Obama Announces Energy Strategy

Today The White House issued this press release:

Washington D.C. --- As part of the Administration’s comprehensive energy strategy President Barack Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced more details of the Obama Administration’s efforts to strengthen our energy security. President Obama and Secretary Salazar announced that the Administration will expand oil and gas development and exploration on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to enhance our nation’s energy independence while protecting fisheries, tourism, and places off U.S. coasts that are not appropriate for development. Also included in the announcement are landmark car and truck fuel standards, key efforts being carried out by the Department of Defense to enhance energy security, and an effort to green the federal vehicle fleet. Details are below.

“I want to emphasize that this announcement is part of a broader strategy that will move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels and foreign oil to one that relies on homegrown fuels and clean energy. And the only way this transition will succeed is if it strengthens our economy in the short term and the long term. To fail to recognize this reality would be a mistake,” said President Obama.

Over the last year, under the leadership of Secretary Salazar, the Administration has worked to reevaluate previous decisions in an effort to set oil and gas drilling policies on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create jobs, and take environmental risks and responsibilities into account.

“By responsibly expanding conventional energy development and exploration here at home we can strengthen our energy security, create jobs, and help rebuild our economy,” said Salazar. “Our strategy calls for developing new areas offshore, exploring frontier areas, and protecting places that are too special to drill. By providing order and certainty to offshore exploration and development and ensuring we are drilling in the right ways and the right places, we are opening a new chapter for balanced and responsible oil and gas development here at home.”

The President will highlight today additional key measures that will boost domestic energy production, diversify America’s energy portfolio and promote clean energy innovation.

Background on Today’s Announcements:

More Domestic Production – Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing: The Administration’s strategy calls for developing oil and gas resources in new areas, such as the Eastern Gulf of Mexico; increasing oil and gas exploration in frontier areas, such as parts of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans; and protecting ocean areas that are simply too special to drill, such as Alaska’s Bristol Bay. The strategy will guide the current 2007-2012 offshore oil and gas leasing program, as well as the new 2012-2017 program that this administration will propose. More specific details on this plan are available at www.doi.gov.

Landmark Car and Truck Fuel Standards – Finalized EPA/DOT CAFE and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards: On April 1st, EPA and DOT will sign a joint final rule establishing greenhouse gas emission standards and corporate average fuel economy standards for light-duty vehicles for model years 2012-2016. Announced last May, the rule is a product of a historic deal between the Obama Administration, the State of California, and automakers to bring regulatory certainty to the automotive market while increasing fuel efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, and ensuring consumer choice and savings. This measure is expected to save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the life of the program.

Leading by Example – Greening the Federal Fleet: Last year, President Obama issued Executive Order 13514 asking Federal agencies to lead by example towards a clean energy economy. GSA and DOE are doing just that. As a result of their combined efforts we have doubled the Federal hybrid vehicle fleet and before the end of the year we’ll purchase the first 100 plug-in electric vehicles to roll off American assembly lines. Additionally, agencies are: Purchasing hybrid instead of conventional cars and trucks that use more fuel; Downsizing vehicle fleets overall; and requiring plug-in electric charging stations for all new facilities and for major retrofits.

Department of Defense Energy Security Strategic Emphasis: The recently released Quadrennial Defense Review makes clear that crafting a strategic approach to energy and climate change is a high priority for the Department of Defense (DoD). This reflects mission considerations above all. The Department’s own analysis confirms what outside experts have long warned: our military’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels creates significant risks and costs at a tactical as well as a strategic level. The DoD is actively pursuing strategic initiatives to enhance energy security and independence and reduce harmful emissions, including encouraging the development and use of domestically produced advanced biofuels. You can learn more about DoD’s energy initiatives here.

President Obama on the Today Show

President Obama was interviewed on NBC's Today Show this morning. Clips of the interview can be viewed below:

President Obama Signs Historic Legislation

The following press release was issued today by The White House:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which delivered a significant down payment on the President’s ambitious agenda to make higher education more affordable and help more Americans earn a college degree.

