Political Truths

Coffee vs. Tea: A political movement is brewing - CNN.com

2010-03-14T02:35:28Z

Washington (CNN) -- Is the Coffee Party on the scale of the Tea Party movement? Saturday is the first big test in attempting to answer that question.

Leaders of the fledgling movement say they plan to hold 350 to 400 events at coffeehouses across the country. While the Coffee Party has become an instant hit online, gauging the success of Saturday's coast-to-coast events could be an indicator of the group's strength.

"We need to wake up and work hard to get our government to represent us," says Annabel Park, the movement's founder.

Angry at what she perceived as media overexposure of the conservative Tea Party movement, Park, a 41-year-old Washington-area documentary filmmaker, used her Facebook page to call for a Coffee Party. CONTINUED

Coffee vs. Tea: A political movement is brewing - CNN.com

Another Example Why Racist Ineptitude Of Right A Danger To Our Country #p2 #tcot

2010-03-14T02:02:52Z

The Right has always attempted to portray themselves as the law and order party that best knew how to protect the country. Of course the largest terrorists attack on our country that caused more deaths than any terrorist attack ever occurred under their watch. Their policies of torture and unadulterated and indiscriminate aggression failed to keep us safe. Lucky for our country that the professionals under the current administration did not succumb to the Right’s rhetoric attempting to codify a policy of racial profiling. The capture of two ladies completely foreign to the profile or stereotype is proof positive that the Right must simply be considered purveyors of failed ideological policies and rhetoric.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez Held In Connection With Plot To Assassinate Swedish Cartoonist

IVAN MORENO | 03/13/10 08:25 PM

LEADVILLE, Colo. — Before her daughter disappeared last fall, Christina Mott recalls that the 31-year-old who had been held in connection with an alleged assassination plot announced she had converted to Islam and told them they'd go to hell if they didn't follow in her steps.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez also began talking about Jihad with her Muslim stepfather and spent most of her time online as she withdrew from her family, Mott said.

"We were enemies," Christine Mott, 59, said. "We couldn't even speak to each other."

Paulin-Ramirez left Leadville, Colo., an old mining town west of Denver, on Sept. 11, and took her 6-year-old son with her, her mother said. A U.S. official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Saturday that Paulin-Ramirez had been detained in Ireland in connection with an alleged plot to kill cartoonist Lars Vilks, whose 2007 sketch depicted the head of the Prophet Muhammad on a dog's body, offending many Muslims and provoking terror front Al-Qaida in Iraq to offer a $100,000 bounty for his slaying.

Irish police said later Saturday that they had released an American woman and three others arrested in Ireland over an alleged plot to assassinate Swedish artist Lars Vilks had been freed without charge. Three others remained in custody and were being questioned. Irish police refused to confirm whether Paulin-Ramirez is the woman in custody, and have declined to release the identities of any of those arrested.

Smoking as she sat on her living room couch in Leadville, Christine Mott said she hadn't eaten in days. She described her daughter as troubled single mother who had the "mentality of an abused woman" and who, in trying to escape her loneliness, may have spiraled into the depths of Islam extremism. Her reported arrest came hours before U.S. authorities unveiled a terror indictment against another American woman, Colleen LaRose, of Pennsylvania.

U.S. authorities on Tuesday unsealed terror charges against the 46-year-old LaRose, who allegedly went by the name "Jihad Jane" to recruit others online to kill the cartoonist.

Mott told The Associated Press that she learned of her daughter's arrest in the case from the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies.

Denver FBI officials said Saturday they couldn't confirm that the FBI had contacted Mott about the case.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez Held In Connection With Plot To Assassinate Swedish Cartoonist

Catholic Health Group Accepts Abortion Language in Reform Bill -- Politics Daily

2010-03-14T01:26:24Z

The head of the national association of Catholic hospitals, which holds great sway in the health care debate, threw her support Saturday behind the contested Senate reform bill in a move that could give a major boost to the legislation's prospects.
But the endorsement of Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association, could also put the nun and her organization at odds with the Catholic hierarchy, which continues to oppose the bill due to its provision on abortion coverage.
As Politics Daily has reported, the Senate bill does not appear to allow for abortion funding, contrary to what many pro-life critics have claimed. But the dispute is proving pivotal to the bill's chances in the House, where a cadre of pro-life Democrats, led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) has threatened to sink the it if their demands for stronger anti-abortion language are not met.
In her statement Saturday, Keehan made it clear she thinks any qualms about abortion language in the Senate version can be resolved, and in any event are not enough to justify opposition to what Catholic leaders say is a pro-life issue and a "human right" -- universal and affordable health care. Keehan attended a March 3 briefing by President Obama at the White House, an event she said clarified her decision to support the bill.
"As I watched our president present his plan to pass the health reform legislation, it was clear this is an historic opportunity to make great improvements in the lives of so many Americans," Keehan said in her statement. "Is it perfect? No. Does it cover everyone? No. But is it a major first step? Yes."
She "has a major concern on life issues" about the bill, she said, and believes they will require monitoring should the bill become law. But she believes the concerns are adequately addressed by the mechanism to keep abortion coverage apart from the government-regulated health care markets. CONTINUED

Catholic Health Group Accepts Abortion Language in Reform Bill -- Politics Daily

Pro-life group urges Congress to pass Senate health care bill #hcr #p2 #tcot

2010-03-14T01:23:08Z

Twenty-five pro-life Catholic theologians and Evangelical leaders yesterday sent letters to members of Congress urging them not to let misleading information about abortion provisions in the Senate health care bill block passage of sorely-needed reform.

