At St. Charles High School in suburban St. Louis this afternoon, Barack Obama laid out the argument for the health care reform bill. He was thorough. He was clear. He made that audience understand that we must have reform and that we can, even in these recessionary times, afford it. Indeed, we can't afford not to have it.
I'll write more tomorrow about how he laid out that argument, but right now, I wanted to offer you the end of his speech. It's the kind of stirring rhetoric that kept John McCain from becoming president. It's the kind of rhetoric we should have heard regularly these last few months. Here it is, better late than never.
....Since she [Robin Carnahan] also has a couple of campaign fundraisers scheduled while she's in the capital, Zakula said the campaign is paying for the trip.
Still, the president is not the most popular guy in Missouri, lately. He only had a 40 percent approval rating in the state last month, according to a Rasmussen poll.
But Zakula denied that Carnahan was leaving town to avoid sharing a stage with him.
"She appreciates the support from Sen. McCaskill and the president and she's looking forward to seeing them on the campaign trail this year," he said....
"...He only had a 40 percent approval rating in the state last month, according to a Rasmussen poll..."
....I want to stress that the only point I'm making in this post is that at least in national tracking polls, in any given timeframe, a Rasmussen poll is overwhelmingly likely to show better news for the GOP than any other poll.
To illustrate this point, I generated a series of scatter plot charts using pollster.com's index of polls. Every poll in pollster.com's index is represented on each chart by a dot, plotted horizontally by the date of the poll, and vertically by the results of the poll.
Rasmussen polls are in red; every other poll is in green. Shaded red areas on the charts represent areas where results would favor the GOP.
I think you'll see that Rasmussen polls literally stand out from all the others and they almost always deliver good news for the GOP....
You'd think the Kansas City Star might mention that. If they even knew or bothered to try and figure it out.
The pool report forwarded this evening by the White House Media Affairs Office:
Air force one landed at lambert-st louis international airport at 323 pm local time (423 east coast time).
No gaggle on the flight to St. Louis. But Reid Cherlin stopped by to chat, and says, on the record, that Robin Carnahan had already scheduled her trip to Washington when Potus decided to come to St. Louis. "Her people have asked if President Obama would please appear with her in a future event soon," Mr. Cherlin said. "We are working on that now."
Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning (r - obstruction) blinked:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2010
Statement by President Obama on Signing of UI Extension Bill
"During these difficult economic times, supporting American workers, their families and our small businesses must be everyone's focus. The bill passed tonight by the Senate will extend access to health care benefits for workers who have lost their jobs, help small businesses get loans so they can grow and hire, and extend unemployment insurance benefits for millions of Americans who are looking for work. I'm grateful to the members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle who worked to end this roadblock to relief for America's working families."
##
We received the following statement from Senator Claire McCaskill's (D) office:
"The idea that someone would play politics with unemployment benefits while our country is facing ten percent unemployment is offensive," McCaskill said. "This emergency extension was about keeping food on the table for thousands of unemployed families, yet Republicans were more concerned with holding things up in the Senate. When Americans see this sort of thing happening in Congress, they have every right to be frustrated. Frankly, I'm frustrated too."
The Eric Cartman of lame duck republican senators is continuing to petulantly pitch a fit and is escalating his rhetoric. The White House is pushing back:
As you may have heard, Senator Kit Bond is calling for Obama counter-terror chief John Brennan to step down, largely because Brennan has taken the lead in pushing back against GOP efforts to paint Obama as weak on terror.
The White House is now dismissing Bond's efforts as "pathetic," and pointing to Brennan's lifetime of professional intelligence experience as proof that Bond is putting politics over our national security. Asked for comment on Bond's broadside, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro emails over a brief and dismissive comment:
"Through his pathetic attack on a counter-terrorism professional like John Brennan who has spent his lifetime protecting this country under multiple Administrations, Senator Bond sinks to new depths in his efforts to put politics over our national security."
The conventions of political journalism for some reason discourage doing this, but it's worth pointing out that the White House is right....
I wonder if there's a podium around that he can pound on while he's at it.
We received a White House press release late last night.
President Obama has appointed Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D) to the Council of Governors, an advisory body required by the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. The council includes ten governors who are appointed for two year terms.
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts
WASHINGTON - Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to the Council of Governors. The Council, created January 11 of this year by Executive Order, will work closely with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and other defense and national security advisors to exchange views, information and advice on matters of mutual interest pertaining to the National Guard, homeland defense, synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States, and civil support activities.