This legislation strengthens the Pell Grant program, invests in community colleges, extends support for Historically Black Colleges and other Minority Serving Institutions, and helps student borrowers manage their student loan debt by capping repayments at 10% of their discretionary income. These efforts will be fully paid for by ending the government subsidies currently given to banks and other financial institutions that make guaranteed federal student loans and free up nearly $68 billion for college affordability and deficit reduction over the next 11 years.

“For a long time, our student loan system has worked for banks and financial institutions,” President Obama said. “Today, we’re finally making our student loan system work for students and all of our families.”

“This legislation is a win for students and parents struggling to make ends meet to fulfill the dream of a college education,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. “By ending subsidies to banks, we can make important investments that increase affordability and access to our nation’s universities and community colleges.”

This historic law:

• Invests more than $40 billion in Pell Grants to ensure that all eligible students receive an award and that these awards are increased in future years to help keep pace with the rising cost of college. These investments, coupled with the funding provided in the Recovery Act and the President’s first two budgets, will more than double the total amount of funding available for Pell Grants since President Obama took office.


• Ensures that Americans can afford their student loan payments by expanding the existing income-based student loan repayment program. New borrowers who assume loans after July 1, 2014, will be able to cap their student loan repayments at 10 percent of their discretionary income and, if they keep up with their payments over time, will have the balance forgiven after 20 years.


• Includes $2 billion over four years for community colleges to develop, improve, and provide education and career training programs. President Obama also asked Dr. Jill Biden to host a White House Summit on Community Colleges this fall to provide an opportunity for community college leaders, students, education experts, business leaders, and others to share innovative ways to educate our way to a better economy. Click HERE for a link to a video from the Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden.

Starting July 1, all new federal student loans will be direct loans, delivered and collected by private companies under performance-based contracts with the Department of Education. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, ending these wasteful subsidies will free up nearly $68 billion for college affordability and deficit reduction over the next 11 years.

Click HERE for more information and fact sheets on this historic legislation.

AARP statement on health reform

Today the AARP issued this press release:

WASHINGTON—AARP CEO A. Barry Rand released this statement following today’s signing by President Obama of the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010:

“With the stroke of a pen, today President Obama has achieved a monumental change in America’s health care system. Today, quality, affordable health care is in reach for millions of Americans who couldn’t afford coverage. Today, millions of Americans finally have access to better health, and better health care.

“For AARP members and all older Americans, today finally brings much needed relief to the spiraling cost of prescription drugs by closing the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap or ‘doughnut hole.’ By completely closing the doughnut hole, people in Medicare Part D thankfully no longer have to make the tough decision to either pay bills or split pills.

“As these and other important health care reforms begin to roll out, we will continue to work with our members and all older Americans to make certain they realize the benefits of this historic legislative package.

“By signing this legislation, President Obama has marked the beginning of a better, healthier America. We thank President Obama and Members of Congress for the leadership and hard work they demonstrated by navigating health insurance reform through such a difficult path.”

Republicans spent almost $2,000 at strip club

The Los Angeles Times has the story:

The Republican National Committee is looking into the expenditure of nearly $2,000 in party funds at a racy nightclub in West Hollywood, an episode that has added to questions about the management practices of Chairman Michael Steele.

A party spokesman said Monday that the RNC reimbursed Erik Brown, president of a southern California firm that has provided direct mail services to political campaigns, for a Jan. 31st outing at Voyeur West Hollywood. A Los Angeles Times review described Voyeur as a "risqué" club where "provocative scenes play out above and beyond patrons' reach," including themes of bondage.

...Since taking over the RNC, Steele has faced criticism from some Republican donors over what they see as excessive spending. In the same monthly report that disclosed the nightclub visit, the RNC is shown to have spent nearly $11,000 on limousine services, and thousands more in lodging at high-end hotels in Las Vegas, Beverly Hills and New York. About $400 spent at a liquor store on Capitol Hill was classified in the report as "office supplies." A person answering the phone at Congressional Liquors said the store sells no office supplies.

