TPMDC Steve Cohen
Nancy Pelosi
Biden Meets With Furious House Democrats
V.P. Joe Biden
House Democrats convened Monday afternoon in an underground conference room in the Capitol Visitor's Center to hear Vice President Joe Biden explain the debt limit deal he helped broker with Congressional Republicans, and to vent to reporters in the strongest possible terms about the deal many of them are being asked to consider supporting.
"They expressed all their frustrations," Biden told reporters after the meeting. "I feel confident that this will pass."
He must've gotten an earful. The meeting, scheduled to last an hour, dragged on for over two. During that stretch, a steady trickle of Dems, entering and exiting, stopped to complain about the legislation, and the extent to which they'd been closed out of the process of crafting it.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Debt, Debt Ceiling, Default, Deficit, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Eliot Engel, Jim Moran, Joe Biden, John Boehner, Medicare, Nancy Pelosi, Steve Cohen
Steve Cohen
Tennessee Dem Cohen: 'I Never Called Republicans Nazis'
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), who got in some hot water this week for comparing the rhetorical tactics used by Republicans in the health care debate to those used by Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, issued a new statement Thursday expressing regret that his statement offended Jewish groups.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Nazi, Steve Cohen
Steve Cohen
Steve Cohen: 'I Meant What I Said' About GOPers And Nazis Lying
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) isn't backing down from comments he made on the floor of the House last night comparing Republican's lies about health care to the lies of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
"I meant what I said, that lies are wrong," Cohen told TPM in a phone interview Wednesday.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Health Care, Nazi, Steve Cohen
Steve Cohen
Tennessee Democrat: GOPers Lying About Health Care, Just Like The Nazis Did (VIDEO)
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Republicans are lying about health care reform in their attempt to repeal the law, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) said on the floor of the House last night. Just, he said, like Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
"They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels," Cohen said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Health Care, Steve Cohen
TN-09
Steve Cohen Wins Primary In Landslide
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and TN-09 primary challenger Willie Herenton.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) has been easily renominated in his Democratic primary tonight, beating back former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton's effort to make race an issue against the white progressive Congressman from a majority-black district.
With 59% of precincts reporting, Cohen leads by a whopping 79%-20%. This result so far seems identical to last cycle's Dem primary, in which the incumbent Cohen faced a challenge that not only centered around race, but also featured seemingly anti-Semitic attacks against him.
As we'd noted earlier, Herenton had focused his campaign around race, arguing that Tennessee's currently all-white Congressional delegation should have a black member from this majority African-American district. He even made such statements as telling the voters to "come off that Cohen plantation and get on the Herenton freedom train."
But it clearly did not work, as Cohen was supported by President Obama, the Congressional Black Caucus -- and the Democratic primary voters of the district, too.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, House '10, Steve Cohen, TN-09, Willie Herenton
TN-09
Dem Rep. Steve Cohen Favored In Racially Charged Tennessee Primary
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)
The Tennessee primary tonight will again test the electability of Rep. Steve Cohen in a Democratic primary, with the liberal Congressman seeking his third term as the white representative of a majority-black district. And headed into today's vote, all signs point to him easily passing that test.
Cohen is being challenged in the primary by former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton. Cohen is heavily favored to win, and has far outdistanced Herenton in fundraising. FEC records show that through July 16, Cohen had raised $898,832, spent $487,412 and had $892,102 on hand (including extra cash rolled over from the previous cycle). By contrast, Herenton raised only $42,750, spent $17,326, and had $25,422 on hand. Indeed, Cohen has even received a donation from the Congressional Black Caucus's PAC, a caucus that he has unsuccessfully attempted to join in the past. And one poll has predicted a landslide win for Cohen.
Herenton has made his campaign centrally about race, arguing that Tennessee's currently all-white Congressional delegation should have a black member from this majority African-American district. "I believe that it is very clear to the majority of the citizens of this community that we lack representation. And all we are seeking is just one, well-qualified, African-American to serve in an 11-member Tennessee delegation that is currently all white," Herenton has said. Herenton has also accused Cohen of "trying to act black," and has implored voters to "come off that Cohen plantation and get on the Herenton freedom train."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, House '10, Steve Cohen, TN-09, Willie Herenton
Health Care
Gun Carried Into Dem Congressman's Town Hall -- But Did Not Pose Any Threat
Following a tense town hall meeting by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) in Memphis over the weekend, local TV reported that one attendee was packing heat and had been escorted from the room -- which if true, would be a dramatic escalation in the increasingly confrontational health care debate. However, TPMDC has learned that there was not in fact any threat made, nor was it a cause for immediate alarm in its full context.
While one attendee did indeed possess a firearm, he did so in accordance with the state's conceal and carry laws, and was fully cooperative when asked to take it to his car due to a no-guns rule for the meeting.
"The gun issue was handled before the meeting," Shelby County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Shular told TPM. The audience was asked at the beginning whether anybody had a gun. One man replied that, yes, he was carrying a gun. He was told to leave it in his car for the meeting, and then did so. An officer followed him to his car, made sure that his permit was in order, and he was then allowed to re-enter the event.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Health Care, Steve Cohen, Tea Party
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