Before The Speech

Leave it to the Beltway to have a few circuses before the State of the Union Speech.

Michelle Bachmann's answer to Obama's speech has leaked. She calls for Obama to support a balanced budget amendment, something which would be disasterous, and to cut back the vast expansion of government of the past two years to the 2008 level, when it was OK because Bush was president. Shep Smith had a great line that Bachmann was "Out there where the trains don't run."

The gag here is that Obama is sooo bad that it takes two Republicans to respond to the SOTU speech--Bachmann and Ryan. Both parties are pissed that CNN ran Bachmann's speech.

Obama is going to call this "Our generation's Sputnik Moment", perhaps invoking that JFK made the speech fifty years ago. He will call for end to earmarks, which Harry Reid laughed at already. He calls for a five year moratorium on domestic and defense spending and adds some significant cuts to defense, saving about $400 billion through 2021. Obama will call this a downpayment on the national debt. Only yesterday, the Administration regained $5 billion in Medicare fraud. This socialist sure knows how to make money.

Not to be outdone by the President's efforts to cut the deficit, Rand Paul unveiled his plan to cut $500 billion in just 8 months. Meanwhile his father is over at the House rounding up the neo-isolationist Republicans to mount an effort to stop the Afghanistan war.

House Republicans today called for cutting off funding to the United Nations. It was deja vu all over again. But instead of any job legislation, the GOP has led out of the box with repealing healthcare,outlawing federally funded abortions even though they already are,ending taxbreaks for any businesses who purchase private health insurance, which funds abortion even though the policy holder doesn't get or want one. The next law up is an effort to ban same-sex marriage. Duncan Hunter wants to put spokes in the wheel to slow down the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell by making more service chiefs sign off on it.

Senate Republicans want a vote on tax provisions in the new healthcare bill. Remember they already voted on this last year. But Ezra Klein points out that these elements of the bill are actually fiscally important. The Democrats have polled each specific part of the healthcare bill and find only 16% are against any single part and only 18% are against the repeal of the whole bill. So they want to get Republicans to vote against the pre-existing condition clauses, no recessions, no lifetime caps on coverage, covering your child up to the age of 26 so that they are on record.

The President comes in tonight with the 43% of Americans believing the country is on the right track and 56% on the wrong track. Incredibly these are the best numbers on that question since 2007.

Should the Government rein in corporate greed? 59% say yes; 33% no. 67% of women say yes; only 51% of men. 80% of Democrats yes; only 35% of Republicans.

Thank God for Wyoming. They are now the bulwark against sharia law. The state legislature will outlaw sharia law to safeguard against the threat posed by their massive--OK, only 260 people--Muslim population. Maybe Wyoming wanted to one up the Montana Republican Party which wants to outlaw sodomy. No Brokeback Mountain in Butte.

Turns out that the National State Legislature Association--there is such a thing--found that secessionist wannabe Rick Perry used the federal stimulus funding to make up for more than 97% of Texas' shortfall this fiscal year. Texas was the largest recipient of stimulus money.

Little Ricky Cantor actually said that he would favor the Government taking back the stimulus money going to infrastructure projects in his district. But while campaigning, he made sure voters saw him giving out huge, blow-ups of federal checks. I'm sure the voters will appreciate it when the roads aren't paved.

Mitt Romney managed to dodge a bullet--maybe--when Marriott Hotels dropped porn from their hotels. Romney faced questions last go-around about how he remained on the board and knew that the hotel chain made over $100 million profits from porn alone. It's bad enough Mitt believes Jesus is the brother of Lucifer but this goes too far. Romney also began a firesale of his fifteen homes after he saw the criticism McCain endured in 2008.So he no longer has to be called The Porn King.

What's the difference between Tim Pawlenty and Dannon Yogurt. Dannon has a live culture.

It looks like David Riveria may be the first Republican freshman to resign. The FBI has begun investigations into his dubious campaign contributions and his statements on campaign finance laws.

The Illinois Supreme Court issued a stay on the Superior Court's decision to boot Rahm Emmanuel from Chicago's mayoral race.

If you root for non-profits or community owned businesses, it's the Green Bay Packers for the Super Bowl.

