08.31.09
Posted in Around The State, Commentary, Uncategorized at 9:00 am by wcnews
It’s the week before Labor Day, and the Texas Progressive Alliance is hard at work bringing you the best of the Texas blogosphere. Here are this week’s highlights.
The Texas Cloverleaf wonders why only one person showed up to a budget meeting where taxes are being increased in Denton County. No tea bags left?
Neil at Texas Liberal offered the fullest extension of the back of his hand to opponent’s of Houston’s Ashby High Rise.
TXsharon wonders what Governor Perry is thinking to appoint a global warming denier as the highest environmental official in Texas at a time when polling shows Americans support Obama on reducing greenhouse emissions and when the EPA has just confirmed water contaminated with hydraulic fracture fluid. Maybe the question should be: Does Perry think?
South Texas Chisme wants you to know that Medicare is a PUBLIC heath care option. Ciro, stand up. Henry, wise up.
Bay Area Houston has video of Republican Pete Olson punking himself punked at his own town hall meeting while trying to use a sick kid for political gain.
Lightseeker over at TexasKaos insists that we not hold health care reform hostage to solving the Abortion Wars. See this and more in his posting, Abortion Wars, Health care and Private Enterprise.
Off the Kuff analyzed some policy papers from Houston’s leading Mayoral candidates, examining Gene Locke’s crimefighting plan, Annise Parker’s education plan, and Peter Brown’s energy plan.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts about The good news health care reform would bring to TX-31 and Williamson County.
Setting a date for the eventual US Senate special election is all about the MoFo, according to PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.
This week, McBlogger asked a very good question… Why do we even care about Joe Lieberman?
At Texas Vox, Citizen Sarah reports on Houston Mayor and Senate Hopeful Bill White’s Energy Security Policy, per his panel at Netroots Nation. Video included.
Teddy at Left of College Station covers the Chet Edwards town hall on health reform live from the Brazos Center, and then shares his thoughts on the town hall, and why a vocal minority is against health care reform. Left of College Station also covers the week in headlines: remembering Senator Ted Kennedy.
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08.29.09
Posted in District 31, Health Care, Insurance Reform at 11:56 am by wcnews
Via KXXV, Rep. Carter says “no” to health care bill at town hall.
Congressman John Carter tackled health care reform at a town hall meeting in Georgetown Friday. More than 600 concerned citizens attended the meeting to have their questions answered by the lawmaker.
Although he was able to answer about twenty of those questions there were mixed reactions to his comments.
Rep. Carter said “I don’t think the government does anything very well and I certainly don’t want my children or grandchildren…(to have) some government bureaucrat deciding whether or not they get treatment. I just don’t want to live in that world.”
He told the crowd to make decisions on accurate evidence. He added he doesn’t like the bill because he says it doesn’t say how it will bring health care costs down, and he doesn’t want to hand over that much control to the government.
Certainly Carter is aware that our government runs the military in the United States, and would agree that that is done very well. Not to mention the fact that there is no proposal, currently being negotiated, that will put “some government bureaucrat” in charge of medical decisions. But there is a proposal that would take away the ability of some insurance corporation bureaucrat from being in charge of your medical care. Carter should heed his own advice and not spread inaccurate information so his constituents can make decisions on accurate evidence.
To others, the stance he made early in the meeting isolated them.
Sherry Dana mentioned, “It was kind of odd to be calling it a ‘town meeting’ to discuss health care and listen to people’s concerns, when he’s already made up his mind.”
[..]
He concluded by saying there are certain changes that need to be made in health-care, but this plan is not one of them.
Rep. Carter added, “that’s why we’re Americans, you get to choose what you like, we’ll see how it turns out.”
And that’s why an American Plan, or a public option, is needed so we have a choice and can choose what we like.
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08.28.09
Posted in 2010 Primary, Around The State, Good Stuff at 12:34 pm by wcnews
I think Hank Gilbert has decided to run for governor, which is a good thing, because he thinks he’s a better choice than anyone who’s announced to run so far. No one has scared, (for lack of a better term), him, or anyone else, out of the race, with overwhelming grassroots support or fundraising numbers. There’s a huge vacuum and he wants to fill it.
