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.
Jump on in and discuss. Don't make me suggest the absences of a quorum.
As always, this originates on Congress Matters and as always, The Most Important News of the Day™ is the last item.
Ben S. Bernanke's getting grilled real good.
Members of the Senate banking committee, who were weighing whether to give him four more years as the nation's top economic policymaker, chided Bernanke, citing the highest unemployment rate in a generation and continuing reluctance of banks to stimulate economic activity by lending to businesses. At the same time, he drew fire from senators who faulted the Fed's efforts to prop up the economy as ill-conceived and who warned that the central bank could see inflation return if it doesn't soon reverse its aggressive measures to stimulate growth, such as a policy of ultra-low interest rates.
Rough.
He might want to go open an ice cream shop.
The good news? Unemployment is down to 10 percent and the nation "lost only 11,000 jobs in November." Sadly, I could not find the story on line, but this week's print version of the The Onion pointed out that the available labor rate is up to 10.2 percent.
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Meet Randall W. Lutter, an employee of FDA on temporary assignment to the Office of Management and Budget (roughly the president's equivalent of the CBO).
Documents in the EPA's public docket show he has questioned the economic assumptions underlying a rule to cut sulfur dioxide emissions. The rule, which was proposed last month and would take effect in June under a court order, would prohibit short-term spikes of sulfur dioxide, which has been linked to respiratory diseases and premature deaths.
Sulfur dioxide emissions are now measured in 24-hour and annual increments. The new rule would evaluate them every hour, prohibiting sulfur dioxide from exceeding a limit of 50 to 100 parts per billion in one hour.
~snip
Lutter's role has alarmed environmentalists, who worry about his record on air pollution and global warming. In the 1990s, Lutter questioned the merits of imposing tougher smog standards, on the grounds that they could lead to more cases of skin cancer.
So, you know "that guy" around the office who drives everyone else to drink heavily at Friday happy hour? Every office has one. Mr. Lutter, if you have to ask who that person is....
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In health care news, Harry Reid has a strategy for rounding up the final few votes he will need to pass the bill by next week:
For Reid, success means emerging from the marathon debate with a bill backed by the 60 senators needed for final passage, something he hopes will come to pass as soon as late next week. Democrats' concerns will be addressed in individual amendments, but many others will be crowded into an omnibus "manager's amendment," a package Reid is expected to offer at the end of the process that will include many of the perks and fixes that members of his caucus are requesting.
At least we have a plan that does not include crapping our diapers errr... being childish umm.... introducing an amendmentwe don't intend to vote for and then blocking the other party from signing on as a co-sponsor.
Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and David Vitter (R-La.) are preparing an amendment to force members of Congress into any public option health plan that becomes law, frustrating at least one Senate Democrat who wants to join the effort.
original story
And an update: Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Barbara Mikulski (Md.) have joined Sherrod Brown in supporting the amendment.
And update the second: Al Franken is on the Floor right now saying that he is also a co-sponsor and would be "proud" to enroll in the public option.
Remember, kids. Coburn and Vitter have no desire to end up with insurance under the public option along with the hoi polloi. I mean, if you follow that slippery slope far enough, in the end Vitter will have to wait in line just like everyone else for his mocha latte at $tarbucks.
And in more health care hilarity, Arlen Specter advised Susan Collins and Joe Lieberman to "read the bill."
"I think we have learned a lot from the Maine plan," Specter retorted. "We know what not to do. We're not going to adopt a Maine plan. That experience will stand us in good stead. We won't make the same mistake."
Specter went on: "And when Senator Lieberman talks about single payer, I think he's putting his finger on the pulse of it. That's what people have concluded [but] the public option isn't single payer, and it is not going to add to the deficit, it's going to be a level playing field. So I would like everyone to read the fine print and [for my colleagues] to re-read the fine print."
Burn!
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It's hard to find a hero in this story.
At a hearing in late March, the nation's credit card companies faced the threat of expensive new rules from an unlikely regulator: the House Committee on Homeland Security, chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).
The committee had never before dealt with credit card issues, but Thompson warned Visa, MasterCard and others that Congress might need to impose tighter security standards costing millions of dollars to protect customers from identity theft.
Behind the scenes, some of Thompson's staffers sensed a different motive -- an attempt to pressure the companies into making political donations to the chairman, according to several former committee staffers.
And it gets better. Right after the hearing, Thompson picked up $15,000 in donations from the credit card companies and their lobbyists. A bill to "protect consumers from identity theft" was never introduced.
