Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

Democrats to push to fill US transport security post

Reuters has the story:

Senate Democrats, spurred by last week's failed attack on a U.S.-bound jetliner, will try to break a deadlock and confirm President Barack Obama's choice to run the Transportation Security Administration, a Senate aide said on Tuesday.

Majority Leader Harry Reid will schedule a vote when the Senate returns in January from its holiday recess to break the hold Republican Senator Jim DeMint put on the nomination of counter-terrorism official Erroll Southers, Reid spokesman Jim Manley said.

"In light of the outrageous and petty move by Senator DeMint, Senator Reid intends to file cloture when we get back," Manley said.

Geoff Davis: hypocrite

Think Progress singles out Geoff Davis for his hypocrisy regarding the economic stimulus package:

Every Republican in the House and nearly every Republican Senator voted against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (also known as the stimulus). Although the Congressional Budget Office has credited the stimulus with creating up to 1.6 million jobs, the same GOP politicians who opposed the stimulus have attempted to justify their opposition to the policy by smearing it as a failure. But as ThinkProgress has documented, the same politicians are returning to their districts to take credit for the economic success of the stimulus...

On December 16th, Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY) sent out a press release hailing $1,044,140 in stimulus money Carroll County school system, while crediting himself for securing the money. “I am pleased that our office was able to assist them in obtaining these funds,” noted Davis in the release. On the same day, Davis blasted a separate release claiming that the stimulus had “failed.”

Who's running the TSA?

There's nobody running the Transportation Security Administration, thanks to the political games of a Republican Senator. McClatchy has the story:

WASHINGTON — An attempt to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day would be all-consuming for the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration — if there was one.

The post remains vacant because Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has held up President Barack Obama's nominee in opposition to the prospect of TSA workers joining a labor union.

As al Qaida claimed responsibility Monday for the thwarted attack and President Barack Obama made a public statement about it, Democrats urged DeMint to drop his objection and allow quick confirmation of nominee Erroll Southers, a counterterrorism expert, when the Senate reconvenes in three weeks.

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

PBS NewsHour interviews President Obama

President Obama recently sat down with Jim Lehrer of PBS NewsHour. Here's video of the interview:

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

RNC Chairman Steele Using His Title for Profit

The Washington Times has the story:

Michael S. Steele, Republican National Committee chairman, is using his title to market himself for paid appearances nationwide, personally profiting from speeches with fees of up to $20,000 at colleges, trade associations and other groups - an unusual practice criticized by a string of past party chairmen.

..."Holy mackerel, I never heard of a chairman of either party ever taking money for speeches," said Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., RNC chairman under President Reagan and CEO of the American Gaming Association.

...Former Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson, who served in that position from 1997 to 2000 and was President George W. Bush's Veterans Affairs secretary from 2005 to 2007, said the job "demands so much of your time that you can work 24/7 and not get everything done, so taking time out to speak for the benefit of one's own bank account is not appropriate."

Obama Announces Savings of $19 Billion

Today the White House issued this press release:

WASHINGTON – As part of his effort to cut waste and improve government performance, President Barack Obama will announce today that federal agencies are on track to save $19 billion through improvements to their contracting and acquisition practices. In addition, the President will announce that the White House will convene private sector leaders next month to solicit their ideas about how government can better use technology to deliver more effective and efficient services to American taxpayers.

"We are here today for a simple reason: at a time when we face not only a fiscal crisis, but also a host of difficult challenges as a nation, business as usual in Washington just won’t do,” said President Obama. “After years of irresponsibility, we are once again taking responsibility for every dollar we spend, the same way families do."

Earlier this year, the Administration instructed federal agencies to save $40 billion a year through strengthened contracting practices and management oversight. The work started with 3.5 percent in savings FY 2010 and a further 3.5 percent reduction in FY 2011. Agencies are on track to meet the FY 2010 target, having identified more than $19 billion in savings, in line with the 3.5 percent first-year target.

Also today, the President announced that on January 14, 2010, the White House will host the White House Forum on Modernizing Government. The forum will focus on the significant gap existing between private sector and federal government use of technology to drive productivity and improve service quality.

The President will deliver these remarks after meeting with Nancy Fichtner -- a Fiscal Program Support Clerk at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) -- and the winner of the first-ever SAVE (Securing Americans Value and Efficiency) Award, a contest among federal employees for their ideas on how the government can save money and improve performance.

In just three weeks, OMB received more than 38,000 ideas on how to make government more efficient and effective. OMB staff assessed the ideas, passing back hundreds of the most promising ones to agencies to include in their budget plans. OMB then winnowed the best ideas to a “final four.” The American people were able to rate the “final four” via online voting which concluded December 10. Fichtner, from Loma, Colorado, was voted the winner. Today, she will meet with President Obama, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Peter Orszag, to discuss her proposal. Fichtner, a daughter and granddaughter of veterans, has worked at the Colorado Veterans Administration Medical Center in Grand Junction, Colorado for almost six years.

Fichtner’s SAVE Award idea is for veterans leaving VA hospitals to be able to take the medication they have been using there home with them instead of it being thrown away upon discharge. As is the case in most hospitals all across the country, medicine that is used in the hospital is not given to patients to be brought home; instead, it is discarded.

The VA has already begun implementing Fichtner’s idea, and other agencies also are working on SAVE Award entries that were forwarded to them. In addition, OMB Director Orszag will issue guidance today to all federal agency and department heads following up on several government-wide reforms suggested by SAVE Award winners, such as moving more workers to electronic paystubs and saving money on energy costs.

A copy of the contracting reform report can be found here.

How far will Republicans go?

President Obama's weekly address

The President calls on the Senate to allow an up-or-down vote on health insurance reform, and for those opposing reform to stop using parliamentary maneuvers to drag it out.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

'It's Time to Stop the Lies'

ABC News interviews President Obama

President Obama recently sat down with Charlie Gibson of ABC News. Click the links below to view all four parts of the interview:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

GOP ♥ Wall Street Lobbyists

President Obama on '60 Minutes'

Did you miss last night's 60 Minutes interview of President Obama? Here's the video:

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

The President explains that while he continues to focus on jobs, it is also profoundly important to address the problems that created this economic mess in the first place.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

'Climategate' gets fact-checked

The nonpartisan website FactCheck.org has reviewed the so-called "climategate" controversy. Here's what they found:

In late November 2009, more than 1,000 e-mails between scientists at the Climate Research Unit of the U.K.’s University of East Anglia were stolen and made public by an as-yet-unnamed hacker. Climate skeptics are claiming that they show scientific misconduct that amounts to the complete fabrication of man-made global warming. We find that to be unfounded:

• The messages, which span 13 years, show a few scientists in a bad light, being rude or dismissive. An investigation is underway, but there’s still plenty of evidence that the earth is getting warmer and that humans are largely responsible.


