While the Senate is almost certain to remove the controversial Nebraska deal known as the “Cornhusker Kickback” in a final health-care bill, President Obama’s efforts to cut out other state-specific arrangements are drawing resistance from lawmakers.

Such deals include a provision exempting Florida from some Medicare cuts, an issue Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) raised at the bipartisan health summit, as well as extra Medicaid cash for Massachusetts and Vermont.

“We’ve made it clear to the Senate that the president’s position in the final legislation should not contain provisions that favor a single state or a single district differently than others,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said this week.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s spokesperson responded: “We’re going to do what we have to do to get a bill out of the House and Senate.” He said of the White House’s wish: “We’ll certainly keep it in mind as we pull together a final bill.”

Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) also defended the extra money for his state on the basis that Vermont already provides generous benefits to its residents before reform and shouldn’t be “penalized for doing the right thing.”

And Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) is pushing back against efforts to cut out a provision granting Medicare benefits to residents of a single town in his state that’s suffered from mining-related health problems. But first, health-care must pass the House.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich talks to Benjamin Sarlin about being the lone liberal “no” vote and Obama’s 11th-hour campaign to win him over.

[Source: The Daily Beast]

So reports the Pahrump Valley Times. “Republicans are giddy in anticipation of defeating the Democrats in the 2010 mid-term elections,” writes Mark Waite, reporter for the PVT.

Their good spirits frothed over during the first Lincoln-Reagan Dinner sponsored by the Nye County Republican Central Committee at the Pahrump Nugget Event Center Friday night.

Republican Nevada Senator John Ensign was the keynote speaker at the event. He got standing ovations from the crowd of 250.

Regarding the Democrats pursuance of reconciliation of the pending health care bill, Senator Ensign is quoted saying:

“So they’re going to commit political suicide by trying it, passing it through the Senate,” said Ensign. “Let them all vote for it, including our senator [Harry Reid]. He’ll vote for it. Come November the president said, ‘OK, we’ll see what happens in the election.’ Let me tell you, if they haven’t gotten it by now, they’re about as close to politically tone deaf as any party I’ve seen. Because November comes, they’re going to get slaughtered.”

Referring to posters he sees in Washington Ensign remarked:

While posters at Washington, D.C., airports after Obama’s win used to say things like “vote for change,” Ensign joked, now you see things like “keep the change.”

Ensign “criticized the rising deficit under the Democrats, defended interrogation techniques like waterboarding, criticized the health care bill and unemployment,” Waite reported.

“With all these great candidates out there, afterwards let’s get together, so between now and Election Day we put all of our efforts into making sure we take as many seats as we can in the Assembly, we take as many seats as we can in the state Senate, we take every constitutional office, we end up with at least a two-to-one in our congressional seats, and by the way, we have two Republican senators from the state of Nevada,” Ensign said.

An ambitious target, I must say.

Nevada Republican Party Chairman Chris Comfort was in attendance.

“People want the titular heads of the Socialist movement, Harry Reid, locked up. They want it over and done with. We have competent and capable candidates, any one of them can do this to Harry Reid,” Comfort said. “What happened in Virginia and New Jersey, what happened in Massachusetts, pales in comparison to what we’re going to do to Harry Reid and the Democrats come November.”

Sounds like Nye County’s Democrats might as well sit out this next election.

Sue Lowden released a new TV Ad titled “One Size Fits All”, where she uses falsehoods and distortions to undermine Sen. Reid’s hard work reforming our broken health insurance system to ensure quality, affordable medical care for all Nevadans.

In her TV ad Sue Lowden says:

As a mom I know one-size-fits-all clothes don’t fit, aren’t comfortable and are seldom a bargain. So why does Harry Reid want to force one-size fits-all government health care on us? Harry Reid thinks Washington knows best. But I think we the people know best.

Senator Reid answers:

FACT: THE SENATE HEALTH REFORM BILL PRESERVES THE PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE SYSTEM WHILE PROVIDING AFFORDABLE, QUALITY COVERAGE FOR 518,000 NEVADANS AND ENACTING BADLY-NEEDED INSURANCE INDUSTRY REFORMS

PolitiFact: “By Any Reasonable Definition, There’s No Way That The Democratic Plan Could Be Considered A Government Takeover.” In February 2010, PolitiFact wrote, “Many Republicans have said the Democratic health care plan is a ‘government takeover’ of the nation’s health system. The phrase has appeared in at least 700 newspaper articles in the past six months, according to a Nexis search. It’s been a powerful weapon for the GOP opposition because it conjures images of a sluggish, state-run bureaucracy … By any reasonable definition, there’s no way that the Democratic plan could be considered a government takeover. Indeed, its primary approach is to set up new systems to encourage private health insurance companies to provide more coverage and better services. The cornerstone of the Democratic program is actually the status quo. The majority of Americans would continue to get health coverage the way they do now — from private insurance companies. That coverage would be paid for the same way it is now — by private employers and individual premiums. That’s not a government takeover.” [PolitiFact, 2/24/10 (emphasis in original)]

