?

It looks as if President Obama is reluctantly getting more out in front of the health care debate. Many have been urging a more active role in recent weeks as the congressional recess dramas play out on the 24-hour cable channels. The task has been to clear confusion, allay fears and dispel misinformation. And there is nothing like the written word to do that.

So President Obama wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times Saturday telling the nation "Why We Need Health Care Reform." Retaining the most frequently made points from his speeches and town hall gatherings, the President laid out his main arguments in what sounded like his own "voice." He used familiar phrases and stories about people he has told before, Steve Benen notes in his excellent analysis describing what will be the strongest elements of the new op-ed. (Hat Tip to Memeorandum and Mark Knoller's tweets for this information).

Reinforcing the apparent let-Congress-lead stance of the administration, Secretary of HHS, Kathleen Sebelius, according to Reuters, has revealed what we always suspected, that the government-run health insurance option is not an essential to health care reform. She added that the non-profit member-controlled cooperatives being considered by a Senate Committee could also fulfill the goal of creating robust competition for private health insurers, probably to the utter dismay of liberals.

Sticking to enunciated principles, rather than sending up an administration bill to Congress, has made President Obama's leadership open to question by the chattering class. But he seems determined to stick with the legislative process and, typical of his leadership style, is looking to a less immediate time frame for his strategy to succeed. He seems truly confident that something useful that he can sign will pass. He is using his bully pulpit to give credit for small successes to others, to remind the big stake holders of the obligations of their agreements, and to teach the public what they must learn about complex issues.

As if to emphasize the health care reform issue as front and center, an LA sports arena hosted a health clinic of last resort for thousands seeking free health care. The clinic housed in an old sports arena will continue through Tuesday. The clinic, Reuters reports, is run by the nonprofit Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps as part of its mission to provide free health, dental and eye care in needy spots around the world." RAM is best known for its work in Third World countries. People have waited in line for days to attend.

The President's bully pulpit will be used as necessary to do what Mr. Obama sees as his unique role in the political process. He is well advised by his people and he won the presidency by being good at politics. I remain optimistic about what will happen, even if it is less than the 1000% we assumed it had to be.

Bonus Reference: TPM Photo Gallery carried "Behind the Scenes: Summer 2009 at the White House."

A bit about the supporters of health care reform:

Image via Wikipedia

They are a good lot and deserve some positive recognition for their progress so far. Politico.com reports that "Junior" Democrats are split regarding the health care reform bill. The four Democrats (in the class of 2006), who favor a government-run public insurance option are Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (PA), and Independent Bernie Sanders (D-VT). Nine senators wrote a letter praising the bipartisanship efforts of the Senate Finance Committee, and did not take a position on the public option. Senators in favor of a bipartisan solution include Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon, Mark Warner (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn), Claire McKaskill (D-MO), Jim Webb (D-VA), Michael Bennet (D-Colo), and Mark Begich (D-Alaska). In the same issue (8/5/09) another story describes Democrats as "pitching small ball." To quote:

As if hedging their bets on health reform, Democrats are emphasizing smaller but still significant health-related investments this year, from food safety and community health centers to a greater emphasis on rooting out abuses in Medicare and Medicaid.

It’s a far cry from the more ambitious government-backed insurance option proposed by President Barack Obama and House Democrats. But it does add up to a major expansion of the government’s role in public health — and one that shows a greater willingness to add personnel to regulate and administer programs.

The White House has done well on this big issue, despite lots of media quibbling with the details. Note that, according to (July 6) Congressional Quarterly Politics, "President Obama is on pace to be the most successful Oval Office occupant in more than half a century when measured by his ability to get Congress to vote his way". But that will not deter the big lobbying groups from spending record-breaking amounts to influence the direction of reform, CQ reports (7/21/09). An organization to which we belong, AARP, for example, "spent $5.3 million from April 1 through June 30, an increase of $1.2 million over its first-quarter spending of $4 million, according to . . . lobbying disclosure reports filed Monday with the Senate Office of Public Records."

Monday meant good TV on C-SPAN, as Congress is in recess. The Alliance for Health Reform held a luncheon panel discussion that was the best I have seen in a long time. Their link goes to a rich group of resources, including the speakers' power point presentations along with a good long list of other briefing documents at other websites. A podcast and video of the discussion is provided at the Robert Wood Johnson website, along with an additional summary. Susan Denzer, a well respected journalist gave an excellent briefing. From her I learned more about the details of what Congress has produced than ever before. Nancy Dickey, head of a big medical education institution, talked at length about the shortages of primary care providers. I also got a very good overview of how the Massachusetts health reform effort has gone so far. Deborah Devaux spoke, representing the private insurance provider Blue Cross Blue Shield, as did Sharon Long, of the Urban Institute, who did the research on the Massachusets experience. Both the state government's perspective as well as the private sector's were very well represented. There is much to learn, if you view this as a real pilot project. According to the Foundation, panelists addressed the following questions:

• What provisions exist in the health reform proposals that speak directly to expanding access to health care?
• What types of payment reforms would help? What are the special challenges faced by rural areas? How are these reforms incorporated into Medicare versus the private insurance market?
• Are we educating enough primary care providers to sustain an increase in access?
• If not, how can policy changes attract more to that field? What has Massachusetts’ experience been with primary care capacity after their reform efforts?
• Are things like retail clinics helping to alleviate the shortage?

Congress and the President will get this done this year. Senators Claire McKaskill and Arlen Spector braved the disruptors today in town hall meetings. And President Obama held one in New Hampshire that gathered a huge, friendly, and at times a bit contentious, crowd. He sought out critics' questions.

Give support to Senator Ted Kennedy who lost his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and to Senator Chris Dodd, who underwent surgery for prostate cancer this morning. His wife, Jackie reports that "it went very well." Best wishes for a quick and successful recovery, Sir.

[Post date - August 11, 2009]

See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.

Blogs: My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. My creative website is at Making Good Mondays. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

Technorati tags: news and politics news politics congress health care reform obama

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