Editorial comic roundup

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Lawmakers Head Warily for Home

This editorial in today's New York Times is worth a read:

A critical issue for Republicans is how far they will go in sidling up to the Tea Party and its more extremist protestors. In a regrettable moment last weekend, Republican lawmakers proudly took to a House balcony to fan the anger of a throng, some of whom spit on Democratic members and shouted racist and homophobic jeers. “If Brown can’t stop it, a Browning can!” was one of the crowd’s more ominous signs, referring to Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts.

...“Let’s start getting Nancy ready for the firing line this weekend,” Michael Steele, the Republican National Committee chairman, declared before the debate. Harmless rhetoric from Republicans in their relentless demonization of Speaker Nancy Pelosi? Who can say?

Representative John Boehner, the House minority leader, pronounced one Democrat a “dead man” for supporting reform, later explaining that he meant that politically. Mr. Boehner had talked of “Armageddon” stalking the nation because of the Democrats.

President Obama's weekly address

The President looks back on a week that saw the passage of two major sets of reforms: one putting Americans in control of their own health care, and one ensuring student loans work for students and families, not as subsidies for bankers and middlemen.

Stopping the health-care madness

Eugene Robinson also addresses the extreme right-wing rhetoric today:

Let's not pretend anymore that the tea party movement is harmless. The right to protest is one of our cherished American freedoms. But there is no right to vandalism, no right to threaten our elected officials' lives. Someone is going to get hurt unless those who lead the movement -- and those who exploit it -- start acting like responsible adults.

...At least 10 House Democrats have had to request additional security since Sunday's health-care vote. Someone left a coffin on the lawn of Rep. Russ Carnahan's home in Missouri. Glass doors and windows were broken at the district offices of Reps. Louise Slaughter of New York and Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona. Vandals have damaged Democratic Party offices in Wichita, Cincinnati and Rochester, N.Y.

And Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, whose last-minute compromise on abortion funding guaranteed final passage of the reform act, has received a flood of abusive phone calls at his office and home. Someone faxed him a drawing of a noose. One voice mail, subsequently posted on the Internet, was left by a woman who wanted Stupak to know that "there are millions of people across the country who wish you ill." Another caller was more direct: "You're dead. We know where you live. We'll get you."

Going to Extreme

Today's column by Paul Krugman is great:

What has been really striking has been the eliminationist rhetoric of the G.O.P., coming not from some radical fringe but from the party’s leaders. John Boehner, the House minority leader, declared that the passage of health reform was “Armageddon.” The Republican National Committee put out a fund-raising appeal that included a picture of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, surrounded by flames, while the committee’s chairman declared that it was time to put Ms. Pelosi on “the firing line.” And Sarah Palin put out a map literally putting Democratic lawmakers in the cross hairs of a rifle sight.

All of this goes far beyond politics as usual. Democrats had a lot of harsh things to say about former President George W. Bush — but you’ll search in vain for anything comparably menacing, anything that even hinted at an appeal to violence, from members of Congress, let alone senior party officials.

No, to find anything like what we’re seeing now you have to go back to the last time a Democrat was president. Like President Obama, Bill Clinton faced a G.O.P. that denied his legitimacy — Dick Armey, the second-ranking House Republican (and now a Tea Party leader) referred to him as “your president.” Threats were common: President Clinton, declared Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, “better watch out if he comes down here. He’d better have a bodyguard.” (Helms later expressed regrets over the remark — but only after a media firestorm.) And once they controlled Congress, Republicans tried to govern as if they held the White House, too, eventually shutting down the federal government in an attempt to bully Mr. Clinton into submission.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

First Lady Jane Beshear delivers this week's commentary for Governor Beshear.