Going back through a couple of items I remembered from EOW posts during the 2006 election cycle, I was reminded of what kind of a candidate Hank was then. In the Summer of 2006 TxDOT was still trying to sell the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) and they were holding forums all across the state. They had one in Taylor that Summer and here’s what EOW reported about Hank Gilbert at that event.
Next is Hank Gilbert and he speaks directly to Mr. Billek. His voice resonates as, among other things, he tells us he’s a third generation rancher and is raising the fourth at home. He’s got my vote and probably the votes of most in the room too. He gets an ovation for saying, “We must vote against everybody that voted for this.”
I remember that his oratory skills were fantastic. He had a strong clear voice, with a Texas twang, and his message was forceful and succinct. That mixed with his populist message made it easy for everyone to understand that he was serious, would fight for what he believes for the people of Texas, and rally them to support him.
The other part from the 2006 cycle points to the populist message, (Todd Staples was Gilbert’s opponent in 2006):
I transcribed this part from what Hank Gilbert said about Todd Staples in Palestine:
His Tenure as a representative of the people is over. It’s obvious that he needs to come back home to Palestine Texas, and let the good people of Anderson County reacquaint him with the values and what we’re supposed to stand for in East Texas.
I intend to rid this county and state government, and in particular agriculture, of yet another parasite and political prostitute and send him back to you.
The more I see, hear, and read about Hank Gilbert the more I like . Hank Gilbert just looks like an Agriculture Commissioner as opposed to Todd Staples. I know looks aren’t everything but all Todd Staples wants to do is use the this office as a springboard, Hank Gilbert will do what’s right for agriculture in Texas. That’s a big difference.
His rhetoric was spot on and what’s needed for a statewide Democratic candidate for any office.
While there are those that will worry about fundraising – and of course it’s an issue – candidates like Hank can win, with less money than their GOP counterpart, if the ground work is done. Meaning the grassroots work, voter registration, get-out-the-vote (GOTV), and each of us talking to family and friends. But that must be done in order to get any Democrat elected statewide in Texas. Hank does need more exposure because the more voters see and hear him, the more they will like him, and his support will grow.
I will leave the speculation, for now, about who’s in and who’s our to others. If Hank Gilbert is the Democratic candidate for Governor after the March 2010 Primary, Democrats will have a nominee to be proud of. Hank will, in my estimation, do two things we need for any Democrat running for office in Texas – move the party forward and he will not be afraid to take on his opponent and fight back.
I encourage eveyone to got to his web site HankGiblert.com, read why he’s running, and his stance on the issues.
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Posted in Around The Nation, Bad Government Republicans, District 31, Health Care, Insurance Reform, Right Wing Lies at 10:17 am by wcnews
Via Think Progress, Republicans Who Opposed The Stimulus Line Up To Criticize It Publicly, Request More Money Privately .
The AP reports that Republicans who opposed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly referred to as the stimulus, are nonetheless vigorously pursuing money from the program.
[...]
– Rep. John Carter (R-TX) opposed the Recovery Act, and recently called the entire program a failure that should be “repealed.” Regardless, Carter’s public pronouncements did not stop him from requesting $621 million in hospital projects from the stimulus — then calling the funds a victory for the economy in central Texas.
Here’s the Carter-specific part from the AP article, STIMULUS WATCH: GOP opposes plan then seeks money.
About $1.2 billion is for new hospitals at Fort Hood, an Army base in Texas Republican John Carter’s district, and Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base in California Republican Darrell Issa’s district. The two hospitals are the largest individual projects to be paid for with defense stimulus dollars.
Carter voted against the bill, saying the stimulus would pile debt on future generations. But he hailed the $621 million hospital project as a victory for the economy in central Texas, where Fort Hood occupies more than 217,000 acres.
Construction of the Fort Hood hospital is scheduled to begin in September 2010. Also planned for the base is $100 million more in stimulus money for work ranging from road repairs to replacing heating and cooling systems.
John Stone, Carter’s spokesman, said the congressman has been pushing for several years to get a new hospital at Fort Hood. The new hospital is also supported by Rep. Chet Edwards, a Texas Democrat who chairs the House subcommittee that controls military construction spending. Carter is also on the subcommittee.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is logging Republican names into a “Hypocrisy Hall of Fame,” an online catalog of GOP lawmakers who voted against the stimulus package yet are “celebrating the benefits of President Obama’s economic recovery bill in their districts.”
