
After the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the intelligence community, consisting of everything from the CIA to the Homeland Security Department, is outsourcing too much of its work to private contractors and is breaking a pledge to reduce the number of private contractors hired to help conduct, collect and analyze information.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who chairs the Intelligence Committee, pointed out the broken promise at a hearing Tuesday, noting that the intelligence community is not living up to a commitment to reduce private contractors by 5 percent a year.
"We had an agreement in 2009 to reduce [intelligence community] contractor numbers by 5 percent a year, but it's clear that progress has not been maintained and sufficient cuts are not being made," Feinstein told a joint-hearing of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees to assess progress in U.S. intelligence gathering and analysis over the last ten years.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Long-time California campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee not only "nearly wiped out" Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) campaign funds, but it appears she has "wiped out" Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) war chest as well, Politico's Jonathan Allen and John Bresnahan report.
"I was wiped out too, we don't know how much," said Feinstein, who is up for reelection next year. According to Feinstein, the company headed by Durkee handled her campaigns in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2006, and her gubernatorial campaign. "I trusted her implicitly."
Durkee, arrested this month on mail fraud charges for allegedly using money from campaign funds she managed for personal expenses, was ordered to be released on $200,000 bond on Friday.
Sen. Feinstein is the latest victim in what is amounting to one of the largest finance scandals in California history, one that has already ensnarled a California state assemblyman, Jose Solorio (D), and Reps. Susan Davis (D-CA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA).
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PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) told reporters on Sunday that she wasn't thrilled with the way the negotiations to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling were happening, but thinks the final outcome could be good.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)President Obama is officially backing legislation that would repeal the 1996 Defense Of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage even for couples married under state law.
The President has "long called for a legislative appeal for the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which continues to have a real impact on families," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at Tuesday's briefing.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is pushing back against GOP criticism of the Obama administration's decision to bring Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, the Somali man facing terrorism charges, to New York for trial.
Feinstein, an influential and respected voice on intelligence and national security issues, said the intelligence panel has been kept fully informed on Warsame's interrogations and the intelligence they produced, adding that she agreed with the decision to try him civilian court.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) says she isn't dismayed by a recent Field Poll survey demonstrating her plunging re-election rating in California, even though growing worries over the economy continue to hound her ahead of next year's re-election bid for a fourth term.
"I know I can't work any harder than I'm working," she told TPM following a senate vote yesterday. "I think a lot of this is the context of the economy: 12% unemployment. I understand that [and] I'm doing everything I possibly can."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) isn't relying on U.S. intelligence officials alone to find out whether the Pakistani government was helping harbor Osama bin Laden.
Feinstein, who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, told TPM she has "her own people looking into it" and will hold closed-door classified hearings on the increasingly frayed relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan soon.
Despite her deep concerns about what the Pakistani government knew about bin Laden's compound before a U.S. assault team raided it and killed the notorious al Qaeda leader, Feinstein tempered remarks Monday in which she questioned continuing to send billions of dollars in humanitarian and military aid to the country and said the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan "makes less and less sense."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)More and more evidence suggests a key piece of intelligence -- the first link in the chain of information that led U.S. intelligence officials to Osama bin Laden -- wasn't tortured out of its source. And, indeed, that torture actually failed to produce it.
"To the best of our knowledge, based on a look, none of it came as a result of harsh interrogation practices," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee in a wide-ranging press conference.
Moreover, Feinstein added, nothing about the sequence of events that culminated in Sunday's raid vindicates the Bush-era techniques, nor their use of black sites -- secret prisons, operated by the CIA.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)A successful attack on Osama Bin Laden may mark a satisfying end to one chapter of America's War on Terror, but the circumstances of the operation raise disturbing new questions about the nation's already troubled relationship with Pakistan. On Monday, high-ranking lawmakers and officials openly aired their suspicions that forces within the crucial ally's government deliberately withheld information on the terrorist leader's location.
"They've got a lot of explaining to do," Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters Monday.
TPM SLIDESHOW: Osama Bin Laden: 9/11 Mastermind, Longtime U.S. Enemy Killed In Pakistan
Intelligence officials have long suspected that Pakistan's weak and fractured government may be host to rogue elements either disinterested in catching -- or actively sympathetic to -- anti-Western terrorists. But the presence of Bin Laden's heavily fortified compound in a garrison town near Islamabad magnified concerns that Al Qaeda had help from the inside in concealing its leader's location.