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

GOP whine: Drink deeply

Be sure to check out today's column by Gene Lyons:

Several things need saying. First, this latter-day GOP enthusiasm for governing by CNN poll stands the Constitution on its head. We determine who holds power in this country through biennial elections, not telephone surveys. Besides, where was all this solicitude for the randomly selected will of the people back when Republicans impeached Bill Clinton while polls showed that two-thirds of Americans opposed it?

Second, GOP paranoia over Democratic improvements to the nation's social contract is nothing new. In 1935, Republican congressmen greeted Social Security by invoking the "lash of the dictator," the "enslavement of workers" and similar nonsense.

In 1965, Ronald Reagan warned that unless Medicare was defeated, "You and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was like in America when men were free." Instead, Reagan spent his sunset years as president making people forget he'd said anything so silly.

What 'repeal' would mean for Kentucky

Today the DSCC issued this press release:

Days after President Obama signed into law historic health care reforms which will close the donut hole for seniors, allow children up to age 26 to stay on their parent’s insurance, end appalling insurance practices, lower the deficit, and increase access to health insurance for thousands of Kentucky residents, Republican Senate candidates Trey Grayson and Rand Paul continue to call for these reforms to be repealed and taken away from Kentuckians.

“Trey Grayson and Rand Paul have redefined March Madness in their zeal for repeal,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “Grayson and Paul should let Kentucky residents know what reforms they want to take away first - the tax credits for small businesses, the increased funding for Medicaid, allowing children to stay on their parent’s insurance longer, or closing the donut hole for seniors?”

If Health Reform were repealed... a dismal picture for Kentucky.

Seniors:

• An immediate $250 rebate for the roughly 129,000 Kentucky seniors who will hit the Medicare Part D ‘donut hole’ this year would be revoked


• 724,000 seniors will see higher Medicare premiums and have to pay more for preventive health care

State Budget:

• $7.2 billion in affordability tax credits to 444,000 Kentuckians would be forfeited*


• $11.7 billion in federal Medicaid funding would be lost*

Small Businesses:

• 44,800 small businesses will not get tax credits to help them afford coverage for their employees this year

Individuals:

• Insurance companies will continue to deny coverage to the estimated 73,949 Kentuckians with pre-existing conditions


• Family insurance premiums would increase by $1,430-$2,040**

Children & Young Adults:

• Insurance companies will still be able to deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions


• 382,149 young adults who would have been able to stay on their parents’ insurance plans this year would now be denied coverage

*over 5 years
**by 2016

Paul, Grayson Pass Right-Wing Litmus Test

Today the DSCC issued this press release:

A day after President Obama signed into law historic health care reforms which will close the donut hole for seniors, allow children up to age 26 to stay on their parent’s insurance, end appalling insurance practices, lower the deficit, and increase access to health insurance for 654,000 Kentucky residents, Republican Senate candidates Trey Grayson and Rand Paul have pledged to take away these reforms if elected. Both of these Republican candidates have pledged to do everything in their power to repeal health care reforms and go back to the status quo.

“It’s official, Trey Grayson and Rand Paul have fallen victim to the right-wing litmus test by pledging to take away health care reforms from thousands of Kentucky residents,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “If Grayson and Paul want to look Kentucky voters in the eye this fall and pledge to take away health care reforms that will afford coverage to 654,000 Kentuckians, eliminate the doughnut hole for seniors, offer tax credits to small businesses, lower the deficit, and end appalling insurance practices – then good luck to them.”

The far-right Club for Growth has been pressuring Republican candidates to sign a pledge to repeal health care reform this fall. The pledge states, “I hereby pledge to the people of my district/state to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government.” The pledge can be found at http://www.repealit.org/.

Under health care 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.

An Absence of Class

Today's column by Bob Herbert is a must-read:

...it is time for every American of good will to hold the Republican Party accountable for its role in tolerating, shielding and encouraging foul, mean-spirited and bigoted behavior in its ranks and among its strongest supporters.