It’s likely Carter’s already in the “Hypocrisy Hall of Fame”. I’ll be he does the same thing once health reform passes without his vote for it.
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Posted in Commissioners Court, County Judge, District 31, Health Care, Insurance Reform, The Budget, Williamson County at 9:22 am by wcnews
Members of Congress are home over the Summer speaking with people in their districts and Rep. John Carter (R-Round Rock), is no different. He is parading around District 31 this Summer talking to chambers of commerce, and other groups friendly to him, about his opposition to health care reform. But it’s key to keep in mind exactly what he’s is against and what impact that will continue to have on his constituents. Here’s as short run down from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Benefits of America’s Affordable Health Choices Act In the 31st Congressional District of Texas [.pdf]:
America’s Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 31st Congressional District of Texas: up to 12,300 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 5,200 seniors would avoid the donut hole in Medicare Part D; 700 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $75 million in uncompensated care each year; and 109,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance. Congressman John R. Carter represents the district.
(There’s more information if you click the link above).Wow, 109,000 uninsured would get health insurance. That would probably help quite a bit with Williamson County’s upcoming budget problems. This is from the county press release on the budget adopted this week, “This budget includes substantial increases in the cost of indigent health care and employer paid health care..”. It’s a “no-brainer” that our elected leaders in Williamson County should be lobbying Carter to pass this needed health care legislation. Otherwise there will be “deep” budget cuts next year. Not to mention the help that would bring to seniors, working families, and small businesses.
Here’s a nice rundown of the legislation so far, H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009: A summary. It’s key to remember when folks get past the lies of the GOP and the health insurance corporations, and understand what will occur, the plan is overwhelmingly supported.
Here at EOW we understand that unlikely Carter would support any Democratic to fix health care. But we also realize that needs of Williamson County oftentimes are not inline with Carter, and his party’s brand of representation in Congress. It would be nice if our elected leaders in Williamson County would realize that every once in a while too, especially on the health care issue. With that statement above it’s obvious the know that health care will continue to be a huge part of the county budget unless, or until, health reform is passed. And ignoring it won’t make it go away.
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08.26.09
Posted in Commissioners Court, County Judge, The Budget, Williamson County at 10:06 pm by wcnews
Via the Wilcosun:
County cuts budget and raises taxes
FACING A $9M BUDGET SHORTFALL NEXT YEAR, COUNTY COMMISSIONERS cut the proposed 2009-10 budget by more than $1.6 million and raised the property tax rate to 48.99 cents per $100 of taxable value. The final general fund budget for the county is more than $121.2 million.
During more than four hours of discussion Tuesday, commissioners declined to staff several unfilled positions in the county, postponed buying several new vehicles for departments and ordered that several projects and purchases be delayed.
“Right now, government is the only thing that’s growing. This is the time of all times to be cutting back,” argued Commissioner Valerie Covey.
The final budget passed with a vote of 3-2 with Commissioners Covey and Lisa Birkman opposed. The county has estimated that its taxable value has declined by about 10 percent and the average home is valued at $188,588, a 2 percent drop from last year. The average homeowner would pay $923 in property taxes.
Judge Dan A. Gattis warned that delaying expenses, significantly cutting the budget and not significantly raising taxes could have consequences next year.
“Next year is going to be a tougher year. We need to be prepared for that. If we cut ourselves to the bare bones this year, where does that leave us next year?” he said.
The tax rate passed with a vote of 3-2. Commissioners Covey and Birkman were against it, saying that it should be lower
Read the county press release here.
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08.25.09
Posted in 2010 Primary, Around The State, Election 2010, Good Stuff at 11:15 pm by wcnews
Via BOR, Hank Gilbert To Run for Governor of Texas.
There has been much talk here on Burnt Orange Report (and across multiple failed drafts) about the Texas Governor’s race, especially with no one knowing who may run where. Statewide, Houston Mayor Bill White is leading the charge in the yet to be scheduled US Senate race, and former Comptroller John Sharp has joined him in that race. However, the statewide ticket lacks any announced candidates for Lt. Governor (arguably the most powerful statewide office), Comptroller, or Land Commissioner- all members of the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB). Barbara Ann Radnofsky remains the sole candidate for Attorney General (another LRB position).