"It's very difficult for me to understand how this huge compound could be built in a city just an hour north of the capital of Pakistan in a city that contained military installations, including the Pakistani military academy, and that it did not arouse tremendous suspicion," Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, said at a press conference on Monday.
"It was not like a normal house in New Jersey, I can tell you that," Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who has called for a new review of military and economic aid to Pakistan in light of the Bin Laden raid, told TPM.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Nine Democratic senators, all women, slammed House Republicans at a press conference Friday for threatening to shut down the government over provisions that would prevent funding for Planned Parenthood.
"The numbers have been agreed to, but it's an opportunity for the right wing in the House to really sock it to women,"Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said. "I don't usually use this language, but I really believe this is true."
The event was the latest by Democrats to draw attention to the anti-abortion policy riders, which they claim are the final sticking point in negotiations. Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has denied they are the only issue, but has not said they would be left off the table in a final deal. Lawmakers at the press conference noted that federal funding for abortion was already banned by the Hyde Amendment and that Planned Parenthood's services were widely used for other health care purposes, including testing for cancer and providing contraceptive.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told reporters that Republicans are "playing to their extremist supporters who care more about hurting women's health than reducing the deficit."
Democratic leaders, including Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), are aggressively playing up Republican intransigence on the policy riders. A small handful of Republican and conservative leaders have publicly suggested they're uncomfortable holding up negotiations over the issue.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Freshmen House Republicans are already putting House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) in a bind over the budget, with a contingent of Tea Party-backed fiscal conservatives refusing to vote for any more continuing resolutions. Now a group of libertarian-leaning Republicans are balking at President Obama's missile strikes in Libya.
Republican Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Ron Paul (R-TX) and Justin Amash (R-MI) over the weekend objected to the President's decision to use military force to contain Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, with some questioning the constitutionality of the operation and others opposing U.S military intervention in another Arab country because they aren't convinced that the U.S. has a clear national interest in the action.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Senior Democratic senators are practically begging and pleading for President Obama to roll up his sleeves and engage with Republicans on budget negotiations.
Distracted by world events and crisscrossing the country talking about job creation, President Obama these Democrats say is shrinking from the heavy lifting required to leverage the full weight of the White House to sell smaller spending cuts to the American people and gain an edge in the negotiations with Republicans in Congress.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, harshly criticized the CIA and the rest of the intelligence community for failing to forecast the uprising in the Middle East and warned the White House not to intervene in Libya without international support.
"Our intelligence, and I see it all ... was woefully inadequate. [The unrest in] Tunisia was the only intelligence we got right," Feinstein told TPM Tuesday, adding that U.S. intelligence completely missed the instability in Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain.
Last year, Republican Carly Fiorina put a scare into the Democratic Party by making her race against incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) seem close, if only for a few months. Yet Republicans may have less cause for excitement when they challenge Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) in 2012, as a new PPP poll shows Feinstein dominating a slate of prominent GOP challengers by anywhere from 14 to 34 points.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Some Democrats want to let the high-income Bush tax cuts expire, some don't, and yet a third category thinks touching tax rates right before an election is positively nuts.
Put Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in the latter category.
"In my opinion, I don't know who takes a tax vote, in their right mind, just before an election," she told reporters yesterday.
If Chuck Schumer's reaction earlier today is any indication, she's not alone.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)If you thought that the Republican filibuster of the tax-cutting small business bill meant that the Senate didn't have a particularly productive day Thusday, you'd be wrong. In fact, the Senate authorized the issuance of a conservation stamp, created Polycystic Kidney Disease Awareness Week, gave a little money to the Patent and Trademark office and, oh yeah, doubled the penalties for making pot brownies. Yes, the same week that Congress significantly reduced the racially-charged crack-powder sentencing disparity, they also voted to create one between pot brownies and dime bags.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)The first questions about gun rights during Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings today came not from Republicans -- who always attempt to make the Second Amendment an issue -- but from Democrats. Kagan quickly ended the line of inquiry by declaring citizens' rights to own guns as "settled law."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Sessions: 'It's Conceivable A Filibuster Might Occur' Against Kagan
Appearing on Face The Nation, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) did not rule out a filibuster against the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan. "I think the first thing we need to decide is, is she committed to the rule of law even if she may not like the law?" Sessions said. "Will she as a judge subordinate herself to the Constitution and keep her political views at bay? And then secondly, if things come out to indicate she's so far outside the mainstream, it's conceivable a filibuster might occur."
