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Published Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010 | 3:56 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010 | 3:57 p.m.
WASHINGTON -- Hello, Early Liners. Lots of moving parts today so here’s an afternoon political round-up for your perusal.
So long 60?
The Massachusetts election next Tuesday to replace former Sen. Ted Kennedy is a toss-up as Republican Scott Brown benefits from the electoral mood shift in the race against Martha Coakley, political analyst Stu Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Report in Washington said today.
“Democratic desperation and other compelling evidence strongly suggest that Democrats may well lose the late Senator Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat in Tuesday’s special election,” Rothenberg writes. “Whatever the shortcomings of the Coakley campaign (and they certainly exist), this race has become about change, President Obama and Democratic control of all of the levers of power in Washington, D.C.”
Not good for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s ability to move the health care bill and President Barack Obama’s agenda in the Senate.
More electoral gazing
A new poll out today offers additional insight on the state of play in Nevada heading into the 2010 election.
The folks at Public Policy Polling tested the waters should Reid drop out of his difficult re-election race (highly unlikely) and make way for other potential Democratic candidates.
These are robo-calls – you know, press one if you’re for candidate A, press two if you’re against. Not our most accurate crystal ball.
With that warning, here are the results: The poll found both hypothetical candidates, Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley and Democratic Secretary of State Ross Miller, losing in potential match-ups against Republican Senate front-runners Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian.
Mayor Oscar Goodman, were he to run as a Democrat, would beat Lowden (by two points) and tie with Tarkanian. You can read the full poll here.
Reid vs. Lieberman (vs. unnamed associates)
Reid and Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman are engaged in a bit of historical revisionism over comments attributed to Reid in a New York Times in a magazine profile running Sunday.
Reid is quoted by associates in the piece as saying Lieberman “double-crossed” him by announcing on a Sunday morning political show that he would oppose the now-abandoned Medicare buy-in compromise in the health care legislation.
Lieberman’s office said the Connecticut senator had sent Reid a confidential letter days before the Dec. 13 show explaining his problems with the Medicare proposal. The letter said that while Lieberman had supported a Medicare buy-in during the 2000 presidential election when he ran on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore, “that was a very different time.”
“Senator Lieberman does not believe that Senator Reid would say the words attributed to him by anonymous sources in the New York Times Magazine,” spokesman Marshall Wittmann said.
The statements are “completely false, untrue and have absolutely no basis in fact,” he said. “Senator Lieberman was crystal clear to Senator Reid concerning his opposition to the Medicare-buy in proposal.”
Reid’s office followed up with the senator’s own statement:
“Senator Lieberman and I have a very open and honest working relationship,”
Reid said. “On issues ranging from foreign policy to health care, even when we disagree, he has always been straight forward with me.”
Friendly fire on health care
Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, among the chamber’s more liberal members, is crying foul over the special treatment given to certain senators in the health care bill.
Without naming names, Feingold wrote in a letter to Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today:
“Several provisions were included in the health reform bill that create, rather than diminish, inequity… These provisions should be omitted from the health reform bill brought to Congress for final consideration.”
Feingold essentially fingered the deal for fellow Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska to provide 100 percent federal funding for an expansion of Medicaid in his state and another for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who won an exemption to Medicare cuts in senior-heavy Florida.
Can Reid hold 60 votes without the sweeteners?
Obama to the House
Nevada’s House members, Rep. Shelley Berkley and Rep. Dina Titus, are scheduled to be among those meeting with the president this evening when he speaks to the Democratic caucus.
We’ll see if the Nevadans and other Democrats are receptive to the deal the White House reached with organized labor to exempt unions from the new tax on Cadillac health care plans – which had been a sticking point for Titus and Berkley.
That’s all for now. Check back later for all the political news in Nevada.
Worst Majority Leader in U.S. history.
Pinky has no real qualities other than the ones taught him by the Mafia in Las Vegas. He is a vote buyer and not a good persuader. In short he is a weenie.
Worst leader hell, worst Congress ever (both the House and Senate)!
What boftx said.
I am looking forward to the conservatives taking back both houses and we implement charges of treason against Dirty Harry, the witch of the west, Pelosi and Dean!
Then we will also institute impeachment trials against the negro nobama!
I will gladly serve on the courts firing squad after they are all found to be guilty of treasonous crimes to the United States of America!
