GOP Media Mistake The Republican House members invited President Obama to their retreat. The White House suggested that the whole session including the Q & A be on camera. The Repubs agreed. But as Luke Russert tweets from Baltimore. GOP aides telling…
Sheikh Jarrah: ‘Ground Zero’ Yesterday’s vigil did not grow in numbers, but it was clear from the people who turned out that it is growing in moral prestige. During the week, J Street issued a statement of support. The world press has begun to…
State Of The Union: Deep Twitter Thoughts on SOTU Before the State Of The Union kthalps: guys, the only way obama can repeal dont ask dont tell is if we dont ask dont tell. so shut up abt it. duh! State Of The Union Starts kthalps: I guess we’ll…
Boehner Feigns Ignorance That His GOP Retreat Is Attended By Goldman Sachs, Other Corporate Lobbyists This weekend, Republican leaders will convene at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore to plot strategy, socialize, and plan both legislative and campaign themes for the year. Yesterday morning, ThinkProgress caught up with House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who confirmed that the Congressional Institute — a nonprofit run by Republican corporate lobbyists — is […]
This weekend, Republican leaders will convene at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore to plot strategy, socialize, and plan both legislative and campaign themes for the year. Yesterday morning, ThinkProgress caught up with House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who confirmed that the Congressional Institute — a nonprofit run by Republican corporate lobbyists — is sponsoring the retreat. Normally, such lobbyist-sponsored soirées would be illegal under House ethics rules. But by forming an ostensibly nonpartisan educational front called the Congressional Institute, lobbyists are able to skirt any such oversight. However, Boehner told ThinkProgress that he did not know if any lobbyists would be present at the retreat:
TP: For your retreat this weekend, is the Congressional Institute attending or sponsoring at all?
BOEHNER: They’ve always sponsored retreats for both Democrats and Republicans.
TP: Are any of their lobbyists attending this weekend?
BOEHNER: I don’t know. […] I said I don’t know.
Watch it:
Boehner is wrong when he claims that the Congressional Institute sponsors Democratic retreats. According to the Politico, House Democratic retreats are not paid for by any special interest funds or the lobbyist-run Congressional Institute.
To fact-check Boehner’s sheepish reply that he simply didn’t know if lobbyists would be at the retreat, I visited the Renaissance hotel in Baltimore yesterday afternoon. Upon arriving at the front desk, I spoke to Patrick Deitz, a staff assistant for the Congressional Institute, who confirmed that Congressional Institute board member Michael Johnson was upstairs at the retreat, and that Dan Meyer, another board member, was on his way. Johnson, a lobbyist at the OB-C Group, touts himself as a “Republican heavyweight” whose firm represents the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, JP Morgan Chase, and the health insurance giant WellPoint. Meyer, a longtime Republican operative and chairman of the Congressional Institute, works for the Duberstein Group, where he represents BP, Goldman Sachs, HealthNet, and AHIP, the umbrella trade group for the health insurance industry. Meyer’s colleague at his lobbying firm, Steve Champlin, urged insurance industry executives last year to fight ruthlessy to kill health reform, proclaiming, don’t “give comfort to the enemy who is down.”
After informing Deitz and other Congressional Institute staffers that I work for ThinkProgress and wanted to interview some of the lobbyists in attendance, another staffer, named Mary, told me to leave the building or else I would be arrested. Mary, who refused to give her business card or last name, told Deitz not to tell me his last name either. During the course of the conversation with Congressional Institute staffers, a gaggle of men dressed in business attire discussed technology policy behind me. One of them had a name tag that read John Sampson; who according to his LinkedIn profile is the chief lobbyist for Microsoft.
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that ThinkProgress will be able to attend, or even approach the building, for the lobbyist-organized GOP retreat. If we could, we might witness quite a reunion. Many of the lobbyists running the Congressional Institute are former top staffers to Newt Gingrich, who is addressing the gathering. Here is a picture of Congressional Institute board members Meyer and Arne Christenson — now a lobbyist for American Express — plotting strategy for Gingrich back in 1995.