AND NOW THE SURPRISE OF THE EVENING--The speech won't really count. Enjoy it though. It might be the last time you see Obama before he retreats into the White House to deal with the collapse of governments throughout the Middle East. The real Big Enchilada--Egypt--looks shaky tonight as Cairo is now a War Zone. Riots have broken out through Jordan and Algeria. All because of the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia. Through it hezbollah forming the government in Lebanon and you know what will preoccupy President Obama for the next year.

Batten Down the Hatches--The Final Offensive

The House bill cleared the Finance Committee today by party-line vote. At this point, any discussion on votes is psyops.

The Chamber of Commerce has $25 million to spend this week on some 40 Democratic representatives in a last attempt to stop it. Millions more are coming through front organizations. Fox News has a little graph up of the so-called kickbacks--most of which get pulled from the bill. One was particularly interesting--they still insist on $10 billion to Vermont. This is Senator Sanders' little earmark for a nation-wide network of health care clinics. The best earmark I have ever seen.

My colleague here in the office says that, despite the noise level and the talking heads, he notices the Republicans have stopped lying about the Bill. When press secretary Gibbs appeared on Fox News and declared that by next weekend health care reform would be the law of the land, the comment section exploded not with attacks on President Obama but on Republicans for failing to kill it. Republicans in their Sunday appearances spoke as if the bill would pass.

Progressive networks and the labor unions are pulling a full-court press. Labor is explicitly telling Democrats that vote against it they can expect absolutely no support in the mid-terms. The White House itself has put members on notice about this--financial assistance in 2010 depends on cooperation is passing health reform.

The President went out to Cleveland today and gave his final healthcare rally with about five congresspeople there. It was his usual barnburner of a speech.

The Sunday New York Times printed an article about what it means for Obama if healthcare fails. Let's ask another question--What does it mean for lobbyists if the bill passes? Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent for over a year to kill this bill. What do you say to your clients when you fail? If you are a corporation looking at a tax bill, would you not think twice about hiring thse guys?

Relatively sane Republican former Tom Davis says that Republicans have an open field in 2010. But he warns Republicans not to be provocative or else they will draw out Obama's surge voters. Also, he cautioned candidates not to get into a debate on governance so the voter can compare. That is precisely what Democrats need to do--get down and force the comparisons.

Virginia's Attorney-General is not just a homophobe but he is also a brither and discussed how to challenge Obama's eligibility legally. We have our own Orly Taitz, one of the Republican candidates for Secretary of State in California. Also speaking of wingnuts, Michelle Bachman obviously thinks the health care bill will pass because now she is saying that voters just won't obey it and refuse to pay taxes. This is a women who took an oath of office to uphold the Constitution.

Tomorrow the FCC unveils its plans to increase American internet speeds by 25 times and to increase broadband in rural areas. A real Zedfest. I happen to think this is as big as FDR rural electrification plans in the New Deal. And it plays into Obama's overall plan to transform the United States so it can be competitive again in the foreign arena. We are now limping along about 15th in the world in terms of speed and interconnectivity. In healthcare we are 37th and dropping down to our nearest competitor Cuba. Thank God, we're still number 1 in persons incarcerated and spending on national security.

Tan Man Boehner talked on the Sunday shows about not closing Gitmo. How yesterday! Let's close it and give the facility to the Richard Cheney Vice Presidential Library. Marc Thiessen can be the administrative director, welcoming tourists to this great monument to American strength.

The US-Israel flap is serious. AIPAC, Eric Cantor and Joe Lieberman attacked the Administraion for their criticism of Israel in its plans to erect more condos on Palestinian land. Hillary Clinton gave Bibi a 43 minute earful about the decision and the treatment of Joe Biden. Now friends of Israel say Bibi apologized and is reconsidering the decision so enough is enough. Sounds good but what was at stake was serious. The Obama Admiistration gave Israel its largest increase in aid in years. At the same time, State Department envoys were rounding up Arab states to recognize Israel the minute it agreed to open talks again with the Palestinians. Just open up talks. 22 countries signed on. So the State Department was reacting to the fact that Bibi caved to an extreme-right member of his coalition at precisely the time the Vice President was there to start the talks again and trigger the multiple recognition. Bibi lit an exploding cigar, which he will regret, not the Obama Administration.

Also, rumors are rushing around the Middle East that Honi Mubarack is dead after surgery in Germany. I don't how true but it will happen sooner rather than later. He's 81 and in poor health. That triggers a fight between his family and the Muslim Brotherhood, which is picking up more support because of the issues in Gaza.

More later when I get up to date.