I was wondering if folks like Wexler just didn’t want the aggravation they would attract by declaring their committment. Looks like my instincts were correct.

thanks for the update and wtg Mr. Wexler!

Shit that is good – wasn’t he evasive with Mike? Oh well as long as he came out in full support that is great. He is a very vocal person and could be a helpful in moving other members of the CPC.

Some other good news today:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mu…..hp?id=1278

Dennis Kucinich’s amendment to the healthcare reform bill that allows states to try their own single-payer systems passed a House Committee this morning. Several Repubs shockingly voted for it. Let’s keep turning those screws. We’re seeing some light!

Getting pickeeted by anybody Dick Armey-related is an excellent reference, in my book.

Can Wexler’s office put up something pointing out the connection?

Yes, he was evasive with Mike.

Agree, this is a needed pick-up.

I just kicked in $20 to Act Blue for Wexler. I also called their office to let them know Jane had posted about Wexler’s committment and was soliciting funds for him.

I felt Wexler would be committed to the Public Option with no triggers or BS that the Bluedogs are trying to force into the health care bill.
Hey dosido… you were looking for me last late late nite??

sheesh, click through to the sun sentinel link and check out the comments! major heat on wexler right now.

My favorite: “govt programs never work. at least we can regulate private business.”

LOLOLOLOL.

bwahaha! yeah. I couldn’t figure out how in the world I got the zed….

Cool – Yeah I love what Jane is doing with the ‘Health Care Heroes’ and only asking for FUNDS for these ‘Heroes’ and not other members of the CPC. If we could find some way to demonstrate that our funds, our grassroot efforts, and digital outreach will only be used in the 2010 elections to those individuals that become Health Care Heroes before the vote. I would suggest that a member of the CPC would be considered a Health Care Hero if the make the Pledge no later than first working day of September.

Did any one on FDL get a chance to listen to Sotomayor murder the english language during her questioning? I see there have been no topics on her lately on this site. I can’t believe this is the best the dems have for a Supreme Court judge nominee. What a moron. She reminds me of the character from In Living Color that was played by one of the Wayan brothers… (like most were) you remember… the inmate that uses words that sound close to what he means but not really the correct word. This would be a good skit on SNL… Maybe Maya Rudolph could play Sotomayor…

You were quick to the post! Ya have to be quick on the late late nite thread! Which is my favorite thread (:>) But last night we were watching LOST on Blue-ray, I got the first four seasons and my sweetie hasn’t seen it yet so we are watching our way through them…

My note to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, my senator.

Your refusal to meet with Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake is shameful. As a constituent I have NO ONE to support my desire for a public option. I don’t have a highly paid lobbyist, all I have is a few bloggers like Jane who are representing my views.

I wish that you would give more consideration to meeting with people who represent my views (a MAJORITY in our state) than to lobbyists who are working behind closed doors.

I WANT health coverage for everyone. I want a strong public option. (I really want a single payer option like Canada, but that was taken off the table because of insurance industry pressure.)

Listen to us. Hear our pleas.

My God, but you’re a bigoted little man.

This is the second thread today, that I know of(there could be more), that he’s polluted.

That has to be a failed attempt at satire.

Just sent money to Wexler. Glad he could join us on the good side.

Emphasis on “failed.”

They may not know, I didn’t know it was freedomworks until I looked it up in the news.

Thanks! I gave $100 myself.

Republics better send money to the Bush family. This says that the Carlyle Group collapsed. Who will pay for John Bush’s campaign now?

cheers to wexler and to jane!!!

here are the cpc criteria:

The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) stands united in the call to provide high quality, affordability, and accessibility in healthcare choices for all Americans. As you are aware, the overwhelming majority of CPC Members would prefer a single-payer approach. If a single-payer plan is not enacted, we agree with President Obama that there must be a robust public health insurance option like Medicare offered alongside the private plans….

The CPC believes the public plan should provide a guarantee of coverage, affordable, high-quality and accessible healthcare, and lower costs regardless of income, health status, race, employment, or gender. We strongly oppose any conditions or triggers undermining and limiting the availability of the public option.

In addition, they provided these requirements:

The Congressional Progressive Caucus calls for a robust public option that must:

Enact concurrently with other significant expansions of coverage and must not be conditioned on private industry actions.

Consist of one entity, operated by the federal government, which sets policies and bears the risk for paying medical claims to keep administrative costs low and provide a higher standard of care.