For decades the G.O.P. has been the party of fear, ignorance and divisiveness. All you have to do is look around to see what it has done to the country. The greatest economic inequality since the Gilded Age was followed by a near-total collapse of the overall economy. As a country, we have a monumental mess on our hands and still the Republicans have nothing to offer in the way of a remedy except more tax cuts for the rich.

This is the party of trickle down and weapons of mass destruction, the party of birthers and death-panel lunatics. This is the party that genuflects at the altar of right-wing talk radio, with its insane, nauseating, nonstop commitment to hatred and bigotry.

Tea party disgrace

The Courier-Journal takes on Geoff Davis in an editorial today:

...the tone and tenor of some tea party gatherings and anti-reform protests worsened in the days leading up to Sunday's historic vote for health care reform, and some of the bitter brew — racism, homophobia, sexism and downright meanness — was spewed by protesters while the world watched and listened.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus were treated to spitting and taunts of the “N-word.” (Did the hate-mongers even know that one of the men they shouted at was Rep. John Lewis, a living hero of Selma?) They also confronted openly gay Rep. Barney Frank with the “F-word.” Others promised Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a place in hell for her work for reform, and held up a broom with a sign of “here's your ride.” When anti-abortion Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan stood to explain his “yes” vote, a fellow congressman shouted “baby killer.” (Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, has owned up to the shout, but he said he was referring to the bill, not Mr. Stupak. Sure he was.)

Robust protest is one thing; mob mentality is another. The ugliness around this debate was mob mentality. The scariest part of all this is that, again, marquee-name Republican office-holders and mouthpieces helped stir the brew. According to reports, Kentucky Rep. Geoff Davis, R-4th District, shamefully abetted the scene by brandishing a “Don't Tread on Me” flag and meeting with the tea partiers.

The Republicans' Waterloo

David Frum is an influential conservative; he's a former editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page, he was a speechwriter for George W Bush, and he's a resident fellow of the American Enterprise Institute (a conservative think tank). Following yesterday's vote on health care reform, he has a few words of advice for Republicans:

No illusions please: This bill will not be repealed. Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to re-open the “doughnut hole” and charge seniors more for prescription drugs? How many votes to re-allow insurers to rescind policies when they discover a pre-existing condition? How many votes to banish 25 year olds from their parents’ insurance coverage? And even if the votes were there – would President Obama sign such a repeal?

We followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and they led us to abject and irreversible defeat.

There were leaders who knew better, who would have liked to deal. But they were trapped. Conservative talkers on Fox and talk radio had whipped the Republican voting base into such a frenzy that deal-making was rendered impossible. How do you negotiate with somebody who wants to murder your grandmother? Or – more exactly – with somebody whom your voters have been persuaded to believe wants to murder their grandmother?

Tea party protesters hurl racial insults

The Herald-Leader has the story:

Demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol, angry over the proposed health care bill, shouted "nigger" Saturday at U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia congressman and civil rights icon who was nearly beaten to death during an Alabama march in the 1960s.

The protesters also shouted obscenities at other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, lawmakers said.

"They were shouting, sort of harassing," Lewis said. "But, it's okay, I've faced this before. It reminded me of the '60s. It was a lot of downright hate and anger and people being downright mean."

President Obama's weekly address

Health Reform By the Numbers

Governor Beshear's weekly address

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

New online ads

Several good web ads have hit the internet this week. Here's a sampling:

McConnell's strategy of obstruction

Today's New York Times exposes Mitch McConnell's strategy of obstruction:

Before the health care fight, before the economic stimulus package, before President Obama even took office, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader, had a strategy for his party: use his extensive knowledge of Senate procedure to slow things down, take advantage of the difficulties Democrats would have in governing and deny Democrats any Republican support on big legislation.