PolitiFact: “Once again, we are faced with over-the-top rhetoric about the health care plan. It’s perfectly legitimate to raise questions about the plan and the government’s role, but it’s wildly incorrect to label it a government takeover. Yes, the plan would expand the government’s role, but it primarily would continue to rely on private insurers for the vast majority of Americans. And, for people who have trouble getting coverage, it would create a marketplace so people could shop for coverage from private insurers.It’s ridiculously false to call that a government takeover. For this one, we need to strike a match and set the meter ablaze. Pants on Fire!” [PolitiFact, 2/24/10 (emphasis in original)]

Las Vegas Sun: Senate Health Care Bill Is “An Important Step Toward Providing Health Coverage For Every American.” In a December 2009 editorial, the Las Vegas Sun wrote, “Just after 1 a.m. Monday, the Senate turned back a Republican filibuster attempt on health care reform legislation, opening the way for its expected passage this week. Although not perfect, the bill is a tremendous achievement and an important step toward providing health coverage for every American … More than 30 million Americans, including 518,000 Nevadans, who don’t have insurance will become eligible for affordable health care under the plan. The legislation would provide tax credits for individuals and small businesses to help them pay for insurance coverage. The bill lays out a deficit-reduction plan, and it should ease the burden taxpayers and people with insurance carry because of the uninsured, the costs of whose use of public medical services and hospital emergency rooms currently are passed on to taxpayers and people with insurance. The legislation also would prohibit providers from denying people insurance because of pre-existing conditions, including diabetes and hypertension, ailments that afflict millions.” [Las Vegas Sun, Editorial, 12/22/09]

What say you now Ms. Lowden?

Republicans have repeatedly warned Democrats that they’ll stop at nothing to stall the reconciliation process, which they can do by offering copious amounts of amendments. One Republican aide even said, “While debate time is limited, the number and content of amendments are not.” But is this a foolproof strategy? Reconciliation experts say that the Dems can circumvent those amendments by simply waiving them. But how can they stop the onslaught of amendments Republicans may throw at them? “That’s uncharted territory,” says Talking Points Memo, “but, as one expert points out, the chair in the Senate—a.k.a. Vice President Joe Biden—has almost unlimited power to make rulings so long as 50 members are willing to go along with them. And if Republican tactics were to go over the line, Democrats would theoretically be able to put a stop to them.”

[Source: Talking Points Memo]

Marla Turner sent a message to the members of Thinking Liberally on Facebook. I want to share it with you all.

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Subject: Important Events Taking Place This Week

Hello Liberals!

Several important events are taking place this week on Capital Hill. It is in all our best interests to be as engaged as possible for what could be the beginning of the end for an unregulated health insurance industry and the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy.

To get ready for health insurance reform actions this week, I recommend reading Noelle’s diary at Daily Kos. http://www.facebook.com/l/06a26;www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/21/132029/805?new=true. In it she outlines the following three things that all of us can do right now to support health care reform.

1. Tell your Representative to sign on to the Perriello-Markey bill to repeal the antitrust exemption for insurance companies. This is a very easy call: insurance companies shouldn’t be allowed to collude to set prices: they should have to compete for business fairly. Period. http://www.facebook.com/l/06a26;action.progressivecongress.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=857

2. Tell your Senator to sign onto the Bennet letter in support of a public option. They can join twenty of their colleagues who have signed on this week, including Sen. Schumer – who, as the chair of the Senate Rules Committee, knows a fair amount about Senate process and how to get this done procedurally. http://www.facebook.com/l/06a26;action.progressivecongress.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=858

3. Be one of a million voices for health care: pledge to make calls on Feb 24 for members of Congress to fix and pass the health care bill. Sign up now at http://www.facebook.com/l/06a26;www.moveon.org/r?r=86481&rc=vm.mailto

MONDAY 2/22:

The White House is expected to release the details of the newest health care reform proposals. Although both President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have thrown their support to the public option, the version coming out tomorrow is not expected to contain it. Instead, it is likely to include a recommendation of utilizing the budget reconciliation procedure (for the public option) in order to bypass a potential Republican filibuster in the Senate.

You can find the details tomorrow at http://www.facebook.com/l/06a26;www.whitehouse.gov.

TUESDAY 2/23:

Testimony begins on repealing DADT. Speakers include the Army’s Gen. George Casey and the Air Force’s Gen. Norton Schwartz. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway, who is said to oppose changes to the policy, will testify on Wednesday. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen says he believes DADT unfairly forces gay and lesbians in the military to “compromise their integrity” by pretending to be something they’re not. Listen to who says what and let your representatives and senators know where you stand.

Proceedings can be viewed on http://www.facebook.com/l/06a26;www.cspan.org.

WEDNESDAY 2/24:

All hands on deck! This is the 1,000,000 Voices Virtual March, a joint project by MoveOn, HCAN, DFA, SEIU, and Progressive Congress which aims to bombard Congress with 1,000,000 contacts in support of health care reform. This is timed to occur the day before the start of President Obama’s bi-partisan summit.

Sign up now and on the 24th, you’ll be able to use their tools to contact Congress and the Senate – and to take action of your choice, whether by calling, emailing, faxing, or writing. It’s simple, painless, and takes about a minute. DO IT – we need you.

