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   The American higher education system shunts striving low-
income students into a class of schools invisible to the elite.
The only thing these schools do well is drive their students to quit.
 How schools like George Washington University learned to offer Timex educations at Rolex prices.
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March 11, 2010
REID HAS A MESSAGE FOR MCCONNELL..... Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is making plans for the final floor activity on health care reform, and if there are lingering doubts from skeptical House Dems about Reid's intentions, they should check out his new letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Reid's letter wasn't exactly tepid. It accuses Republicans of "distorting the facts" and spreading "outright lies" while millions of Americans "struggle to afford to stay healthy, stay out of bankruptcy and stay in their homes." Reid reminded McConnell that Republican concerns about reconciliation are "unjustified," and that "the reconciliation bill now under consideration would not be the vehicle for comprehensive reform." The Majority Leader added that it's McConnell's party that has long loved this same procedure: "[O]ne might conclude that Republicans believe a majority vote is sufficient to increase the deficit and benefit the super-rich, but not to reduce the deficit and benefit the middle class. Alternatively, perhaps Republicans believe a majority vote is appropriate only when Republicans are in the majority. Either way, we disagree." He concludes by effectively daring McConnell and his caucus to oppose the legislation: "Keep in mind that reconciliation will not exclude Republicans from the legislative process. You will continue to have an opportunity to offer amendments and change the shape of the legislation. In addition, at the end of the process, the bill can pass only if it wins a democratic, up-or-down majority vote. If Republicans want to vote against a bill that reduces health care costs, fills the prescription drug "donut hole" for seniors and reduces the deficit, you will have every right to do so." Seems like someone had his Wheaties this morning. —Steve Benen 3:40 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (25)Comments
This is great, but it's months late. I feel the same way about Obama's recent offensive against the insurance industry. What, did he just realize that they're the problem? The Dems should have come out of the gate with an aggressive strategy to demonize the insurance companies and any Republicans who dared to stand with them against the American people. Instead, they wasted months negotiating with bad-faith actors who desired nothing more than the stop reform. If Reid and/or Obama had come on this strong from the beginning, HCR would be a done deal by now. Posted by: UncommonSense on March 11, 2010 at 3:45 PM | PERMALINKWhat's that old line again? Oh yeah: "Better late than never." Or maybe it was: "The knowledge that one is to be hanged in a fortnight wonderfully concentrates the mind." Posted by: smartalek on March 11, 2010 at 3:45 PM | PERMALINKCheck out the 'nads on the Senate Majority Leader! [Just try not to get all 'Massa' on 'em.] Posted by: chrenson on March 11, 2010 at 3:46 PM | PERMALINKWho is this imposter and what has he done with the real Harry Reid??? Posted by: Monty on March 11, 2010 at 3:46 PM | PERMALINKOoooh, Harry writes a "mean" letter to Mitch. I'm so impressed. But republicans "will continue to have an opportunity to offer amendments and change the shape of the legislation." Which they will do ad infinitum/nauseum. How many republican bullshit amendments will senate Dems have to listen to before Harry says their time is up? Posted by: bdop4 on March 11, 2010 at 3:48 PM | PERMALINKi hate to complain when a Dem shows any sign of spine, but rather than put this in writing, send it to McConnell and copying the press, wouldn't it make more sense to. . . i dunno. . . call a press conference with the entire caucus behind you and read the thing from a live mic? send it as an op-ed piece to every major newspaper (and some minor ones for good measure)? have every Democratic Senator send it to their entire e-mail address book simultaneously? send it as a direct mail piece at DNC/DSCC expense? have every person with a (D) after their name that appears on any media outlet for the next 48 hours make sure they get at least 3 quotes from it in their comments? sure, you can send it to McConnell as well, but if you really want the message out, you have to do better than that. Posted by: zeitgeist on March 11, 2010 at 3:48 PM | PERMALINKShorter Harry Reid: "Suck it, McConnell!" You go, Harry!! Posted by: Curmudgeon on March 11, 2010 at 3:49 PM | PERMALINKI am positively giddy over this letter. It is awesome. One of my favorite excerpts is: "[O]ne might conclude that Republicans believe a majority vote is sufficient to increase the deficit and benefit the super-rich, but not to reduce the deficit and benefit the middle class. Alternatively, perhaps Republicans believe a majority vote is appropriate only when Republicans are in the majority. Either way, we disagree." I believe Harry was an amateur boxer. This certainly shows a fighting spirit. A very thorough preemptive strike. Nicely done Harry. Posted by: Ladyhawke on March 11, 2010 at 3:55 PM | PERMALINKHarry told him what the Dims were gonna do and how they were gonna do it. Told him he was full of shit as were his fellow Repugnants, and they could go ahead and do whatever they wanted to try and stop it. But it was gonna happen... That's quite daring. Now do it, Harry. You'll look quite the sport to your Nevadan voters in November with your foot up Mitch's ass and a smile on your face. Posted by: neill on March 11, 2010 at 3:59 PM | PERMALINKFreedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose! Boxer Harry may go down in November, but it looks like at least he's decided to go down swinging in the service of something bigger than himself. Posted by: dcsusie on March 11, 2010 at 4:00 PM | PERMALINKReid's facing a bad election and is desperately trying to develop some "cred" before he get's kicked to the curb. Hence the tough talk about changing filibuster rules and going with reconciliation. I wouldn't lay odds on either actually happening. I wish the latter would, the house bill is a hell of a long ways from good but its actually worth doing as a tiny step forward. Posted by: Tlaloc on March 11, 2010 at 4:03 PM | PERMALINKMormons can strike you as very nice people. Nice. They speak softly, and seem, so, well, nice. Polite. However. never, ever, never, piss off a mormon. Never, ever, impune their integrity....
FSM forbid you piss a mormon off. Glen Beckerhead is a mormon. Posted by: FreeThinkingRedneck on March 11, 2010 at 4:09 PM | PERMALINKWell, look at what the Senate parilamentarian just told the GOP: The Senate bill must become law before a reconciliation bill can be considered. This means that there will be almost no pressure on the Senate to actually consider much less pass the reconciliation fixes. Lovely. Farking lovely. Posted by: terraformer on March 11, 2010 at 4:12 PM | PERMALINKThe Senate bill must become law before a reconciliation bill can be considered. I thought this was well understood weeks ago, thus the "letter of intent" route. This means that there will be almost no pressure on the Senate to actually consider much less pass the reconciliation fixes. Yes there will. If 50 Senators sign a public letter, they haven't just given their word, they've done so in writing and in public. That's not to be taken lightly. Were they to do that and then back away, they'd risk a lot of highly valued credibility, most notably with the House. They could do it, of course, and if they did, it would all be elaborate kabuki -- "oh, ahem hm, nobody took that thing seriously, ahem hum" -- but it would be far easier just not to sign on to a letter in the first place. Posted by: bleh on March 11, 2010 at 4:20 PM | PERMALINKOK bigUtah and FreeThinlkingRedneck, let's be clear. The difference between a Mormon Democrat and Glenn Beck is like night and day. Well let's face it, the difference between a human being and Glen Beck is light night and day as well. But we Mormon Democrats have been fighting nonsense for years (like the old saying, "you can't be a liberal Democrat AND a good Mormon") so don't act surprised when Harry bites with his bark. Read his book - he's been pissed off for years. Posted by: Vandal on March 11, 2010 at 4:24 PM | PERMALINKGlen Beckerhead is a mormon. One too many Ms in that sentence. Posted by: Stranger on March 11, 2010 at 4:25 PM | PERMALINKMaybe Harry found some balls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMlPE1lV_5Y Posted by: G.Kerby on March 11, 2010 at 4:43 PM | PERMALINKHoly cow. That's a great letter. The only word in it that isn't perfect is the "Honorable" in Mitch McConnell's title. Keep it up, Harry. Mean it. Act like you mean it. Go out fighting. Regardless of my thoughts regarding Harry Reid's leadership, I wish his family well after their accident today. Posted by: JWK on March 11, 2010 at 9:58 PM | PERMALINKRegardless of my thoughts regarding Harry Reid's leadership, I wish his family well after their accident today. Regardless of my thoughts regarding Harry Reid's leadership, I wish his family well after their accident today. Amen Yo. Posted by: Midland on March 12, 2010 at 9:53 AM | PERMALINKPost a comment
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