Buck Naked Politics

We're Losing a Great Congressman: Alan Grayson

About an hour ago, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson (Orlando, Fl) conceded to his opponent, Daniel Webster.  Alan was the one Dem I thought we'd actually get to keep.

Before Congress, Alan spent years fighting government-contractor fraud, which has cost (and still costs) us taxpayers billions upon billions of dollars each year.   [See Vanity Fair article.]

Ironically, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel indicated that Webster’s appeal stemmed from his sticking to “the issues worrying the Republican base: federal spending and borrowing.” 

It’s ironic that the lower-earning members of the Republican base are now chanting about federal spending/borrowing.  They weren’t chanting about it when George W. Bush was in office, wildly borrowing and spending and funneling money to folks who already had truckloads of it (e.g., defense contractors and bankers). 

I wonder if most lower-earning members of the GOP knew, in 2008, what the national debt was—compared to what it had been when Mr. Bush took the White House.  Incidentally, it about $5.7 trillion when Mr. Bush took office and about $10.6 trillion when he left.  Ergo, under Mr. Bush’s watch, the national debt almost doubled.  [See the U.S. debt page.]

Even more ironic is that the lower-earning members of all political parties are among those whose interests Alan Grayson fought to protect.

I just don't know what to say about that.

 

Please Sign Electronic Petition re: Corruption & Campaign Finance

by Deb Cupples |  As long as our nation's campaign-finance system encourages the buying of politicians by corporations and the folks who run them, public policy will continue to pummel the interests of us ordinary taxpayers.

Think about this as our nation continues to lose thousands of jobs monthly, as gasoline prices see-saw, as insurance companies charge more for less health-care coverage, as banks raise interest rates on your credit cards....

With that (and more) in mind, please consider signing an electronic petition circulated by Rep. Alan Grayson.   Click here sign it.  We've already got more than 16,000 signatures.  Below is the petition text:

"Unlimited corporate spending on campaigns means the government is up for sale and that the law itself will be bought and sold. It would be political bribery on the largest scale imaginable.

"This issue transcends partisan political arguments. We cannot have a government that is bought and paid for by huge multinational corporations. You must stop this."

Alan Grayson Calls Lobbyist a "K Street Whore"; the Context that GOP Operatives are Ignoring

by Deb Cupples | Roll Call reports that, during an interview with a right-wing radio host Alex Jones last month, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) referred to a former adviser to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke a "K Street Whore."  That adviser, Linda Robertson, was once the chief lobbyist for Enron. 

According to Fox, Grayson said this:

"'Here I am, the only member of Congress who actually worked as an economist. And she’s, this lobbyist, this K Street whore, is trying to teach me about economics."

Naturally, Fox reported only part of the quote, choosing to leave out the greater context.  Incidentally, the interview was more than a month ago, meaning that the now-outraged National Republican Congressional Committee was rather slow about digging it up and orchestrating the chorus of whines.

And since when have national Republican operatives been concerned with manners or civility?

Whatever you think of the whore-snippet, Grayson made a lot of sense in that radio interview.  Even the right-wing host seemed impressed.  You can hear the interview by clicking the link after the jump.  Here's a small part of what Grayson said:

Health Care Debate: Insurance-Industry Report Makes Questionable Claims

by Deb Cupples |   When people truly have data on their side, they rarely waste time fudging data. 

As my co-blogger Bartleby mentioned yesterday, a report released on Sunday questionably indicates that private health insurance premiums would go up if the federal government enacts a plan to gives us ordinary folks relief from skyrocketing health-insurance premiums.

Fact: despite a lack of a federal government intervention, from 2000 through 2007 the nation's top-10 insurance companies managed to raise our premiums enough that their profits went from $2.4 billion to $12.9 billion (i.e., profits more than quadrupled).

Back to Sunday's report.  Who paid for it?  An insurance-industry group called America's Health Insurance Plans.

Who was paid to crunch and interpret the numbers?  Big-4 accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers: a name that many people trust -- despite all those public-company annual reports, done by Pricewaterhouse, that had to later be "re-stated."