Leahy: If Obama Had Nominated Moses, Some Would Say He Hasn't Produced A Birth Certificate
Appearing on Face The Nation, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) joked that Republican lines have already been drawn against any Supreme Court nomination by President Obama: "It's reached the point that if [Obama] had nominated Moses the law giver, some would have said we can't have him because among other things he hasn't produced a birth certificate."
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: CIA Director Leon Panetta.
• CBS, Face The Nation: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI).
• CNN, State Of The Union: Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).
• Fox News Sunday: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR).
• NBC, Meet The Press: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
• CBS, Face The Nation: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA).
• CNN, State Of The Union: Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT).
• Fox News Sunday: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
• NBC, Meet The Press: Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), former Shell Oil Company president John Hofmeister, Katty Kay of the BBC, TARP Executive Compensation Special Master Ken Feinberg.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Kyl: I Don't Think Kagan Represents 'Extreme Circumstances' For Filibuster
Appearing on Face The Nation, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said that Elena Kagan's nomination for the Supreme Court would not be filibustered. "I don't think so," he said. "The filibuster should be relegated to the extreme circumstances, and I don't think Elena Kagan represents that."
Feinstein Dismisses 'Gingrich Hyperbole'
Appearing on Face The Nation, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) rebutted former Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-GA) call for the Senate to oppose Elena Kagan's nomination on the grounds that she is "disqualified from the very beginning" due to her policies on military recruiters at Harvard. Feinstein called it "nonsense. I think it's Gingrich hyperbole. I hope no one would fall for that."
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
• CBS, Face The Nation: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
• CNN, State Of The Union: Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT).
• Fox News Sunday: Former First Lady Laura Bush, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA).
• NBC, Meet The Press: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Former Bush White House Adviser Karl Rove, former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS).
• CBS, Face The Nation: House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL).
• CNN, State Of The Union: House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN), Rep. John Larson (D-CT), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
• Fox News Sunday: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), NRSC Chairman John Cornyn (R-TX).
• NBC, Meet The Press: House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, RNC Chairman Michael Steele.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Steele: Reid Should Resign As Leader Over Obama Comments
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, RNC chairman Michael Steele said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-NV) should have to resign as leader because of his private comments about Barack Obama and race during the 2008 presidential race. "There is this standard where Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own. But if it comes from anyone else, it is racism," said Steele, also adding: "If (Senate Minority Leader) Mitch McConnell had said those very words that this chairman and this president would be calling for his head, and they would be labeling every Republican in the country as a racist for saying exactly what this chairman has just said."
Kaine: 'No Comparison' Between Reid And Trent Lott
Appearing on Meet The Press, DNC chairman Time Kaine rejected any comparison between the Reid controversy and Trent Lott's fall from the Republican leadership in 2002: "But I will say, anybody looking at Trent Lott's statements praising somebody who had been a pro-segregation candidate for president will see that there is no comparison between those comments and those of Senator Reid's. Now, the senator did make comments that were wrong and insensitive, and he's apologized. But he made them in the context of promoting the candidacy, the historic candidacy of Senator Obama."
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).
• CBS, Face The Nation: Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
• CNN, State Of The Union: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senate candidate Carly Fiorina (R-CA).
• Fox News Sunday: Guest list not yet announced.
• NBC, Meet The Press: Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT).
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)After an hour-long lunch with the Senate Democratic caucus, former President Bill Clinton found himself surrounded by dozens of reporters, and summarized his message as one of the urgency of action. "The worst thing to do is nothing," Clinton said of the party's health care reform push. "We can do so much better."
As they emerged from the lunch one by one, a number of senators echoed this rendering.
"His message was very simply it is so important that this be done, that there are so many people, I think 30 percent of the population he said at one point or another, don't have any health care coverage," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) told TPMDC, "and so the ability to fix the problem is really upon us."
"He made clear that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity," she added, noting that Clinton did not directly address the politically divisive policy aspects of reform--abortion, the public option--in his presentation.