· Governor James H. Douglas, Co-Chair, Council of Governors
· Governor Chris Gregoire, Co-Chair, Council of Governors
· Governor Janice K. Brewer, Member, Council of Governors
· Governor Luis G. Fortuño, Member, Council of Governors
· Governor Brad Henry, Member, Council of Governors
· Governor Robert F. McDonnell, Member, Council of Governors
· Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Member, Council of Governors
· Governor Martin O'Malley, Member, Council of Governors
· Governor Beverly Eaves Perdue, Member, Council of Governors
· Governor M. Michael Rounds, Member, Council of Governors
President Obama said, "I am pleased that these Governors of exceptional experience have agreed to join the Council of Governors. This bipartisan team strengthens the partnership between our State Governments and the Federal Government when it comes to ensuring our national preparedness and homeland defense. I look forward to working with them in the years ahead..."
...Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Appointee for Member, Council of Governors
Jeremiah W. Nixon was elected as Missouri's 55th governor in 2008. Governor Nixon serves on the National Governors Association Health and Human Services Committee. He is responsible for operating Missouri's innovative fusion center, the Missouri Information Analysis Center. Governor Nixon has also served four terms as the state attorney general and was first elected Missouri Attorney General in 1992. Governor Nixon received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Missouri and after practicing law for several years, he was elected to the Missouri State Senate in 1986...
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AND Q&A
AT DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
FUNDRAISING RECEPTION
Capital Hilton
Washington, D.C.
6:15 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: ....And, yes, we are going to keep fighting to fix a health system that too often works better for the insurance industry than it does for the American people. (Applause.) Now, I -- you heard me at the State of the Union -- I didn't take this on because it was good politics. I love how the pundits on these cable shows, they all announce, "Oh, boy, this was really tough politically for the President." Well, I've got my own pollsters, I know -- (laughter) -- I knew this was hard. I knew seven Presidents had failed. I knew seven Congresses hadn't gotten it done. You don't think I got warnings, "Don't try to take this on"? I got those back in December of last year.
So, yes, we knew this was hard. But I took it on because families were at the mercy of skyrocketing premiums, soaring out-of-pocket costs, insurance companies that routinely deny coverage because of preexisting conditions, or see their insurance dropped altogether because they get sick.
We took it on because costs were closing small businesses. They were keeping larger ones from competing on a level playing field. They were eating into workers' take-home pay. They were canceling raises. We took it on because it's the single best way to bring down our deficits. (Applause.) By the way, nobody has disputed that. When I was before the Republican caucus, it was very clear. I said, look, you say you're concerned about deficit reduction? Nobody can dispute the fact that if we don't tackle surging health care costs, that we can't get control of our budget. And by the way, the approach that we put forward would reduce our deficit by as much as a trillion dollars over the next two decades.
We took it on because every single day, 15,000 Americans join the tens of millions who don't have health insurance -- and every single year, 18,000 Americans die because of it.
I got a letter -- I got a note today from one of my staff -- they forwarded it to me -- from a woman in St. Louis who had been part of our campaign, very active, who had passed away from breast cancer. She didn't have insurance. She couldn't afford it, so she had put off having the kind of exams that she needed. And she had fought a tough battle for four years. All through the campaign she was fighting it, but finally she succumbed to it. And she insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt. (Laughter.)
But think about this: She was fighting that whole time not just to get me elected, not even to get herself health insurance, but because she understood that there were others coming behind her who were going to find themselves in the same situation and she didn't want somebody else going through that same thing. (Applause.) How can I say to her, "You know what? We're giving up"? How can I say to her family, "This is too hard"? How can Democrats on the Hill say, "This is politically too risky"? How can Republicans on the Hill say, "We're better off just blocking anything from happening"?
That can't be the message that the American people are delivering. Yes, they're nervous, they're anxious, they're in a tough time right now. The thing they want most are jobs. They really don't like the process in Washington, the sausage-making. That part I understand. But I know that they don't -- but I know they don't want to just offer nothing to the millions of people in America who are in the situation that that woman was in. That's what we campaigned on. And we are going to keep on working to get it done -- with Democrats and I hope with Republicans and everybody else in between -- to bring down costs, to end the worst practices of the insurance industry, to finally give every American the chance to choose quality, affordable health care. We are going to keep on working to get it done. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!
