Jane, Slinkerwink, and Eve,

This is going to be great and what an idea. Now we are talking – this is really going to generate some interest. Wonderful idea!

This is ‘hardball’ in all kinds of different levels :-)))

Time to kick some ass.

Seconded.

This is brilliant, let’s get to it, shall we!

Great idea.
I see that IL is well represented by all the Mini Rahms.

John Lewis?

Five dems at +30 or better, who won’t commit to backing a public option? Unbelievable.

Chris Van Hollen (+21) might be harder than most to profile. Eve, if you want to look at CVH, you’re going to also have to look at donations to the DCCC.

Baucus Caucus: Chris, we’re concerned about all this “public option” noise from the House. Surely *you* are not going to back this. It would be a real shame, because we were just thinking of giving the DCCC a nice chunk of change. Obviously, if you were to support a public option, we’d have to rethink that.

CVH: My friends, I would never do anything to endanger the well-being of my DCCC colleagues.

Baucus Caucus: We’re glad to hear that. Now, where’s that checkbook?

But I’m sure I’m just imagining things.

Right?

Someone, please, tell me I’m just imagining things . . .

IndyStar had Andre Carson on the front page a coupla days ago re his being the only Indiana congressman backing a strong public option. Then the paper dutifully pointed out that he represents a poor district with 18 unemployment, etc.

Generally a veiled hit piece making it sound as if he’s backing a sort of medically themed welfare program.

‘Course, the Star is a fuckin’ Gannet rag….

Only ONE winner?

Great idea, Jane.

I want to also point you in the direction of a little essay in the front of the New Yorker this week about regime protest in Iran. People there who suspect they may be arrested and tortured by the regime are releasing preemptive videos on you-tube saying, “This is what I say and what I did,” etc. so that after their arrest the regime, if it releases statements that do not match what they have first said, can be shown to be falsifying.

It has taken away the power of the regime in another way.

I think creative video could be made here, not sure exactly what, but on you-tube could be powerful.

I like this. When you post truthful facts, it’s not political spin. It’s simply, the truth.

I commented on this yesterday but thought I should put it up again. I’m hoping that somebody in East Bay might want to outreach to the three Dem frontrunners who have embraced healthcare reform in the CA-10 special election (which is tomorrow). This is the race to replace the odious Ellen Tauscher.

Garamendi is the frontrunner, up by about 10 points in most polls. I dislike him but he’s no friend of insurance and has embraced single payer and/or a strong public option. The more progressive Wood and Hampton are significantly behind in the numbers but are the other two who’ve embraced either the strong PO or SP. (I know Wood has addressed FDL). The other two frontrunners (#2 and #3 respectively) are conservadem and Tauscher-nominee deSaulnier and dental insurance executive Buchanan, who presumably are not pro-healthcare-reform.

We should be prepared to pounce on the winner, who we should know by end-of-tomorrow, with a request the he take the pledge. If Garamendi fails to secure a significantly large majority to be elected, this will head to a runoff in November, in which case we we should ask all the finalists to take the pledge.

This is a Dem+15 district and the rethugs don’t really seem to have a candidate, so there’s always no chance there will be a rethug upset.

Jane, Why isn’t Mike Michaud on the list. Maine is a blue state, even my republican county went blue in the last election and Michaud campaigned for healthcare reform. Put him on the list, please.

My critter is Eliot Engel and I have written to him and spoken with his staff as big issues come up and told him what was the correct position – such as the AMUF and so forth and each time history has proven my position correct. He’s not going to alienate anyone especially on Israel related matters. He needs to be replaced.

On another note I listen to an interview with a poly sci professor from Ben Gurion University who has been a peace “activist” for decades. He is pro Israel but not a zionist. He is advocating the boycott which is being organized because he believes that there MUST be direct and PEACEFUL non violent acts of consequence aside from a demonstration.

This is a tactic that must be used. People MUST take DIRECT NON VIOLENT action to effect change in policy. Vote – yes letters and email – yes contributions (maybe) but we need to take DIRECT ACTYION – strikes, walk outs, refuse to pay taxes even. I don’t know exactly what but we need to get serious. Tears, cheers and fear is not working for us.

dease gals are so DAMNDED SMART………..

and Teddycare for all!