To members who are facing tough re-election races next year (such as fellow Arkansas native Blanche Lincoln) Clinton's message was equally simple: "You're going to do it, and then people are going to begin to see that none of the bad things that people are talking about will come to pass, essentially," Feinstein said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Liz Cheney: Obama Given Nobel Prize For Opposing American Dominance
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Liz Cheney attacked President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. "Well, I think what the committee believes is they'd like to live in a world in which America is not dominant. And I think if you look at the language of the citation, you can see that they talk about, you know, President Obama ruling in a way that makes sense to the majority of the people of the world," said Cheney. "You know, Americans don't elect a president to do that. We elect a president to defend our national interests. And so I think that, you know, they may believe that President Obama also doesn't agree with American dominance, and they may have been trying to affirm that belief with the prize. I think, unfortunately, they may be right, and I think it's a concern."
McCain: Palin 'Energized Our Party'
Appearing on State of the Union, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) defended his former running mate Sarah Palin, against the criticism of his former campaign manager Steve Schmidt. "There are fundamental facts ... that cannot be denied," McCain adds. "When we selected or asked Sarah Palin to be my running mate, it energized our party. We were ahead in the polls, until the stock market crashed. And she still is a formidable force in the Republican Party, and I have great affection for her."
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Retired Gen. Jack Keane.
• CBS, Face The Nation: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI).
• CNN, State Of The Union: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
• Fox News Sunday: Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI), Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN), Moody's economist Mark Zandi, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Deborah Hersman.
• NBC, Meet The Press: Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, Retired Gen. Richard Myers.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
• CBS, Face The Nation: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
• CNN, State Of The Union: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
• Fox News Sunday: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO); Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell (R); Anti-ACORN activist James O'Keefe.
• NBC, Meet The Press: Former President Bill Clinton; Gov. David Paterson (D-NY); Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA).
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Cheney: CIA Investigation "Offends The Hell Out Of Me," Obama Administration Should Be Asking Us For Advice
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, former Vice President Dick Cheney lambasted the Obama administration for investigation CIA interrogation methods, calling it an "outrageous political act." "I guess the other thing that offends the hell out of me, frankly, Chris [Wallace], is we had a track record now of eight years of defending the nation against any further mass casualty attacks from Al Qaeda," said Cheney. "The approach of the Obama administration should be to come to those people who were involved in that policy and say, how did you do it? What were the keys to keeping this country safe over that period of time?"
Kerry: Kennedy Would Fight For Public Option -- But Would Accept A Bill Without It
Appearing on This Week, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) said that Ted Kennedy would not have rejected a health care bill that lacked a public option: "He would fight for it, and he would do everything in his power to get it, just like he did for the minimum wage or like he did for children's health care, et cetera. But if he didn't see the ability to be able to get it done, he would not throw the baby out with the bathwater. He would not say no to anything because we have to reduce the cost. We have to make these changes. And he would find the best way forward."
The reform campaign Health Care for America Now, in partnership with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is airing television ads targeting two senators and seven congressmen. Here's the version that's running in the district of Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)
The ad will run for five days, targeting Suptak, as well as Reps. Bart Gordon (D-TN), Mike Ross (D-AR), John Barrow (D-GA), Baron Hill (D-IN), Zachary Space (D-Oh), and Charlie Melancon (D-LA). Starting Monday it will air in North Dakota, home of Sen. Kent Conrad. AFSCME is also sponsoring the ad in California, whose senior senator Dianne Feinstein has been lukewarm about the prospects of reform.
Stupak is threatening to derail health care reform efforts in the House unless his fellow Democrats agree to major changes to the legislation.
Palin Plans To Stay Involved In Politics
Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) told the Washington Times that she'll be staying involved in politics: "I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation." She did not rule out a presidential campaign in the future. "I'm not ruling out anything - it is the way I have lived my life from the youngest age," she said. "Let me peek out there and see if there's an open door somewhere. And if there's even a little crack of light, I'll hope to plow through it."
McCain: Palin Will Continue To Be A Major Factor
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was asked about Sarah Palin's resignation. "Obviously I was a bit surprised, but I wasn't shocked," said McCain. "I love and respect her and her family, I'm grateful that she agreed to run with me." He added: "I'm confident that she will be a major factor in the national scene and in Alaska as well."
TPMDC's update on the biggest legislative initiatives on the Hill:
The groups MoveOn, Democracy for America, and Change Congress are out with a new ad in Louisiana targeting Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) for her opposition to a public option.
