Bad Congressman!

Apparently Congressman Steve Latourette had a town hall meeting today (I must've missed the memo). Below is a video from a progressive blogger who cornered him after the event. Frankly, the video just makes me wish these guys were better-prepared to face legislators--preparing a question doesn't do much good if you're not in a position to challenge a false answer. Anyway, have a look (I especially like the lady who shows up toward the end of the video):



I feel compelled to make a few brief comments:

0:57 It's nice to see an admission that prominent radio/TV conservatives are entertainers but as a stand-alone statement this is a cop out. They're still influencing opinions and spreading lies and one would (naively) think that as a public official it's Latourette's job to dispel the myths.

1:23 Conflating the public option with the reform plan as a whole is disingenuous. The CBO estimates about 12 million people will be in the public option in a decade. The vast majority of people will have employer-based or private insurance purchased through a Health Insurance Exchange. So the health care system post-reform will be "government-run" due to the presence of a public option in the same way that it's "government-run" right now due to the existence of Medicare.

1:30 Latourette points out that Medicare is expensive. I assume we're supposed to take this to imply that the public option will similarly be expensive. What he doesn't mention is that H.R. 3200 specifically sets up a self-financing public option: the public option's benefits plans and administrative costs are to be financed entirely through premiums paid by enrollees. It isn't authorized to tap into general revenue as Medicare is. But won't the public option be absurdly expensive like Medicare? Medicare is aimed primarily at people aged 65+. It would be tough to pick a more expensive demographic to provide with universal health care (if something like 70-80% of health care expenses are incurred toward the end of one's life then is it surprising that a program designed to treat the elderly is expensive?). The comparison isn't apt and I would hope that a U.S. Congressman who will soon be in a position to vote on this bill understands that.

3:42 "All over my district, BarackObama.com sent out emails encouraging people to come." Yes, both sides are organizing. I myself received one of the emails he mentioned; here's the beginning of it:

stanek --

All throughout August, our members of Congress are back in town. Insurance companies and partisan attack groups are stirring up fear with false rumors about the President's plan, and it's extremely important that folks like you speak up now.

So we've cooked up an easy, powerful way for you to make a big impression: Office Visits for Health Reform.

All this week, OFA members like you will be stopping by local congressional offices to show our support for insurance reform. You can have a quick conversation with the local staff, tell your personal story, or even just drop off a customized flyer and say that reform matters to you.

We'll provide everything you need: the address, phone number, and open hours for the office, information about how the health care crisis affects your state for you to drop off (with the option of adding your personal story), and a step-by-step guide for your visit. [. . .]

Contrast that with the memos of lobbyist-funded conservative groups documented by ThinkProgress. One such memo offers "best practices" for conservative activists to use against any Congressperson who "supported the Socialist agenda of the Democratic Leadership in Washington," including:

– Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”

– Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”

– Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.”

I'm not seeing the equivalence.

5:03 Latourette repeats a claim he made earlier in the video: the most ardent supporters of this bill see it as a vehicle for single-payer. He admits he has no idea what percentage of Democrats are in on this devious conspiracy but he names Barney Frank and Dennis Kucinich as examples. Kucinich, as I mentioned a few posts ago, has publicly said he's undecided on H.R. 3200 (he's busy pushing H.R. 676--you know, the actual single-payer bill). Frank did say recently--when confronted by a single-payer advocate with a video camera--that a he thinks "if we get a good public option it could lead to single-payer." However, this is hardly an admission that the system set up under H.R. 3200 will naturally evolve into a single-payer system (CBO analysis would indicate that this isn't even remotely true). I imagine he meant it in a public relations sense--right now single-payer isn't popular enough among legislators or the general public. A well-run public option might soften the ground for single-payer if people decide they're not really so averse to the idea. Regardless, Latourette was not being very truthful, was he?

So, yeah. I'd like to see a little more real-time fact-checking but I realize that's easier said than done.

