OK, I always knew that Frank Wolf (R-VA 10th) wasn’t the “moderate” he claims to be, but this is truly unbelievable. Check it out; the guy has gone totally “tea party” on us! This is what Frank Wolf had to say on Friday in opposition to the health reform bill that ended up passing the [...]

We need to find out where progressive Members of Congress stand on a bill with triggers or opt-outs. Can you call now?

Click here to get the numbers of progressive Reps. and let us know what they say.

Saturday, when the House voted to pass the Stupak anti-abortion amendment, it was a massive defeat for women’s reproductive rights. It should be a huge blow to organizations that claim to defend a woman’s right to choose. These organizations were beaten on several levels. They lost to an opposition that did a better job of [...]

Harry Reid still has the ability to pass health care reform using reconciliation. Bills passed using reconciliation can’t be filibustered, so they only require a simple majority to pass the Senate. The biggest problem with using reconciliation is the Byrd rule.(brief summary and full CRS report) The Byrd rule requires that only provisions related to [...]

Back during the Alito confirmation battle, I got into a scrap with NARAL.  When Lincoln Chaffee announced that he would vote for cloture on the nomination of Judge Alito as part of the Gang of 14 “compromise” in 2006, I called NARAL’s offices and asked if they were down on the Hill yanking his endorsement. [...]

A public option was never anything more than a stepping stone to Medicare for all, a foothold in what would have otherwise been nothing more than a huge transfer of wealth to the insurance industry. It still is. But it’s going to take a lot more political organizing on the inside before any real headway can be made on that front. And the fact that even 14 of the 89 cosponsors won’t exercise the power they have and stand together to force even a symbolic vote shows how much work has to be done.

My one question for the 37 House Democrats who voted against health care reform because it is too liberal, why are you even Democrats? (Kucinich and Massa claim to have voted “no” because they thought the bill was too conservative.) I’m not big on party purity tests, but there are something that are so essential [...]

Last night health care reform, HR 3962, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 220 to 215. It was a truly historic moment and the bill will help millions of Americans. Yet as a progressive the passage of the bill is at best bittersweet. The bill is not single payer. It does not [...]

I never got a satisfactory answer about why the biofuels rider suddenly went into the health care bill at the last minute. The reasons that were offered up were never satisfactory. So, in the process of nosing around last night, I found out that the member of Congress who really, really cares about biofuels is [...]

In the House, the Stupak anti-abortion amendment passed 240 to 194 with one member voting present. 64 Democrats votes yes on the Stupak amendment. The Stupak amendment would effectively ban insurance companies from selling insurance plans that cover elective abortion on the individual and small group market. It would be one of the most far [...]