Good afternoon, Daily Kos readers. This is your afternoon open thread to discuss all things Hill-related. Use this thread to praise or bash Congresscritters, share a juicy tip, ask questions, or post manifestos.
This is a crosspost from Congress Matters, which you should check out.
Okay, you could go play in the current open thread on the front page, I guess. But we have the helpful stuff file here.
Here's some of my own thoughts.
We will finally get a straight answer about the President's Afghanistan strategy... after Thanksgiving.
"I think once the American people hear a clear rationale for what we're doing there and how we intend to achieve our goals, they will be supportive," Obama said.
The president hinted that the U.S. had lost focus on the mission and not provided adequate strategy or resources to the region, a theme from his presidential campaign. He said it is in the strategic interest of the U.S. to target al-Qaeda and its allies to "dismantle and degrade their capabilities and ultimately destroy their networks."
And in a stark departure from the old days of Bush's strategery, we might actually have a plan for paying for this mess:
Obama’s party is divided over whether more troops should be sent to Afghanistan. Congress would have to approve funds to pay for the additional troops, and several senior lawmakers have floated the idea of paying for the war with a tax on the wealthy.
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While we are on taxes, Reps. Peter DeFazio (Ore.) and Ed Perlmutter (Colo.) have hit on an interesting way to pay for the stimulus package and pay down the debt with a bill titled "Let Wall Street Pay for the Restoration of Main Street Act of 2009," under which:
the sale and purchase of financial instruments such as stocks, options, derivatives and futures would face a 0.25 percent tax.
and:
Half of the $150 billion in tax revenue would go toward reducing the deficit, while the other half would be deposited in a "Job Creation Reserve" to support new jobs.
The job fund would be available to offset the additional costs of the 2009 highway bill and other legislation that creates jobs.
I don't usually get excited about proposed bills, because the majority of both good and bad ideas go to committee to die. This might be a good one to track, though.
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Awkward!
For three years, Rep. Alan Mollohan has chaired the important Appropriations subcommittee that controls the Justice Department's $65 billion budget. At the same time, he has been under a Justice Department investigation, according to documents and two sources briefed on the probe.
~snip
Mollohan spokesman David Herring said the congressman dealt with the issue in 2006 by recusing himself from voting on specific budget accounts for the FBI, the attorney general's office and other investigative functions. Herring declined to release the letter describing that recusal to House leaders.
Herring also said Mollohan is not aware of the Justice Department inquiry and has not been contacted by investigators.
Democrat or not, Mollohan should have given serious consideration back in 2006 to asking for a committee reassignment.
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Are you ready for a complete shock? Good. Republicans and lobbyists don't think all Internet traffic should be treated fairly.
Internet companies, public interest groups and telecom carriers have lobbied Attwell heavily during her short tenure at the FCC on the network neutrality rules now under consideration. The rules would require broadband service providers to treat all Internet traffic equally.
Baker, along with fellow Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell, voted to move the rulemaking process forward, but made clear she is worried about the unintended consequences of any regulation.
"I’m not convinced we have a problem we need to address," Baker said in an interview during a taping of C-SPAN’s "Communicators." She also said there is "still a question of jurisdiction" in whether the FCC can legally impose such rules.
Actually, there is a problem. Your ISP could decide tomorrow that Daily Kos and Congress Matters are less important than Free Republic and pop-ups for Viagra. Without net neutrality, the ISP would be free to slow the loading speeds or even entirely block whatever websites they want.
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The Washington Post helpfully lets us know that the Public option at center of debate. Glad that's cleared up.
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Also from the helpful stuff file, Talking Points Memo explains why Democrats detest Michele Bachmann.
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The Senate Banking Committee has broken up into working groups to address pieces of Chris Dodd's financial reform bill.
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Again, why didn't we elect this guy in 2004? From the New York Times:
...the Bay State’s new senior senator has settled into an influential role as legislative bridge builder, international troubleshooter and party elder statesman.
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Just in time for Christmas, Conservatives are making a list and checking it twice.
In what was being dubbed a purity test when it leaked out to reporters on Monday, the proposal would require the party to withhold campaign money and endorsements from candidates who do not adhere to at least seven principles on the checklist.
The first casualty? A GOP Senate Candidate who might actually be bi-partisan.
