The Hollywood Liberal

Sen. Feinstein: If Congress were all women, we would have financial reform by now.
On Wednesday, ThinkProgress attended Fortune Magazine’s “Most Powerful Women” dinner honoring accomplished women leaders from around the world. The centerpiece of the evening was a discussion with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). When Fortune Editor at Large Pattie Sellers asked Feinstein about serving as one of the few women in the Senate, Feinstein took a swipe […]

On Wednesday, ThinkProgress attended Fortune Magazine’s “Most Powerful Women” dinner honoring accomplished women leaders from around the world. The centerpiece of the evening was a discussion with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). When Fortune Editor at Large Pattie Sellers asked Feinstein about serving as one of the few women in the Senate, Feinstein took a swipe at her male counterparts:

FEINSTEIN: There are 17 of us [women in the Senate] now. When I came in there were two. It was known as the “Year of the Woman” because a few of us got elected to the Senate. …

SELLERS: So the environment really has changed now that there are 17, and it’s easier? And here you are on regulatory reform…is there going to be this?

FEINSTEIN: Well, I actually think that if we had all women, we would solve the problem. But, I think there will be a bill now. I’m delighted that this impasse has finished, that this debate will move forward, that there will hopefully be substantial amendments and not [inaudible] amendments to incite one side or another, what we call message amendments, but practical amendments to make the bill better. And if that’s the case, I do believe we’ll have a bill.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was sitting at the front of the room and enthusiastically clapped when Feinstein said that women would have solved the financial problem by now. Watch it:

Earlier in the conversation, Feinstein acknowledged Collins and said that she wished all Republicans would be as “reasonable” as she is. This week, Collins decided to part with her Republican colleagues’ intransigence and agreed to begin debate on financial reform legislation.

Boehner takes credit for ideas in health law, then calls for its repeal.
Earlier this year, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) took credit for parts of the health care law he opposes and today, during an interview with NPR, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) also highlighted the Republican ideas in the bill, while promising to repeal it: INSKEEP: As you know, Democrats are already pointing to things that are […]

Earlier this year, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) took credit for parts of the health care law he opposes and today, during an interview with NPR, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) also highlighted the Republican ideas in the bill, while promising to repeal it:

INSKEEP: As you know, Democrats are already pointing to things that are changing in America because of this bill. They will point to the fact that college seniors, who would have been kicked off their families’ insurance plans when they graduated, will get to stay on. Insurance companies are now saying they’re going to end the practice of “rescission,” where they take, or at least modify…

BOEHNER: Both of those ideas, by the way, came from Republicans, and are part of the common sense ideas that we ought to have in the law.

INSKEEP: Well, are you going to repeal those two specific things?

BOEHNER Uh, what I want to repeal are the other 158 mandates, commissions, boards that set up all the infrastructure for the government to take control of our health care system.

Listen:

Boehner’s refusal to call for a full repeal could cause a rift with the more conservative members of the Republican party. Last week, for instance, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) — who has proposed a bill calling for complete repeal — warned leadership that “if we leave any component of it in there, it has, it’s just become a malignant tumor that’s attacking our liberty and our freedom and it’s diminishing our aspirations and it saps our overall productivity as a nation,” King said. “If we can’t come to that conclusion, then I want some new people to come help me.” Currently, repeal legislation has has no more than 62 co-sponsors in the House and 20 in the Senate.

Cross-posted on The Wonk Room.

Record numbers of Republican women are running for House seats
Nearly two years after Sarah Palin became the Republican Party’s first female vice presidential nominee, record numbers of Republican women are running for House seats, driving the overall count of women running for both the House and the Senate to a new high.

Small-time, low-cost lobbying firm goes after the little guys
In the Washington world of million-dollar lobbying contracts and $500 lunch meetings, Paul Kanitra aims lower — much lower.


Lobbying – Politics – United States – Google – Conservatives

Republicans in Utah direct anger at former party favorite Bennett
SALT LAKE CITY — Delivering the opening prayer of the Beaver County Republican Convention recently, cattle rancher Gilbert Yardley prayed for Utah to elect “honest” people to Congress — anybody to replace “the bunch we have in there now.”


Republican – Utah – United States – Politics – Bob Bennett

Liberals Won’t Give Up on Racism Smear
John Hinderaker, Power Line
You'd think the Lamestream Media would give it up, but no: they are determined to push the absurd claim that Tea Partiers are “racists.” Never mind that the issues driving the Tea Parties–the constitutional role of the federal government, bailouts and government takeovers, spiraling deficits and out of control spending–self-evidently have nothing to do with race. The smear is the only kind of argument most liberals know, so they press on doggedly.This time it's Newsweek, carrying out its new mission as a limited-circulation journal of liberal opinion. (“Limited…

Learning to Love the Healthcare Bill
Newman & Attewell, The Nation
Will the passage of healthcare reform provide a boost to Obama's popularity and the chances of holding on to a Democratic majority in the fall? The question preys on the minds of many progressives, even those who find the White House lacking in zeal for causes on the left. The alternative would mean polarization, at best. At worst, it could be a return to the dark days of Republican rule from which we have escaped all too recently. To be sure, the failure to pass the healthcare bill would have been a catastrophe. The measure was a significant test for the base of the Democratic Party….

Debt Dangers Loom Beyond the Eurozone
Chris Giles, Financial Times
The crisis in Greece serves as a warning to other countries not to lose control of their fiscal positions and the confidence of markets. But advanced countries have now stretched their public budgets so far that investors, economists and international organisations are getting worried.Returning to form, the International Monetary Fund warned this month that reducing budget deficits, “should precede the normalisation of monetary policy” in many economies and that they “need to make more progress in developing and communicating credible medium term fiscal…

Congress Approves Referendum on Puerto Rico’s Future

Making Health Reform a Reality
Nancy-Ann DeParle, White House
Just over a month ago, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. This landmark legislation gives the American people the control over their own health insurance they need and deserve — by holding insurance companies accountable, bringing down costs and giving all Americans more insurance choices.The day of that signing the President made one thing clear – he expects his Administration to deliver the benefits of reform to the American people as effectively and expeditiously as possible.  As the President said, “we need to get this…