Republicans embraced it. Democrats denounced it as rank obstructionism. Either way, it has led the two parties, as much as any other factor, to where they are right now. Republicans are monolithically against the health care legislation, leaving the president and his party executing parliamentary back flips to get it passed, conservatives revived, liberals wondering what happened.

In the process, Mr. McConnell, 68, a Kentuckian more at home plotting tactics in the cloakroom than writing legislation in a committee room or exhorting crowds on the campaign trail, has come to embody a kind of oppositional politics that critics say has left voters cynical about Washington, the Senate all but dysfunctional and the Republican Party without a positive agenda or message.

Health Reform in No Uncertain Terms

On March 15, President Obama visited Northern Ohio, home of cancer survivor Natoma Canfield, who recently had to give up her insurance after a 40% rate hike. She was invited to tell her story before a crowd with the President but a recent diagnosis of leukemia prevented her from making it. Natoma, along with the countless other Americans in need of quality health care, are the reason health reform is needed so urgently.

More senseless obstructionism from Jim Bunning

The Huffington Post has the story:

Jim Bunning, far from being cowed by the national exposure of his recent effort to hold up unemployment benefits for millions of laid-off workers, is back at it in the Senate.

The Kentucky Republican battled Democrats on the Senate floor Tuesday to block two nominations to relatively backbench positions -- because he is opposed to a tobacco-related law passed by the Canadian Parliament (that's right, the Canadian Parliament). The use of such delaying tactics is not unprecedented in Senate history, but holding up such minor business stretches the purpose of the Senate's open debate rules to the breaking point.

"This is a perversion of the filibuster and a perversion of the role of the Senate. It used to be that the filibuster was reserved for matters of great principle," said Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) from the well of the Senate. "Some of my colleagues seem more interested in using every procedural method possible to keep the Senate from doing anything than they are in creating jobs or helping Americans struggling in a difficult economy."

Tell Congress to vote Yes on health care reform

Leaders throughout history have been faced with challenging decisions that set the course of our country towards justice. The one facing all of Congress now is whether they will side with Big Insurance companies or with struggling Americans desperate for health care reform.

Editorial comic roundup

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President Obama's weekly address

The President discusses his blueprint for an updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act to overhaul No Child Left Behind, the latest step from his Administration to encourage change and success in America's schools at the local level.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

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

House Votes Against RNC Fake Census Letters

The DCCC issued this press release today:

The House of Representatives voted yesterday 416-0 to ban misleading fundraising letters disguised as 2010 Census forms. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and the Republican National Committee (RNC) recently sent out political fundraising letters that looked like U.S. Census letters from House Republican Leader John Boehner and RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

The Census Bureau was concerned that these misleading mailings would undermine response rates for the official census forms, which arrive in mailboxes next week. By misleading and confusing Americans about which forms to return, the Republican fundraising letters increase the cost to American taxpayers. Lower mail response rates of Census forms increase government costs because a census employee is sent to every home that does not respond by mail. The US Census estimates every one percent decrease in the mail response rate costs taxpayers approximately $85 million to send census workers back to re-count.

“As Republicans fill their campaign accounts with cash from a misleading and deceptive fake census letter, American taxpayers are left with a higher bill,” said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Even if it means costing taxpayers millions of dollars and undermining the American people’s opportunity to be fairly represented, Republicans once again made clear they will do anything for campaign cash. House Minority Leader Boehner and RNC Chairman Steele have a responsibility to tell every Republican who received their fundraising solicitation that it is not an official U.S. Census form and encourage them to fill out their census form.”

Background

The National Republican Congressional Committee sent supporters a mailer with the word "Census" featured prominently throughout the document. [The Washington Post, 2/10/10]

“The Census Bureau has said it was concerned that misleading mailings would undermine response rates for the official census forms, which arrive in mailboxes next week. Lower mail response rates increase government costs, because the Census Bureau must send census-takers to every home that does not respond.” [Associated Press, 3/10/10] The US Census estimates every one percent decrease in the mail response rate costs taxpayers approximately $85 million to send census workers back to re-count. [The US Census, 2/18/10]

The Prevent Deceptive Census Look-Alike Mailings Act is a bipartisan bill that would ban non-government mailings which mimic the look and feel of official census forms. [H.R. 4621, 3/10/10].