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In very serious pundits news, Eugene Robinson gets it:
The honest solution is a word that cannot be spoken: rationing. Our system already rations health care based on the individual's ability to pay. Insurance companies ration some tests and procedures based on age, risk factors and what often seems like whim. This ad hoc rationing doesn't work very well, and nothing in any of the reform bills even tries to address the basic consensus that makes spending continue to rise: Put a lid on everybody else's costs, but don't touch mine.
Matthew Dowd dreams that Sarah Palin has a shot at the presidency in 2012:
Polls show that Palin's favorability numbers are a mirror image of those of Obama. She is respected and loved by the Republican base, while Democrats despise her. Granted, independent voters have significant reservations about her capability to be president, and this would be a hurdle in the general election. But to win the Republican nomination, Palin needs only to get enough support from the base to win early key states. Already, in nearly every poll today, she has a level of support that makes her a viable primary candidate. Just look at the crowds and the buzz her book tour is drawing.
Check out SNL's take on a Palin presidency here.
Further adding to the lunacy, Lou Dobbs wants to be POTUS, too.
Finally Charles Krauthammer needs yet another fresh pair of shorts:
Apart from the fact that any such trial will be a security nightmare and a terror threat to New York -- what better propaganda-by-deed than blowing up the courtroom, making KSM a martyr and turning the judge, jury and spectators into fresh victims? -- it will endanger U.S. security. Civilian courts with broad rights of cross-examination and discovery give terrorists access to crucial information about intelligence sources and methods.
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If you are not a college football fan, let me say something right up front. The BCS system for naming the national champion is Teh Fail. That said, who you do you think they should bring in to fix their image? Someone competent? Maybe even a former player? Nah. They got Ari Fleischer.
Update: CA Berkeley WV has been warning us about this since last year.
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The Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org) has a database of the top 10,000 donors from the last election season. The good news? ActBlue is number nine on the list with donations of $23,183,948. Good job, hippies.
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Speaking of lobbyists, the Sunlight Foundation minces no words with this headline: Reid Gives Nelson, Lincoln What Their Lobbyist Friends Want
TPM is reporting that Majority Leader Harry Reid is going to exclude a provision that would remove the anti-trust exemption for health insurers from the Senate health care reform bill. The move is apparently being made to grease the gears for Sen. Ben Nelson, one of three Democratic hold-outs, to vote for procedural motions in the run-up to a final vote. The provision was a huge fear of health insurers, particularly of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Blue Cross Blue Shield. Both of those organizations are represented by former staffers to Sen. Nelson and fellow hold-out Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
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Can we stop adding the ironic quotes around "news" when we talk about Fox "News?" From FishBowlDC:
In an email obtained by FishbowlDC, FNC management alerted the Newsroom that they were going to a "zero base" newscast production, defined in the memo...
"That means we will start by going to air with only the most essential, basic, and manageable elements. To share a key quote from today's meeting: "It is more important to get it right, than it is to get it on." We may then build up again slowly as deadlines and workloads allow so that we can be sure we can quality check everything before it makes air, and we never having to explain, retract, qualify or apologize again."
The memo warns that those involved in future "mistake chains" will receive "warning letters to personnel files, suspensions, and other possible actions up to and including termination."
Okay. Probably not. But the kids are starting to try to look like a legitimate news outfit.
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In state legislative news, the election of Chris Christie might derail gay marriage in New Jersey for the next four years.
But when lawmakers returned to Trenton on Monday for the first time since Mr. Corzine was defeated by Christopher J. Christie, a Republican who opposes gay marriage, a few Democratic legislators appeared to be wavering in their support, setting off an emotional blitz of lobbying and backroom bargaining.
Some Democratic legislative leaders — including the majority leader, Stephen M. Sweeney, who will become Senate president in January — have said that they view Governor Corzine’s loss as a gauge of the public’s unease with the troubled economy, and fear that voters might resent elected officials who appear distracted by social issues. He said he did not think this was the right time to enact the bill.
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Have you been reading Barack Obama's Facebook feed? You should.
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Finally, The Onion nicely sums up the Tea Party argument against Health Care Reform: Like Hell I'm Going To Let Some Black President Help Me Pay For Dialysis