Thank Newt Gingrich for Defining Republicans for Us

I never thought I’d say this, but I will be forever grateful to Newt Gingrich for speaking out this past week over rightwing Republican social engineering. He was absolutely spot on the money.

Republicans are attempting an effort to radically dismantle all of the good things that Democrats have put in place to improve our lives for the past 50 years, and Newt Gingrich called them out on the carpet about it.

And then when he got the equivalent of a bitch slap in the rightwing press and caught on camera getting his hand shaken and his nose punched (figuratively) at the same time he went on camera again and denied that he was ever against the Ryan budget plan which also calls for the dismantling of Medicare, America’s single most favorite federal program.

In fact he would have voted for it if he was a congressman.

Thank you, Newt Gingrich for pointing out again what we Democrats have come to realize, that if you are a Republican Party office holder right now, you are in favor of dismantling America’s favorite public service. That should play well with voters in 2012.

Here is the web ad that the DNC came out with today.

Newt, stay in the race. We all need you running for president, busily shooting cannon balls into the deck, defining the Republican Party in such a way that no Democrat could do, because no one would believe it if it came from us.

On Opening Up Medicare: A Solution for Unemployment?

Two separate issues are taking up a lot of time lately in DC. In the Senate the Public Option, a federally funded medical insurance plan that the insurance industry just hates appears to have been switched out for an intriguing plan to expand Medicare coverage for those Americans age 55 and over. Not full blown Medicare, mind you, but a plan to let sub-seniors buy into the plan.

Apparently this idea has legs, maybe because the insurance industry has been dealing with Medicare for 34 years now and this is the devil that they know.

The other thing that seems to be gaining momentum is a renewed undertaking to ease the unemployment situation, a problem that has not responded to federal stimulus like the financial sector has.

So we had an Obama “job summit” that, as reported in the Huffington Post, resulted in “a proposal for a battery of necessary and unsurprising, but probably not sufficient, recommendations.” On top of that we had a house bill proposed that would redirect unspent TARP funds to fund such things as small businesses, teacher salaries and highway construction. A direct infusion of funds to stimulate job creation.

But I wonder if anyone has yet realized that the Medicare for 55 years old people and jobs creation, seemingly two separate efforts, are really something akin to synergy when viewed in combination.

If they haven’t yet, anyone in the over 55 age group will now stop and ask themselves why they continue to work, especially if the only reason for working is to have a decent health insurance benefits package at an affordable cost. And in doing so, how many will conclude that early retirement, once a pipe dream, is now a reality.

Making their job, whatever it is, available to those under 55 who still need to work to live.

I wonder how many will jump at this chance to enjoy the fruits of their labor earlier than planned, simply because their health benefits can be switched to the government (aka Single Payer) plan?

Medicare is Safe Thanks to Rick Noriega’s 2nd Senate Vote

Thanks, in part, to the campaign pressure of Texas Democratic candidate Rick Noriega, HR 6331, the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 passed the Cloture vote in the Senate late yesterday by a veto-proof vote of 69 to 30 (one Senator, Jammin’ John McCain, not voting).

Texas’ junior senator John “I Was Against It Before I Was For It” Cornyn voted with the majority after making a heated argument against the bill, subsequently being verbally skewered for it – something you rarely see in the Senate. Even with my 1990’s vintage TV you could see his red face clearly as it stood in contrast to his well-coiffed silvery mane.

One can only conclude, with such a violent, whiplash-inducing flip-flop, that Cornyn had a little pressure on him. That pressure, very obviously, extends from the serious problem he is having in his home state, where Rick Noriega has mounted a highly credible and damaging campaign against him this year. Not wanting to be caught with his foot firmly planted on America’s “third rail,” Medicare, Cornyn quickly reversed himself.

Recall it was Cornyn’s vote that could have seen the passage of the bill the first time around. A vote that cost him dearly among the elderly and near-elderly. With the Noriega campaign rubbing his face in it at every turn, Cornyn couldn’t help but relent. From the Washington Post:

“Since the initial vote, Republicans had come under intense pressure from the American Medical Association, which aired advertisements in states where such Republicans as Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.), who opposed the provision, were facing reelection. The Texas chapter of the AMA withdrew its endorsement of Cornyn after his first vote. Yesterday, he switched sides.”

That played a huge role, but we also need to acknowledge the fact that the 60th vote entered the Senate chambers just minutes before the bill was to be reconsidered. Senator Ted Kennedy, taking a vacation from his convalescence from his recent brain surgery, entered the chambers during the FISA vote roll call with the entire Senate rising, applauding, and whooping for several minutes. Kennedy’s presence assured passage, giving Cornyn no choice but to flip over to the side of right and righteousness, along with a few of his cronies – for a net 9 aye-vote gain over the previous time the bill was considered.

The result? Medicare payments to doctors will not decrease by 10%. Doctors will not be induced to turn away Medicare patients; instead, payments to insurers that back the alternative Medicare Advantage plan will be reduced.

So well in advance of his next term as our new US Senator (Texas), Rick Noriega already casts votes in the Senate. Votes for Texans this time, instead of for corporations and special interests. His first vote, for his fellow servicemen and veterans, was cast when Cornyn flipped his vote on the GI Bill. And now, the second, for seniors with fixed income.

Not a bad start.

The beauty of the whole thing is that Texans are getting a preview of how their next Senator will be voting, and see the positive effects of his votes long before November. If they like what they see, they know what they can do on November 4th.

They can vote for the guy who is pulling John Cornyn’s strings right now, State Rep, LTC (and now “Puppetmaster”) Rick Noriega.

For the Want of One Senate Vote Medicare Bill is Killed

Now we can blame Texas Senator John Cornyn for denying Medicare benefits to countless elderly Americans and those with low-income. Why not? That’s what Democratic nominee for US Senate Rick Noriega is doing.

It makes sense because this is an election year for “Big Bad John” and he gets to have the immediate benefit of an enraged electorate during the worst year, ever, to be a Republican in congress.

From Noriega’s memo:

"Today's vote is simply unconscionable. John Cornyn's vote has jeopardized access to health care for thousands of elderly Texans," Noriega said. According to the Texas Medical Association, 58 percent of Texas physicians will have no choice but to limit the number of new Medicare patients they treat. Noriega said Cornyn's actions will forcemore and more physicians out of the Medicare program."

"Instead of standing up for Texas' patients and physicians to fix Medicare's flawed payment system, Cornyn has once again put partisan politics and the profits of private, for-profit Medicare HMOs ahead of the needs of Texas seniors."

Last night, the bill, HR 6331 came up in the Senate for a cloture vote, the vote that gets a bill out of debate and put up for a vote. They needed 60% of 98 senators what with McCain on the campaign trail and Kennedy on the mend from brain surgery. That’s 59 votes.

They got 58.

Now one can argue that Kay Bailey also voted no and Cornyn can hide behind her skirts pointing at her stammering “So did she!” And one can also argue that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is equally responsible, his being the one lone Democratic Nay vote (yeah, what’s with that?). But Texans can’t control Reid’s Nevada vote. They can, and should do something in the immediate sense about Cornyn’s. Kay Bailey can’t be touched until she decides to run for Governor in ’10, but we have some immediate recourse with the junior senator from Texas.

So yeah, let’s put the blame for the whole catastrophe right at John Cornyn’s door. After all one should reap what one sows when they step on America’s Third Rail.