THE PRESIDENT: I am not going to walk away from these fights. And I know you won't -- because you didn't before. You didn't when folks were slamming doors in your faces -- "Barama who?" (Laughter.) You didn't quit when you heard voices saying we should scale back and throttle down and accept less. You remember that. When folks were saying our sights were set too high; that our faith in this country was misplaced; that our hope was naïve; that you couldn't change Washington; that you had to accommodate yourself to the political realities. You've all heard that. You didn't listen to those voices then -- your voice proved them wrong. You proved that nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices that are calling for change....
...Q One last -- one question on security -- one question, it's important. Senator Bond wrote a letter to the President today about a conversation that we had here in the briefing room yesterday and Bill gave a couple of answers -- many answers, really -- on there was no political nature to the White House explanation of the dealing with Abdulmutallab. What Bond says in his letter is that the senators on the Intelligence Committee were briefed specifically earlier this week that the disclosure of Abdulmutallab's cooperation should not be revealed because it was -- he says in this letter -- "Doing so would threaten ongoing efforts to stop operations the intelligence community thought were possibly happening against the United States." He writes in this letter, "Distortion of the congressional notification process suggests that other considerations are taking precedence over keeping timely and sensitive information away from our enemies" -- I know a charge you would fundamentally reject, but I want to get your response to that.
MR. GIBBS: Well, first and foremost, I don't want to speak for Senator Bond, who, if the timeline you outlined -- a Monday briefing for a Tuesday hearing -- why he would in his Tuesday hearing use the statement that the subject refused to cooperate after he was Mirandized.
So I don't want to speak for the senator who didn't certainly use any of that information to correct what he said in public in a hearing that happens a day after.
I would say this, having read the letter. During a hearing on Tuesday, information was released that clearly showed that Mr. Abdulmutallab was indeed talking again to interrogators. For those of you that participated in the background briefing, you know that was not something that was timed purposefully.
Q Were they not supposed to reveal it?
MR. GIBBS: It was not timed purposefully. Soon after that -- soon after that, media reported -- we felt it important to contextualize, because many of you were e-mailing us, what this testimony meant.
I would say, again, having read the letter, no briefing is done here or anywhere in this administration where classified information is used in a place where it shouldn't be. And I would suggest that somebody that alleges that when they know it doesn't happen owe people an apology.
Any briefing that's done here in order to ensure that the information that's in the public is correct is done in conjunction with many agencies and done so so that information that is classified and shouldn't be released isn't released. And in this case obviously it was not.
Q So Bond owes you an apology? Bond owes the President an apology?
MR. GIBBS: No, I don't think Bond is alleging that the President was in the briefing.
Q On the -- on the -- two questions.
MR. GIBBS: Hold on, hold on -- just hold on, just -- this is an important question, Lester.
Q Oh, sure, okay.
MR. GIBBS: The notion that somehow the White House, in conjunction with agencies involved in this interrogation, gave out classified information -- yes, I think an apology on that is owed because it's not true. And I think anybody that was involved in knowing in the Senate Intelligence Committee what was briefed and what was reported would know that that wasn't violated.
Again, Major, I don't want to speak for Senator Bond in why, if he was briefed on Monday, why on Tuesday, why does he say that Abdulmutallab -- the result of his refusal to cooperate after he was Mirandized? Why does Senator Bond continue to knowingly not have information curb what he's saying, or is this a bunch of politics?
Q So he owes an apology to whom?
MR. GIBBS: I think he owes an apology to the professionals in the law enforcement community and those that work in this building, not for Democrats and Republicans, but who work each and every day to keep the American people safe and would never, ever, ever knowingly release -- or unknowingly release -- classified information that could endanger an operation or an interrogation.
Again, I think that the reason that charge is made is only to play politics. I actually don't believe that that -- that he thinks that's a serious allegation. I think that is -- I think if you look at the letter, it's clearly -- this is about politics....
President Obama participated in a lengthy give and take with House republicans at their obstructionism planning session "issues conference" in Baltimore, Maryland today. The republicans made the mistake of agreeing to broadcast the event. Absolutely brilliant miscalculation on their part.
It's nice to actually have a President who can think. Then again, the environmental contrast was stark.
"...But if you were to listen to the debate and, frankly, how some of you went after this bill, you'd think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot. No, I mean, that's how you guys -- (applause) -- that's how you guys presented it...."
For a second there I forgot Marsha Blackburn was an idiot, then she wouldn't stop editorializing. :( #cspanObama/GOP q & a about 1 hour ago from UberTwitter
At tonight's monthly Johnson County Democratic Central Committee meeting the committee passed the following motion:
On Wednesday, January 27th President Obama ended his State of the Union Speech with this exhortation:
The spirit that has sustained this nation for more than two centuries lives on in you, its people. We have finished a difficult year. We have come through a difficult decade. But a new year had come. A new decade stretches before us. We don't quit. I don't quit. Let's seize this moment - to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more.