Part of the reason the ticket isn’t fleshed out is because the Republicans don’t have any more semblance of a ticket — and won’t until Kay Coward finally decides if she’s going to resign or not. Additionally, the conversations is revolving around the Governor’s race where potentially strong candidates in state senators Kirk Watson and Leticia Van de Putte have declined runs, leaving us with the lineup of humorist Kinky Friedman, unknown Mark Thompson, 2006 check-bouncer Felix Alvarado, and former 1970’s State Rep. Tom Schieffer who’s voting history for George W. Bush causes perpetual headaches for activists.
But according to multiple sources that have confirmed this to Burnt Orange Report, Hank Gilbert, our 2006 Agriculture Commissioner candidate is gearing up to run statewide in the Governor’s race. Gilbert was one of the first three TexRoots endorsed candidates, which included soon to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy Juan Garcia.
This is an exciting development. Not only would such a move shake up interest for activists who have long appreciated Gilbert’s true Texas style, it has the potential to set up a productive and active primary to keep Democrats from straying over into the Republican fold for Kay Bailey Hutchison. From conversations with those close to Gilbert, he’s secured commitments and support to take his campaign to the top of the ticket should he choose to and start a campaign with more online infrastructure than anyone else in the 2006, 2008, or 2010 Democratic fields.
While our statewide ticket isn’t dependent on our Gubernatorial nominee, it has an influence in providing support for the downballot races, including freshman members and rural Democrats in the Texas House. Compared to some of the current gubernatorial candidates, Gilbert could be an asset for Democrats’ downballot efforts. From what I’ve been told, Gilbert is interested in helping to proactively fill out other spots on the statewide ticket and is interested in working with other candidates to minimize unnecessary conflict.
Gilbert has been effectively campaigning for the last 4 years at the grassroots level, organizing rural communities with independent, moderate, and even Republican voters against toll roads, the Trans-Texas Corridor, and on land and energy issues. That’s a huge head start that could benefit a statewide campaign.
If you’re unfamiliar with Gilbert click the link above to see the video of his speech at the 2006 Texas Democratic Convention. More later on this.
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Posted in Around The Nation, Around The State, Commentary, Elections, Health Care, Insurance Reform at 9:00 am by wcnews
Bob Moser at Purple Texas has a post The GOP’s Latino Gap, that points to the findings in a recent poll from the Latino Policy Coalition.
How deep a hole has the “whiter and brighter” Republican Party dug with Latinos?
As anybody with two brain cells to rub together is well aware, that’s the central question for the future of Texas politics—and judging from a survey conducted in July by the non-partisan Latino Policy Coalition, the GOP’s Latino gap is deeper than even the most optimistic of Democrats imagines.
The poll wasn’t Texas-centric, and the sample was small: 1,000 Latinos in 23 states (Texas among them). But the results were resounding.
Let us count the ways: Seventy-seven percent rated President Obama—whose struggles attracting Latino voters were much ballyhooed and overhyped in 2008—favorably, against just 17 percent unfavorable. Among leading Republicans, only Mitt Romney scored (slightly) higher favorables than unfavorables, though “no opinion” scored highest of all. Former President George W. Bush, whose performance with Latino voters was bracingly strong in 2004, was viewed favorably by only 26 percent—and unfavorably by 67 percent. Forty-nine percent rated Democrats “much better” for the Latino community; just 8 percent thought Republicans were “much better” for Latinos.
When it came to issues, the GOP ratings were every bit as bleak. While 19 percent self-identified as Republicans, only 13 percent said the party would do a better job with the economy than the Dems. More than five times as many (65 percent) said they’d trust Obama with economic issues facing families more than Republicans in Congress (12 percent). If an election for Congress were held on the day they were surveyed, just 19 percent said they would vote Republican, and 55 percent Democratic. Similar margins pertained on immigration, health care, gas prices, education and the environment.
Moser also links to Latina Lista’s take on the poll, It’s official: Political survey shows Latinos overall don’t trust Republicans for nada.
When asked about jobs and the economy:
The share of Latinos who believe the Republicans would perform better (13% on economy; and 12% on jobs) is lower than the 19% who self-identify as Republicans.
And that’s not all.
Sixty-five percent of respondents believe President Obama would do a better job handling economic issues facing families than the Republicans in Congress (only 12%), a 53 point advantage.