Be available to all individuals and employers across the nation without limitation

Allow patients to have access to their choice of doctors and other providers that meet defined participation standards, similar to the traditional Medicare model, promote the medical home model, and eliminate lifetime caps on benefits.

Have the ability to structure the provider rates to promote quality care, primary care, prevention, chronic care management, and good public health.

Utilize the existing infrastructure of successful public programs like Medicare in order to maintain transparency and consumer protections for administering processes including payment systems, claims and appeals.
Establish or negotiate rates with pharmaceutical companies, durable medical equipment providers, and other providers to achieve the lowest prices for consumers.

Receive a level of subsidy and support that is no less than that received by private plans.

Ensure premiums must be priced at the lowest levels possible, not tied to the rates of private insurance plans.

In conclusion, the public plan, like all other qualified plans, must redress historical disparities in underrepresented communities. It must provide a standard package of comprehensive benefits including dental, vision, mental health and prescription drug coverage with no pre-existing condition exclusions. It must limit cost-sharing so that there are no barriers to care, and incorporate up-to-date best practice models to improve quality and lower costs. All plans, including the public plan, must include coverage for evidence-based preventive health services at minimal or no co-pay. All plans, including the public plan, should be at least as transparent as traditional Medicare.

Good on Wexler but this system is so corrupt and compromised by special interests money that one can’t help but ask at what point do people begin to say it’s time do away with a system that no longer serves the needs or interests of the “people?” The fact that Congress and Obama refuse to discuss single payer speaks volumes. They use the excuse that if we were starting from scratch then maybe. This is political cowardice of the highest magnitude.

Oops, they let Dubya into a boardroom.

Frederic — you’ve got a severe case of Torgo. Shoulda stayed away from the Redfish at the last buffet.

Freddy’s cribbing his racism from the “Bench Memo” blog over at National Review online. They’ve decided that their main talking point is to nitpick Sotomayor’s grammar — yes, these are the same people who looked the other way when Bush said such things as: “Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?” and “Make the pie higher!”

It seems difficult to move forward when you have to hope that Harry Reid has your back.

Isn’t Dick Armey one of the Architects of teh “big shitpile”? At least in it’s nascent form as espoused by the laffer-curve-impeach-for-a-blowjob republicans…

Ah. Not even an original racist. How lame.

Did they run out of guns and ammo to sell? Isn’t the Kingdom heavily involved in Carlyle?

I asked our family doctor about health reform today during our office visit (because I knew he’d be happy to share his opinion!). He told me there will be little change and big fanfare and nothing will happen. He also said health care is already being rationed and that our country was behind so many other countries in so many measures of health care delivered to its citizens.

He recommended that we add small children and pregnant women to Medicare and slide change in through the door that exists. I thought it was an interesting strategy.

But Bush is white qualified!

Well done, Jane.

I doubt there’s a company in America that would let The Crawford Village Idiot into their boardroom…at least if they want to survive. The Errors and Omissions insurance premiums alone would kill them.

I was fairly expecting Sessions & Graham to ask Judge Sotomayor not to skip doing the windows. they’re despicable.

Why do you say that? Since I don’t think Sotomayor is a good choice that makes me a bigot. You libs have the same predictable argument if someone disagrees with you… and for the record I am not a bigot. There are plenty of other minorities that are much better choices than the fool they have up there now.

Looks like it was the twin WMDs of hedging and MBSs. From the link

Carlyle Group collapsed last spring. During its heyday, it apparently leveraged its bets by a factor of 32 to 1 — a process that allows investors to make much bigger stock bets than they actually have money for. Leverage is incredibly effective when prices are going up, but is a recipe for bankruptcy when prices drop. The group was heavily involved in mortgage securities, a part of the market that has all-but-collapsed.

I wasn’t able to watch, but from everything I’ve read, they did a magnificent job upholding the long-standing reputation of the elite southern male.

When explaining the U.S. healthcare “system” to friends and family in France and Italy they are stunned. At least now they know why the U.S. ranks 37th in healthcare by the World Health Organization. Europeans ask why the American people tolerate such greed, inefficiency and corruption.

Looks like a bad case of too much El Rushbo.

That is good news.

Maybe they’d open themselves up to some reverse immigration? Sometimes I wonder if it’s time to go back.

FYI… Bush was no better. I cringed whenever he spoke… at least I am willing to criticize my own when it is due… far more that what you kool-aid drinkers will do. You will apologize for her until the cows come home. If Sotomayor was a conservative pick you would have torn here apart for here terrible grammar. But since she is a liberal you will stick your head in the sand and pretend it did not happen. Just another example of the endless double standards that come from the left…

Think I read somewhere that Carlyle is also involved in nursing homes. Hope I’m never in one of theirs.

