The 111th Congress: maligned yet productive in 2009

Norman Ornstein has a nice piece over at The Washington Post discussing Congress's accomplishments over this past year (yes, accomplishments). It's easy to discredit the quantity and quality of legislation passed in the current awful political climate. However, Ornstein notes:

• The stimulus package
• Expansion of health insurance for children
• TARP funds oversight
• FDA regulation of tobacco
• Land conservation law
• A credit card holder's "bill of rights"
  
• Defense procurement reform
• The relatively speedy House has passed even more bills, including cap-and-trade and financial regulatory reform.
• Both chambers of Congress also passed significant health care reform bills.
  

I would add that Congress has done an effective, if inefficient, job of supporting unemployment programs with federal cash

Now, certainly people can take issue with the quality of this legislation, but the Congress has been active and impressive, especially given its ponderous nature in general and its functioning as the most partisan Congress ever. It's unfortunate that these accomplishments get lost in the hyperbolic discourse of political "debate" in this country, but it doesn't make the accomplishments any less impressive.

The Obama administration and the Dems have failed to sell their successes, both in the general and specific. This is a critical failure with regard to the public - both in its interest and their own.

Pollack on passing health care reform, cont'd

Pollack follows up his open letter to congressional Democrats with this post:

If the House and Senate bills are abandoned, we may (eventually) win Medicaid expansions for people who need help, expanded tax credits for people who cannot afford coverage, and other measures to cover the uninsured. We may even see more stringent regulation of health underwriting and other toxic practices in the insurance industry.

We will not soon see serious delivery reforms or cost-control measures. Whether the issue is high-cost insurance plans, bundled payments, comparative effectiveness research, overpayments to medical device makers, drug companies, specialists, and Medicare Advantage plans, there will be very limited political will to match what is in the current bills.

We will not be able to get these things because we will fracture the political coalition required to enact these painful measures, because the operative lesson of last summer will be that death panel demagoguery trumps real policy argument, and because there are fewer policy levers and fewer political incentives to address these difficulties outside a comprehensive bill.

Last Friday, I and others pled with anxious House members to step up in passing comprehensive reform. Senators: Now I am pleading with you.

President Obama: Now is the time for you to step up, too. Some in your administration are starting to send good signals. Others remain unduly tentative. Fight for this thing as if your legacy is on the line--because it is. I believe you have about 48 hours to fix this up. [emphasis is mine]

In its entirety. Not sure I agree 100% here, but close enough. PTFB.

Breaking down the health care breakdown

Although health care reform is not dead,* there is clear panic in the Democratic ranks, crowing in Republican circles, and annoyance at politics as usual from enlightened independents.

Over at The Hill, Jeffrey Young provides an excellent, concise breakdown of the 10 reasons why health care reform is a toxic political asset for the Democrats. He cites poor leadership (Obama), stonewalling (GOP), poor messaging (Dems), extrinsic factors (the economy, stupid), distasteful backroom deals (the so-called Cornhusker Kickback and Louisiana Purchase) and general Democratic soilage on timing, legislation, and politics.

*I would add a big, fat #11: political will (cojones). Growing a pair is the only way for the Dems to salvage HCR.

What year is this?

Smallifying Too Big to Fail

Karl Denninger really likes what POTUS had to say yesterday about financial reform.

You should, too. If properly implemented, President Obama's proposal will go a long way towards mitigating the systemic risk that "too big to fail" financial institutions pose to our economy. No single institution should be TBTF. Shrink the morbidly obese oligarchs. There will still be plenty of profit to keep them all fat and giggly without relying on the taxpayer to fund high-risk speculative soilage the next time around.

Update: A nuanced look at financial reform from Jason Zweig over at the WSJ.

Has Obama sold out to Wall Street? Matt Taibbi thinks so

Reading this article will make you furious. In a recent article for Rolling Stone , titled "Obama's Big Sellout," Matt Taibbi eviscerates the Obama White House, saying that President Obama has . . . more

On Obama's Accomplishments

Pretty good article by Jacob Weisberg over at Slate about Obama's accomplishments thus far; POTUS is oft ridiculed for having accomplished nothing.