I will not accept one single dime for this honor and I do believe it would be an honor to be on the firing squad to support the court's charges of treason against the United States and its people!
God Bless America!
You know, Nebraska has been rooked by the Bostwick Irrigation District pertaining to the amount of water going into the Kansas Bostwick Irrigation wells and the Lovewell Lake. This has been helped along by Douglas Simms, of Belleville, and his partner who is now deceased. If any of the water that has been evaporated due to water use of the Lovewell Lake and evaporation of the surface water, Nebraska should not be penalized by having to pay Kansas some outrageous amount of bills.
Any politician with half a brain would pull out of this dismal bill. The people do not want this. How hard is that to understand. Additionally, the manner in which the Democrats are cramming this down our throats is coming back to haunt them. These idiots have awaken the people in this country and they are extremely angry at the government. There will be hell to pay from this point on!
Vote Harry REID OUT!
Blacks are not Negros, Harry Reid must go.
Harry Reid is so out of touch with the American people it's disgusting. His comments shows this,
" He was wowed by Obama's oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama -- a "light-skinned" African American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one," as he said privately. Reid was convinced, in fact, that Obama's race would help him more than hurt him in a bid for the Democratic nomination."
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Thank goodness Obama is coming to Vegas to hex Reid's campaign. Harry is such a feeble old man, Nevada voters need to send Harry home, nursing or otherwise. He and Nancy "Supposi" are a viral threat to America.
Make sure Obama understands how dangerous he and his administration have been to Nevada's commerce and overall economy.
Nevada can help correct our country.
Reid might as well be a Republican, he's backed down on Democrat ideals in order to appease Nevada's backward mindset so he can get re-elected.
In a response to reports that opposition groups are targeting Dina with ridiculous messages that her constituents don't want her to support the president's health care bill, I am writing to urge her to stand up to the lies and manipulation that are driving people to oppose the effort for reform.
These industry driven negative forces have twisted the truth, using deplorable fear tactics to trick constituents into thinking the bill is horrible. Their largely successful efforts have already negatively influenced the reform effort to the point where the current legislation is significantly less effective than it should be. We are at a point though, where pragmatism dictates that this flawed bill is better than nothing.
IT IS IMPERATIVE TO PASS THIS BILL NOW! Like Medicare, once we get it up and running, people will see the potential and much like the "death panel" stories, the truth will drive a more positive perception. Then we can pass improvements and move it closer to where it should be, but if we overreach and say 'no' to what we are being offered now with the hopes of something better in the future, I am convinced we will will suffer a great deal more than if we pass this imperfect bill today.
I urge everyone who reads this letter to contact Representative Titus with the message to grab the "1/2 apple" we've been offered and support the president's program. In return for her faith in this process and the benefits of it, I pledge my efforts and access to my community on her behalf when she needs it this fall.
It is time for strength of conviction, pragmatism and hope for the future. Please support the president's plan for health care reform!
Representative Dina Titus is voting YES for health care.
That you would elect a representative, send them to the White House, and then have them blindly and sheep-like do whatever a green, ill-prepared, failure of a liberal, American-hating president told them to do is unthinkable.
You don't want this horrendous bill - yet your representative will deliberately throw your vote back in your face...telling you that you don't know what is best for you - and that they do what THEY want, once in office.
You need to teach them how to represent and make believers out of them. Give them one chance to toe the line as your representative - then vote for someone with less of an ego and more respect for their constituents.
Call your representative and senator and tell them to vote this fiasco down. Then become active in removing them and replacing him or her with someone worthy if they continue with their self-destructive course.
Obama is tickling their ears with comments like "this is the chance of a generation" and "The president very pointedly talked about how important this is historically," said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., "how he needs our help." Obama told them that "'this is an opportunity, it'll give us momentum'" on other issues, the congressman said."
Tell Titus to make their historical moment by standing up to this bill and OBAMA and voting "NO."
Lazy politicians in the Democrat Party choose liberalism because it is an easy way to get votes. They prey on other lazy people around the country who choose to take free government handouts instead of working. Liberal politicians promise poor people in this country every thing under the sun in order to get votes, even though they rarely fulfill their promises.
Liberals in general are lazy. They do not try to answer world problems in a logical way but prefer to take the easy, emotional, way out.
You got them. God bless you Harry, your a good man and true son of Nevada.