Let’s lance this boil…M4A

Patrick Kennedy is on the list?

thanks, general j.

Brilliant,make sure Rahm knows.

Is there an official name for “the pledge”? Jan Schakowsky (and her staff) told me that they weren’t about which pledge I was referring! I may have a chance to ask her about it tonight at the townhall meeting.

Thanks.

DDay already did. He got great interviews with all three.

cool! thanks. I wouldn’t want to neglect the East Bay ;-)

Just ask her to add her name to the Sebelius letter.

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/whipletter

I wouldn’t want to neglect the East Bay

note George Miller’s inclusion on the list

Mornin’ All

Genius! I especially like that it focuses on the Democrats who would not be replaced by worse Republicans.

please,please,PRETTY PLEASE,OK im begging,somebody send this to KO and Rachel,i dont know how to

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…..he-Carwash

Betty McCollum MN-4 at a Health Care rally last week publically announced her support for the public option. She was with Keith Ellison at the rally and I believe she stated she wouldn’t vote for any bill without the public option. She is having a town hall meeting tonight that I am attending and will ask the question if given the chance.

YES! Thank you for reminding the 55 Dems about this… they need to realize that they are safe from the tea party folks, so maybe then they will push this thing forward.

I truly admire our President’s efforts at trying to be everyone’s President, with the whole bipartisan thing. But there comes a time when you’ve got to drop the hammer and push through a partisan bill because the people need it badly, and Repubs don’t want ANY reform. Protesters were acting like this with Medicare in the 1960s, and Soc Sec in the 1930s. Hmmm, people seem to be fine with those now, don’t they? Same thing will happen with Public Option Health Care, if/when it gets passed.

Presumably, all these candidates have responded in some way to enquiries about the so-called public option. Is there a list showing how each responded? Perhaps an extra column could be added to the table shown above, labeled, Response.

Great interview on the Women’s Show Saturday morning, Jane. Mary and Arlene have a huge following so a lot of folks in the Tampa Bay area heard you.

As I’ve been trying to tell everyone, Jackie Speier (CA-12) should be on this list.

I suppose I should feel somewhat “guilty” for living off the Internet, and of course, I speaking from the standpoint that with ‘all hands on board’ the internet bloggers are highly visible and their collective ‘intelligence’ is a wonderful sight to behold. In short, digging into the detritus of politics, helps “to inform” and “to teach”.

Take, for example, here at the Chicano Veterans Organization, we pay particular attention to the members of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus, and follow closely what they are up to and where they go and with whom

In this regard, Congressman Ed Pastor has a long history. For his early years in Congress, he was an impressive Progressive. But when he became part and parcel to the Pelosi Team, as Chief Deputy Whip, he no longer advocated a progressive agenda, but moved closer to the Leadership Perspective. So, my question regarding Pastor, is simply one for understanding, is he now one of Rahm Emanuel’s “untitled” blue dogs, or more appropriately, a ‘new’ convert to the DLC, and thusly a Neo-Liberal?

As for Joe Baca from Northern California, he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and got called out by Congresswoman Sanchez from Southern California, a formal member of the Blue Dogs. Not much is made nor mentioned in our Spanish-speaking community, but it’s my understanding that Sanchez is seeking out an Ambassadorship and for which she has denied, but denials in this age of politics, tends to prove differently at the end of the day. As to Baca, he deserved to get ‘primaried’ by someone who holds his/her “honor” in a far much higher regard.

Thus, I congratulate Slinkerwink for her diligent effort, and furthermore, for making this a contest of “peers”. And with her impressive-as-usual political insight, Jane Hamsher here at the Lake, has also become one of our “heroes”.

Respectfully Submitted.

Jaango

looks like the congresswoman (D+23) signed the Sibelius letter – will double check

I was from the South Bay area, and respected Miller for his staunch and active liberal voice in the North Bay. It is mysterious why he’s keeping quiet on this issue, given his background.

Brilliant – absolutly brilliant!

@JAYT

Exactly. Of all people to be on the list at this point in time. If you can’t ask a Kennedy to take up Teddy’s health care reform mantle just this once…who do you ask?

I agree. Mike Michaud (ME-02) is my rep too, and should be on the list. He won by an overwhelming margin last Nov (about 70%, IIRC). He’s supporting a “robust public option” but hasn’t taken the pledge to vote against a bill without one, AFAIK.