We, the Johnson County, Missouri Democratic Central Committee, urge our representatives in Congress, Senator McCaskill and Representative Skelton, to not quit. To seize the moment and carry forward our Democratic agenda of affordable health care for all and programs that get Americans back to work.
By Sally Quinn
Wednesday, January 27, 2010; 9:34 AM
I'll save you the trouble of reading it. Shorter Sally Quinn: "Come to our villager parties or we'll pull out the long knives. Oh, and I watched Avatar and I don't quite get it, though it has something to do with villagers."
I kid you not.
The inimitable Digby ("we are not worthy") has the best punch line evah:
Wrong movie.
Hide the bunny, Mr President.
And the comments at the Washington Post are priceless:
SurveyUSA released a 600 sample poll of "adults" on December 18th taken in Missouri from December 11th through the 13th. The margin of error is 4.1%. The poll was sponsored by KCTV in Kansas City.
President Obama's overall approval numbers have improved when compared to the November survey (there was no October release from SurveyUSA). And the December numbers are similar, though slightly better than, the September survey.
Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as President?
All 45% - approve
52% - disapprove
3% - not sure
Democrats [36% of sample]
75% - approve
22% - disapprove
3% - not sure
republicans [29% of sample]
11% - approve
86% - disapprove
3% - not sure
Independents [28% of sample]
46% - approve
52% - disapprove
3% - not sure
The numbers among Democrats (generally very good) and republicans have remained relatively unchanged. The percentage of self-identified Democrats in this sample (36%) is significantly higher than the percentage (30%) in the November poll. There has been a significant improvement in approval among "Independents" and, as a result, there is a corresponding improvement in President Obama's overall numbers. It is possible that the November poll numbers were an outlier.
State Rep Jake Zimmerman always brings out an SRO crowd at West County Democrat meetings, and Monday's gathering was no exception. Summarizing the feelings of "disconsolate" progressives everywhere, Jake wailed, "We're dooooommed." Truthfully, it's not hard to find things to complain about these days what with Loopy Joe Lieberman gumming up the works on health care reform and the relentless repetition of Sarah Palin's latest nonsense in the media.
But Zimmerman cautioned his audience to take a step back and look at the long view. A year ago, no one had heard of a "public option." The goal was to get more people insured and to put an end to some of the more outrageous acts of venality committed by the insurance companies. And it looks like some of those major goals are going to be achieved soon. Keeping in mind how long it has taken to get to this point, we really should be at least a tad optimistic about the future.
Yes, the filibuster thing is a pain in the..............
The President explains that while he continues to focus on jobs, it is also profoundly important to address the problems that created this economic mess in the first place. He commends the House of Representatives for passing reforms to our financial system, including a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and blasts Republican Leaders and financial industry lobbyists for their joint "pep rally" to defeat it.
Let's take a look at how members of the House from Missouri voted on the bill:
FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 968
(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)
....Who Are Determined To Throw Their Country Into A Stinking Mire.
The Obama Administration Department of Justice (not dubya's, but Obama's) is arguing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss a case against John Yoo who, as reported by Johnathan Turley,...
...is being sued by Jose Padilla, who was effectively blocked in contesting his abusive confinement and mistreatment as part of this criminal case and in a habeas action. The Bush Administration brought new charges to moot a case before the Supreme Court could rule. The Court previously sent his case back on a technicality.
It is important to note that the Administration did not have to file this brief since it had withdrawn as counsel and paid for Yoo's private counsel. It has decided that it wants to establish the law claimed by the Bush Administration protecting Justice officials who support alleged war crimes. They are effectively doubling down by withdrawing as counsel and then reappearing as a non-party amicus....
....The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was presented after World War II. Its provisions made their way into the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and as such, were ratified as norms of international law by the majority of civilized states in the world.
Article 4. 1 . In time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed, the States Parties to the present Covenant may take measures derogating from their obligations under the present Covenant to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their other obligations under international law and do not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin.
2. No derogation from articles 6, 7, 8 (paragraphs I and 2), 11, 15, 16 and 18 may be made under this provision. 3. Any State Party to the present Covenant availing itself of the right of derogation shall immediately inform the other States Parties to the present Covenant, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, of the provisions from which it has derogated and of the reasons by which it was actuated. A further communication shall be made, through the same intermediary, on the date on which it terminates such derogation.
Article 7. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.
