Teddy Partridge

News that Senator Max Baucus’ Finance Committee deal on health care excluded a public option sent health insurance stocks soaring on Tuesday. Executives who have poured money into the campaign coffers of Blue Dogs, Max Baucus, Chuck Grassley, Kent Conrad, Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins as well as their PACs likely made all their money back just in the one day rise in stock prices after the leak.

When Barack Obama says that the health care debate isn’t about him, it’s about the American people, he’s also cleverly letting the Blue Dogs who might join up with the GOP to “break” him know that there’s a cost to them of a Democratic Presidency broken on the shoals of health care reform: their seats, and maybe even their majority in 2010.

Despite claiming that the Blue Dog letter that opposed a public option for health care was “one of the best ones I’d seen written in a long time,” California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez struck out on her own path as she disagreed, on MSNBC today, and said she wants a public option in order to bring down health care costs.

In a strong statement to the Burlington (NC) Times News, Democratic Congressman Brad Miller, who represents North Carolina’s 13th district, outlined the public plan he favors and criticized its opponents as “special interests.” Should Brad Miller be added to FDL’s citizen whip tool as a possible vote against any health care “reform” that excludes a public option?

77 Members of Congress, writing to President Barack Obama, have asked that he direct the Defense Department to stop implementation and execution of orders under Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell while Congress begins efforts to actually repeal the law underlying the policy. The Palm Center agrees that the President has this power and can move unilaterally.

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) made some very encouraging activist noises while being interviewed by Rachel Maddow this evening. She said that she too is impatient, but said she’ll go to the big LGBT DNC gala next week in order to convey the urgency of passing her Domestic Partners bill for Federal employees, as well as repealing DOMA.

Getting bills to the President’s desk for him to sign is the most important step for the Congress.

While a number of institutional LGBT rights organizations (that have made significant progress at the state level) today cautioned against federal action, John Dean, appearing on Wednesday’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, makes the case that regardless of state decisions and citizens’ votes, marriage equality has become a national, federal civil rights issue, just as was Loving v. Virginia in 1967, in which the US Supreme Court ruled against interracial marriage bans.

Both sons of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush have let fly on Governor Charlie Crist lately. Are these rogue operations, or does the former President’s brother also favor former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio for the 2010 GOP nomination for United States Senate?

This ad, entitled “Fidelity,” goes live on television in California over the next 72 hours, but you can sign up right now to restore marriage equality.

The California Supreme Court has upheld Proposition 8, and also ruled that the same-sex marriages performed during the Rainbow Window in 2008 are legal and valid.