The House Ethics Committee is investigating, but this abuse of power has been the concern over the ominous sounding "homeland security" from the very beginning. Credit card companies probably have lower approval ratings than Congressional Republicans, but this stinks of blackmail with consumers left holding the bag.
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Speaking of approval ratings, Robert Gibbs made a funny today.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters in his West Wing office Friday that the Republican Party's approval rating is "only slightly above the national drinking age."
ROTFLMFAO
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The Senate did pass the Mikulski Amendment that would require health insurance companies to provide mammograms and other preventative services for women.
“My amendment would eliminate one of the major barriers to care by getting rid of high co-payments and deductibles,” Ms. Mikulski said. “It does not tell women, ‘You will have a mammogram at 40.’ It says, ‘You will have access to that mammogram if you and your doctor decide it’s medically necessary or medically appropriate.’ ”
Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and David Vitter (yep, him) were the only Republicans voting in favor. Russ Feingold and Ben Nelson voted against. Feingold wanted to identify a way to fund the estimated $940 million of the proposal while Nelson wanted to specifically exclude abortion from the definition of preventative care. Here's your coathanger, Senator Nelson.
Vanessa at Feministing says:
However, the most significant thing about the Women's Health Amendment is that it could potentially save the lives of millions of low-income women who often skip basic health care exams and screenings because of added costs, says the National Women's Law Center. And that's huge.
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While the grown ups are talking about health care reform, global warming, and the economy, Lamar Smith and Darrell Issa are screaming for a special prosecutor to investigate ACORN.
The 81 new pages, helpfully highlighted by staffers, put ACORN staffers on the record planning voter registration drives and campaigns for “progressive” candidates. They also touched on the organization’s social work — “within the next year Maryland ACORN will conduct 500 new lead tests for low and moderate-income renters and homeowners” — but members and witnesses argued that the organization’s political activity, clearly benefiting Democrats and President Obama, was at least reason to strip it of tax-exempt status.
The easy solution: The ACRON PAC, a 527 Group that would conduct the groups's political activities.
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A Congressional Research Service researcher has been canned for writing an Op-Ed questioning the decision to give terror suspects a fair trial in New York City.
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There is a fundamental difference between the way Democrats and Republicans operate. While Republicans look for every trick in the rules to obstruct, Democrats work out their differences. Witness:
Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) are close to resolving their disagreement over how to structure a new federal agency to regulate consumer financial products.
The split emerged in late October with Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, favoring a single director for the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). Meanwhile, Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, supports having a commission in charge.
Instead of going the traditional GOP route and doing nothing, Waxman and Frank are considering a plan to have a single director run the agency for two years until commission members can be appointed.
This is how you get things done.
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Morris Fiorina is still convinced that the American electorate is not deeply divided politically.
The disagreements among political scientists focus on whether, as Fiorina argues, the vast majority of voters "appear to be little changed in their moderate orientation from those citizens of a generation ago."
That's the premise of his thesis that in America today, there is a disconnect between an unrepresentative political class and the citizenry it intends to represent, with "a relatively moderate electorate" forced to choose between "relatively extreme candidates."
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Finally, in the Most Important News of the Day™, Christopher Beam at Slate asks an important a question: Why is more than half of Congress still not on Twitter?
His (Barney Frank's) rationale is less about fear of technology than distaste for the format. "A hundred forty characters is too restrictive," he says, "and anyway I don't think people really want to know what I had for lunch."
The GOP are in fact kicking our butts on this one. Beam reports that 185 members of Congress use Twitter and Republican members outnumber Democratic users 2-1.
A more fundamental problem is that, so far at least, members of Congress just aren't that good at it. A report released by the Congressional Research Service in September found that nearly half of congressional tweets simply link to press releases or news articles. (The report doesn't distinguish between the two, but an informal survey of congressional feeds suggests the former are more common.)
You can read the 15 page CRS report on Congressmen Twittering here.
Reread that sentence. The Congressional Research Service wrote a 15 page report on members of Congress using Twitter.
Just a hunch, here, but maybe the Dems really just want to avoid gaffe by Twitter. Your reason for clicking that link: Nine of the top ten gaffes by social media were by Republicans. If you can't do it right, just do it often.
And in related news, Sarah Palin used Facebook to tell President Obama to boycott the Copenhagen talks over those hacked e-mails. Dearest Sarah, they are called Blogger, WordPress, and Live Journal. Look into them.
Finally, I can't let this one pass unnoticed. Glenn Beck has his very own little live show based on his book The Christmas Sweater. "Little" is the operative word:
Beck sold only 17 tickets in Boston, another 17 in New York, and just 30 in Washington, DC.
And the War on Christmas enters another phase: Operation Ignore the Whack-a-Doodles.