The GOP's bait-and-switch game

In his column today, Gene Lyons follows up on the RNC's Fear-Gate:

No one should be shocked by a Republican National Committee fundraising document recently uncovered by Politico. With condescension bordering upon satire, it divides potential GOP donors into two groups: simple-minded dimwits and wealthy egotists.

The key to raising cash from small donors, according to a PowerPoint presentation given by RNC operatives Rob Bickhart and Peter Terpeluk at a retreat in Boca Grande, Fla., is to dazzle them with scare talk about "Socialism," images of President Obama as "the Joker," Nancy Pelosi as "Cruella de Vil" and other bright, shiny objects. The idea is to exploit "visceral" emotions, "fear" and "extreme negative feelings" toward Obama.

...Socialism? When it comes to economics, today's GOP has nothing to advocate except the very policies that got us into this mess to begin with. They're simply trying to trick tea party activists into believing that this time, Republicans will deliver the fiscal conservatism they always advocate but haven't delivered since Herbert Hoover.

Playing the same old game

Today's column by Leonard Pitts is a must-read:

...there is little that is surprising about the Republican National Committee fundraising document recently reported by Politico, the one that offers strategies to get donors to part with their money. Donors can, it says, be persuaded to give by appealing to their egos, by offering them tchotchkes or by promising them access. And some, the small donors, the $5- and $10-Janes and Joes, can be persuaded if you play to their fears.

The sole surprise is that someone actually wrote it down as a PowerPoint presentation and was absent-minded enough to leave a hard copy in a hotel.

Here, then, is the smoking gun, concrete validation for those of us who contend that since Sept. 11, 2001, fear has been the GOP's leading export, that under the aegis of George W. Bush's political guru Karl Rove, the party's message boiled down to a single command: Be very afraid.

'Part of the Problem'

RNC Fear-Gate

Editorial comic roundup

(Click for larger image)

President Obama's weekly address

President Obama raises the point that health reform will not only have long-term advantages for the country but will have immediate protections and benefits this year if passed by Congress.

Senator Bunning’s Universe

Today's column by Paul Krugman highlights the absurdity of the Republican approach to economic recovery:

Take the question of helping the unemployed in the middle of a deep slump. What Democrats believe is what textbook economics says: that when the economy is deeply depressed, extending unemployment benefits not only helps those in need, it also reduces unemployment. That’s because the economy’s problem right now is lack of sufficient demand, and cash-strapped unemployed workers are likely to spend their benefits. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office says that aid to the unemployed is one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus, as measured by jobs created per dollar of outlay.

But that’s not how Republicans see it. Here’s what Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, had to say when defending Mr. Bunning’s position (although not joining his blockade): unemployment relief “doesn’t create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work.”

In Mr. Kyl’s view, then, what we really need to worry about right now — with more than five unemployed workers for every job opening, and long-term unemployment at its highest level since the Great Depression — is whether we’re reducing the incentive of the unemployed to find jobs. To me, that’s a bizarre point of view — but then, I don’t live in Mr. Kyl’s universe.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

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

An embarrassment

There was a good editorial in today's Courier-Journal:

There has been a lot of talk about how Mr. Bunning's stand was one of principle, how it was all about pay-as-you-go and not driving up the deficit.

That's hooey.

Mr. Bunning, and all Senate Republicans, voted against the pay-as-you-go legislation, which was signed into law last month by President Obama. The legislation contains some exemptions, including emergencies like this one, and it grew out of a need created by the spend now-pay later mindset of the Bush years, during which the Republican-dominated Congress' rubber stamp thumped overtime.