Article 16. Everyone shall have the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
[emphasis added]....
You know, it ain't rocket surgery to figure this out.
In response to a previous post on bumper sticker vandalism, How teabaggers mark "their" territory, I received a snail mail care package from an operative living in the Glorious Socialist Fascist Communistic People's Republic of the Greater Chicago Metroplex containing, count 'em, two replacement bumper stickers.
Being a resident of the Glorious Socialist Fascist Communistic People's Republic of the Greater Chicago Metroplex and possessing a college education allows one to make ready allegorical references to ancient Greek stories. Except, if we recall, this story didn't end too well for the Hydra, did it? Eh, we got the basic point.
SurveyUSA released a 600 sample poll of "adults" on November 23rd taken in Missouri from November 20th through the 22nd. The margin of error is 4%. The poll was sponsored by KCTV in Kansas City.
President Obama's overall approval numbers have continued to decline when compared to the September (there was no October release from SurveyUSA) and August surveys.
Do you approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as President?
All 38% - approve
58% - disapprove
4% - not sure
Democrats [30% of sample]
74% - approve
24% - disapprove
2% - not sure
republicans [31% of sample]
12% - approve
82% - disapprove
6% - not sure
Independents [32% of sample]
33% - approve
65% - disapprove
2% - not sure
The numbers among Democrats, republicans and "Independents" have remained relatively unchanged, though the percentage of self-identified Democrats in this sample (30%) is significantly lower than the percentage (37%) in the September poll. The percentage of republicans and "Independents" sampled in the November poll are correspondingly higher.
Get 24% of Democrats and/or 18% of self-identified Liberals to weigh in additionally in the approval column and the president's overall approval numbers would look quite a bit better.
...Eliminationist wags were selling bumper stickers that read "Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8" on Cafe Press. Psalm 109:8 reads: "Let his days be few. Let another take is his office." The next verse is, "Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow." Followed by, "Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes." How long before one of these is spotted on the bumper of a hapless Republican county chair? I'm taking bets.
....the "Prayer for Obama," does more than anticipate that he leaves office; it entreats God to destroy the president.
Psalm 109 belongs to a special category of the psalms known as "imprecatory" prayers--it is a lament in the form of petition to destroy one's enemies. It is the personal prayer of an individual, someone who has been dealt an injustice by another--and usually more powerful--person. The words of Psalm 109 are those of deep agony, the longings of a victim for retribution and justice. This psalm is considered one of the most difficult of all the psalms--full of violent images of vengeance and death. Many a biblical critic has struggled with its words--and not a few--including Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant theologians--recommend that it not be used in public worship, much less as a bumper-sticker political slogan....
Missouri Representative Mark Parkinson (r) attempts to dip into the same stand-up comedy well as other Missouri republicans. Via Twitter:
Because Obama threw out the first picth at the MLB All-Star game here in St. Louis is he now the front runner for the Cy Young Award? 8:30 PM Oct 9th from Tweetie
Like the Saint Louis Rams, Obama is 0-5, but the Nobel Prize Committee proclaims the Rams Super Bowl Champions! 4:17 PM Oct 11th from Tweetie
Let's look at Representative Parkinson's long list of legislative success:
@ChadLivengood Former GOP state Rep. B.J. Marsh just called me and said he heard President Obama won the Heisman Trophy for watching a football game. about 2 hours ago from web
I suppose being a republican in the Missouri General Assembly makes you a comedian or a legislative giant. Not.
Rep. Marsh was originally elected to the House in 1988 and 1990, and was re-elected to his current term in November 2000. He was appointed in 2003 as a commissioner for the Missouri Tourism Commission...
Gee, with that kind of institutional experience you'd think he should have been cranking out a lot of important bills addressing pressing public concerns:
HB245
Designates a portion of U.S. Highway 60 as the "Korea War Veterans' Memorial Freeway".
Approved HCS HB 245 -- (LR# 0993L.02T)
Delivered to Secretary of State
HB294
Allows Springfield to establish a satellite enterprise zone.
HB294 -- (LR# 0942L.01I)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Executive Session Held (H)
HCS VOTED DO PASS
State Rep Jake Zimmerman always brings out an SRO crowd at West County Democrat meetings, and Monday's gathering was no exception. Summarizing the feelings of "disconsolate" progressives everywhere, Jake wailed, "We're dooooommed." Truthfully, it's not hard to find things to complain about these days what with Loopy Joe Lieberman gumming up the works on health care reform and the relentless repetition of Sarah Palin's latest nonsense in the media.
