It’s Friday and it’s time for your open thread. Let’s thread it up!
Really, there’s literally nothing that the right can do to get the media to question their integrity. Right now, Liz Cheney is orchestrating a smear campaign against some lawyers in the Justice Department who wrote briefs in favor of habeas corpus for detainees. Cheney’s group calls them the “Gitmo 9.” Wolf Blitzer, like the obedient tool he is, covered it on CNN. Check out the chyron:
Everything’s o.k. if you add a question mark at the end.
Michigan representative Bart Stupak is threatening once again to blow up the health care bill over abortion funding. He managed to pass an amendment to the House bill that basically outlawed insurance companies that participate in the health care exchange from offering abortion coverage. The margin of error in the House is very small right now and Stupak claims to have about a dozen former yeses who will vote no if he doesn’t get his way.The House is trying to work with him:
So, what are the options? The preferred approach is to make the case to Stupak and his allies on the merits — the Senate compromise language, endorsed by center-right Dems who oppose abortion rights, already does what Stupak & Co. want, which is to prevent public funding of abortion. Given that Stupak’s arguments seem to stray from reality already, reason may not win him over.
The approach Democratic leaders broached yesterday was trying to find another compromise.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday that lawmakers could draft separate pieces of legislation with abortion language to earn the support of anti-abortion rights Democrats on healthcare reform legislation. […]
“Separate pieces of legislation could be passed that would relate to that,” Hoyer told reporters after a meeting with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) “That’s a possibility. I talked to Mr. Stupak today, and I’m going to be talking to him next week and he indicated he wanted to have some discussions with people. And I will do that.”
Striking a deal would itself be tricky. Abortion language isn’t budget related, so it’s unlikely to work in a reconciliation fix. What Hoyer seemed to be describing was a third bill — (1) health care reform, (2) the “sidecar” reconciliation measure, and (3) a measure related to abortion funding.
Stupak’s talking points are extremely dishonest, but it shows you the power of people who are willing to kill the bill over their pet issues.