• Some critics say the e-mails negate the conclusions of a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but the IPCC report relied on data from a large number of sources, of which CRU was only one.


• E-mails being cited as "smoking guns" have been misrepresented. For instance, one e-mail that refers to "hiding the decline" isn’t talking about a decline in actual temperatures as measured at weather stations. These have continued to rise, and 2009 may turn out to be the fifth warmest year ever recorded. The "decline" actually refers to a problem with recent data from tree rings.

Beshear announces new jobs for NKY

Governor Beshear recently issued this press release:

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Steve Beshear and Cabinet for Economic Development Secretary Larry Hayes today announced that DEFENDER Direct Inc., an authorized dealer for ADT Security Services and Dish Network, will open a new call center in Northern Kentucky. The new location project will create 100 new full-time jobs and represents a capital investment in the Commonwealth of more than over $2.3 million.

“We warmly welcome DEFENDER Direct and the 100 new jobs the company will bring to the Commonwealth and Northern Kentucky,” said Gov. Beshear. “Kentucky recently improved its economic development incentive toolbox and DEFENDER Direct is one of the first companies to benefit from the new Kentucky Business Investment program.”

DEFENDER’s newest call center will be located in 14,000 square feet of the Newport Shopping Center at 1727 Monmouth Street, Newport, Ky. The call center is now one of four call centers for the company including its headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind. DEFENDER also has 175 ADT installation branch offices across the U.S. and Canada.

“We considered other markets in the Midwest for our newest call center, but we were particularly impressed with the workforce in Northern Kentucky,” said DEFENDER Chief Operations Officer, John Corliss. “The support and cooperation we received from the City of Newport, Northern Kentucky Tri-ED and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development played a large part in our decision. We are excited to expand our business in Northern Kentucky and work with these organizations.”

The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved DEFENDER Direct for tax benefits up to $750,000 under Kentucky’s newest incentive program, the Kentucky Business Investment (KBI) Program. The incentive can be earned over a 10-year period through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments. The maximum annual approved amount to be earned by DEFENDER Direct is $75,000.

“The Newport community appreciates DEFENDER Direct’s confidence in Northern Kentucky’s workforce and the services our city offers the business community,” said Newport Mayor Jerry Peluso. “The Newport Shopping Center provides a convenient location with easy accessibility, including public transportation systems, and is a perfect fit for Newport’s urban core.”

“Northern Kentucky Tri-ED is actively marketing our region to a variety of businesses in target industries,” said Steve Pendery, Campbell County Judge Executive and Tri-ED Executive Committee member. “We appreciate DEFENDER Direct’s confidence in our region and will work with the company to ensure the new center’s success.”

Interested applicants should visit www.defenderdirect.com or call the company’s job line at 888-260-4473 for more information about working at DEFENDER.

A community profile for Northern Kentucky can be viewed at http://thinkkentucky.com/EDIS/cmnty/index.aspx?cw=049.

If the insurance companies win, we lose

Obama Announces Proposals for Job Growth

President Obama just issued this press release:

Today, the President laid out some of the broad steps that he believes should be at the heart of our efforts to help put Americans back to work and get businesses hiring again. This announcement is part of the President’s ongoing effort to take every responsible step to accelerate the pace of job growth. The President views every bill through the prism of job growth and will continue to explore additional approaches as well. These measures are part of the overall policy designed to not just create jobs in the short run but also shift America away from consumption-driven growth to a focus on enhancing the competitiveness of America’s businesses, encouraging investment, and promoting exports.

The bold and difficult steps the President took to stabilize the financial system have reduced the cost of TARP by more than $200 billion, providing additional resources for job creation and for deficit reduction.

I. THREE KEY AREAS FOR ACCELERATING JOB GROWTH
1. Helping Small Businesses Expand Investment, Hire Workers and Access Credit

• Tax cuts to support additional business investment next year – with a particular focus on struggling small businesses – with much of the cost recouped over time.
  
  
  • Zero capital gains for small businesses: To encourage investment by small businesses and improve their access to capital, the Administration is calling for a one-year elimination of the tax on capital gains from new investments in small business stock. The Recovery Act allowed a 75% exclusion from capital gains taxes on small business investments.
  
  
  • Extension of enhanced expensing provisions for small businesses: The Administration is also calling for the extension through 2010 of the Recovery Act provision that allows small businesses to immediately expense up to $250,000 of qualified investment.
  
  
  • Extension of Recovery Act bonus depreciation tax incentive: To give businesses an incentive to invest, the Administration is calling for extending the Recovery Act provision that accelerates the rate at which business can deduct the cost of capital expenditures. This provision will put more than $20 billion in the hands of businesses in 2010, while enabling Treasury to recoup much of the funding as business regain their strength.


• A new tax cut for small businesses to encourage hiring in 2010. Although the economy is now growing again, many businesses remain reluctant to hire. In this economic environment, an employment tax cut for small businesses has the potential to accelerate the pace of hiring. The Administration believes it is important to provide a short-term tax incentive to encourage small business hiring and support employment, and will work with Congress to design a provision that accomplishes these goals.


• Eliminating fees and increasing guarantees for small businesses that borrow through major SBA programs in 2010. The President called for the elimination of fees and an increase in guarantees for loans through the Small Business Administration, a measure that extends provisions in the Recovery Act through the end of 2010. In addition, the President called for continued Treasury efforts to use the TARP to support small business lending.

2. Investing in America’s Roads, Bridges and Infrastructure

• Additional investment in highways, transit, rail, aviation and water. The President is calling for new investments in a wide range of infrastructure, designed to get out the door as quickly as possible while continuing a sustained effort at creating jobs and improving America’s productivity.