President Obama to hold jobs summit in December

	This Thursday President Obama announced plans to hold a jobs summit in December , in direct response to an unemployment rate at 10.2% ( this non-government estimate puts real unemployment around 22% . . . more

President Obama's speech at Fort Hood Memorial Service (full text and video)

	President Obama gave a moving speech yesterday as a eulogy to the 13 US Army soldiers who lost their lives in the Fort Hood shootings on November 5th. You can watch the memorial service video here (Obama's . . . more

President Obama to sign unemployment benefits extension bill HR 3548 into law today

	President Obama is scheduled today to put his signature to HR 3548, the unemployment extension bill that's been struggling to make its way out of Congress for over a month. Thousands of unemployed . . . more

Rio de Janeiro wins Olympics bid for 2016

Despite the best efforts of President Obama, Rio de Janeiro will host the Summer Olympics in 2016. Rio de Janeiro beat out Obama's hometown of Chicago, Madrid, and Tokyo to claim the honors for 2016. . . . more

Goldman Sachs was Obama's No. 1 private contributor

Michael Moore appeared on The Colbert Report recently to tout his new film, Capitalism: A Love Story . In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Moore stated that Goldman Sachs was the no. 1 private . . . more

+1, -1

Obama's score today:

+1: chairing resolution on nukes

-1: maintaining systemically fatal "too big to fail" policy

Letters to the President

An interesting look at how Obama deals with the mountains of correspondence he receives daily.



Note how Obama is left-handed! Might as well seal all those letters with a hammer and sickle, right?

I sent Bill Clinton a postcard from Italy back in the day. I wonder if he ever saw it.

President Obama's Health Care Speech

My recap and some thoughts on Obama's speech:

"Last night President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress on the issue of health care reform. But he wasn't speaking mainly to Congress; he was . . ." [read the full post here.]

Changing the Conversation

President Obama is planning to make a speech to a joint session of Congress next Wed, September 9th. Thus far the effort at health care reform has suffered from a failure of leadership from the Oval Office, and the open dialogue about this complex issue that I had so naively hoped for has devolved into the typical polarization of American politics, with disinformation, confusion, outrageous claims, and dangerous hyperbole taking the place of intelligent, reasonable discussion.

Obama was hands off at the beginning of this process, putting the legislative onus on Congress. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that strategy has failed miserably. Echoing Nate's thoughts on the matter, I agree that Obama needs to deliver a major address to the nation to firmly establish what his administration stands for, dispelling incorrect notions and actually sell a plan to the American people, which certainly hasn't happened over the last few months.

I look forward to having POTUS take the helm again. It remains to be seen whether he can steer us out of this storm.

Video Thursday

Here's a short documentary about Louie, the guy who rides his tricycle around Boston making what sounds like a siren noise. Most people who have been around Boston will recognize this guy:


Louie from Brian Moore on Vimeo.


Thanks to Scottobike Pedalsabunch for the link.

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An effective visualization of 'Bama's stated budget cuts. People do have trouble with putting these numbers in the proper perspective:




Via the stridently Republican h0tƒøöt.

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A hilarious mashup of Snatch and Star Wars, with Brick Top as Vader. If you don't know Snatch it won't be as funny (and if you don't know SW then you need to KY, frankly), but still amusing to hear the wacky, bawdy, cockney Brick Top. Dialogue is rather profane, if you're skittish about such things:



Via 'Otfoot.

I don't care what your politics are,

this is a pretty cool photo:

Back to Square One

Just got back from a run for the first time in, oh...since Bush was in office. What a horrendous idea! Felt truly, truly awful. I blame Scottolance Johnstrong. It's not enough for him to bike everywhere, he has to run as well? Talk about guilting Fatty McButterpants* into a fitness program.

Beautiful day. Almost shockingly so - two in a row? In March? Will President Obama usher in an early spring along with scientific progress, universal health care, positive foreign relations, free tacos for all and a booming economy? Pushing 60 on a weekend in early March - now that's change I can believe in!

Although now after cooling down, drinking 10 glasses of water, and taking a few Bayer to stave off cardiac arrest, I feel pretty good. It's the kind of relief that can only come from being revived from clinical death.

A good thing: This? Great running tunes.

Another good thing: Turning the clocks forward. This is one of my favorite times of the year, because I love a) warm weather, b) sun, c) long days. And this time around I have the small bonus of not really losing an hour of sleep since Mass DUA has remarkably flexible hours.#

*F. McButterpants, for the purposes of this discussion, is I, recent compliments to the contrary notwithstanding.

#This is actually a gigantic negative. Just being folksy.

And the winner of the "Understatement of the Year" award goes to...

Bobby Gates!

Initial Reactions

Wow. He knocked that one out of the park. Positive, reassuring, calm, measured, intelligent, inclusive, inspirational - this is a goddamn President.