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, a Washington-based advocacy group, said that the Senate health bill upholds abortion funding restrictions and supports pregnant women.

The letter included a page by page analysis of the Senate bill as it pertains to abortion.

The group asked members of Congress “to make an informed decision about this legislation based on careful deliberation guided by facts.”

“We believe that the provisions below provide extensive evidence that longstanding restrictions on federal funding of abortion have been maintained. Furthermore, this bill provides new and important supports for vulnerable pregnant women,” the letter states.

The complete text of the letter follows:

Dear Member of Congress,

As Christians committed to a consistent ethic of life, and deeply concerned with the health and well-being of all people, we want to see health care reform enacted. Our nation has a rare and historic opportunity to expand coverage to tens of millions of people, make coverage more affordable for all families, and crack down on many of the most harmful practices of the health insurance industry.

We are writing because of our concern about the lack of clear and accurate information regarding abortion provisions in the health care reform bill passed by the Senate on December 24, 2009.

Reforming our health care system is necessarily complex, and the provisions related to abortion, or any other issue, require careful examination of the facts as they exist in the legislative language. We believe that the provisions below provide extensive evidence that longstanding restrictions on federal funding of abortion have been maintained. Furthermore, this bill provides new and important supports for vulnerable pregnant women.

Following is a comprehensive factual listing of all provisions related to abortion and positive supports for pregnant women in HR 3590, along with specific page references.

Abortion-Related Provisions Included in the Senate-Approved Health Care Reform Bill “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (HR 3590 EAS/PP)

CONTINUED

Pro-life group urges Congress to pass Senate health care bill | National Catholic Reporter

Final March To Reform - Days 3-5: The voice of the people #p2 #tcot #hcr

2010-03-12T22:38:56Z

The Final March for Reform is going strong -- yesterday, OFA supporters made the phones ring off the hook in Congressional offices on Capitol Hill and across the country. But for every member of Congress, there are eight anti-reform lobbyists swarming Capitol Hill -- and the upcoming vote is still too close to call.

So in these crucial, final days, we must make sure the voices of constituents break through the lobbyist attacks. And here's the plan to make it happen:

As the next step in the Final March for Reform, OFA supporters like you will be gathering at volunteer phone banks across the country. We'll be calling supportive voters in critical districts nationwide, asking them to reach out to their representatives and express their strong support for reform. A local OFA organizer will be on hand at every event, and no experience is required.

Here's how to join in: First, RSVP for an event near you -- there's one in Houston, on March 13th. Before you go, make sure to invite friends to come with you, or help them find an event in their area on our website. Then join with local supporters at your event and reach out to as many voters as you can -- each call makes a vital difference.

RSVP here to get started. Here are the details for the event nearest you:

What: Final March for Reform Phone Bank
Where: 1102 Pinemont Dr. #I
Houston, TX 77018
When: Saturday, March 13th
12:00 PM

Can't make it to that event in Houston? Click here to search for other events near you.
As we speak, insurance-industry lobbyists are deploying from their emergency base at the D.C. Ritz-Carlton, banging down the door of every Congressional office on Capitol Hill to derail reform and preserve their ability to jack up premiums and deny care to those in need.

In the old Washington, that would have been an unstoppable barrage.

But thanks to your unprecedented organizing, the lobbyists have finally met their match: the American people.

So let's get out there, and make sure the people's voice is heard.

Please sign up to join the Final March for Reform event in Houston, on March 13th:

http://my.barackobama.com/FinalMarch-RSVP
Let's finish this,
Jeremy
Jeremy Bird
Deputy Director
Organizing for America

Want A Rational Alternative To The #TeaParty? Join The #CoffeeParty #tcot #p2

2010-03-12T21:31:54Z

Meet the people who are percolating in the Coffee Party

By Jessica Ravitz, CNN March 12, 2010 10:17 a.m. EST

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- In one chair sits a rural retiree, his financial security shot in the slump, a humble Southerner who's never thought much about politics. In another seat is a born Northerner, an inner-city native, a relative of a civil rights giant. And nearby, circling a table, are an economist, an artist, a onetime John McCain supporter and a long-haired guy who's rich in Woodstock memories.

Meet these members of the Coffee Party Movement, an organically grown, freshly brewed push that's marking its official kickoff Saturday. Across the country, even around the globe, they and other Americans in at least several hundred communities are expected to gather in coffeehouses to raise their mugs of java to something new.

They're professionals, musicians and housewives. They're frustrated liberal activists, disheartened conservatives and political newborns. They're young and old, rich and poor, black, white and all shades of other.

Born on Facebook just six weeks ago, the group boasts more than 110,000 fans, as of Friday morning. The Coffee Party is billed by many as an answer to the Tea Party (more than 1,000 fewer fans), a year-old protest movement that's steeped in fiscal conservatism and boiling-hot, anti-tax rhetoric.

This new group calls for civility, objects to obstructionism and demands that politicians be held accountable to the people who put them in office.