• Support for merit-based infrastructure investment that leverages federal dollars. The Administration supports financing infrastructure investments in new ways, allowing projects to be selected on merit and leveraging money with a combination of grants and loans as was done through the Recovery Act’s TIGER program.

3. Creating Jobs Through Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Investments

• New incentives for consumers who invest in energy efficient retrofits in their homes. Smart, targeted investments in energy efficiency can help create jobs while improving our energy security and saving consumers money. The President today called on Congress to consider a new program to provide rebates for consumers who make energy efficiency retrofits. Such a program will harness the power of the private sector to help drive consumers to make cost-saving investments in their homes.


• Expansion of successful oversubscribed Recovery Act programs to leverage private investment in energy efficiency and create clean energy manufacturing jobs. The Recovery Act included historic investments that have helped to build the foundation for a clean energy economy. The Administration supports expanding programs for which additional federal dollars will leverage private investment and create jobs quickly, such as industrial energy efficiency investments and tax incentives for investing in renewable manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

II. A FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE APPROACH TO JOB CREATION THROUGH STEWARDSHIP OF TARP AND OVERALL FISCAL DISCIPLINE
These steps are part of the President’s overall approach to fiscal discipline. This includes:

• Freeing up resources from stabilizing Wall Street and putting them to work on Main Street. Because of the Administration’s stewardship of the TARP program – combined with our broader efforts to revive the economy – we now expect the cost to be at least $200 billion less than anticipated as recently as August. Indeed, since the Obama Administration has taken office, only $7 billion has been provided in assistance to banks, compared to $114 billion in capital that banks subject to the “stress test” have raised from the private sector. These savings will allow us to pay down the deficit faster than was anticipated while also investing funds that would have gone to banks in job creating efforts instead.


• An overall approach to fiscal discipline in the budget. Although additional resources are needed in the short-run to address the unemployment crisis, the Administration is committed to doing what we need to bring the medium-term deficit under control – and is exploring a range of steps to take as part of the FY2011 budget process. An additional important component of returning to fiscal responsibility is passing health reform legislation that not only reduces the deficit but also reduces the long-term growth rate of health care costs.

III. AN ONGOING FOCUS ON JOB CREATION
In addition to the proposals outlined above, the Administration will be working with Congress to ensure that those hit hardest by this economic crisis continue to receive the support they need. This includes: extending unemployment insurance for Americans who are struggling to find jobs, extending the Recovery Act provision that helps out-of-work Americans keep their health insurance through COBRA, providing an additional $250 Economic Recovery Payment to our seniors and veterans, and taking steps to ensure that state and local governments are not forced to lay-off teachers, police officers and other key personnel at this critical time.

These steps will build on the efforts that the Administration has already taken to accelerate the pace of job growth, including tax cuts for struggling businesses, an expanded homebuyer credit, additional unemployment insurance to one million Americans, and the Cash for Clunkers program. The Administration is also continuing to pursue efforts to increase the competitiveness of U.S. businesses and strengthen their capacity to export to overseas markets.

Here's video of President Obama's remarks at the Brookings Institution:

An Affordable Truth

Be sure to read today's column by Paul Krugman:

As a recent study by McKinsey & Company showed, there are many ways [for businesses] to reduce emissions at relatively low cost: improved insulation; more efficient appliances; more fuel-efficient cars and trucks; greater use of solar, wind and nuclear power; and much, much more. And you can be sure that given the right incentives, people would find many tricks the study missed.

The truth is that conservatives who predict economic doom if we try to fight climate change are betraying their own principles. They claim to believe that capitalism is infinitely adaptable, that the magic of the marketplace can deal with any problem. But for some reason they insist that cap and trade — a system specifically designed to bring the power of market incentives to bear on environmental problems — can’t work.

Well, they’re wrong — again. For we’ve been here before.

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

Following the best jobs numbers since 2007, the President recognizes that such trends are cold comfort to those who are struggling and pledges to continue pushing forward towards positive job growth.

Good News on Premiums

Today's New York Times includes this editorial about the costs of health reform:

The health insurance industry frightened Americans — and gave Republicans a shrill talking point — when it declared in October that proposed reform legislation would drive up insurance costs for virtually everyone by as much as thousands of dollars a year. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office persuasively contradicted that claim this week.

Undaunted, the industry issued a rebuttal report, claiming again that premiums would soar. We find this second industry report no more persuasive than the first.

In its long-awaited study, the C.B.O. estimates that most Americans would pay the same or less in premiums in 2016, after reforms have kicked in, than they would pay under current law. Those who work for large employers (more than 50 workers) would, on average, see their premiums hold steady or drop by up to 3 percent per person covered. Those who work for small employers would also not see much change — anywhere from a 1 percent increase to a 2 percent reduction.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

Poll: 60 percent favor public option

Here's the story via The Hill:

A new poll released Thursday shows that a solid majority of Americans favor the inclusion of a public health insurance option in healthcare reform legislation.

...60 percent of respondents said they would like a public option under any healthcare reform legislation, according to the latest Thompson Reuters survey.

Medicare credibility: Republicans don't have any

Obama on the Way Forward in Afghanistan

In case you missed President Obama's speech last night, here's the video:



Also, Vice President Joe Biden appeared on this morning's talk shows to discuss the administration's strategy. Click the links below to watch each video:

Good Morning America

The Today Show

The Early Show

New ad from Americans United for Change

Republicans object to transparency measure

The DSCC just issued this press release:

Today, Senate Republicans objected to a commonsense transparency measure that would have required all amendments to the Senate health care bill to be posted online before being considered. Republican Senator Mike Enzi, on behalf of his Republican colleagues, led the effort to block Senator Reid from implementing this measure today, which would have allowed anyone to read the numerous amendments being offered to the health care bill online.

“Senate Republicans continue to show that they have no interest in reforming our broken health care system,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Communications Director Eric Schultz. “Instead of agreeing to a commonsense measure that would have required all amendments to be posted online, Republicans continue to obstruct and offer delay. The American people are tired of these political games and will remember which party worked toward health care reform and which party stood back and did nothing. If Republicans want to hide their amendments from the American people, they ought to explain why.”

