TPMDC Earl Blumenauer
Spending
Dem Reps. Counter GOP Narrative That Cutting Spending Creates Jobs
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Without a whimper, Democrats have allowed Republicans to build the reality that, in the current economic environment, government spending costs jobs, while austerity creates jobs. While Republicans tout a "cut and grow" Congress, most Democrats are running away from the idea that spending can do any good at all.
Not all of them though. In a "Dear Colleague" letter, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) is trying to build opposition among his colleagues to the Republican Study Committee's call for dramatic spending cuts on the grounds that they will lead to major job losses.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Earl Blumenauer, Jobs, Republican Study Committee, Spending
Health Care
House Dems Meeting; No Decisions Made On Health Care
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
House Democrats are in a caucus meeting on the Hill right now but, according to lawmakers, leadership has not yet discussed how they plan to move forward on health care reform.
Some -- including Reps. John Tanner (D-TN) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) -- have told our reporters that they'd like to see health care broken into smaller chunks and passed in separate votes.
"A 2,000 page bill is not something I'm particularly interested in," Tanner said. He suggested breaking the bill into pieces that "Republicans can agree with us on."
Separately, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met this morning in Reid's ofice.
Reporting by Evan McMorris-Santoro and Brian Beutler
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Democrats, Earl Blumenauer, Health Care, House of Representatives, John Tanner
Roundup
TPMDC Saturday Roundup
Obama Blasts Insurance Industry's 'Phony Studies'
In this weekend's YouTube address, President Obama denounced the insurance industry for producing its own commissioned studies against health care reform:
"It's smoke and mirrors. It's bogus. And it's all too familiar. Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, 'Take one of these, and call us in a decade.' Well, not this time," said Obama. "The fact is, the insurance industry is making this last-ditch effort to stop reform even as costs continue to rise and our health care dollars continue to be poured into their profits, bonuses, and administrative costs that do nothing to make us healthy - that often actually go toward figuring out how to avoid covering people."
GOP Address: American Public 'Isn't Buying' Dem Policies
In this weekend's Republican address, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) attacked the Democrats on the issues of jobs, health care and the budget:
"There are three big myths hurtling around Washington these days: no jobs equals an economic recovery, government-run health care will make it more affordable, and deficits don't matter," said Brady. "The American public - to their credit - isn't buying any of these."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Barack Obama, Earl Blumenauer, Health Care, Hope Poster, Kevin Brady, Roundup, Sudan
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