See this for more info.

my guess is his close ties to the Speaker – bein’ a good soldier, etc.

If Mr Trumka and Labor keep their word about pressuring folks who rely on them, Congressman Miller should come around as he is Labor-heavy in contributions and always has been

ME-02 has a D+3 PVI – not exactly a safe seat which may explain him not being on the list

Slink’s diary for today

today’s, um, contestants:

Rep. Xavier Becerra CA-31
Rep. Steve Cohen TN-09
Rep. Jim Moran VA-08
Rep. John Larson CT-01
Rep. Tammy Baldwin WI-02

Do read Slink’s diary for details

Yeah, please double-check whether Speier signed the Sebelius letter. I’ve been trying to find proof of that signature, and I’ve been coming up empty.

That’s why I borrowed a car and drove down to San Carlos to ask the Congresswoman directly at her forum event. Her staff wouldn’t let me have a turn at the microphone, so the best I could do was ask her press director, Mike Larsen, after the event was over. He told me in a very clear and unambiguous voice that “what she will not do— some people, like Firedoglake.com, want her to sign a pledge, and she won’t do that because it’s too early to know what will be in the final language.”

I took that as a statement repudiating the Sebelius letter, assuming she ever signed it in the first place, given that I have yet to see any proof that she did.

I’m not sure why Howard Berman hasn’t signed. God knows I’ve nagged him enough. But he IS a co-sponsor of HR 676, so I guess that says something.

This index doesn’t make much sense to me. Michaud got 70% of the vote in 2006, and 67% in 2008 (for comparison, Obama got about 60%). His index is indeed D+3, as you say. Meanwhile. Chellie Pingree in ME-01 got 55% (2008), but her PVI is D+6!

It doesn’t look like a very useful guide in this case. And it isn’t very clear to me exactly how they compute it–maybe somebody pushed the wrong key for ME-02?

I’ll add that I’ve been on one of Eshoo’s telephone health care town hall and I was impressed by how forthright she was about her support for a public option. Previously she was mum because she was on one of the committees still authoring a bill, but once that was done, she became forceful in her support. She talked explicitly about the specific needs, constituent examples who would be affected, and consistently used words like “will” and “shall” regarding details. It would be hard for her to walk back support now, so perhaps it’s worth a call to ask what her stance is on a commitment.

Correction: Pingree is D+8.

OK, after a bit more surfing I see how the PVI is calculated. It’s a measure of how much the Cong. District went for the Presidential candidate, and so has nothing directly to do with the vote for the Congresscritter. Interesting idea, but I think it’s really missing something re Mike Michaud. Indeed his district is more conservative than southern Maine, but with such overwhelming wins in the last two elections, he is in a strong position.

Upshot: Jane, why not put him on the list?

I especially like dragging it out for 11 days. Much more suspense that way for those who may be wavering…

many of them signed on to HR 676 – knowing damn good and well it would never reach the floor for a vote. it was supposed to keep us all pacified – and now many of them are finding that ol trick just wont cut it anymore :D

Yeah, Speier signed on to HR 676 too. I believe Pelosi when she says it will reach the floor, but I don’t see how it can possibly pass. Pelosi can count noses better than anyone, and I’m sure she knows it won’t pass. HR 676 is, sadly, a symbolic distraction with no real substance.

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE OPENING NEGOTIATING POSITION!

Being one of her constituents, I have repeatedly called her office to ask her to take the pledge. While her office staff have been decent, they simply reflect her non-commitment to any sort of robust health care package with a public option and offer nothing concrete about where she stands. And all I got for my efforts were a couple of verbose form letters equivocating her stupid position (one of the letters had my name completely misspelled, adding to the absurdity of this elected representation).

Tammy Baldwin was just on the front page of the paper Wisconsin State Journal supporting the public option.

I’ve had pretty much the same experience, except the first time I got any response from her office, it was the huffy comments to the blog post I wrote when I finally gave up trying to get them to respond to me. Even that was less than satisfying, because I still don’t have a clear answer to the simple direct question I keep asking: how will Speier vote when she is presented with a final bill that doesn’t include a public option? The implication of what her press director says is that she will vote YES if the language is otherwise somehow acceptable. But no promises. She doesn’t do promises.