Sign up here to participate on Wednesday: http://www.facebook.com/l/06a26;www.moveon.org/r?r=86481&rc=vm.mailto

THURSDAY 2/25:

The bi-partisan summit President Obama requested begins. Obama says that the summit will test Democratic and Republican lawmakers’ ability to solve not just the health care reform debate but other problems, too. Republicans consider the summit to be a trap. In a sense, I think they’re right. Because if they continue to play the role of obstructionist, they’ve outed themselves to the American public. And the insurance company rate hikes that took place last week give those in support of health care reform a great starting point to kick off this event.

The summit begins at 10:00 a.m. EST and will be broadcast live on C-Span. Check your local listings or visit http://www.facebook.com/l/06a26;www.cspan.org.

The ante has been upped and we’ve got to stay engaged to see these things through. Thanks in advance for hanging in there through this long message and for doing your part. Together, WE make the difference!

As always, be well and do good,

Marla

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To reply to this message, follow the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox%2Freadmessage.php&t=1245687021039&mid=1eb8303G1e01b99dG4f01fe0G0

___

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Politics and Senators. There is a tiny clause tucked into a 383-page Manager’s Amendment to the Senate health care reform bill. You can read it on page 98. It relates to money that states will have to pick up with regard to Medicaid. The Senate bill would expand Medicaid to people below 133 percent of the poverty level. Up until 2017, the federal government will pick up the tab for the added cost that will place on Nevada and all the other states of the union. After 2017, Nevada (and all the other states, except Nebraska) will have to start sharing the cost.

The bottom line is that Nebraska will never have to share the added cost of Medicaid if that amendment becomes law. The federal government would continue to pay for the added cost to Nebraska even after the year 2017. But Nevada will have to pay.

[Read more →]

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) filed a constitutional point of order against the legislation Tuesday, arguing that the mandate that all U.S. residents purchase health insurance or pay a penalty is unconstitutional. [California Healthline]

Ensign said that the federal government does not have the power to force individuals to buy a specific product. “(I)f one of my constituents in Nevada does not want to spend his or her hard-earned income on health insurance coverage and would prefer to spend it on something else, such as rent or a car payment, this requirement could be a taking of private property under the Fifth Amendment,” Ensign said.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) also said Monday that a provision in the bill that would levy fees on insurance companies — but would provide exceptions to benefit not-for-profit insurers in Nebraska and Michigan — “will not stand the test of the Constitution” because it “cannot be considered equal protection under the law.”

Some legal experts disagreed with Ensign and Hutchison, arguing that the mandate is constitutional because Congress is permitted to “regulate commerce… among the several states.” In addition, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment does not apply to Congress (CQ Today, 12/22).

Interesting constitutional question. Congress can pass any bill they want, constitutional or not. At any rate, the case is not yet ripe. A challenge could only be filed by someone who was penalized for not purchasing insurance, and the fine (or tax) portion of the overhaul won’t kick in – if the bill becomes law – until 2014 as the measures now stand.

We won’t know for sure until the United States Supreme Court decides it.

Dann Weeks wrote an informative article last week in the Pahrump Mirror about radioactive groundwater making its way from the Nevada Test Site toward Beatty. Tests showed the groundwater contains radioactive contamination.

Next time you fill your glass with water from your tap you may want to carry it into a dark closet to see if it glows. The radioactive ingredient is Tritium. What is Tritium? Well it is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. [Read more →]

This announcement is on behalf of the Nevada State Health Division:

The Nevada State Health and Nye County Emergency Services will hold a mass vaccination clinic for H1N1 on Saturday, December 5, 2009 from 10am to 2pm.

We will vaccinate the Tier I priority groups which includes:

· All individuals ages 6 months to 24 years

· Pregnant women

· Healthcare workers/EMS personnel

· Those that care for infants less than 6 months of age

· Folks ages 25 to 64 with chronic health conditions

· Children needing a second vaccination for H1N1

You will access the clinic site at Oxbow Street and State Route 160 and be directed from there. You will not be able to access the clinic site before 8am. For questions you can call 775-751-7070 or 775-751-4279

There is no charge for the H1N1 vaccination ___

The GOP doesn’t have a health care plan but devote their attention to how to prevent passage of a healthcare reform bill in Congress. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) has written and distributed a “how to manual” to his GOP Senators on how to obstruct passage of the bill. [Huffington Post]

Gregg makes note of all the procedural tools the GOP can use before measures are considered, when they come to the floor and even after passage.

1. He highlights the use of hard quorum calls for any motion to proceed, as opposed to a far quicker unanimous consent provision.
2. He reminds his colleagues that, absent unanimous consent, they can force the Majority Leader to read any “full-text substitute amendment.”
3. When it comes to offering amendments to the health care bill, the New Hampshire Republican argues that it is the personification of “full, complete, and informed debate,” to “offer an unlimited number of amendments — germane or non-germane — on any subject.”

The details of Gregg’s outline are a clear reflection of the extent to which Republicans are turning to the Byzantine processes of the Senate chamber as a means of holding up reform. And doing so with eagerness.

You can read Gregg’s full array of how to block passage on Huffington Post.