September 29, 2009

9/29: It's Public Option Day!

Several liberal bloggers are live-blogging today's Senate Finance Committee markup of the health care bill. Although most lefty bloggers expect the committee to reject the public option amendments being introduced by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Nelson Rockefeller (D-WV), they still believe it's important that the committee members debate and vote on these amendments. Joan McCarter explains:

"[G]etting as much Dem support for any of [these amendments] in this committee as possible is important. It will reinforce the message and the reality that the majority of Democrats -- you know, the actual party that is in the majority in the Senate -- support the public option, and that it needs to be in the bill the Senate sends to conference."

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Conservative bloggers (Malkin, Jessup) and even some liberal bloggers (Willis, Lemos) are criticizing Pres. Obama's decision to travel to Denmark in order to support Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Several righty bloggers (Ponnuru, Geraghty, Allahpundit) suspect that Obama is only going to Denmark "because he knows that Chicago has already won."
• Liberal bloggers (Moulitsas, Llorens) are arguing that Blue Dog Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) is too conservative for his district and deserves a primary challenge.
• Liberal bloggers (Hamsher, McCarter) are pointing out that a sizeable number of Blue Dog Dems have previously expressed support for a public health insurance option.

HEALTH CARE REFORM: Senate Signals

Liberal bloggers were furious yesterday when The New York Times reported that Senate Dem leaders had already decided that the combined Senate health care bill wouldn't include a public option (Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid's spokesperson subsequently disputed the Times' report):

• Daily Kos' mcjoan: "This morning's NYTimes breaks the news that we already suspected: Harry Reid will let President Snowe be the decider on healthcare reform."
• AMERICAblog's Joe Sudbay: "[ME Sen.] Olympia Snowe rules the world of the professional Democrats here in DC. It's just astonishing how much power they give away to her. And, even if Snowe is critical (and she shouldn't be), do 'Senate Democratic aides' need to broadcast that in the New York Times? By doing this, the Democrats not only give away power to one GOP Senator, they're ceding good policy."

Liberal bloggers still expect the Finance Committee to reject Schumer's and Rockefeller's public option amendments, however, so they're currently discussing how to ensure that the final bill includes a public option. Chris Bowers thinks "the only viable way to get a public option in health care reform legislation will be for a public option to be included by the Budget committee when they merge the HELP committee and Finance Committee bills." Bowers then argues that the only way to ensure that the Budget Committee includes a public option in its combined bill is for progressive activists to pressure Reid.

In other Senate news, liberal bloggers are blasting Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) for declaring that the health care bill needs at least 65 Senate votes in order to have "legitimacy":

• The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "By [Nelson's] logic, health care reform legislation isn't 'legitimate' unless some opponents of health care reform vote for it. Nelson is deliberately creating an environment in which the biggest progressive policy achievement in a generation won't be impressive enough, because conservative Republicans didn't like it."
• TPM's David Kurtz: "For the record, Nelson first won election in 2000 with just 51% of the vote and won re-election in 2006 just shy of his new superduper legitimacy standard, with 64%."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend

NRO's Mark Steyn:

"...Our old comrade David Frum wrote a piece called 'Whose Side Is Glenn Beck On?' Well, in the space of a week Beck claimed the scalps of [ex-WH adviser] Van Jones, ACORN and that Yosi Sergant guy at the NEA, none of whom should ever have been anywhere near the corridors of power but who'd still be there if it weren't for Beck. So whoever's side he is on, it seems pretty clear he's not on the Obama administration's. Hence, Media Matters's sudden obsession with such pressing concerns as Glenn's mom's three decade-old suicide.

The media would like the American Right to be represented by the likes of [ex-KS Sen.] Bob Dole and [AZ Sen.] John McCain, decent old sticks who know how to give dignified concession speeches. Last time round, we went along with their recommendation. If you want to get rave reviews for losing gracefully, that's the way to go. If you want to win, look at whom the Democrats and their media chums are so frantic to destroy: That's the better guide to what they're really worried about."

LEST WE FORGET: Palin's Memoir Due In November; English Edition To Follow

The Huffington Post's Andy Borowitz:

"NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) -- A memoir by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will be published this November, with an English translation due shortly thereafter, her publisher confirmed today.

According to Carol Foyler, a spokesperson for the publisher, translators are working 'around the clock' to translate Ms. Palin's text into English.

'We have hired the best linguists in the country, but this is still hard work,' Ms. Foyler acknowledged. 'It must have been easier to crack the Enigma code in World War II.'

Ms. Foyler said that the publishing company was 'delighted' with Ms. Palin's manuscript and 'deeply relieved that she didn't quit in the middle of it.'"

Posted by Ian Faerstein at September 29, 2009 12:30 PM