Senator Reid asked unanimous consent that no amendment be in order to the Reid substitute (SA #2786, any subsequent substitute amendment, and HR 3590) unless the text (or internet link to the text) of the amendment is posted on the home page of the official Senate website of the Member who is sponsoring the amendment, prior to the amendment being called up for consideration by the Senate, and the amendment is filed at the desk. This request would be in effect for the duration of consideration of HR 3590. Senator Enzi and Senate Republicans objected to the request.

'That's the American way'

Here's a great comic from Ed Stein:


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Top 10 Surprises in the Sarah Palin Book

Obama to unveil his Afghan plan Tuesday

AFP has the story:

WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama will announce his new Afghan strategy in an address to the nation Tuesday from the prestigious West Point military academy, the White House said.

In a defining moment for his young presidency, Obama is widely expected to order more than 30,000 additional American troops into battle against an emboldened Taliban-led insurgency.

But the president, who vowed Tuesday to "finish the job" in Afghanistan, will also lay out an exit strategy for withdrawing forces from the war begun eight years ago in response to the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Click here to read the entire article.

President Obama's weekly address

President Obama calls to our attention the men and women in uniform who are away from home sacrificing time with family to protect our safety and freedom. He also talks about the progress of health care reform, the Recovery Act, and job creation to ensure that next Thanksgiving will be a brighter day.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

Governor Beshear appoints Kenton Co resident

Today Governor Steve Beshear issued this press release:

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Steve Beshear has named Covington resident Joseph U. Meyer acting secretary of Kentucky’s Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.

“I am grateful to have someone with Joe’s experience agree to serve the cabinet as acting secretary,” said Gov. Beshear. “He has a long and distinguished commitment to education, including his work as deputy secretary, state senator, local school board member and as an attorney for local school districts, and will continue to serve the state well.”

Gov. Beshear appointed Meyer deputy secretary of the cabinet in September 2008, while continuing his duties as senior policy adviser to the Governor.

“I am committed to building on the foundation that Gov. Beshear and Secretary Mountjoy have laid in the areas of education and workforce development,” said Meyer. “The services we provide are critical to the success of Kentuckians and the Commonwealth. We will continue this important work.”

Before joining the Beshear administration, Meyer served as senior policy adviser for state auditor Crit Luallen. In 2004, he was chief of staff for the chair of the House majority caucus. From 1979 to 2003, he practiced law in Covington. He also served as deputy director and general counsel for the Kentucky Association of the Counties in Frankfort.

Meyer served the Commonwealth as a state senator from 1988 to 1996 and as a state representative from 1982 to 1988. He received his law degree from Northern Kentucky University, a master’s degree from St. Louis University and a bachelor’s degree from Bellarmine College.

Last month, current Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Helen Mountjoy announced that she would be leaving the Cabinet at the end of November to return to her home in Owensboro. Mountjoy’s last day in the office is Nov. 25.

The Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet coordinates learning programs from P-16 and manages and supports training and employment functions in the Department for Workforce Investment. The cabinet employs nearly 3,000 full and part-time workers with an annual budget of $2.5 billion.

Republicans: Wrong on Recovery

Health Insurance Reform: The Case for Change

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has analyzed the impact of health insurance reform on Kentucky.

Under reform in Kentucky:

• 654,000 residents who do not currently have insurance and 196,000 residents who have nongroup insurance could get affordable coverage through the health insurance exchange.


• 444,000 residents could qualify for premium tax credits to help them purchase health coverage.


• 724,000 seniors would receive free preventive services.


• 129,000 seniors would have their brand-name drug costs in the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” halved.


• 44,800 small businesses could be helped by a small business tax credit to make premiums more affordable.

Health Insurance Reform Provides Early Relief and Health Security.
Proposals implemented in 2010 and 2011 will produce real benefits for:

• Families: The 4.3 million residents of Kentucky will benefit as reform:
  
  
  • Ensures consumer protections in the insurance market. Insurance companies will no longer be able to place lifetime limits on the coverage they provide, use of annual limits will be restricted, and they will not be able to arbitrarily drop coverage.
  
  
  • Creates immediate options for people who can’t get insurance today. 10 percent of people in Kentucky have diabetes, and 30 percent have high blood pressure – two conditions that insurance companies could use as a reason to deny health insurance coverage. Reform will establish a high-risk pool to enable people who cannot get insurance today to find an affordable health plan.
  
  
  • Ensures free preventive services. 36 percent of Kentucky residents have not had a colorectal cancer screening, and 22 percent of women over 50 have not had a mammogram in the past two years. Health insurance reform will ensure that people can access preventive services for free through their health plans. It will also invest in a prevention and public health fund to encourage prevention and wellness programs.
  
  
  • Supports health coverage for early retirees. An estimated 66,800 from Kentucky have early retiree coverage through their former employers, but early retiree coverage has eroded over time. A reinsurance program would stabilize early retiree coverage and provide premium relief to both early retirees and the workers in the firms that provide their health benefits. This could save families up to $1,200 on premiums.
  
  
• Seniors: Kentucky’s 724,000 Medicare beneficiaries will benefit as reform:
  
  
  • Lowers premiums by reducing Medicare’s overpayments to private plans. All Medicare beneficiaries pay the price of excessive overpayments through higher premiums – even the 87 percent of seniors in Kentucky who are not enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. A typical couple in traditional Medicare will pay nearly $90 in additional Medicare premiums next year to subsidize these private plans. Health insurance reform clamps down on these excessive payments.
  
  
  • Reduces prescription drug spending. Roughly 129,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Kentucky hit the “doughnut hole,” or gap in Medicare Part D drug coverage that can cost some seniors an average of $4,080 per year. Reform legislation will provide a 50 percent discount for brand-name drugs in this coverage gap.
  
  
  • Covers free preventive services. Currently, seniors in Medicare must pay part of the cost of many preventive services on their own. For a colonoscopy that costs $637, this means that a senior must pay $148 – a price that can be prohibitively expensive. Under reform, a senior will not pay anything for that colonoscopy, or for any other recommended preventive service. A senior will also get free annual wellness visits to his or her provider, with a personalized prevention plan to remain in good health.
  
  
• Small businesses: While small businesses make up 72 percent of Kentucky’s businesses, only 41 percent of them offered health coverage benefits in 2008. 44,800 small businesses in Kentucky could be helped by a small businesses tax credit proposal that makes premiums more affordable. And these small businesses would be exempt from any employer responsibility provisions.


