Discord among the Astroturf

By Mustang Bobby

Former Rep. Dick Armey is bailing on the Tea Party group he helped start:

Armey, the former House majority leader who helped develop and promote the GOP's Contract with America in the 1990s, tendered his resignation in an memo sent to Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of FreedomWorks, on November 30. Mother Jones obtained the email on Monday, and Armey has confirmed he sent it. The tone of the memo suggests that this was not an amicable separation.

[...]

In the email, Armey indicated that he wants nothing to do with FreedomWorks anymore. He asked that all user names, passwords, and security-related data created in his name be emailed to him by the close of business on December 4. He even insisted that FreedomWorks -- "effective immediately" -- was "prohibited" from using a booklet he authored. Was Armey's resignation a reaction to the recent election results? "Obviously I was not happy with the election results," he says. "We might've gotten better results if we had gone in a different direction. But it isn't that I got my nose out of line because we should've done better."

Armey declined to specify his disagreements with FreedomWorks. Asked if they were ideological or tactical, he replies, "They were matters of principle. It's how you do business as opposed to what you do. But I don't want to be the guy to create problems."

I don't know if this is a sign of a larger trend among the nutsery or just an internal difference at FreedomWorks, but it's not altogether unexpected after losing an election that they portrayed as the Most Important Election in the history of the world. They've been working on destroying the Democrats and Barack Obama for so long and not only did he get re-elected, the Democrats actually gained seats in the House and Senate.

They also spent a certifiable shitload of money to get nothing. Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate, spent more than $150 million of his own money, first in support of Newt Gingrich, then on other races, and crapped out. In Ohio, Josh Mandel spent about $23 a vote to lose to Sherrod Brown. So there has to be a lot of pissed-off people on the right, and it's natural that they start eating their own.

You want fries with that?

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

Four Dems I can believe in

By Michael J.W. Stickings

CBS News:

Four Democratic senators, including two facing potentially challenging election campaigns this year, are asking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to use reconciliation, a procedural maneuver requiring only 51 votes, to push for a public health insurance option.

Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Jeff Merkley (Ore.) signed a letter to Reid saying they support this plan for four reasons: the cost savings the public option is estimated to achieve, continued public support for the public option, the need for increased competition in the insurance market and the Senate's history of using the reconciliation process for health care reform.

"Put simply, including a strong public option is one of the best, most fiscally responsible ways to reform our health insurance system," the letter says. "Although we strongly support the important reforms made by the Senate-passed health reform package, including a strong public option would improve both its substance and the public's perception of it." 

I think that's exactly right. While polls show many Americans against the bills currently in Congress, with each house having passed a bill already -- and apparently in favour of starting over (which is really a non-starter, as doing so would be political suicide for Democrats), the opposition to reform has more to do with the ugliness of legislative sausage-making and the success of Republican propaganda than with the specifics of those bills, which remain widely popular.

Passing a bill, whether the compromise Senate bill (with no public option) or a broader, more significant bill with a "strong public option" would be a huge success for Democrats, one that would start to resonate with the American people once they understood more clearly what exactly has been achieved and that health-care reform isn't part of some left-wing socialist-fascist plot to take over the country but rather something all Americans would benefit from over time. (Of course, this would require a concerted communications effort on the part of the White House and Congressional Dems.)

In short, "the public's perception" of the reform effort would improve dramatically with passage, with success. For once, Democrats should do what is totally in their self-interest. Because in this case, what is totally in their self-interest is also totally in the best interests of the American people. And that isn't often the case in politics.

The truth about health-care reform: the public option (2)

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Here's a third Q&A from the Senate Democratic Policy Committee's Citizens Forum. I posted one on affordability on Monday and one on the public option on Tuesday.

Curtis Macchioni (Livermore, CA): Why can't we have a public option?

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH): Public option will compete with private insurance companies, help cut costs, and be available anywhere.