Howard Dean Says “Kill The Bill” and Move to Reconciliation

Sincere apologies to all those who wrote in - we have a lot more of your comments, but I’m withholding them until Thursday to get this word out from Dr. Howard Dean, please see item #2.

1. Article: Where Does Lieberman Stand At This Moment?

2. Howard Dean Says Kill The Bill and Go to Reconciliation

3. Article: Rep. Capuano Warns Dems

1. Article: Where Does Lieberman Stand At This Moment?

Yes, Lieberman threatened to tank the legislation last Sunday because of the Medicare provision, which he actually supported as recently as three months ago.

And yesterday it was reported on Politico and TPM that Rahm Emanuel had been sent by the White House to tell Reid to make whatever concessions Lieberman wanted.

Perhaps as a result, Lieberman changed course again, announcing that he’s getting closer to supporting the bill, now that he’s won his concessions, and now that, apparently, the White House has signaled that it will concede to whatever future concessions Mr. Lieberman desires.

If you’re scratching your head about any of this, I strongly recommend this New York Times piece, not for the Pollyanna-ish silver lining which appears, ludicrously, to suggest that Lieberman has somehow united Democrats, but for the analysis of what happened and where this could go from here.

2. Article: Howard Dean Gives You Permission To Kill The Bill And Move To Reconciliation

The plumline has been wrong before, so please read this with some skepticism. On the other hand, TPM is also linking to it, and the initial report is from usually trustworthy Vermont public radio.

3. Article: Rep Capuano Literally Warns Fellow Dems: “You’re Screwed”

We, as a group of progressives and Democrats, have made this same point as Rep Capuano many times in the newsletter. Our concerns about the administration’s direction don’t stem from a dislike the President (the Prez is a supernice guy – that’s in fact part of the problem) but because we know that by failing to deliver, we risk losing big in the 2010 elections. Losing more seats in 2010 would ostensibly further hamstring the reforms that the President indicated he wanted sometime back during the 2008 campaign. You know, those reforms to which the President continues to allude, however vaguely, and every once in a while?

And just what is Capuano’s warning? The administration’s failure to generate jobs, and its decision to escalate in Afghanistan. Ya think?