"The government has become so broken that the will of the people has been lost in the political game," said Stacey Hopkins, 46, coordinator of the Atlanta, Georgia, chapter. "And the only voices you're hearing are the ones of those who are screaming the loudest. They have a right to their views, but they don't have the right to speak for all Americans."

CONTINUED

Meet the people who are percolating in the Coffee Party - CNN.com

Stop Big Insurance – PLEASE WATCH – DO YOUR PART #hcr #p2 #tcot

2010-03-12T21:05:55Z

You have to see this video.

On Tuesday thousands of everyday people performed a citizens' arrest on the insurance companies who were meeting in Washington, D.C. to plot to kill health care reform. I've never seen so much energy in a crowd before. You have to watch!

It's getting down to the final push for health reform.
The House is preparing to pass the health care bill the Senate passed in December, along with a package of improvements to that bill. Those improvements will then be sent to the Senate for an up-or-down vote, with the goal of having President Obama sign both bills by the end of the month.

The House may vote on these bills as early as this coming week, and the vote is going to be close. Many Representatives will try to take the side of the insurance industry instead of the side of the American people. It's up to us to make sure they hear what America wants - real health care reform, now!

Can you pledge to make as many calls as it takes to your Representative, urging them to vote YES on health reform? Click here to pledge and tell as many friends as you can.

The health care package being considered by Congress isn't everything we wanted. But the bills will do a world of good for everyone in America. Here's how:

If you have insurance, you can keep it. But insurance companies won't be allowed to spike premiums every year and will have their profits and administrative expenses subject to federal and state scrutiny.²
If you lose your coverage or need to buy insurance on your own for any reason, insurance companies won't be able to deny you coverage and they can't charge you more because you're sick or because you're a woman. If you get sick, your insurance company won't be able to cancel your insurance retroactively like they do today. Preventative care will be free and young people can stay on their parent's insurance policy until they are 26. And small businesses and individuals will be offered steep subsidies so everyone can afford coverage.³
Insurance companies will no longer be able to sell junk insurance. If you're buying insurance on your own, insurers will have to offer plans with a standard comprehensive benefit package, they will be required to spend 85% of your premium dollars on your medical care, they will no longer be able to cap your benefits, and your out-of-pocket costs will be limited - severely reducing their profits and bad practices.
And, if you're uninsured, you will be able to purchase insurance you can afford. In all, 30 million uninsured will get good coverage, saving an estimated 30,000 lives per year.

In addition, the fixes being put to an up-or-down vote will dramatically cut back the burden of the so-called "Cadillac tax" on working families, increase subsidies so everyone can afford insurance, and fully close the Medicare donut hole for seniors.

There's a lot to support in these bills, and the staus quo is unacceptable.

Click here to pledge to call your Representative as much as it takes until they vote YES on health reform.

If these bills fail, if we lose this chance for health reform, we won't get it again for decades. If these bills fail, if we let the insurance companies win, the insurance industry will get to continue on with business as usual.

We've come so far, and these bills do so much good for so many. We can't turn back now.

It's time for Congress to choose which side they're on: Will they listen to us and pass health reform? Or will they listen to the insurance companies and doom America to more needless deaths, bankruptcies, and denials of care?

Click here to pledge to call your Representative as many times as it takes and make them take our side.

We're at the finish line. Only a few more votes are left. Let's win this thing!

To your health,
Levana Layendecker
Health Care for America Now

Dick Durbin: I'll Whip 'Aggressively' For A Public Plan If Pelosi Includes It #p2 #hcr #tcot

2010-03-12T17:04:22Z

The second-ranking Democrat in the Senate said on Friday that he would "aggressively" rally votes for a public option for insurance coverage if House Democrats included the proposal in their reconciliation fixes for health care reform.

In a letter to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin's spokesman Joe Shoemaker made it "crystal clear" that his boss favors efforts to get a government-run insurance plan into law. But, echoing remarks the Illinois Democrat made to the Huffington Post, Shoemaker writes that the onus lies with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

If House Democrats include a public plan in the reconciliation bill they craft to "fix" the Senate's legislation, Durbin will work hard to make sure the provision (as part of the reconciliation package) has the votes for passage. If it's not in that reconciliation package, he won't lift a finger. In fact, he will work against efforts to add it as an amendment.

"Sen. Durbin and the rest of the Senate Leadership will be aggressively whipping FOR the public option if it is included in the reconciliation bill the House sends over," Shoemaker wrote in an email that he authorized PCCC founder Adam Green to make public. "Conversely, the Leaders will whip against any attempt to alter or amend the bill if the public option is not in it (or as your email says -- whip against adding the public option as an amendment in the Senate.)

"The reason is simple. There can be no amendments - good or bad - to the reconciliation bill once the House passes it and sends it to the Senate. The House will not do step one (passing the Senate healthcare bill in the first place) if they do not have assurances that the fixes they want (i.e., the fixes in their reconciliation bill) will be passed unchanged by the Senate."

Shoemaker continued: "I believe the progressive community's best hope of seeing a public option in the healthcare bill is to lobby members of the House to include it in the reconciliation bill they send to the Senate and to continue to get senators to pledge their support for it."

