Pennsylvania: Recent Republican Arlen Specter agrees with his former Republican caucus colleagues that a supermajority is "vastly preferable" to a simple majority when it comes to passing health care reform. Personally, I think real health care reform, which includes a public option, is "vastly preferable" to toothless health care legislation that will allow Big Insurance to continue screwing people out of due coverage.
California: Media Matters presents a massive research compilation on failed businesswoman and golden parachute recipient Carly Fiorina. (HT: Calitics) Among the gems are Fiorina lamenting job creation and job security after laying off 18,000 workers at Hewlett-Packard. Also included is commentary from a wide array of economic media outlets agreeing that Fiorina's stint as CEO was a failure. It's a heck of a read.
Texas: Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison continues to be cagey over when she might resign her Senate seat to focus on her gubernatorial bid; but, the focus is still on sometime between October 1 and the end of the calendar year.
Missouri: A conservative talk radio personality in Missouri recently interviewed RNC Chair Michael Steele and described GOP Congresscritter Roy Blunt as an adulterous, non-conservative, tool of corporate lobbyists who makes real conservatives "sick to our stomach." Not only does Steele not stand up for Blunt, but he agrees that "when stuff gets in the crapper, you gotta clean it out." Not a ringing endorsement for Blunt from his Party's Chairman.
Idaho: Republican Mike Crapo has been using his August recess for lots of fundraising and no town hall events with voters.
Nevada: A new Mason-Dixon poll offers ugly numbers for Nevada's Senators:
Nevadans favored [Republican Danny] Tarkanian over [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid 49 percent to 38 percent and [NV-GOP Chair Sue] Lowden over Reid 45 percent to 40 percent, according to the poll. ...
The poll also pitted a potential matchup between Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., against Reid. Heller said recently that he wouldn't run against Reid, but if he had gotten into the race the poll shows him ahead of Reid by 10 points. ...
According to the poll, 30 percent of voters said they would re-elect [scandal-plagued Republican John] Ensign, 23 percent would consider a challenger and 37 percent said they would vote to replace him. Last month, a Mason-Dixon poll showed 28 percent would re-elect Ensign, 30 percent would consider a challenger and 31 percent would vote to replace him.
I do find it strange that voters would give a bigger edge to the politically much lesser known Tarkanian than they'd give to Rep. Heller, perhaps suggesting that voters may be confusing Tarkanian with his father, celebrated UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has over $7.3 million in the bank that he'll use to up his numbers when the time is right - though that time may be soon approaching. As for Republican hypocrite John Ensign, we see bad news. From last month to this month, the "would consider a challenger" number decreased by about the same number as the "would vote to replace him" increased, suggesting that those unsure of their opinions of Ensign have since solidified their opinions against him.
New York: Add Congressman Eric Massa to the list of New York's Democratic Congresspeople who have endorsed Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for her 2010 run. It's now 14 endorsed, 12 not yet. Among the twelve remaining are the four that considered primary challenges (Steve Israel, Carolyn Maloney, Carolyn McCarthy, and Jose Serrano).
Montana: Not that Senator Max Baucus (?-MT) has to worry about re-election until 2014, but his constituents are very unhappy with him according to a new Research 2000 poll. Montanans' approve-disapprove of Baucus' actions on health care sit at a net-negative 42-44. Further, Montanans favor the creation of a public health care option 47% to 43% (including 48% of Montana independents and even 23% of Montana Republicans!).
But this is where it gets interesting. When asked if Baucus opposing a public option would make Montanans more or less likely to vote for him, 22% of respondents would be less likely to vote for him, while only 17% of respondents would be more likely. And when asked if Baucus' joining a filibuster to kill health care reform because of the inclusion of a public option would make Montanans more or less likely to vote for him, 15% said more likely while nearly double - 27% - said less likely.
Keep in mind, those "more likely" to vote for Baucus because he helped kill health care reform are largely Republicans who ultimately won't vote for him anyway. However, those "less likely" to vote for Baucus because he helped kill health care reform are largely Democrats and independents who really may throw their hands up and leave the "Senate" line blank on their 2014 ballots. In short, if Baucus blocks health care reform and prevents a public option, this could well be his last term in the U.S. Senate.
Health care reform: Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) writes letters:
A U.S. Senate Democrat asked the top 15 health insurers to explain what portion of premiums go to profits versus patient care, putting further pressure on the companies to explain their business practices as Congress considers sweeping health reform legislation.
In letters to the companies on Friday, Sen. John Rockefeller also asked for information about how insurers disclose financial practices to customers.
It's a great letter to send. It would have been an even better letter to send three months ago. I look forward to hearing how Big Insurance tries to spin its profits on the back of denying legitimate care to customers. |