Sixty-one percent of Latino voters believe President Obama would handle keeping and creating well-paying jobs better than the Republicans in Congress (13%), a 48 point advantage.
As if these point gaps aren’t staggering enough, of the Latino voters surveyed 78 percent said they plan to vote in the next election and it’s not surprising where they’re leaning…
But it was a later post at Latina Lista that caught my eye, Why Latinos need to fight more loudly for passage of health-care reform.
It’s bad enough that 34 percent of our compadres and comadres don’t have health insurance but for those Latinos who do have health insurance, there is a false sense of security that life is covered.
In fact, that is far from the case.
Just being Latina/o can predetermine a number of outcomes in our lives:
Die from diabetes
Battle obesity
Our children battle obesity
Be infected with tuberculosis
Have a higher rate of contracting cervical cancer
Likelier to die from breast cancer
Likelier to develop and die from heart disease
Likelier to have high cholesterol
Develop hypertension, liver disorders or lupus
And these diseases don’t even include what happens to those Latinos who live high-risk lifestyles.
[...]
Right now, under the current health-care system, develop any one of the diseases most likely to afflict Latinos and either your premiums skyrocket or, worse, your insurance company is no longer interested in providing coverage.
Why?
They might actually have to pay for treatment, medicine or hospitalization. That goes against the grain of any company guarding its profit margin.
[...]
Yet, with health-care reform, the notion that insurance companies can’t drop a person or force them to pay beyond their means just because they develop a costly condition should be something that all Latinos should endorse.
Having a health-care policy that ensures that all people, regardless of income or current health status, are entitled to have their health valued equally is a policy that should be cheered.
The current arguments against health-care reform are disingenuous because they attempt to slant the debate in a light that no one in their right mind would want. But for a demographic who face a certainty of developing illnesses that have a high-cost medicinal maintenance in the golden years, when income is extremely limited, Latinos owe it to themselves to refuse to be the easy pawns of a majority who don’t worry about health-care costs and evaluate the current proposal to decide which sounds better — a health-care system that ensures coverage no-matter-what or the continuation of a system that favors big business and those with money.
The GOP has always been afraid of the Democrats passing health care reform because, as Bill Kristol put it in 1993, “..passage [of health care reform] will give the Democrats a lock on the crucial middle-class vote.. “. The GOP does not oppose health care reform because they believe it’s wrong, or bad for the American people, they opposed it because it will hurt their political party.
Health care reform will galvanize the support of the middle calss, of which Hisapnics are a big part, behind the Democratic Party. Which is likely another reason the GOP is fighting so hard against health care. In Texas Democrats are still perplexed why Hispanics don’t turn out in the numbers many would like on election day. Part of why any person, or group, goes to the polls on election day is that they feel they have anything worth voting for – something to protect. Once health care reform is passed many more Americans will have something to protect, and a reason to turn out and vote.
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08.24.09
Posted in Commissioners Court, County Judge, Health Care, Taxes, The Budget, Williamson County at 5:20 pm by wcnews
The county has taken in less this year, as expenses continue to rise. It looks like property taxes and county employees out-of-pocket health care expenses will be going up to “soften the blow” on the budet, Williamson Commissioners set to vote on county’s budget.
The Williamson County Commissioners are set to adopt the county’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget and adopt a property tax rate Tuesday morning. The commissioners have been weighing several options of how to close the gap between a $3 billion dollar drop in taxable property values and increasing costs, pushing projected expenditures to $201.2 million.
Budget Officer Ashlie Koenig says less than 24 hours before they meet, many questions remain. “Will we go to cash reserves, will cut expenditures, or will we increase the tax rate of leave it where it is?”
The current tax rate is 46.83 cents per $100 assessed valuation. Koenig says upping the rate to 50.1 cents per $100 assessed valuation would balance the budget and prevent the commissioner from dipping into the county’s $48 million dollar cash reserve.
Click the link above to hear an interview with Williamson County Budget Officer Ashlie Koenig.
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Posted in Around The Nation, Bad Government Republicans, Commentary, Health Care, Insurance Reform at 11:35 am by wcnews
But it’s hard to avoid the sense that a crucial opportunity is being missed, that we’re at what should be a turning point but are failing to make the turn.