Shoemaker's email reflects a fairly strict reading of how Democrats are prepared to approach both reconciliation and the public option. The party is set on promoting one package of fixes to the bill and ignoring all other amendments, which Republicans have pledged to offer on topics from immigration to abortion. This means that if the public plan is going to survive, it will have to originate with Pelosi's fixes in the House.

Story continues below

At this point, there hasn't been much focus on whether Pelosi is considering adding that measure to her reconciliation bill. While the House passed a public plan in its initial legislation, the White House has made it clear they don't want it in the final package. But Green and allied groups are mounting a campaign pressuring her to take Durbin's bait. PCCC, Democracy for America and Credo launched a campaign on Friday targeting the speaker with online ads and phone calls.

"The fate of the public option is now in Nancy Pelosi's hands," read a joint statement from the three groups. "The votes and the leadership are there in the Senate, and the public option will live or die based on Nancy Pelosi's next moves. She's been a hero on this issue in the past, and we hope that she steps up at this historic moment."

BELOW IS SHOEMAKER'S FULL EMAIL TO GREEN

Adam -
I hope you are setting all 1 million people straight. Here's the truth and I hope you start spreading it:

The House needs to take up and pass (without amendment) the senate-passed health care bill. (The reason that's important is that if the bill is amended in any way, it will need to return to the senate where we no longer have 60 votes to pass any kind of health care measure. If that happens healthcare reform will languish on the vine.)

Next, the House needs to write and pass a reconciliation bill that includes important fixes to the health care bill mentioned above. Senator Durbin is hopeful that one of those fixes is inclusion of a public option and has urged the House to include it. He has in fact pledged to support the public option if its included in the reconciliation bill and he will do so.

I want to be crystal clear: Sen. Durbin and the rest of the Senate Leadership will be aggressively whipping FOR the public option if it is included in the reconciliation bill the House sends over. Conversely, the Leaders will whip against any attempt to alter or amend the bill if the public option is not in it (or as your email says - whip against adding the public option as an amendment in the Senate.)

The reason is simple. There can be no amendments - good or bad - to the reconciliation bill once the House passes it and sends it to the Senate. The House will not do step one (passing the Senate healthcare bill in the first place) if they do not have assurances that the fixes they want (i.e., the fixes in their reconciliation bill) will be passed unchanged by the Senate.

I believe the progressive community's best hope of seeing a public option in the healthcare bill is to lobby members of the House to include it in the reconciliation bill they send to the Senate and to continue to get senators to pledge their support for it.

Instead of calling out senators like Durbin who have staunchly supported and fought for progressive principles to be included in the health reform bill, people need to look at what is possible and what is lost by actions like this.

It is possible right now, to pass a healthcare bill that curbs many of the worst practices of health insurance companies (pre-existing conditons; must carry; lifetime/annual caps on coverage; gender discrimination, etc.)

It is possible right now to pass a healthcare bill that will ensure health insurance for 31 million people who today have no insurance (94 percent of all Americans would be covered).

It is possible right now to pass a healthcare bill that rewards doctors for practicing good medicine rather than rewarding them for ordering more tests and protects the quality of medical care offered to patients.

It is possible right now to pass a healthcare bill that will start bending the cost curve so that we slow the outrageous escalation in the cost of healthcare and eventually start bringing prices down. And there are literally hundreds more examples like that.

All of these vital and important things will not come to pass if we make one provision - the public option - the only thing we fight for. It must be balanced against all the other items as well.

It seems to me that the history of progressive reform in America is replete with examples of incremental reform (components that we today think of as essential in Medicare, Social Security, Civil Rights, etc were all added years - in somes cases decades - after the original bill was passed). Why is healthcare so different? Why does it all have to be done here and now?

The truth is no one thinks the final healthcare bill will be perfect. But it will do far more good than harm. And it will provide a platform on which to build.

So that's what Durbin will be whipping for - passage of an imperfect but good bill. And he could use your help rather than accusations of betrayal.

Joe Shoemaker
Communications Director
Sen. Dick Durbin

Dick Durbin: I'll Whip 'Aggressively' For A Public Plan If Pelosi Includes It

GOP Leaders Lied Again On Reconciliation Procedure #p2 #tcot #hcr

2010-03-12T15:23:44Z

This is the reason why their base is so misinformed. It is not that most on the Right are selfish ideologues, it is that their leaders are a disservice to them. We must help them to new real leaders and informed resources.

Update on reconciliation

by David Waldman

Fri Mar 12, 2010 at 06:45:58 AM PST

Republicans have been lying about reconciliation being the "nuclear option" for weeks. So it should come as no surprise that CQ (subscription) now reports:

Republican aides, reporting the decision, interpreted it to mean the House would have to clear the Senate bill and President Obama would have to sign it before the reconciliation bill could be passed. House leaders had been hoping that the two bills could be passed almost simultaneously.

The parliamentarian, however, later reportedly clarified his position to Senate aides, saying that the reconciliation bill could be written in a way that would not require Obama to sign the Senate bill into law before the reconciliation bill is voted on.

Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

If you don't have a CQ subscription, for now you'll have to settle for Politico's story:

[A]ccording to reporting by POLITICO’s David Rogers, the accounts aren’t accurate and misconstrue what the Senate parliamentarians have said. That is that reconciliation must amend law but this could be done without the Senate bill being enacted first. "It is wholly possible to create law and qualify law before the law is on the books," said one person familiar with situation.

