Peter Roff Yesterday

Voters Have Spoken: Stop Bailouts and Fix the Economy

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Tuesday's exit polls, while far from an exact science, showed that nearly 80 percent of those who turned out to vote in both Virginia and New Jersey cited the economy as a major concern. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's mishandling of his state's economy certainly played a significant role in his ouster while Republican Bob McDonnell's "jobs, jobs, jobs" campaign clearly resonated with voters in Virginia.

If there is a message for the national politicians buried somewhere in the elections returns it is that Washington's handling of the economy needs to change, and quickly.

By all accounts, however, the Obama administration continues tacking to port, and at full speed. Not only is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trying to rush a healthcare bill through Congress, the administration—despite the new 10 percent unemployment numbers—continues to hint that another stimulus package is in the offing, the first one having proven to be so successful.

Mary Kate Cary Yesterday

Wall Street's Swine Flu Vaccine Score Shows the Perils of Government Healthcare

By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The blogosphere and the cable news channels are full of outrage at the fact that Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs, Citi, and J.P. Morgan have received thousands of doses of H1N1 vaccine, while shortages across New York City have prevented pregnant women and high-risk children from receiving shots first. Believe me, as a parent of a high-risk child who had a heck of a time getting her a shot last week—I think this is outrageous.

But in the midst of all the anger at the bailed-out bankers getting their shots, no one seems to be noticing that the New York City government health authorities are the ones who sent the vaccines to the banks in the first place, after receiving their share of the state's shipment from the publicly-run Centers for Disease Control. Clearly we have a scarce supply of vaccines, with great demand nationally, and that supply is being rationed by the government.

Doug Heye Yesterday

Democrats Don't Have the Votes to Pass Healthcare Reform

By Doug Heye, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

We've been talking about the White House's healthcare proposal for how long now? Well, pretty much all year.

Democratic leaders promised a vote before the August recess. That deadline not only wasn't reached, it led to Democrats being savaged at local town halls that were covered live on national television. Then we were told a vote would occur in September. No dice. October? Ditto.

Now the World Series has passed (Way to go, Yankees!) and we're told a vote will be held on Saturday, a rare occurrence of Congress working on a weekend.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit with congressional Democrats tomorrow to urge support of the $1.2 trillion measure. That signals one thing: They don't have the votes.

Mary Kate Cary Yesterday

Democrats Should Focus on Unemployment, Not Healthcare

By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The unemployment rate raced into the double digits this morning, hitting 10.2 percent for the first time in more than 25 years. Earlier this week, voters in New Jersey and Virginia sent the White House a strong message that they're concerned about three top issues: jobs, jobs, and jobs.

So are the House Democrats proposing a jobs bill? How about the construction-heavy highway bill? No, they're pushing a trillion-dollar healthcare reform bill that will be voted on this weekend, despite the fact that over 10,000 Americans turned out to protest it on the Capitol steps yesterday. Those protesters are upset that the House plan includes a public option, in which government-run insurance would be an option for consumers. NPR is reporting that the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the House bill showed that only 2 percent of Americans would be using the public option by 2019, when the legislation is fully implemented. That's an interesting fact that's gone unreported. Why are we running up a trillion-dollar bill to cover only 2 percent of the population and increase costs for the rest of us?

Bonnie Erbe Yesterday

If Fiorina and Whitman Weren't Committed Enough to Vote, Why Run for Office?

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

According to the Associated Press, two high-profile women running for California offices have spotty voting records. They are U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, who is challenging longtime incumbent Barbara Boxer, and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who is running for governor. I don't know about you, but I'd have a hard time voting for someone who didn't have the time to participate in the voting process at an earlier stage of their career: 

The former head of Hewlett-Packard, who is running for the seat now held by Democrat Barbara Boxer, said she has no excuse for not voting more often when people have died for that right.