That’s the last sentence in Paul Krugman’s column today, All the President’s Zombies. And that sentence goes a long way to show why our President Obama and the Democratic Congress have lost significant support with the Democratic base. It’s their inability, so far, to enact the changes that voters voted for last Fall. Without enacting the changes Democrats ran on in 2008, it’s hard to understand how they could expect, or think they deserve to hold onto power in 2010. But there’s still time to turn it around.
Krugman goes through why Reaganism was a failed ethos, which was more an attack on the New Deal than anything else. It eventually rolled back many of the protections of the New Deal, took us back to the rules that preceded the Great Depression, and damn near caused the next Great Depression.
Washington, it seems, is still ruled by Reaganism — by an ideology that says government intervention is always bad, and leaving the private sector to its own devices is always good.
Call me naïve, but I actually hoped that the failure of Reaganism in practice would kill it. It turns out, however, to be a zombie doctrine: even though it should be dead, it keeps on coming.
Let’s talk for a moment about why the age of Reagan should be over.
First of all, even before the current crisis Reaganomics had failed to deliver what it promised. Remember how lower taxes on high incomes and deregulation that unleashed the “magic of the marketplace” were supposed to lead to dramatically better outcomes for everyone? Well, it didn’t happen.
To be sure, the wealthy benefited enormously: the real incomes of the top .01 percent of Americans rose sevenfold between 1980 and 2007. But the real income of the median family rose only 22 percent, less than a third its growth over the previous 27 years.
Moreover, most of whatever gains ordinary Americans achieved came during the Clinton years. President George W. Bush, who had the distinction of being the first Reaganite president to also have a fully Republican Congress, also had the distinction of presiding over the first administration since Herbert Hoover in which the typical family failed to see any significant income gains.
And then there’s the small matter of the worst recession since the 1930s.
There’s a lot to be said about the financial disaster of the last two years, but the short version is simple: politicians in the thrall of Reaganite ideology dismantled the New Deal regulations that had prevented banking crises for half a century, believing that financial markets could take care of themselves. The effect was to make the financial system vulnerable to a 1930s-style crisis — and the crisis came.
“We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals,” said Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1937. “We know now that it is bad economics.” And last year we learned that lesson all over again.
Or did we? The astonishing thing about the current political scene is the extent to which nothing has changed.
The debate over the public option has, as I said, been depressing in its inanity. Opponents of the option — not just Republicans, but Democrats like Senator Kent Conrad and Senator Ben Nelson — have offered no coherent arguments against it. Mr. Nelson has warned ominously that if the option were available, Americans would choose it over private insurance — which he treats as a self-evidently bad thing, rather than as what should happen if the government plan was, in fact, better than what private insurers offer.
The over reliance on the some people’s hate of government by many politicians is ignorant, lazy, and self-serving. The vast majority of people in our country favor a “public option” for health care and understand goverment has a needed role to play in our lives. And if “public option” is more efficient than corporate insurance than so be it. Isn’t that what competition is all about after all?
As Atrios stated, here’s what should be front-and-center in Democrats minds.
Aside from pleasing the industry players and interest groups and sucky bloggers like me, voters have to like this [...] health care plan. By voters I don’t mean nutty Larouchers and Teabaggers and conservatives who would never vote for a Democrat anyway. They’ll claim not to like whatever it is. If it sounds and is sucky, Republicans will run against it and retake Congress. And they’ll deserve to.
Democrats need to hunker-down and pass a bill that will be best for the American people. Maybe they should even call it the “American Plan” for health care? If Democrats are going to have to defend a new health care plan next year it’ll be much easier to do if it’s a plan that will benefit the American people, then if it’s one that benefits insurance corporations.
That would be a turning point. And as Gov. Howard Dean said last week:
So let’s get our bill on, let’s do what Franklin Roosevelt did, let’s pass the program, people are going to be very happy with it, and this will be forgotten, and we’ll pick up seats in the Fall of 2010 just like Franklin Roosevelt did
If Democrats, thirty years later – despite the massive demographic changes – are still going to worry about “Reagan Democrats”, then they really have forgotten what happened last year. The country voted for change last year, now it’s time for the Democrats in Congress to enact it. They may be starting to turn make that turn, White House is “devising a strategy to pass a measure by relying only on the Democratic majority in each house of Congress”. That’s what FDR and LBJ would have done.
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