Responding to the State of the Union, Boehner was quick to attack the administration for supposedly lacking transparency. But for a retreat planning public policy, Boehner apparently prefers to keep the corporate lobbyists involved behind closed doors — and even refuses to acknowledge their attendance.
?Left-leaning? Washington Post op-ed page features mostly right wingers. In an online chat earlier this week, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz defended Fox News’ conservative orientation by saying there is a “distinction” between Fox’s opinion shows and news programming. “Just as you have to make a distinction between The Post’s news pages and its left-leaning editorial page,” said Kurtz. As Jamison Foser pointed […]
In an online chat earlier this week, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz defended Fox News’ conservative orientation by saying there is a “distinction” between Fox’s opinion shows and news programming. “Just as you have to make a distinction between The Post’s news pages and its left-leaning editorial page,” said Kurtz. As Jamison Foser pointed out at the time, the idea that the Post’s op-ed pages are “left-leaning” is laughable. As if to prove that point today, the Post’s op-ed page features columns by two former Bushspeechwriters, “Obama’s biggest critic,” and a former National Review editor:
Business columnist Robert Samuelson also has a piece saying that the Obama administration’s “blunder” of pushing for health care reform has caused “business planning and the willingness to expand” to suffer. The print edition of the Post also has a short item from liberal Eugene Robinson. This isn’t the first time that the Post has loaded its op-ed page overwhelmingly with conservatives.
Blackburn questions Obama at House GOP conference After addressing the GOP House Issues Conference in Baltimore on Friday, President Obama took a series of questions from the lawmakers. Here is a transcript of one of the questions posed to the president:
Republicans woo ‘tea party’ members, but face activists’ distrust of GOP HONOLULU — The Republican Party’s flirtation this week with a proposal to punish GOP candidates who do not commit to a list of conservative principles was about more than just purity. It was about winning over angry activists.
Conservative activist admits to plot in Landrieu’s office The conservative activist accused this week in a plot to tamper with telephones in the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) admitted to the scheme Friday, conceding that he “could have used a different approach” in trying to determine whether she was avoiding calls from opponents of the health-ca…
Obama talks to House Republicans in Baltimore in rare, televised debate in BALTIMORE — President Obama offered a muscular defense of his first year in office Friday in the most hostile of territories — a gathering of House Republicans, who engaged him in a pointed debate that had moments of both tense drama and bipartisan comity over the stark policy differences that…
What Will Obama Do About Gridlock? Jim Manzi, National Review Enter Your E-Mail Address to Sign UpFriday, January 29, 2010Delayed Reaction to the State of the Union [Jim Manzi]It has taken me a while to assess my reaction to President Obama’s speech. On the whole, I think his supporters should be somewhat dismayed. It struck me as very effective in diagnosing problems, and in proposing policy solutions that — even though I disagree with many (but not all) of them — are well-reasoned and might plausibly succeed; but as far as I can see, he proposed no realistic solution to the political problem that he…
State of the Union Pressed Reset Button Michael Tomasky, The Guardian The main task before Barack Obama in his state of the union address was to push the reset button. To reclaim some control over the agenda, which he had basically lost since about last October, when it became apparent that the signature healthcare initiative was going to take longer to pass than Hadrian took to build his wall.So did he? Yes, for now. On the most fundamental level, Obama made it clear that the top item in his in-basket is the matter that most occupies Americas' minds: jobs. He mentioned the word 29 times in the speech. Thursday, he and vice-president Joe Biden followed up…
President Obama’s Health Care Mistake Paul Howard, Forbes It's never too late to do what you said you were going to do. This is the chief lesson that President Obama should draw from Massachusetts voters' stunning rebuke to Democrat's bloated and expensive health care legislation. Obama campaigned as a centrist who would draw on the best ideas of both parties, but he has governed by deferring to the liberal wing of his party and locking Republicans out of Democrats' backroom health care deals. As a result, the current bill is justly opposed by the majority of Americans as too expensive, too convoluted and packed with bribes,…
Misguided Policies: Obama Doesn’t Quit Frank Beckmann, Detroit News The most revelatory words from President Barack Obama's State of the Union address came near the end when he uttered, “I don't quit.” It's something to remember when digesting his incongruous remarks to the nation this week. The president re-emphasized just about every major point of his 2008 political campaign and even gave reason for brief hope that he might embrace a few ideas that aren't in lockstep with the left-wing ideology he has pushed for a year. Then came reality. When he said, “I don't quit,” he meant he truly will push every single…
The Obama Contradiction Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal When you watch a president give a State of the Union Address on television, you're always watching three people: the president at the podium, and the vice president and House speaker on the rise behind him. As a TV shot it's awkward. The vice president and the speaker have been instructed by media professionals not to let their eyes do what they want to do, which is survey the doings in the chamber. Instead they must stare unwaveringly at the back of the president's head. This is so that they appear to be fascinated by what he's saying, as if he's so interesting that…
Teleprompter Malfunction Leaves Obama Speechless The president needs to start making some remarks off the cuff, because he’s leaving himself wide open for this sort of parody. And no, while it bears a resemblance to Fox News, this is not real.