• States: State budgets will be relieved from rising health care costs as reform:
  
  
  • Reduces state employee premiums. Coverage would immediately be expanded to the uninsured, decreasing the amount of uncompensated care costs that gets shifted to the premiums of state employees. For states that provide early retiree health benefits to their state employees, a reinsurance program would provide premium relief of up to $1,200 per family policy per year for all employees.
  
  
  • Reduces uncompensated care. Right now, providers in Kentucky lose $1.1 billion in uncompensated care each year, which states subsidize at least in part. Instead, under reform, uncompensated care would begin to be reduced immediately as more uninsured people gain coverage.

Health Insurance Reform Provides Stability, Security, and Choice.

• Provides relief from rising health care costs.
  
  
  • Ends the “hidden tax”. The $1.1 billion spent on uncompensated care in Kentucky often gets passed along to families in the form of a hidden premium “tax”. By expanding coverage to the uninsured, health insurance reform will eliminate this burden on people who already have insurance.
  
  
  • Provides premium tax credits. Without reform, individuals and families in Kentucky will spend increasing amounts of money out-of-pocket to cover premiums, deductibles, and co-payments, from $4 billion today to up to $6.5 billion in 2019. Through health insurance reform, 444,000 Kentucky residents could be eligible for premium credits to ease the burden of these high costs.
  
  
• Promotes health insurance portability and choice. Health insurance reform establishes a health insurance exchange that will provide individuals with a wide variety of choices and ensure that they will always have coverage, whether they change jobs, lose a job, move or get sick.
  
  
  • Currently 654,000 residents of Kentucky do not have health insurance, and if nothing is done, by 2019 this population could swell to 830,000. The exchange will help the uninsured to obtain needed coverage and will also help the 196,000 Kentucky residents who currently purchase insurance in the individual insurance market to get quality coverage at an affordable price.


• Supports long-term home and community based services: It is estimated that 65 percent of those who are 65 today will spend some time at home in need of long-term care services, which typically cost almost $18,000 per year. This means that 349,000 older residents of Kentucky who are aged 55 to 64 today will need home health services after they turn 65 – services that are not always covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or private health insurance.
  
  
  • Health insurance reform will create a new voluntary long-term care services insurance program, which will provide a cash benefit to help seniors and people with disabilities obtain services and supports that will enable them to remain in their homes and communities.
  
  
  • Reform will encourage states to expand their home and community based services through Medicaid by providing enhanced funding, and it will create a program to provide community support services for disabled Medicaid enrollees who would otherwise need to be in a nursing home. These programs could help improve care for many of the 213,000 disabled Medicaid beneficiaries in Kentucky.

Health Insurance Reform Improves Quality and Reforms the Delivery System.

• Reduces preventable readmissions. The current health care system does not place enough emphasis on improving quality of care. For example, nearly 20 percent of Medicare patients who are discharged from the hospital end up being readmitted within 30 days. For Kentucky, that’s 48,500 readmissions each year which could potentially be prevented with improved care coordination. Health insurance reform will invest in innovations in primary care and will provide financial incentives to hospitals to better coordinate care at discharge to avoid preventable readmissions.


• Lessens Paperwork. Physicians spend on average about 140 hours and $68,000 a year just dealing with health insurance bureaucracy. For the 11,318 physicians in Kentucky, this adds up to 1.6 million hours and $770 million in costs. By simplifying and standardizing paperwork and computerizing medical records, doctors will be able to focus on caring for their patients instead of dealing with bureaucracy.


• Incentivizes primary care. Roughly 4,400 doctors in Kentucky practice primary care and would qualify for a new 5 to 10 percent payment bonus under health insurance reform.


• Invests in the health primary care. Approximately 480,000 people, or 11 percent of Kentucky’s population, cannot access a primary care provider due to shortages in their communities. Health insurance reform will expand and improve programs to increase the number of health care providers, including doctors, nurses, and dentists, especially in rural and other underserved areas.

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

The President talks about engaging in new markets that hold tremendous potential to spur job creation here at home.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

The Wrong Side of History

The most recent column from Nicholas Kristof is a must-read:

Critics storm that health care reform is “a cruel hoax and a delusion.” Ads in 100 newspapers thunder that reform would mean “the beginning of socialized medicine.”

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page predicts that the legislation will lead to “deteriorating service.” Business groups warn that Washington bureaucrats will invade “the privacy of the examination room,” that we are on the road to rationed care and that patients will lose the “freedom to choose their own doctor.”

All dire — but also wrong. Those forecasts date not from this year, but from the battle over Medicare in the early 1960s. I pulled them from newspaper archives and other accounts.

The GOP's no-exit strategy

Yesterday's column from E.J. Dionne was great. Here's an excerpt:

Republicans are using the filibuster to stall action even on bills that most of them support. Remember: The rule is to keep Democrats from ever reaching the exit.

As of last Monday, the Senate majority had filed 58 cloture motions requiring 32 recorded votes. One of the more outrageous cases involved an extension in unemployment benefits, a no-brainer in light of the dismal economy. The bill ultimately cleared the Senate this month by 98 to 0.

The vote came only after the Republicans launched three filibusters against the bill and tried to lard it with unrelated amendments, delaying passage by nearly a month. And you wonder why it's so hard to pass health care?

Mitch McConnell: Lying on Health Reform

Vice President Joe Biden on 'The Daily Show'

Part 1:


Part 2:

Senate healthcare bill hits Obama cost target

There's good news on healthcare reform. Reuters has the story:

U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid released a healthcare reform plan on Wednesday that budget analysts said would extend coverage to tens of millions of the uninsured and reduce the budget deficit over 10 years.

After weeks of closed-door talks to merge two Senate bills, Reid told Democrats the Congressional Budget Office pegged the plan's 10-year cost at $849 billion -- below President Barack Obama's $900 billion goal for his top domestic priority.

The CBO analysis also said the plan would reduce the deficit by $127 billion over 10 years and $650 billion in the second decade while extending coverage to 31 million more Americans, Democrats said, a rosy report card that could boost the bill's prospects in a sharply divided Senate.