"I'm a lifelong registered Republican but I haven't always voted," she said Thursday during an event in Sacramento. "And I will provide no excuse for it. You know, people die for the right to vote. And there are many, many Californians and Americans who exercise that civic duty on a regular basis. I didn't. Shame on me."

Fiorina's frank assessment of her inconsistent past appears to be a campaign strategy to blunt potential criticism after Whitman found herself in the middle of a political firestorm over her poor voting record.

Peter Roff November 05, 2009

Pelosi is Forcing Moderate Democrats to Walk the Healthcare Plank

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The Democrats' efforts to enact a bill that would fundamentally change the American healthcare system are continuing despite considerable evidence that the electorate is turning against it.

More than 25,000 citizens and voters answered the call of U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann to come to Washington to lobby against the bill. These ordinary Americans, who came to the capital city by train, by car, by plane, and by bus Thursday at the invitation of the Minnesota Republican, arrived united and vocal in their opposition to the bill being pushed through Congress by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who remains intent on bringing it to the floor in two days during a rare Saturday session of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Pelosi's insistence that the bill come up for a vote is creating something of a desperate situation for moderate Democrats in the House, who reportedly have been told they must vote for the bill or risk losing the backing of the party for the 2010 elections. Pelosi is creating a climate of fear among moderate Democrats who, according to several well-placed congressional observers, have been on edge following the better-than-expected performance by the Republicans in Tuesday's elections.

Bonnie Erbe November 05, 2009

Cash Payments to Avoid Teen Pregnancy? Great Idea

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

It's not new, but it's newsy. There's a North Carolina program for younger sisters of teen mothers that pays these girls a dollar each day NOT to get pregnant. What a brilliant idea! And why aren't we doing that nationwide?

College Bound Sisters was launched to help protect teen girls in the highest-risk category from getting pregnant and dropping out of school. There are strict eligibility criteria as follows:

• Is between the ages of 12-16
• Has a sister who had a baby before age 18
• Has never been pregnant
• Wants to attend college
• Is willing to attend a 1.5 hour meeting each week at [the University of North Carolina-Greensboro]

Robert Schlesinger November 04, 2009

Reading Too Much Into the Politics of V (Spoilers)

By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

A charismatic leader promising hope, change and universal healthcare ... a complicit press ... and hiding a terrible secret that you might have read about on the Internet ... a new Beck/Limbaugh biography of Barack Obama? No! It's V, the ABC remake of the classic early 1980s alien invasion mini-series. MSNBC just reported that the show's creators deny that they're taking a shot at Obama. But of course they are: The aliens bring healing technology that they'll share with all. "You mean universal healthcare!" the co-opted reporter responds, as if anyone had not yet made the political connection.

But the politics aren't all conservative. As the show's first episode reaches its dramatic climax, a character reveals that the aliens have been here for years, quietly infiltrating human society in order to set the stage for their takeover. Among their nefarious actions were "unnecessary wars"--apparently George W. Bush is a space alien. (Well maybe not Bush; maybe Rove or Cheney. Oh definitely Cheney.) And as Jonah Goldberg points out, one could argue that "much of the stuff about the dangers of 'devotion' and promises of miraculous cures amounted to an indirect shot at faith-healing evangelicals." (He's also right about this: "If I were 17 and the super-hot alien blonde wanted me to put on a German gay disco doorman's jacket, I would have done so.")

So is V thinly veiled GOP propaganda? Nah.

Peter Roff November 04, 2009

2009 Election Results Show Republicans Recapturing Critical Real Estate

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Not quite a tidal wave but something more than a ripple on the water, the Republican victories in the 2009 elections demonstrated that, despite the fondest wishes of many supposedly objective political analysts and pundits, the Grand Old Party is far from kaput.

Of particular interest is the apparent resurgence of the suburban Republican and the Republican-leaning independent, cohorts that even two years ago were thought to be a dying breed. Tuesday, they turned out to be the balance of power in important places like New Jersey, where Republican Chris Christie ousted incumbent Democrat Gov. Jon Corzine by about five points.