Bush was no better.

Man, that’s weak…Bush was far, far, worse. And if you don’t think the Left criticizes its own, then you haven’t been paying attention. Go read the posts on “Whipping the Public Option”, and then try to say that with a straight face.

Don’t be so hard on ‘those people, the libs’. It’s not easy to find candidates as qualified as Clarence Thomas.

If you do find yourself in one, it probably won’t be for long.

OT
Where is Ratfood today? It’s his birthday.

bwaaahaaaahaaaa

their European arm also created a special investment unit that bought $128M in sub prime crap in 8/07 – waaaay late in that game. makes some of us think they got the okey-doke on repayment from “high govt officials”

Jane has written about their getting in to the infrastructure repair game as well – think her post was called Disaster Capitalism – Coming To A Town Near You

That made me laugh. If infrastructure repair is their game, lordy, help us all.

Further in the tread re Carlyle Group, it is stated that Carlyle Group hasn’t collapsed totally, just one investment arm of it.
Damn.

Just FYI – Healthy Economy Now is running the heck out of ads here in the Houston, Texas Market. I have seen a 30 second spot on multiple commercial breaks on MSNBC.

The ads are good and say it is time to ACT NOW and support President Obama’s and Congresses Health Care Plans. The group is supported by PhRMA, AARP, AMA, Business Roundtable, and SEIU

You must be a linquist and grammarian. Perfect little diction everytime and all the time I suppose. If that is all you have and nothing concerning her views then you have nothing but hate in your tiny soul.

The bravery of a Democrat taking the pledge increases the more competitive the district is. Except for a couple, we’re talking about super-safe Dem districts.

When it comes to contributing, it makes sense to focus it on those with purplish districts – not solid blue ones. No Democrat in a D+20 district is going to make themselves vulnerable to a primary by taking this pledge – however a Dem in a potentially competitive district might feel vulnerable by doing this (even though 75% of the public supports the public option).

I’ll be giving weighting my donations heavily to ‘purple’-district Dems who take the pledge but still give at least a symbolic contribution to everyone else to show support for their commitment.

Of the 10 pledgers so far, all have a PVI D+20 or above except for Phil Hare ((D+3)), Rush Holt (D+8) and Cleaver (D+12). Unless you have limitless money, IMO the best thing to do is focus it on those for whom this pledge could put them at some risk (real or perceived).

Wexler, Ellison and Woolsey are in D+21 districts – it’s pretty clear they’re more likely to be at risk if they don’t take this pledge than if they do…

Thanks, do you have a link?

Tammy Baldwin is in deep blue Madison, WI, she’s “leaning yes.”

Gwen Moore (Milwaukee) is in the black caucus and is also “leaning yes.”

Jane’s heroic efforts are revealing the problem, we can’t even get the Progressive Caucus to take a stand that is eminently safe in their own districts.

Delighted at this news. Just contributed.

Wish I had lots of $$$$ and could make a significant donation, but doin’ what I can.

As Harry Shearer used to say on Le Show, “Never turn your back on a Dick Armey.”

Cheers to selise! Thanks for all the calls.

Well, Joe at Senator Feinstein’s SF Office was quite put out by my call regarding insurance reform, toadying to lobbyists, refusla to meet with jane. Joe was patient as I addressed the insurance reform, public support of public option, frustration with the favoring of industry over constituents and public clamor, but Jane – that’s a bridge too far. She’s a FAMOUS BLOGGER! Senator bow-tie cannot, will not, have a FAMOUS BLOGGER come in to a meeting with a constituent (Natiline’s mother, evven when I pointed out Jane was a constituent), Joe reminded me that jane’s a FAMOUS BLOGGER. It would be inconceivable that the Senator could meet with her in her BLOGGER capacity, but she may schedule an appointment with the Senator. The he hung up.
Apparently, FAMOUS BLOGGERS work. Dear Jane, please consider continuing to BLOG FAMOUSLY, it appears to be working.

Seconded!

I called Wexler on behalf of the whip tool and was told he’d signed a letter to Speaker Pelosi confirming that he would not vote unless a public plan choice was included. I never did find the letter! I’m not in his district, but I like the way he stands up for important things, like during the DC meeting that made decisions on delegates to the nominating convention. So I’m a reliable if infrequent contributor to Rep Wexler.