P.S. Here's a piece of the discussion mcmahon and I had after I showed him this video:

me: i'm going to write a quick speakeasy post about this
mcmahon: oh jesus christ stanek, what is this, blogger day at the beach?

Guess so.

Birthers, Deathers

I wonder why so many on the extreme right oppose expanded health care access when it's increasingly clear that so many of them could really benefit from expanded mental health coverage.

Disappointment

Amid recent news of an apparent deal between the Obama administration and Big Pharma, it seems many on the left are angry or disappointed with what they view as a mounting list of capitulations or broken promises from the president. Have a cartoon, guys!

How Delightfully Confusing

Apologies for the health care post overload recently but there's much to be said. I want to make a quick note about the merits of message coordination.

On the way home from lunch at my local brewing establishment, I happened to hear part of a tele-townhall meeting held by Dennis Kucinich. The townhall was on the topic of health care and the little Congressman was taking calls and answering people's questions. It didn't take long for me to realize that the bill he was promoting and explaining was a "Medicare for all" plan, not the plan before Congress now. Kucinich was pushing H.R. 676, a single-payer plan that has been introduced in the past few Congresses. Single-payer systems work like Canada's Medicare: virtually everyone gets their insurance through the government, even if hospitals and doctors remain private. What Kucinich arguably should have been talking about was H.R. 3200 (wow, what a shit wiki page), the health care bill that's going to be voted on in September and discussed throughout the month of August.

That's not to say I think single-payer is without merits or that it shouldn't be be a subject of public discussion (in some ways, I suspect it would be a better idea than the current plan). But at this moment, people are confused about the health care plans being devised in Congress. Republicans are in full fear-mongering mode, yet I'm not seeing a coherent, coordinated explanation of the reforms in question being made by the Democrats. In fairness, there isn't currently a plan, there are multiple plans. But I think House Dems should be at home this month selling the House bill (and, as we've seen, some are, despite astroturf opposition). And Kucinich's decision to sell a single-payer system instead of educating constituents on H.R. 3200 strikes me as counterproductive and irresponsible. He did try and clarify that the two are different bills--apparently he's undecided on H.R. 3200--but I wonder how many people who listened to him will now believe that Congress will be voting on "Medicare for all" when they go back in September?

To make it all more confusing, Congress will be doing just that. For the first time ever, Congress is going to take a floor vote on single-payer health care. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), the guy in the video a few posts down daring Republicans to vote against Medicare, will introduce an amendment to H.R. 3200 that effectively strips out most of its 1,000+ pages of text and inserts much of the language of H.R. 676. Speaker Pelosi has indicated that she's going to allow this and that the House will indeed vote on replacing the plan currently under consideration with a single-payer plan. I assume this is meant to try and appease the liberals who are upset that single-payer was never on the table during this ongoing health care debate, though I wonder what would happen in the unlikely event that House Republicans decide to play a high-stakes game of chicken and actually vote for Weiner's amendment?

What's the takeaway point of all my hand-wringing? People are confused--bombarded with misinformation actually--and this stuff isn't helping.

On a totally unrelated note, here's a cool link: Recovery Tracker, Lake County.

Getting out of hand

To add onto that last post, we have some news from ThinkProgress:

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the president of the freshman Democratic class has revealed that “at least one freshman Democrat” has already been “physically assaulted at a local event.” Connolly warned that conservative groups had taken things to a “dangerous level“:

“When you look at the fervor of some of these people who are all being whipped up by the right-wing talking heads on Fox, to me, you’re crossing a line,’ Connolly said. ‘They’re inciting people to riot with just total distortions of facts. They think we’re going to euthanize Grandma and the government is going to take over.”

No word yet on any details of who he's talking about or how that person was assaulted so maybe it's nothing. And frankly I don't know if it's the rent-a-mobs that are getting crazy or if they're just whipping the more deranged rightwingers into a frenzy (see this Daily Kos diary on how threats against Obama's life are up 400% from the threats received by his predecessor a year ago).