Jim Bunning: The GOP's gift to the Dems

Be sure to check out today's column from Clarence Page:

Bunning, a former baseball star from Kentucky, objected to a request from fellow Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, to pass a 30-day extension of jobless benefits and other expired measures included in a $10 billion spending bill.

By blocking the measure, which also would extend health insurance benefits, highway funding and Medicare payments to doctors, Bunning vividly illustrated a point Democrats have been trying to make: That Republicans are "the party of 'No'" and the real reason for congressional gridlock on other issues like health care.

Bunning, who finally relented Tuesday, said he was fed up with Congress' Wall Street bailouts and other big-spending ways, without finding ways to pay for it. That's a laudable principle. It's just too bad that he decided to take out his anger at Congress by holding up help to jobless Americans.

Kentucky's newspapers take on Jim Bunning

Today, the Courier-Journal had this to say about Jim Bunning's latest obstructionism:

Jim Bunning partisans will say that the Kentucky junior senator's most recent headline-grabbing display of obstinate oafishness was really a principled stand. His lone vote — not once, but twice — to block the extension of unemployment and health benefits to unemployed Americans, a vote that also stalled road projects and furloughed those workers, was purportedly all about forcing the country to pay as it goes, even when it comes to extending safety nets to those feeling the worst pains of the worst recession in modern American history. (Question: Did he demand the same standard for bankrolling the wars?)

...Kentuckians — and the rest of the country he has now held hostage — must wait for the countdown clock to tick until Election Day in November for Mr. Bunning's return to private life, and even then there is no guarantee that the Bluegrass State will be better represented.

Democratic senatorial candidates Jack Conway and Daniel Mongiardo correctly condemned Mr. Bunning's heartless and senseless obstruction, but Republicans Trey Grayson and Rand Paul sounded like little Bunnings in the campaign oven as they praised his vote.

The Herald-Leader added this:

We've become accustomed to bizarre, egocentric behavior from Bunning. So it wasn't all that surprising when he single-handedly blocked an unemployment benefits extension for a million people, including 119,230 in Kentucky, whose benefits run out this year. About 14,000 Kentuckians will exhaust their benefits in two weeks without the extension.

...What is surprising is that Trey Grayson and Rand Paul, the leading Republicans to succeed Bunning, jumped on his one-man band wagon.

...Congress has reinstated the pay-as-you-go rules that produced a balanced budget in the Clinton years and must, as Bunning says, follow those rules to gain control of a runaway deficit. Unemployment benefits are a ridiculous place to start. Do Grayson and Paul really not understand that?

Shame on Trey Grayson and Rand Paul

Today the DSCC issued this press release:

Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning's block late last week on extending unemployment benefits for 1.2 million out of work Americans drew criticism from across the political spectrum, but found two cheerleaders in Bunning's home state, Republican Senate candidates Trey Grayson and Rand Paul. Despite Kentucky's 10.7% unemployment rate and with 221,052 unemployed Kentuckians, Trey Grayson and Rand Paul are firmly supporting Bunning's block, which even Republican Senator Mitch McConnell opposes. Bunning's block of the legislation, which is strongly supported by Trey Grayson and Rand Paul, will force over 1.2 million out of work Americans to lose their unemployment benefits today, including thousands of Kentuckians.

“Trey Grayson and Rand Paul are running to replace Jim Bunning in the Senate, but judging by their unwavering support of his block on extending unemployment benefits, they also share his out of touch approach of doing nothing to help hard-hit Kentuckians,” said DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “With thousands of Kentuckians and over one million Americans set to lose their unemployment benefits today because of Bunning's block, it's baffling that Trey Grayson and Rand Paul would endorse this policy and still be able to look hard-hit Kentuckians in the eyes.”

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Grayson said he would “proudly” stand up with Bunning by blocking extending unemployment benefits and Paul said he also strongly supports killing unemployment benefits for out of work Americans.

Endless GOP Highway Hypocrisy

Geoff Davis and Mitch McConnell are both featured in this new ad from the DNC: