So now Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) is saying that Sen. Ben Nelson's anti-abortion amendment to the health care bill doesn't have the votes to pass their chamber, which sets up an interesting quandary. Nelson says he can't and won't vote for the bill if his amendment or something equivalent isn't in it and would actually filibuster it. Without his vote, the Democrats don't have 60. So it presents another possible scenario under which a GOP vote is crucial.
To be clear, that's taking Stabenow and Nelson at face value, which isn't always prudent given that negotiations are ongoing and everyone's words are usually chosen to achieve a particular end. On top of that, there's no rule against saying you'll vote one way, and voting another after deals are struck, compromises reached, etc. So perhaps the safest conclusion to reach is that the abortion language is either a huge sticking point or a very big bargaining chip.
--David Kurtz
President Obama will meet with Al Gore today on climate change in advance of their separate trips to Copenhagen.
--David Kurtz
We're going to be following developments on the health care reform front especially closely this week. We've set up a Health Care Wire in the news section to the right there. Plus, we'll have our usual presence on the Hill, where Brian Beutler is tracking negotiations among Senate Democrats, which is where most of the action will be this week.
In particular, things are expected to come to a head this week on two key sticking points: the public option and abortion.
--David Kurtz
Brian Beutler, on how Joe Lieberman turned the public option fight on its head.
--David Kurtz
TPM Reader BW gets evil ...
A truly devious left-leaning independent financier might be well inclined to fund crazed and/or faux "Tea Party" candidates in tight Congressional races in 2010. Help them get on the ballot and siphon off even a modest 1-2% GOP support. Ala the GOPs attempt to fund and aid Green party candidates in 2006 and 2008 in close districts. The D swell made the attempt entirely foolish, however.I consider myself a civic patriot and would personally hate the idea and would never support it. But I don't have a guilty conscience about the contemplation - someone far more amoral has probably already considered putting the plan in action. Such is modern American politics: think of the bottom and someone has already beaten you there.
--Josh Marshall
A new Rasmussen poll suggests that the Tea Party movement -- funded and embraced by the Republican Party -- is now more popular than the GOP itself.
--David Kurtz
The President and Vice President meet this afternoon at the White House with Afghanistan commander Stanley McChrystal and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. That and the day's other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.
--David Kurtz
According to a press release just sent out by the Sestak campaign, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) will appear with and endorse Rep. Sestak (D-PA) at a news conference in Philadelphia tomorrow morning.
--Josh Marshall
Bill Clinton comes out for Martha Coakley in the Mass Senate race.
--Josh Marshall
The latest out of the high-stakes health care negotiations between conservative and progressive senate Democrats.
--Josh Marshall
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), today on Fox News: A public option plan would create a "health care gulag."
--David Kurtz
The Salahis crashed Obama's Pennsylvania speech on the economy, SNL reports.
--David Kurtz
We're looking for a New York City-based graphic designer to help put the finishing touches on a project we're working on. (We have a strong preference for someone who can visit and consult with us in our office. But we're not ruling out someone who could do the work remotely.)
The key to this project is not so much graphics and imagery as finding ways to intuitively and elegantly organize data. So it falls somewhere on the spectrum between graphic design and information architecture. And we need someone with real experience and skills in that area.
If you're interested, please email us at the comments email address at the upper right with the subject line "Design Project" and provide examples or descriptions of work you've done that would be relevant to the kind of project described above.
--Josh Marshall
Sarah Palin and Barney Frank are keynoting tonight's Gridiron Club dinner in Washington.
--David Kurtz
Sarah Palin encamped with her corps of revolutionaries at a book signing this morning in Fairfax, Virginia, not far from the battlefield at Manassas. Our reporter filed this report.
--David Kurtz
Here's a fun story to end the week with.
Guy sends an email to friends and family recounting his single-handedly thwarting a potential terrorist plane hijacking at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport by man-handling a group of Arabs in "full attire" and tossing them from the plane. The email goes viral on the right-wing interwebs, even ending up on Glenn Beck's Project 9/12 website.
Turns out the incident was actually a misunderstanding that happened when a Spanish-speaking passenger didn't understand a flight attendant's instructions to turn off his cell phone. And even better, the "hero" who wrote the email wasn't even in Atlanta when the events happened. He was supposed to be, but missed his connecting flight. (The airline debunks the email in great detail here.)
But hey, let's not let that stop us from enjoying Tedd Petruna's description of his swashbuckling run-in with the terrorists.
I think my favorite part is the moment when two of the Muslim terrorists, apparently getting ready to hijack the plane, "began to show footage of a porno they had taped the night before, and were very loud about it." Now, I don't know terrorist best practices. But it seems like an odd time to bust out some porn. Petruna explains the significance of this odd behavior ...
Now....they are only permitted to do this prior to Jihad. If a Muslim man goes into a strip club, he has to view the woman via mirror with his back to her. (don't ask me....I don't make the rules, but I've studied) The 3rd stewardess informed them that they were not to have electronic devices on at this time. To which one of the men said "shut up infidel dog!" She went to take the camcorder and he began to scream in her face in Arabic.
Full email after the jump ...
--Josh Marshall
Harry Reid gets key liberal and conservative Dems into a room together to hammer out a public option compromise. "There's no question about that," Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV) told reporters. "This should have started a long time ago and thankfully Harry Reid caught it in time to put us together."
--Josh Marshall
Looks like this isn't turning out to be a fun evening for Max Baucus.
--Josh Marshall
This has been bubbling among tech types and civil liberty advocates for a few days, but once we looked into it decided it was worth a bit more attention.
The big revelation is that one wireless telecom company in a single year processed 8 million law enforcement requests for GPS data on the company's wireless users. And that's just one company.
For non-techies, law enforcement isn't tapping into the GPS interface you might use to get directions from the airport. Rather, it's the GPS capability that all phones manufactured today are required by federal regulations to have so that if you dial 911 from the phone, first responders can find you.
It's a fascinating (and, yes, alarming) story. Justin Elliott has talked to the company, Sprint, and fills out the picture of how your cell phone can be used to track your whereabouts, with what appears to be minimal, if any, judicial oversight.
--David Kurtz
Recent Archives
December 6, 2009 - December 12, 2009
November 29, 2009 - December 5, 2009
November 22, 2009 - November 28, 2009
November 15, 2009 - November 21, 2009
This morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the Senate floor to make a plea for passing health care reform, comparing it to the fight for civil rights, women's suffrage and an end to slavery. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) took offense.
As the next round of climate change negotiations begin in Copenhagen, a new report reveals how much influence George Bush's climate team still has in Congress.
The stated goal of Tea Party: The Documentary Film (a movie made by tea partiers, for tea partiers) is to reveal the heart of the movement, "to share the story with those on the outside who are looking to understand its true nature." In that, it fails.
Editor & Publisher
Josh MarshallManaging Editor
David KurtzReporter-Bloggers
Christina BellantoniSenior News Editor
Ben FruminVideo Editor
Ben CrawNews Writers
Versha SharmaGeneral Manager &
General Counsel
Vice President of Sales
Diane RinaldoDesigner/Developer
Al ShawResearch Interns
Mark Bergen
© 2009 TPM Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