The president needs to start making some remarks off the cuff, because he’s leaving himself wide open for this sort of parody. And no, while it bears a resemblance to Fox News, this is not real.
Ronald Dworkin: The “Devastating” Decision President Obama is right, the Citizens United decision will further weaken the quality and fairness of our politics, as well as hand already-overpowered lobbyists a nuclear weapon for influencing policy.
Health Care ‘Stalemate’ WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s health care appeal failed to break the congressional gridlock Thursday, dimming hopes for millions of uninsured Americans. Democrats stared down…
A Wall Street Journal editorial asserted that Obama “re-pitched the health bill now in Congress with the same contradiction-covers more people but saves money too-that all but the most devoted partisans long ago dismissed as unbelievable.” However the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that the health care reform bills passed by both the House and the Senate would reduce federal deficits through 2019 and beyond.
On health care, Mr. Obama offered a Willy Loman-esque soliloquy on his year-long effort, as if his bill’s underlying virtues and his own hard work haven’t been truly appreciated by the American public. He showed no particular willingness to compromise, save for a claim that he was open to other ideas.
And he re-pitched the health bill now in Congress with the same contradiction-covers more people but saves money too-that all but the most devoted partisans long ago dismissed as unbelievable. The President sounded to us like a man who is still hoping Democrats will find a way to sneak this monstrosity into law despite its unpopularity.
FACT: CBO estimated that health care reform bills would reduce deficits over next 10 years and beyond
CBO: Senate bill yields “a net reduction in federal deficits of $132 billion” over 10 years. On December 19, 2009, CBO reported of the Senate bill incorporating the manager’s amendment:
CBO and JCT estimate that the direct spending and revenue effects of enacting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act incorporating the manager’s amendment would yield a net reduction in federal deficits of $132 billion over the 2010-2019 period.
CBO also estimated on December 20, 2009, that the bill will continue to reduce the deficit beyond the 10-year budget window that ends in 2019 “with a total effect during that decade that is in a broad range between one-quarter percent and one-half percent of GDP.”
CBO estimated the House bill will result in $138 billion in deficit reduction through 2019. On November 20, 2009, CBO reported of the House health care reform legislation, “CBO and JCT now estimate that the legislation would yield a net reduction in deficits of $138 billion over the 10-year period.” CBO also stated in its November 6 estimate that “[i]n the subsequent decade, the collective effect of its provisions would probably be slight reductions in federal budget deficits. Those estimates are all subject to substantial uncertainty.”
WSJ previously misled on budgetary impact of health care reform. CBO estimates showing health care reform will reduce deficits, a January 27 Wall Street Journal editorial asserted that President Obama should “[d]rop the health-care bill” if Democrats “really are serious” about fiscal responsibility.
The Hollywood Liberal is an anti-war, anti republican, from right here beautiful Hollywood California.
This site was originally started to help get The Worst President Ever G.W. Bush Jr. Out of office. Now that we have accomplished that
the goal is to get Obama to start acting like a Democrat, and not an butt kissing Republican Wannabee. We will continue to fight for that goal
. Thanks H.L.