Poll: 56 Percent Approve of President Obama

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that Americans still approve of the job that President Obama is doing:

President Obama is showing durability against significant economic and policy challenges, maintaining majority approval for his job performance in the face of broad unemployment, a controversial health plan and continued doubts about his work on the war in Afghanistan.

...Obama, for his part, has a 56 percent job approval rating overall, better than on any individual issue tested in this ABC News/Washington Post poll save one – 60 percent for his handling of international affairs.

...Tellingly, Americans by 2-1, 61 percent to 31 percent, say leaders of the Republican Party are mainly criticizing Obama without presenting other ideas, rather than offering alternatives to his proposals. Independents, the center of politics, hold this view by 54-37 percent. And the ranks of independents are broad: They again account for a plurality of Americans, 39 percent in this survey, while Republicans, in the tank all year, make up just 21 percent of the population.

Yet more Republican obstructionism

Today's Los Angeles Times provides more examples of Republican obstructionism:

So far, only six of Obama's nominees to the lower federal courts have won approval. By comparison, President George W. Bush had 28 judges confirmed in his first year in office, even though Democrats held a narrow majority for much of the year. President Clinton put 27 new judges on the bench in his first year.

The slow pace of approving judges has gotten little attention while Democrats and Republicans have fought over healthcare, the budget and the economic stimulus bill. In mid-summer, Obama and the Democrats also won confirmation for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

But liberal activists have voiced growing irritation that Republicans are quietly using their minority power to block Senate votes on Obama's judicial nominees. They note that during the Bush administration, Republicans insisted the president's nominees deserved up-or-down votes.

Kentucky reaches goal on children's health care

Governor Steve Beshear penned a column for Friday's Herald-Leader. Here's an excerpt:

One year ago, my administration launched an aggressive plan to tackle head-on one of the biggest hurdles to our children's and our state's future: Lack of health insurance.

Numbers showed some 67,000 children lacked health coverage — even though they were eligible for programs like the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Plan (KCHIP) or Medicaid.

So we set an initial goal of signing up 35,000 of those uninsured children by June 30, 2010.

I'm thrilled to say that we expect to reach that mark six months ahead of schedule.

GOP's 'big tent' turns into political coffin

Be sure to check out the most recent column from DeWayne Wickham:

[Today's Republican Party] finds political strength mostly in states of the old Confederacy, where the Southern Whigs were once prominent. And just as the dying Whigs tried to save themselves by aligning with immigration opponents, today's GOP has cast its lot with a fringe collection of nativists, "birthers" and "tea party" protesters in hopes of political resurrection.

I don't think that's going to happen.

Despite recent victories in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races, the Republican Party hasn't reversed its fall into the political abyss — it's just slowed the descent. While claiming to be a "big tent" party that tolerates a wide range of views, the GOP is actually just a right-wing pup tent.

President Obama's weekly address

The President looks back at a week where we honored those who serve on Veterans Day, and mourned those we lost at Fort Hood.

Health Insurance Reform Is Good for Business

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

House Republicans: Lying on Health Reform

Here's a great new ad from the DNC:

Mitch McConnell: Senate Stonewaller

The Daily Beast has compiled a list of the Senate's biggest obstructionists. Sadly, our own Mitch McConnell comes in at number four:

As the Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell has set the stage for the numerous procedural difficulties Democrats have faced in moving legislation forward. “Mitch McConnell is the architect of the Republican filibuster, which now is applied to virtually all controversial bills,” Thomas Mann, a senior fellow of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, told The Daily Beast. While a Republican filibuster on major legislation like health-care reform are hardly surprising, critics have accused McConnell of going overboard by flexing the muscle on less objectionable legislation. This month, the GOP filibustered an extension of an unemployment bill; when they finally relented, it passed 98-0. Republican leaders said they did it to protest what they saw as a lack of consideration for their proposed amendments. But arguments over parliamentary procedure were likely little comfort for the 200,000 laid-off workers who temporarily lost their unemployment benefits thanks to the delay. Majority Leader Harry Reid has gone after the Republican leadership in recent days over a host of alleged delays, including putting off confirming the surgeon general during the H1N1 crisis.

Shame on Rob Sanders

CBS News aired a segment last night about a local rape victim. Nurses took DNA evidence, but Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders decided against testing it. Watch as Sanders tries to justify his decision:

'Republican comeback'? Not so fast.

There's a great article about the supposed "Republican comeback" on CQ Politics today. Here's an excerpt:

Republicans have been working overtime for days now trying to come up with newer and bolder ways of describing the 2009 election as an unmitigated triumph — and a crystal clear sign their party will score a historic comeback in next year’s congressional races.

...But there’s a significant amount of countervailing evidence, not only in the relative handful of election returns from last week but also in the current polling about the national political environment and in the race-by-race assessments of the midterm campaigns for Congress, which by history’s guide will inevitably turn on voter views of the first two years of this presidency.

Although polls show widespread voter anxiety, especially about the economy, Obama is holding on to a base of support roughly equivalent to his 53 percent share of the popular vote a year ago. The Republican Party “brand,” badly damaged during George W. Bush ’s tumultuous second term, looks about as weak as it did then. And the GOP’s ability to seize the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey was mostly about the strong GOP candidates and flawed Democratic candidates in both places.

SNL takes on Fox News

Last night's Saturday Night Live opened with an hilarious Fox News parody. Check it out!

President Obama's weekly address

The President condemns the despicable attacks at Fort Hood, honoring those who were killed and injured.

The Republican Health Plan

Today's New York Times examines the Republican health care plan:

House Republican leaders have produced their own health care reform bill. Here is the first thing you need to know: It would do almost nothing to reduce the scandalously high number of Americans who have no insurance. And it makes only a token stab at slowing the relentlessly rising costs of medical care.

Despite that, the Republicans are pitching their bill as far more affordable than the Democrats’ approach. And you are sure to hear a lot in coming days about how it could reduce health insurance premiums. How it compares in that respect with the Democratic proposal is not yet clear. But a lot of the Republicans’ savings on premiums come from reduced coverage. Pay less and get less.