For example, if the big bill itself amends some Social Security statute, reconciliation could be written to do the same --with changes sought by the House. Then if reconciliation is passed and signed by President Barack Obama after he signs the larger bill, the changes made in reconciliation would prevail.
This jives with what Pulse sources were saying soon after the first wave of stories hit – in essence, don’t take the reported parliamentarian’s declaration to the bank.

CONTINUED

Congress Matters

Stewart: Fox News Is The Meanest Sorority In The World #p2 #hcr #tcot

2010-03-12T15:14:11Z

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Health Care: The Ultimate Last Final Push

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

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Highlights: Obama's Speech On Health Care Reform In St. Louis #p2 #hcr #tcot

2010-03-12T02:58:38Z

The Washington Post: Stop promoting torture #p2 #tcot

2010-03-11T22:46:16Z

The op-ed pages of The Washington Post should be a place for serious debate about the direction of our country.

But by hiring former Bush administration speechwriter Marc Thiessen -- the second former Bush speechwriter to whom it has given a regular column -- The Washington Post has crossed the line. Thiessen is a serial misinformer. And he shouldn't be rewarded with the audience or credibility that a regular column provides.

In his latest column, Thiessen attacks lawyers who have represented detainees, warning that these lawyers may hold "radical and dangerous views" and that by giving detainees representation, lawyers are "using the federal courts as a tool to undermine our military's ability to keep dangerous enemy combatants off the battlefield in a time of war." These outrageous claims have been refuted by lawyers from across the political spectrum, including former Bush administration attorneys -- yet the Post gives Thiessen free rein to engage in baseless smears. He's even used misleading statements in support of torture.

Nearly 7,000 people have signed our petition to tell The Washington Post to say no to promoting torture. Will you join us?

Click here to tell The Washington Post: Stop promoting torture.

Thiessen is a proponent of torture, and in his quest to advocate for torture and attack torture opponents, he has resorted to misinformation and smears that have no place in the debate over national security policy.

Thiessen's willingness to distort the truth and engage in hysterical attacks doesn't just undermine his own credibility -- it undermines the ability of readers to trust The Washington Post as a source of honest analysis.

The Post has offered Thiessen a platform to promote his views, despite the fact that he:

...said in his book that lawyers who represented Guantanamo detainees were "aiding and abetting America's enemies."
... falsely claimed in his most recent book that, since CIA interrogation of terror suspects began after 9-11, there were no attacks on U.S. interests at home or abroad.
... falsely claimed in a Post op-ed that Bush oversaw "2,688 days without a terrorist attack on [American] soil," ignoring the anthrax mail attacks, the El Al shooting in Los Angeles and other domestic terrorist attacks.
... misleadingly compared waterboarding of detainees with the training of U.S. troops.
... called President Obama's decision to release Bush administration torture memos "irresponsible" and claimed that "Americans may die as a result."

Click here to tell The Washington Post: Stop promoting torture.

The editors of The Washington Post need to hear from you that falsehoods and outrageous smears in support of torture are not acceptable. We need more voices to join the nearly 7,000 who have already confronted the Post. Let's tell them: You've gone too far. Stop promoting torture.

Will you join us?

Sign the petition to The Washington Post.

Thank you for your help in holding the Post accountable.

This is our healthcare - Mother battles for life after giving birth #p2 #tcot #hcr

2010-03-11T22:22:33Z

The protagonists in this tragedy are two working, productive, tax paying citizens and their kids. That an unfortunate medical event has changed their future that had they had affordable medical care and insurance would not have been, must be considered a sin against humanity. All those who think incidents like this are isolated or that given that they may have insurance that they are somehow insulated to this eventuality, better wake up. Most are a job, a pre-existing condition, or an insurance company rescission away from this.

Residents of Kingwood for nine years, Katy Hayes, her husband Al, and their three children, Amber, 16, Jake, 5, and newborn Arielle, currently reside in Greentree Village. Both are self-employed. Al teaches music and Katy is a massage therapist. Katy has been described as having a great laugh, a quick smile, a warm touch, loves animals and is as down to earth as you can get. She’s known to be active, hard-working, and very devoted to her husband, children and friends.

A few weeks ago, a perfectly healthy Katy gave birth to daughter Arielle, only to experience an intense and prolonged pain after the birth.

“It was a home birth, no drugs, eight hours of labor, and almost a 10-pound baby. So a little bit of pain is to be expected, but the pain kept getting worse and worse,” said Michele Dykstra, a close family friend of Hayes. Dykstra stepped into the role of caregiver for Arielle after Hayes went to the hospital. Doctors at Kingwood Medical Center eventually discovered the new mom had a Streptococcal A infection that had aggressively invaded her body.

As a result, Katy has experienced multiple organ failure and is unconscious. Surgery last week involved the removal of several sepsis organs. She is currently on a ventilator and is receiving dialysis.

“She had complete organ failure. They removed her bowels, her uterus, her ovaries, and I believe some colon,” said Dykstra.

Due to the fact that both are self-employed, they do not have medical insurance and their financial need is enormous. Family, friends and a growing online community of supporters are pulling together to help the family. There has been an amazing outpouring of helpful gestures by the community including meals, childcare, housekeeping, groceries and visits. Numerous fundraisers are currently being planned to help the Hayes family. CONTINUED

Maybe Geithner should be fired – Whose side is he on #p2 #tcot

2010-03-11T21:13:27Z

I have been one of Geithners staunchest supporters. But as time goes on I am upset of his advice to the President. They are simply too cozy with investment bankers and the movers of capital. Europe is being justifiably more tough on them than we are. It is time that we move and if the bankers respond by slowing the economy, nationalize the whole darn thing and sell relative parts to responsible private entities.

EU hits back at Geithner on regulation

By Nikki Tait in Brussels

Published: March 11 2010 15:29 | Last updated: March 11 2010 19:44

Top European Union officials hit back on Thursday at criticism from Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, who has accused Brussels of pushing ahead with rules to regulate managers of hedge funds and other alternative investment funds that could be protectionist.

A spokesman for Michel Barnier, the new EU internal market commissioner who is responsible for financial services regulation and to whom Mr Geithner addressed his concerns, said that the EU decision to act on hedge funds was in line with a G20 decision to reinforce transparency in the financial system.

He added that the new commissioner wanted to “work closely” with the US, to ensure “robust standards” in financial services. Mr Barnier is due to visit the US shortly, although no final date has been set.

The spat comes at a sensitive time. Diplomats from the 27 EU member states again failed on Thursday to agree a compromise package for regulating hedge funds and private equity funds on a pan-EU basis.

Britain, by far Europe’s biggest centre for hedge funds, is leading opposition to aspects of the directive, which it fears could impede the operations of funds based in London.

Alistair Darling, UK chancellor, has argued that hedge funds authorised by regulators to operate in one EU country should be allowed to operate under a “passport” in all other countries.

CONTINUED

FT.com / Brussels / Business regulation - EU hits back at Geithner on regulation

TAKE ACTION: New York Time Must Correct ACORN Hoax by O’Keefe & Right Wing #p2 #tcot

2010-03-11T16:56:38Z

NYT and the ACORN Hoax
Why can't paper admit its mistakes?

3/11/10

Ignoring calls from numerous critics, the New York Times refuses to own up to mistakes in the paper's coverage of the now-famous right-wing videotapes attacking the community organizing group ACORN. Instead, the paper's public editor, Clark Hoyt, is relying on an absurd semantic justification in order to claim the paper does not need to print any corrections.

As conventionally reported in the Times and elsewhere, right-wing activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles dressed up as a pimp and a prostitute and visited several local ACORN offices, where office workers gave the duo advice on setting up a brothel, concealing a child prostitution ring and so forth. But many of the key "facts" surrounding the videos are either in dispute or are demonstrable fabrications.

TAKE ACTION!

ACTION: Encourage New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt to recommond that the paper investigate the ACORN videos and produce a report that clarifies the record.

CONTACT:
New York Times
Clark Hoyt, Public Editor
public@nytimes.com

Phone: (212) 556-7652
Please post copies of your letters in the comments section on the FAIR Blog

Though O'Keefe appears in various scenes in the videos wearing a garish and absurd "pimp" costume, he in fact did not wear the outfit when he appeared in the ACORN offices (Washington Independent, 2/19/10); he was dressed in a button-down shirt and slacks. This fact undermines one of the key contentions of the ACORN smear--that the group is so hopelessly corrupt that they would dispense advice to an obvious criminal.

What's more, the "advice" that they received, according to the transcripts released by O'Keefe and Giles, does not appear to be as incriminating as it was portrayed in the videos--and echoed in outlets like the New York Times.

A review of the Times coverage:

--In an early piece (9/16/09), readers were told of the "amateur actors, posing as a prostitute and a pimp and recorded on hidden cameras in visits to ACORN offices.... Conservative advocates and broadcasters were gleeful about the success of the tactics in exposing ACORN workers, who appeared to blithely encourage prostitution and tax evasion." The Times explained:

The undercover videos showed a scantily dressed young woman, Hannah Giles, posing as a prostitute, while a young man, James O'Keefe, played her pimp. They visited ACORN offices in Baltimore, Washington, Brooklyn and San Bernardino, Calif., candidly describing their illicit business and asking the advice of ACORN workers. Among other questions, they asked how to buy a house to use as a brothel employing underage girls from El Salvador.

The paper also reported that O'Keefe "was dressed so outlandishly that he might have been playing in a risque high school play. But in the footage made public--initially by a new website, BigGovernment.com--ACORN employees raised no objections to the criminal plans. Instead, they eagerly counseled the couple on how to hide their activities from the authorities, avoid taxes and make the brothel scheme work."

--Three days later (9/19/09): "Their travels in the gaudy guise of pimp and prostitute throughvarious offices of ACORN, the national community organizing group, caught its low-level employees in five cities sounding eager to assist with tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution."

--New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt weighed in (9/27/09), chiding the paper for not being more aggressive in promoting the ACORN videos--lamenting that Times readers weren't as up-to-speed on the story as "followers of Fox News," who already knew "that a video sting had caught ACORN workers counseling a bogus prostitute and pimp on how to set up a brothel staffed by under-age girls, avoid detection and cheat on taxes."

--The following week (10/4/09), Hoyt was on the ACORN case again: "To recap: Two conservative activists with a concealed video camera, posing as a prostitute and her pimp, visited offices of ACORN, the community organizing group, and lured employees into bizarre conversations about how to establish a bordello, cheat on taxes and smuggle in underage girls from Central America."

--After O'Keefe was charged in January with attempting to tamper with the phone system in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office, the Times reported under the headline, "After Arrest, Provocateur's Tactics Are Questioned" (1/28/10): "Mr. O'Keefe is a conservative activist who gained fame last year by posing as a pimp and secretly recording members of the community group ACORN giving him advice on how to set up a brothel."

---On January 31, 2010: "Mr. O'Keefe made his biggest national splash last year when he dressed up as a pimp and trained his secret camera on counselors with the liberal community group ACORN--eliciting advice on financing a brothel on videos that would threaten to become ACORN's undoing.

--On March 2, 2010, under the headline, "ACORN's Advice to Fake Pimp Was No Crime, Prosecutor Says, " the Times reported: "The ACORN employees in Brooklyn who were captured on a hidden camera seeming to offer conservative activists posing as a pimp and a prostitute creative advice on how to get a mortgage have been cleared of wrongdoing by the Brooklyn district attorney's office."

But the story the Times continues to tell is wildly misleading, as a review of the publicly available transcripts of his visit (BigGovernment.com) makes clear. O'Keefe never dressed as a pimp during his visits to ACORN offices, seems to never actually represent himself as a "pimp," and the advice he solicits is usually about how to file income taxes (which is not "tax evasion". In at least one encounter (at a Baltimore ACORN office), the pair seemed to first insist that Giles was a dancer, not a prostitute.

In the case recounted in the March 2 Times story, the transcripts show that O'Keefe did not portray himself as a pimp to the ACORN workers in Brooklyn, but told them that he was trying to help his prostitute girlfriend. In part of the exchange, O'Keefe and his accomplice seem to be telling ACORN staffers that they are attempting to buy a house to protect child prostitutes from an abusive pimp.

Throughout the months the Times covered the story, it made a major mistake: believing that Internet videos produced by right-wing activists were to be trusted uncritically, rather than approached with the skepticism due to anything you'd come across on the Web. O'Keefe and the Web publisher Andrew Breitbart refused to make unedited copies of the videotape public, and with good reason: A more complete viewing, as the transcripts show, would produce a much different impression.

While the Times decide to skip the standard rules of journalism, ACORN commissioned an independent investigation led by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger (12/7/09), which noted that

theunedited videos have never been made public. The videos that have been released appear to have been edited, in some cases substantially, including the insertion of a substitute voiceover for significant portions of Mr. O'Keefe's and Ms.Giles' comments, which makes it difficult to determine the questions to which ACORN employees are responding. A comparison of the publicly available transcripts to the released videos confirms that large portions of the original video have been omitted from the released versions.

So what has the Times done in response? As reported extensively by blogger Brad Friedman (Brad Blog), several Times staffers have been asked to justify the paper's lack of accountability. In the most remarkable exchange, public editor Clark Hoyt--who had criticized the paper for not doing enough reporting on the tapes--wrote that the paper had made no errors that merited a correction (Brad Blog, 2/23/10). He explained that the January 31 story "says O'Keefe dressed up as a pimp and trained his hidden camera on ACORN counselors. It does not say he did those two things at the same time."

It is hard to believe that Hoyt actually believes what he's saying here. The obvious implication from the language of the article (and the others documented above) is that ACORN was dispensing advice to someone dressed up in an absurd pimp outfit. The Times chose to believe that O'Keefe's work was journalism that didn't need to be treated skeptically. The videos were in fact a hoax, and the Times was duped. Its readers deserve to know as much--and ACORN, which suffered serious political damage as a result of the false stories, deserves an apology.

In his September column criticizing the paper for being slow to report the ACORN videos, Hoyt wrote: "Some stories, lacking facts, never catch fire. But others do, and a newspaper like the Times needs to be alert to them or wind up looking clueless or, worse, partisan itself." Worse than looking partisan, though, is being wrong.

ACTION: Encourage New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt to recommond that the paper investigate the ACORN videos and produce a report that clarifies the record.

CONTACT:
New York Times
Clark Hoyt, Public Editor
public@nytimes.com
Phone: (212) 556-7652

CBO offers new estimate for #HCR - $875B Reduce Budget Deficit By $118 Billion #p2 #tcot

2010-03-11T16:44:36Z

CBO offers new estimate for Senate healthcare bill: $875B

By Jordan Fabian - 03/11/10 10:28 AM ET

The Congressional Budget Office released a new estimate of the Senate's healthcare bill that showed it would save less money.

The new estimate released Thursday states that the Senate bill will now cost $875 billion over 10 years and reduce the deficit by $118 billion, $14 billion less than the previous CBO score.

The figure is sure to play into the healthcare debate as House leaders whip their members to support the Senate bill. But what lawmakers are really waiting for from CBO is its score of President Barack Obama's proposed fixes to healthcare legislation.

The non-partisan CBO originally estimated that the Senate's healthcare bill would cost $871 billion over a 10 year period.

CBO offers new estimate for Senate healthcare bill: $875B - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Call for reform: Day 2 #hcr #p2 #tcot

2010-03-11T16:37:50Z

President Obama has called for the House to vote to move health reform forward as early as next week. Your representative, Rep. Ted Poe, voted last fall to allow insurance companies to continue to jack up rates, drop coverage when folks need it the most, and discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.

Now, we're in the final march for reform and there's one last chance to do the right thing. Please call Rep. Poe today and let them know there is a political price to favoring big insurance companies over the American people -- OFA supporters in Texas have pledged 506,830 volunteer hours to fight for candidates who support reform.

According to our records, you live in Texas's 2nd congressional district. You can reach Rep. Poe's Kingwood office at (281) 446-0242. Please call now -- then click here to let us know you made a call.

(Not your representative? Click here to look yours up.)

We know the stakes: Coverage for millions of uninsured Americans. Ending insurance company abuses, like denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions and drastically raising premiums. Reining in costs that are bankrupting families and crushing businesses. Putting life-and-death decisions in the hands of patients and doctors, not insurance company bureaucrats.

Everything we've worked for depends on winning this upcoming vote in the House of Representatives -- and it's going to be very, very close. If there was ever a time to pick up the phone and make a difference, that time has come.

Please call today:

http://my.barackobama.com/FinalMarchCall

Thanks for joining together for this Final March for Reform. Because of you, we're going to win this.
Mitch
Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

Jon Stewart On Beck's Massa Interview FUNNY #p2 #tcot

2010-03-11T16:31:40Z

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Sour Gropes

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Reform

Health Care Close After Democrats, White House Meet #hcr #p2 #tcot

2010-03-11T15:09:50Z

ERICA WERNER | 03/11/10 08:10 AM |

WASHINGTON — A final agreement nearly in hand, President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders are about to embark on one last sales job that will determine the outcome of the president's signature health care overhaul.

It will come down to a phenomenal effort by congressional leaders and the White House to win over skittish lawmakers after a year of incendiary debate, even as Obama keeps up campaign-style appearances designed to fire up public support.

A closed-door meeting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office Wednesday evening moved congressional leaders and administration officials close to agreement on such issues as additional subsidies to help lower-income families purchase health insurance and more aid for states under the Medicaid program for low-income Americans.

Democrats still need to see a final cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office – and want to ensure it stays around $950 billion over 10 years – but they made plans to begin to read the bill to rank-and-file Democrats at a caucus meeting Thursday.

"We're going to get started," Pelosi, D-Calif., said after her meeting with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other key officials. Some unanswered questions remain, Pelosi said, "but we're hoping that we'll get those answered over the course of the reading. It's not much."

"I'm very pleased about where we are," she said.

Obama invited members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to meet with him Thursday at the White House to discuss the health legislation. The White House also said Obama would travel to northeastern Ohio on Monday for an appearance near the hometown of an uninsured cancer patient named Natoma Canfield, whom the president has made a symbol of the need for reform.

It will be Obama's third event on health care in a week. In St. Charles, Mo., on Wednesday Obama shouted to a crowd: "The time for talk is over. It's time to vote."

At stake is the fate of Obama's call to expand health care to some 30 million people who lack insurance and to prohibit insurance company practices such as denial of coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. Almost every American would be affected by the legislation, which would change the ways people receive and pay for health care, from the most routine checkup to the most expensive, lifesaving treatment. CONTINUED

Health Care Close After Democrats, White House Meet

Health Care Close After Democrats, White House Meet #hcr #p2 #tcot

2010-03-11T14:59:06Z

ERICA WERNER | 03/11/10 08:10 AM |

WASHINGTON — A final agreement nearly in hand, President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders are about to embark on one last sales job that will determine the outcome of the president's signature health care overhaul.

It will come down to a phenomenal effort by congressional leaders and the White House to win over skittish lawmakers after a year of incendiary debate, even as Obama keeps up campaign-style appearances designed to fire up public support.

A closed-door meeting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office Wednesday evening moved congressional leaders and administration officials close to agreement on such issues as additional subsidies to help lower-income families purchase health insurance and more aid for states under the Medicaid program for low-income Americans.

Democrats still need to see a final cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office – and want to ensure it stays around $950 billion over 10 years – but they made plans to begin to read the bill to rank-and-file Democrats at a caucus meeting Thursday.

"We're going to get started," Pelosi, D-Calif., said after her meeting with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other key officials. Some unanswered questions remain, Pelosi said, "but we're hoping that we'll get those answered over the course of the reading. It's not much."

"I'm very pleased about where we are," she said.

Obama invited members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to meet with him Thursday at the White House to discuss the health legislation. The White House also said Obama would travel to northeastern Ohio on Monday for an appearance near the hometown of an uninsured cancer patient named Natoma Canfield, whom the president has made a symbol of the need for reform.

It will be Obama's third event on health care in a week. In St. Charles, Mo., on Wednesday Obama shouted to a crowd: "The time for talk is over. It's time to vote."

At stake is the fate of Obama's call to expand health care to some 30 million people who lack insurance and to prohibit insurance company practices such as denial of coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. Almost every American would be affected by the legislation, which would change the ways people receive and pay for health care, from the most routine checkup to the most expensive, lifesaving treatment. CONTINUED

Health Care Close After Democrats, White House Meet