Moreover:

TOWN HALLS GONE WILD: In one incident of right-wing outrage, protesters surrounded Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY), forcing police to escort him to his car. In another, anti-health care protesters hung up an effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) outside his district office in Salisbury, MD. The city was the site of a recent symposium on the dangers of "government-run health care," sponsored by a group called "Patients First," a project of AFP. Two nights ago, Reps. Steve Kagen (D-WI) and Steve Driehaus (D-OH) had to face down angry mobs. Kagen, whose town hall was targeted by the Wisconsin chapter of AFP, was "repeatedly disrupted" by "incomprehensible" shrieks and shouts from conservatives. And just last night, Fox's local Houston affiliate reported that at a rowdy town hall hosted by Rep. Gene Green (D-TX), some attendees admitted "they don't live in the district."

I forgot to mention in the post below that someone in the crowd of protesters that accosted Lloyd Doggett had a marble tombstone with the Congressman's name on it. These people are coming unhinged.

Astroturfing

There's nothing more powerful in American politics than a grassroots uprising. The successful reforms of the Progressive Era show what can be accomplished with the active support of The People™. On the other hand, the repeated failures of pushes for universal health care in the United States show how a lack of grassroots support can kill proposals even if they--at least on paper and in opinion polls--are widely popular. Grassroots support is particularly attractive because it can work simultaneously on two entirely different levels: as a bottom-up viral spread of support that catches on between acquaintances, family members, and colleagues, and as a top-down testament in the newspapers and on television to the existence of popular support for a proposal (potentially triggering a positive feedback bandwagon effect that further widens and deepens support).

Today we stand once more on the brink of overhauling the U.S. health care system. Our primary goals as a nation are simple: attack soaring health care costs and reverse alarming growth in the number of uninsured Americans. And once more the forces of opposition are fanning the flames of fear and resentment in a bid to turn public opinion against a popular president and a (hitherto) popular idea.

The House went into recess last Friday and since then we've been hit with a barrage of stories about Congressmen (and some Senators) being confronted by rowdy anti-reform crowds. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) was shouted down at a town hall meeting the other day by chants of "Just say no!" Patrick Murphy (D-PA) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) reportedly had similar experiences in their districts. In a joint appearance, Senator Arlen Specter and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius faced disruptions at a town hall meeting last Sunday. What's going on here? Are we witnessing a grassroots backlash against perceived federal overreaching? No. The indications are pouring in this is the polar opposite of grassroots efforts--the wolf in sheep's clothing known as astroturfing.

As the name would suggest, astroturfing refers to a sort of artificial grassroots. Here's how now-Senator Sherrod Brown describes it in his 1999 book Congress from the Inside:

During the last several years, "artificial" grassroots have sprung up; some call it "astro-turf lobbying." Created and managed by political consultants looking for business between elections, and paid for by corporations looking for broad public support for their political agenda, corporate grassroots have emerged as an increasingly major political force in Congress. During the [1993] health care debate, special interest groups played a major role in defeating the bill.

If these protests are in fact a result of astroturfing, then they are organized and funded by corporate enemies of health care reform (e.g. the insurance industry). The intent, of course, would be to feed the perception--and generate the self-fulfilling prophecy--that the political winds are blowing against H.R. 3200, the health care reform proposal. The primary targets are undoubtedly Democratic Congressmen--particularly Blue Dogs representing red-tinted districts--and the great mass of undecided or wavering voters (if passionate and committed citizens are taking the time to protest the health care bill, perhaps it is a fundamentally flawed bill that will do more harm than good, no?). Have a listen to what Rep. Doggett has to say about the mob at his town hall:



In a recent interview with ThinkProgress, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin warned his colleagues against these sorts of tactics:

DURBIN: Well I think members should be out, speaking with the public, meeting with people who are the health care professionals and talking about the current situation. I’ve done it and I’ll continue to do it. But you know, I hope my colleagues won’t fall for a sucker-punch like this. These health insurance companies and people like them are trying to load these town halls for visual impact on television. They want to show thousands of people screaming ‘socialism’ and try to overcome the public sentiment which now favors health care reform. That’s almost like flooding the switchboards on Capitol Hill. It doesn’t prove much other than the switchboards have limited capacity. So, we need to have a much more balanced approach that really allows members of Congress to hear both sides of the story, rather than being sucker-punched or side-tracked by these types of tactics.

Of course, this sort of thing isn't new. Let's take a trip down memory lane to a sorrowful place, the mention of which should make every American wince: Florida 2000. In those dark days of uncertainty and recounting, public opinion was torn, mostly along partisan lines. At some polling places where recounts were ongoing, outraged local residents attempted to storm and disrupt the process. The most famous such incident--the so-called "Brooks Brothers Riot" in honor of the "conservative business attire" worn by the rioters--took place at the Miami-Dade County polling headquarters. This mob of protesters attempted to disrupt the recount by shouting "Stop the fraud!" and "Let us in!" A moving display of the passions felt by voters genuinely worried about the integrity of the election process. Well, actually no. The entire fiasco was orchestrated by a certain Republican candidate's campaign and his party's Congressional leadership. The concerned "locals" in the mob turned out to actually be operatives of said party members. Here's a snapshot of the "protesters":




Now we're seeing the same kind of phony grassroots support being purchased by interests that want to derail the current health care reform efforts. All the examples mentioned above happened over the first weekend of the House recess. I imagine we're going to see a lot more astroturfing before the month of August is over. In a worst case scenario, these corporate capers stall any momentum health care reform has going into September (and trimming off enough Blue Dogs and conservative Senators to make passage contentious) leading to a defeat or emasculation of the legislation. Democrats trudge through 2010 demoralized, embittered, and disillusioned while Republicans emerge from the fight energized. Midterm elections have notoriously low turnouts but, as we all know, decisions are made by those who show up. While a 52-seat Republican pickup in the House, à la 1994, is unlikely, any sort of large gains could further stymie any major policy initiatives the Obama administration wants to push before his re-election campaign. I don't even want to recap the events of the Clinton administration here much less relive them.

But this nightmarish vision need not come to pass. Astroturfing can be beaten by real grassroots support. Emailing or calling Congressmen, or painstakingly working to convince your friends and neighbors, a handful at a time, of the need for real reform are the little steps anyone can make. I think in future posts we'll look at some of the misconceptions (and outright lies) spreading about H.R. 3200 and how best to fight them.

Update: Check out this new ad from the DNC:



Update to the update: According to CNN,

National Republicans turned the tables on their political counterparts Wednesday by redirecting angry telephone calls coming into their switchboard to the Democratic National Committee.

The DNC released a Web video early in the morning accusing the GOP of inciting mob activity at town hall meetings.

At the end of the video, the DNC instructs people to call the Republican National Committee to express outrage. Callers who dial the RNC's main number to voice their concern about the DNC's charges are told to press 1, which sends them to the DNC's main switchboard.

Clever and douche-y, all at once.

Still a Pimp

This is what a badass looks like:

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has pardoned two jailed American journalists and ordered their release following an unannounced meeting with former President Bill Clinton, media reports said Tuesday.

Clinton met earlier Tuesday with Kim after arriving in Pyongyang on a surprise visit, holding "exhaustive" talks that covered a wide range of topics, state-run media said.

Clinton traveled to communist North Korea on a mission to try to secure the release of Americans Euna Lee, 36, and Laura Ling, 32, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture who were arrested along the Chinese-North Korean border in March and sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor for illegal entry and engaging in "hostile acts."

He shows up and big, bad (small, short) dictators turn to jelly. Thanks, Bill!