...there should be no illusions here. The “affordable” Republican health care reform isn’t health care reform.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

This week's ads

Several good ads have been released this week. Here's a collection:

KCHIP successes

Today's Courier-Journal commends Governor Steve Beshear's successes with KCHIP:

[Last year, Gov. Beshear] pledged “courage and commitment to act now” to cover at least 35,000 of the state's 67,000 children who were eligible for the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program (KCHIP) or Medicaid but were not enrolled in the government medical programs to help needy children and families. He gave it two years.

This week, the Governor announced 32,000 more children have been signed up for KCHIP and Medicaid, and that the state is on pace to sign up another 3,000 children by the end of the year, beating the Governor's self-imposed timetable.

Gov. Beshear should be saluted not only for making this a priority, but for making good on this priority. But there are miles to go, as he strives to sign up every eligible family in the state.

Editorial comic roundup

(Click for larger image)

Boehner Misrepresents FactCheck.org’s Findings

The nonpartisan FactCheck.org has busted Republican leader John Boehner for misrepresenting their statements:

Last week House Republican Leader John Boehner’s office issued a "Leader Alert" titled "10 Facts Every American Should Know About Speaker Pelosi’s 1,990-Page Gov’t Takeover of Health Care."

It’s a partisan document containing misleading characterizations of the bill.

...We’re sure seniors who see benefit cuts of any kind won’t be happy about it. But to characterize these as "massive cuts," and our article (as well as CBO’s analysis) as a "grave warning" is simply rubbish.

Mitch: The Public Option 'May Cost You Your Life'

Thanks to the folks at Think Progress for catching Mitch's latest attempt at shameless fearmongering:

For months now, conservatives have been scare-mongering about health care reform with outrageous claims that it would lead to “death panels” that could “pull the plug on grandma.” In Congress, some Republican backbenchers have claimed that Americans will die if health care reform passes Congress. “We’ve been battling this socialist health care, the nationalization of health care, that is going to absolutely kill senior citizens,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ radio show. “They’ll put them on lists and force them to die early.”

Now, the scaremongering has been embraced by the congressional GOP’s leadership. In an interview on Dennis Miller’s radio show [last week], Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that the public option “may cost you your life.”

...In his efforts to derail health care reform, McConnell has regularly fear-mongered about the British and Canadian health care systems, claiming that a public option would look just like them. Unsurprisingly, McConnell has gotten his facts wrong when he’s described other health care systems.

President Obama's weekly address

While there is nothing to celebrate until job numbers turn around, the President cites the recent dramatic turnaround in gross domestic product as a sign of better things to come. He also applauds the fact that the Recovery Act has now created or saved more than a million jobs.

Recovery Act Has Created/Saved Over 1M Jobs

Today the White House issued this press release:

WASHINGTON – The Obama Administration today reported that recipients of Recovery Act funds have informed the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board that they have created or saved 640,329 direct jobs in reports covering approximately $160 billion, which represents a little less than half of the funds put to work through September 30, 2009. These reports, covering only directly created jobs and less than half the funds spent thus far, support government and private forecasters’ estimates that overall the Recovery Act has created or saved over one million jobs to-date. The majority of the jobs reported were in the construction and education sectors, indicating the Recovery Act is not only bolstering private sector companies during the economic downturn, but also making critical investments in keeping America competitive in the 21st century. Of the 640,329 jobs, about 325,000 are in education, and over 80,000 are in construction. To learn more about the jobs created and saved, click HERE.

“These reports are strong confirmation that the Recovery Act is responsible for over one million jobs so far and we are on-track to create and save 3.5 million jobs through the Recovery Act by the end of next year,” said Vice President Biden. “This is another encouraging sign of progress following yesterday’s news that the economy has begun to grow again for the first time in more than a year, but the President and I will not be satisfied until monthly reports show net job growth. We are working every day to create more jobs and we will continue to report on our progress doing so with the Recovery Act in the same transparent way we did today.”

The reports were filed in early October by state and local governments, private companies, colleges and universities and community organizations who received Recovery Act funds and will be posted publicly on Recovery.gov later today following a three-week review process. As mandated by Congress, the reports specifically focused on the approximately $160 billion in spending of the $339 billion in spending and tax relief through September 30, 2010 that includes projects and activities. The reports do not cover the Act’s significant tax cuts and direct payments to individuals such as Pell Grants and unemployment compensation. Approximately seventy percent of the funds were reported by state governments, with both Republican and Democratic governors participating in the process.

A report released today by Jared Bernstein, Chief Economist and Senior Advisor to the Vice President, notes that the new data confirms the Administration is on-track to meet its goal of creating and saving at least 3.5 million jobs through the Recovery Act. The report also found that the states with the highest unemployment rates nationwide reported 25 percent more jobs created and saved per capita than the nation as a whole. To view the report, click HERE.

The recipient reports that will be posted today are part of an historic effort to provide the American people with more information about the Recovery Act at work than with any previous government program. With the collection and posting of this new recipient data – a first for a government program - visitors to the site will be able to access over 100,000 recipient and sub-recipient filings that show who received the funds, when they received them, how they began to spend them and the related direct job impact to-date. Recently upgraded mapping features on the site will allow visitors to sort this data by state, zip code or Congressional District, enabling the public to monitor Recovery Act activity taking place in their own backyard. Approximately 90 percent of Recovery funding recipients filed these detailed reports on the use of their funds.

Recipients were asked to only report jobs directly funded by the Act and were instructed not to estimate indirect job impact. For estimates of the total job impact of the Recovery Act, including the impact of the tax cuts, aid to individuals directly hurt by the recession, and much of the state fiscal relief, experts rely on macroeconomic modeling. Using these models, the Council of Economic Advisers and private forecasters estimated that the Recovery Act has helped to create or retain more than a million jobs so far.

Today’s news follows the release yesterday of new third quarter GDP figures that show the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of the year in stark contrast to the decline of 6.4 percent annual rate just two quarters ago. Analysis by both the Council of Economic Advisers and a wide range of private and public-sector forecasters indicates the Recovery Act contributed between 3 and 4 percentage points to real GDP growth in the third quarter, suggesting that in the absence of the Recovery Act, real GDP would have risen little, if at all, this past quarter.