MoveOn hasn't shied away from criticizing Democrats who are trying to kill the public option. In the last couple weeks, the group has loudly criticized Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Kay Hagan (D-CA) for their positions on the public option, and their lukewarm attitude to health care reform more generally.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)As I noted on Tuesday, MoveOn.org is pointing its cannons at Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for remarks she made over the weekend, calling the prospects for a broad health care overhaul into doubt. Now the group is airing a television ad in California criticizing her statements and calling on her to stop "dragging her heels" on the issue.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Gil Duran, a spokesman for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, email's over the following statement in response to inquiries about her support for broad health reform.
I support:1) Reducing costs and expanding coverage
2) Prohibiting the denial of insurance because of pre-existing conditions
3) Moving toward either a non-profit model of medical insurance or to one where premium costs can be controlled, either through competition in a public or cooperative model or through a regulated authority.
4) Assuring the financial survival of Medicare, because it is slated to run out of money in 2017.
5) Preventing the transfer of Medicaid costs to states, which could result in billions of dollars of additional loss to the State of California.
6) Establishing means testing for programs like Medicare Part D, which pays for prescription drugs
Clearly, the individual mandate - and how it is funded - is the critical, and as yet unanswered, question.
Though Democrats don't bandy about the term too often, the mandate is a provision that will require uninsured people to buy health insurance--private or public--on the individual market. Because many can't afford their own plans, though, it will require a great deal of subsidy and could, in the short term, impose a significant cost. Without the mandate, health care won't be universal. But supporters of the public plan note that without a government run option to root out waste and inefficiency, the choices available to consumers will suffer, and private insurance companies will reap windfall profits on the consumer dime.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)As I noted earlier, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) appeared on CNN over the weekend and tried to pour some cold water on the idea that a systemic health care overhaul is in the country's future. In response, MoveOn is pouring some cold water on Feinstein.
The group is calling on its California members to pressure the senior Democrat to get on board with the President's agenda, and threatening to run an ad singling her out.
A slightly abbreviated version of the letter appears below the fold.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Obama Visiting Muslim World; Bin Laden Puts Out New Message Against Him
President Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia for a multi-nation tour in the Arab world, most notably including a speech addressed to all Muslims tomorrow in Egypt. And just in time for Obama's arrival, Osama bin Laden has released a new recording, saying Obama was following in the steps of George W. Bush, and planting the seeds for "revenge and hatred."
Obama's Day: Saudi Arabia
President Obama arrived this morning in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At 8:10 a.m. ET, he attended a welcome reception with King Abdullah at the King's farm. At 9:20 a.m. ET, he will hold a bilateral meeting with King Abdullah.
Cornyn Not Ruling Out Filibuster Against Sotomayor
Appearing on ABC's This Week, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) would not rule out a filibuster against the Sotomayor nomination. "I'm not willing to judge one way or the other, George [Stephanopoulos]," said Cornyn, "because frankly, we need to not prejudge, not pre-confirm, and to give Judge Sotomayor the fair hearing that Miguel Estrada, and, indeed, Clarence Thomas were denied by our friends on the other side of the aisle."
Rove: Bush Appreciates Cheney's "Forthright Defense"
Karl Rove told the Politico that former President George W. Bush -- who has publicly said he won't criticize President Obama -- privately appreciates the role that former Vice President Dick Cheney has taken on. "I know President Bush and Vice President Cheney talk with regularity," said Rove. "I know the former president appreciates Dick's forthright defense of the administration's polices. And I know Vice President Cheney understands the special role that the former president occupies."
On Wednesday, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to deny President Obama the funds he needs to shutter the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The stall may be temporary, but many are convinced that it's yet another example of the tired political dynamic in post-9/11 Washington whereby Democrats cave to cowing Republicans the moment the conversation turns to terrorism.
Two weeks ago, though, the GOP got a little bit ahead of itself. "Do you know of any community in the United States of America that would welcome terrorists -- former terrorists, would-be terrorists, people trained as terrorists -- that have been incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay into any community in this country?" asked Sen. Richard Shelby (R-KY).
The question was directed at Attorney General Eric Holder, who basically punted. But it turns out there are at least a few communities in the country that might just welcome a suspected terrorist or two to stay for a while.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