At least, she doesn’t make promises to her constituents… who knows what she promises in private conferences with her biggest contributors?

agree that Congressman Michaud should be on the list. ME-02 is much more conservative than Congresswoman Pingree’s district. it is Susan Collins territory and Democrats don’t win much up here, but even in my county, Washington County, we still elected Obama. Mike campaigned on fixing healthcare and now we get this:

*** I support a public insurance option, but I also believe that it is important that it be affordable and properly structured to address the needs of rural states like Maine. One such very serious concern with the current draft of the bill is that using Medicare-like rates for a public option would have a grave effect on Maine.

The formula now used to reimburse physicians and hospitals through Medicare puts rural states at a disadvantage by undercutting payments to our health care providers and contributing to higher health care premiums in Maine. Making matters worse, there is a severe shortage of health care providers in our state, and this number will continue to decrease unless we can develop a reimbursement system that will not drive our providers out of business and, ultimately, out of Maine altogether.

In the end, we must fix what is broken to create a competitive public insurance option that providers can participate in and that Mainers can access. ****

i think it is the influence of the hospitals and providers and his fear of a Republican challenge.

Right. However Obama’s margin was only a few points higher in the 1st district than the 2nd (Mike’s). And Mike is certainly looking over his shoulder.

But all that said, I think he is persuadable. And people up here (I’m in Bangor) are really hurting with the current health care. Some pressure could make the difference, IMHO. When I call his (DC) office, the staffer who answers is quite up on these issues, and is glad to hear from someone pushing for a robust PO. I don’t see Mike as a died-in-the-wool Blue Dog.

As cynical as I’ve become, I do think this particular “outing” needs to be done somewhat carefully, at least as it relates to CA.

The reason is that many of the Californians on the list are really great liberals, and particularly among those from northern CA, they are close to Pelosi, and they want to help her push things over the top, when the final shove is required. For now, they’re keeping their powder dry.

None of us knows what the final House bill will look like, and many of us may not like it; indeed, definitely won’t like it if it lacks PO. The N.CA libs I’m talking about above will be part of that final push, and we can/will denounce them all loudly, if it comes to that, including primary challenge support, etc.

However, if by chance, the PO winds up in the bill at the final, the push will still be needed. However the game goes, those closest to Pelosi are keeping their options open to permit the best possible outcome to emerge. Believe me, people like George Miller, Zoe Lofgren, Berman, Waxman, etc., will push a PO right over the top, if given the opportunity.

You know, some people look at those D+30s and think “what are they thinking?” I look at those D+30s and think “third party proving grounds”. I have serious doubts the two-party system is going to actually help any but the rich who own it except as an afterthought. Maybe it’s time for a solid-left Conservative Progressive Party (take advantage of the conditioned stimulus of the word “conservative” while advancing a social democratic platform), built by word-of-mouth and maybe the help of the alternative newsweeklies? Task the first to be voting reform, so that minor parties can meaningfully participate?

Obama?

May I suggest we get the GOP next?

What does PVI stand for in the chart.

Yeah- he doesn’t make sense on this list. He showed up on the leaked CPC whip list published by mcjoan on daily kos here
( http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..lic-Option ). But as far as I know he hasn’t made a public commitment.

I have to give slinkerwink credit for dealing with these Dkos folks – Why is Firedoglake Going After H.R. 676 Co-Sponsors?

Right On Matt ! if you have been following Slinky’s diaries over at Big Orange – you see what a consistent, focused warrior she is. nothing deters her – moves very much like a great martial arts fighter and turns her opponents in to shadow boxers :D

some time back Digby held forth on the immaturity of the current progressive movement and I didn’t want to accept that even if it was Digby – the diary you linked holds an abundance of evidence

found myself chuckling in that some of the nay-sayers were clearly unaware their own vanity is drivin’ the bus

the sexism is kinda difficult to ignore as well

or how ’bout how naive and gullible some folks still are when it comes to so-called progressive critters – dear gaia, just because it’s Waxman holding the football doesn’t mean he wont yank it away –

oh and p.s., it’s not enough Jane, Eve, and Slinky are fighting the WH, Big Cash, TradMed, and entrenched Dem Leadership on this vital issue, they are doing it with WATB, ill informed progressives on their backs !