To learn more about the story of the Recovery Act as it unfolds, visit www.WhiteHouse.gov/Recovery. To follow Recovery Act spending and activity, visit www.Recovery.gov.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

Editorial comic roundup

(Click for larger image)

Worthy honoree

Today's Herald-Leader comments on State Auditor Crit Luallen's recent recognition:

Crit Luallen the elected official is the same Crit Luallen who spent all those years serving other elected officials behind the scenes — a professional public servant who does her job and does it well, without regard for the petty partisan politics practiced by too many elected officials at all levels of government.

That record has earned her recognition from Governing Magazine as one of 2009's Public Officials of the Year.

...It is a well-deserved honor for someone whose career has embodied "public service" in the best sense of the phrase.

Geoff Davis Voted Against H1N1 Flu Vaccines

Today the DCCC issued this press release:

Despite multiple warnings, 170 House Republicans - 95 percent of its members - this summer opposed funds to help families, schools, and businesses prepare for the H1N1 flu outbreak, which has been declared a national emergency. In stark contrast, 221 House Democrats, and 91 members of the Senate including 90 percent of Senate Republicans voted to fund H1N1 vaccines.

"The families, schools, and businesses fighting against the H1N1 flu pandemic deserve better than House Republicans' reckless, knee jerk partisanship and just-say-no approach to helping prepare for this national emergency," said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

BACKGROUND

• Earlier this year, 170 House Republicans (95 percent), opposed the Supplemental Appropriations Bill, which invested $2 billion to help the government fight the current H1N1 outbreak and to allow for further pandemic flu preparedness and response capacity. [H.R. 2346, #348, 6/16/09]


• In June, 91 members of the Senate, including 36 Senate Republicans (90 percent), supported the Supplemental Appropriations Bill, which invested $2 billion to help the government fight the current H1N1 outbreak and to allow for further pandemic flu preparedness and response capacity. [Senate Vote on Conference Report: H.R. 2346: Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009, Senate Vote #210 in 2009]


• President Obama has declared the H1N1 flu a national emergency. [Washington Post, 10/25/09]


• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday that the H1N1 flu was spreading widely in at least 46 states and had already caused the hospitalization of at least 20,000 Americans. More than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the virus and more than 2,400 additional deaths were probably associated with it, officials said. [Washington Post, 10/25/09]

Surely no one is surprised that our own Geoff Davis voted against the bill that included the H1N1 funding.

Luallen named Public Official of the Year

Congratulations to State Auditor (and one of Kentucky's leading Democrats) Crit Luallen. Bluegrass Politics has the story:

FRANKFORT — A national magazine that focuses on state and local government has named State Auditor Crit Luallen one of 2009’s Public Officials of the Year.

A profile of Luallen appears in the November issue of Governing Magazine, a Washington D.C.-based magazine widely read by local and state leaders.

...“Crit Luallen, Kentucky’s auditor of public accounts, has successfully fought corruption and fiscal mismanagement, the capstone of her 35-year career as a versatile problem-solver in state government,” the magazine wrote.

CNN poll: GOP favorable rating lowest in a decade

Here's the story from CNN:

The Republican Party's favorable rating among Americans is at lowest level in at least a decade, according to a new national poll.

Thirty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party, with 54 percent viewing the GOP negatively.

According to the poll, 53 percent have a positive opinion of the Democratic Party, with 41 percent holding an unfavorable view.

President Obama's weekly address

The President restates his commitment to small business as key to economic recovery -- from the Recovery Act to Financial Stability to Health Reform -- and pledges more to come.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Click here for a version of this video with closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

Republican Leader Opposes Troop Funding

Today the DCCC issued this press release:

Responding to criticism that Republicans let the war strategy in Afghanistan drift under President George W. Bush, yesterday, House Republican Leader John Boehner said, "We've all worked together to support or [sic] troops in the field."

The reality is that Leader Boehner has led the Republican opposition to supporting our troops numerous times this year.

"While our military pledges to leave no soldier behind on the battlefield, House Republicans have been all too willing to play politics and leave our troops' funding behind in Washington," said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "The last thing our troops and their families deserve is House Republicans' putting politics first."

Background

House Republican Leader John Boehner: "We've all worked together to support or [sic] troops in the field." [Politico, 10/21/09].

131 Republicans voted against the Conference Report accompanying H.R. 2647, The National Defense Authorization Act of FY2010, which provides significant force protection and troop support measures for the men and women of our Armed Services. [H.R. 2647. #770, 10/8/09].

The measure provides $28 billion for defense healthcare programs and a 3.4% pay increase for military personnel.

It also provides increased funding for Force Protection, including:

• $6.7 billion formine-resistant ambush protected vehicles;


• $1.3 billion to upgrade Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles; and


• $2.0 billion for improvised explosive device jammers.

170 Republicans voted against the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009, which includes funding for American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. [H.R. 2346, #348, 6/16/09]

New ad from Americans United

Mitch distorts the facts

Think Progress busts Mitch McConnell spreading falsehoods:

At a press conference this afternoon, a reporter asked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to explain why such a low number of Americans (approximately 20 percent) self-identify as Republicans. McConnell responded by dodging the question, saying, “You can pick out of polls what you want to focus on.” He then proceeded to pick out a number he wanted to focus on:

I think a very interesting question of most of the polls I’ve seen in the last few months is the question of the party generic ballot. That is, if the election were held today, would you be more likely to vote for the Republican or the Democrat? Most of the surveys that I’ve seen in the last three weeks or so have us close to even.

McConnell is sadly mistaken. As The Plum Line’s Greg Sargent reports, a new Washington Post poll shows the gap between the two parties is currently as wide as it has been in the previous two elections.

Grab a Mop, Let's Get to Work

This week's ads

Here's a roundup of this week's ads:

The Unemployed Wait

Today's New York Times highlights the obstructionist tactics of the Republicans:

More than a million jobless Americans are in danger of losing benefits by the end of the year unless Congress passes an extension of unemployment insurance. The House has acted, but the Senate, which has a better bill, has been bogged down by obstruction from Republicans. In these extraordinarily hard times, Congress should extend this vital safety net without further delay.

... February’s extension, which included a $25-a-week increase in benefits, kept 800,000 people out of poverty, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Putting more money in the pockets of the unemployed provided much-needed stimulus for the entire economy.

Every day that the Republicans continue to block an extension — fighting over amendments to the bill or delaying a vote — means thousands more Americans pushed closer to the edge of despair.