Even without reading the report, the inherent conflicts of interest should raise red flags for anyone who heard about the report's reform-unfriendly conclusions:   1) the insurance industry opposes a any reform that would reduce the number of our dollars flowing into industry coffers, and 2) Pricewaterhouse likely knew on which side of the health-care-reform debate its paying client wanted the report to fall.

But we don't need to rely on sensibly inspired red flags, because M.I.T. economist John Gruber quickly responded to the report by analyzing it, pointing out flaws, and refuting conclusions.  The New York Times reports:

Grayson on the Ed Show: Republicans Wish There Was a Nobel Prize for Fear

Grayson and Ron Paul Send Letter to Senate Banking Committee Asking for Delay in Confirmation of Ben Bernanke Until He Gives Up Info on 2008 Secret Emergency Loans

by Damozel | Here's yer bipartisanship.

Alan Grayson Calls Out Fellow Dems for Obsession with Getting Support of Olympia Snowe (R-ME) for Health Care Plan; Tells GOP, "If you're against health care, just get out of the way"

by Damozel | Can I hear you say, "Amen"?  From Huff Post:

"We as a party have spent the last six months, the greatest minds in our party, dwelling on the question, the unbelievably consuming question of how to get Olympia Snowe to vote on health care reform," he said. "I want to remind us all that Olympia Snowe was not elected President last year. Olympia Snowe has no veto power in the Senate. Olympia Snowe represents a state with one half of one percent of America's population." "What America wants is health care reform," he continued. "America doesn't care if it gets 51 votes in the Senate or 60 votes in the Senate or 83 votes in the Senate. In fact, America doesn't even care about that, it doesn't care about that at all." 

Wonkette:

Rachel Maddow: Republicans Pretend to be Shocked by Grayson's Remarks on GOP "Health Care;" Grayson: "They've Got Nothing"

Grayson and Maddow discusses the character of his comments; Maddow shows some footage of equally shocking Republicans. In other news, Maddow appears to be one of many who don't know that "holocaust" has a meaning predating World War II.  For the nation's indifference to the thousands who have died because they couldn't afford a doctor, I'd call it le mot juste.

hol·o·caust  (hl-kôst, hl-)

n.

1. Great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life...  (the Free Dictionary)

...an act of mass destruction and loss of life (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)

The annihilation or near-annihilation of a group of animals or people, whether by natural or deliberate agency (e.g., “nuclear holocaust”) (wiktionary)

Florida Sunshine in the Healthcare Debate

by Bill Kavanagh:  Two of my colleagues here at Buck Naked Politics are based in Florida, the home of the dimpled chad.  For a decade, we’ve all been cringing when we hear they have an election down there.  Will they elect another member of the Bush family, or someone like Kathleen Harris, unable to discern the difference between serving the Bushes and performing her responsibility to voters?  Perhaps they’d send us another a moral-majority type like Mark Foley, leading one (creepy) life for himself and espousing another very conservative set of rules for the rest of us?  Who would Floridians send to Washington next?

The Ed Show: Ed Schultz Explains for the Protocol-Challenged Why Grayson's Criticism of the GOP Differs from Wilson's Inappropriate Outburst; Anthony Weiner Call Lack of Health Care Plan "A Republican Tax"

by Damozel | Schultz explains the distinction between discourse on the House floor and an outburst during a Joint Session of Congress.  In case I haven't mentioned it lately, Anthony Weiner is my other favorite Democratic warrior. "Eric Cantor must think the bill fairy pays the hospital bills" for the uninsured.   Weiner says of Grayson, "Usually we don't let freshman speak, but we gotta get this guy out there more."

Full of Win: Grayson on MSNBC -- The GOP is a "lie factory"

by Damozel | This is how you do it.  When civility gets you nothing but FAIL, this is how you counter the untrue jeering and the lies that just won't die.. This is what we send people to Congress for. From The Hill:

"America is sick of you, Republican Party; you're a lie factory, that's all you do," he told MSNBC on Thursday. "Why don't you work together with the Democrats to solve America's problems instead of making stuff up?"

Grayson then called the party a bunch of "no-mongers."...

"The people who should be apologizing are the Republicans, they're the ones who should apologize for dragging us all through the mud here while we're just trying to improve healthcare in America," he said. "That's all we're trying to do."

Thank you, Alan Grayson, for standing up to the bullies. 

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Grayson & Tweety on Hardball: We Can't Run This Country Based on Republican Hissy Fits

by Damozel | I'm just so damn relieved that somebody is finally saying it and that the someone in question is Florida's Alan Grayson.  Watch Tweety call Grayson "a Martin Luther" and the GOP blowhards such as Limbaugh "clowns" and calls Glenn Beck "what's his name, Beck."  Grayson says that bullies always back down. 

Grayson Fever Finally Catching

by Deb Cupples |  Earlier this week, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) publicly said that congressional Republicans do not  have a real health care plan other than 1) Don't get sick; and 2) If you do get sick, die quickly.  (See the video here: it's less than 3 minutes).

Naturally, some cry-baby Republican politicians demanded an apology.   Apparently, they expect other people to man-up and sport thicker skins than said Republican politicians actually have.

Alan Grayson: Response Has Been Overwhelmingly Positive

Grayson: Republicans -- "Knuckle-Dragging Neanderthals" -- Should Do the Apologizing

by Damozel | That's our guy.

After Republicans Demand an Apology, Grayson (D-Fl) Apologizes to the 44,000 People Who Die Every Year for Lack of Health Insurance

by Damozel | Here's yer apology, GOP. Here's the study he mentions.

On Countdown, Arianna Huffington had his back:

Alan Grayson (D-FL) Explains The GOP's Health Care Plan: Please Die Quickly

by Damozel | This Congressman is MADE of awesome. Grayson is so my hero.

Congressman Alan Grayson Provides the Facts About Health Care Reform

From the Congressman's website:

This bill offers you an option that you don’t have now, a public option.  It promotes competition by requiring insurance companies to compete against a public or non-profit option, which the Government will not subsidize.  In most areas, the top one or two insurance companies provide up to 80% of the coverage, so more competition is desperately needed.  The public option will be based on the existing Medicare network, for those Medicare providers who want to participate.  No one – no one – will be required to accept the public option; that’s why it’s called an “option.”...

Here are some things that the bill won’t do: It won’t give coverage to illegal aliens. It won’t ration health care. It won’t establish “death panels” to deny anyone care. It won’t herd people into the public option. It won’t cap doctors’ salaries. It won’t let the Government audit every business in America, or seize your computer or your bank records, or kill you. These are paranoid delusions, promoted by fear-mongers. They simply aren’t true. (emphasis added)  (More)

Grayson Grills Fed Chairman re: $500 Billion Lent to Foreign Banks -- Without Congress's Approval

by Deb Cupples |  Less than a year ago, Congress -- at the urging of ex-President Bush (and ex-Goldman Sachs CEO/ex-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson) -- voted to funnel $700 billion to the same executives who drove our nation's financial system (and economy) into a deeeep ditch.

Tuesday, during a House Financial Services Committee hearing featuring Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Congressman Alan Grayson (Orlando) put a bright spotlight on an issue of which I'd been unaware: that federal officials had lent $500 billion (yes, half a trillion) to foreign banks -- without first getting Congress's approval.

Mr. Bernanke didn't do a very good job of answering the questions that Congressman Grayson had asked.  My niece and I were at the hearing but had to leave before Congressman Grayson's turn to grill the Fed chairman.  Thank God for YouTube.

The clip below is only 5 minutes and well worth watching.  It exemplifies yet again why all voters (regardless of party affilliation) should be happy that Alan Grayson is in Congress.

.

After the jump, there's a video of Grayson grilling Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit back in February -- again, well worth watching. 

Grayson Watch: Alan Grayson Will Introduce Paid Vacation Legislation

 by Damozel | As DWT says, there's a reason Grayson fills many on the right with fear and fury: "The bill's provisions, which are expected to meet stiff opposition from Republicans and Blue Dogs poll exceedingly well among average Americans. Nearly 70% of Americans support the idea."   

In this case, I guess all the wingnuts and Blue Dogs either already get paid vacations or are living on trust funds.  .The Politico reports:

[O]n Thursday, the Florida Democrat will introduce the Paid Vacation Act — legislation that would be the first to make paid vacation time

a requirement under federal law.