The Prof
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1. Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, hardly a Bluedog, declared last week before a head-hungry townhall---"nobody is going to bring a [health care] bill before Christmas"
2. Indeed, added Feingold, reform may not even happen then
3. It may now NEVER occur, the senator surmised
3. Quite a concession from this leading liberal from the president's own compressed camp, spanked now to a deep purple over the disputatious topic
4. He's not happy about this, Feingold offers, he's clearly bowing to the resounding realities of Realpolitik
5. Bulging debt is blipping, hell-bent, a beeline to the center of America's radar screen of concerns
6. The White House's admission last Friday to TWO TRILLION dollars of error, its readjustment of cumulative DEBT to $10 trillion over the next decade, is clearly coming into expensive political play
7. Feingold, fully aware of the peril the president has put him in, cravenly covenants with Wisconsinites---he'll consult with constituents before ok'ing ANYTHING
8. Let's experiment with a state-by-state strategy, the senator interestingly suggests, let Tennessee try single payer, let Delaware dabble with co ops...
9. The polar opposite of the universalist, one-size-fits-all approach pushed by our incompetent president
10. Abortion is also becoming a definite deal breaker---Feingold affirms, "there's no way we're changing this to offer public funding of abortion"
11. "Nobody wants to open up that issue in the middle of this"
12. Of course, it's TOO LATE for anyone to TELL THAT to Pelosi/Obama
13. Whether congresspeople would agree to gulp the same pills they'd make the rest of us swallow is also a serious concern
14. Feingold was pinched pretty hard as well to repudiate the cruel descriptions tossed around by Reid, Pelosi and Gibbs, disparaging the first-amendment-armed critics of Obamacare, whom even Feingold can no longer finesse
15. No more stimuli, continued Feingold, Plan Pelosi was only an emergency, he caviled---excuses, excuses
16. He's nervous now about deepening debt and the resultant "hyperinflation"
17. He repeatedly, roundly and rigorously reproved cap and trade
18. The Global Warming Protection Act, he explained, isn't worth even a crummy carbon credit, since there's no way to enforce foreigners following suit
19. Meanwhile, Obama underwrites oil drilling offshore IN BRAZIL
20. Feingold opposes gun "registration," he wants you to know
21. It's amazing, really---health care, deficits, states rights, abortion, stimuli, cap and trade, gun control---exactly WHEN did Russ Feingold morph into the Cheesehead version of NEWT GINGRICH?
22. Finally, the kicker, as significant a sentence as has yet been said inside DC this season---Feingold affirmed before his fired-up flock: "I AM THE DEMOCRAT WHO HAS VOTED LEAST OFTEN WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA"
Wow!
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The Prof
2. Indeed, added Feingold, reform may not even happen then
3. It may now NEVER occur, the senator surmised
3. Quite a concession from this leading liberal from the president's own compressed camp, spanked now to a deep purple over the disputatious topic
4. He's not happy about this, Feingold offers, he's clearly bowing to the resounding realities of Realpolitik
5. Bulging debt is blipping, hell-bent, a beeline to the center of America's radar screen of concerns
6. The White House's admission last Friday to TWO TRILLION dollars of error, its readjustment of cumulative DEBT to $10 trillion over the next decade, is clearly coming into expensive political play
7. Feingold, fully aware of the peril the president has put him in, cravenly covenants with Wisconsinites---he'll consult with constituents before ok'ing ANYTHING
8. Let's experiment with a state-by-state strategy, the senator interestingly suggests, let Tennessee try single payer, let Delaware dabble with co ops...
9. The polar opposite of the universalist, one-size-fits-all approach pushed by our incompetent president
10. Abortion is also becoming a definite deal breaker---Feingold affirms, "there's no way we're changing this to offer public funding of abortion"
11. "Nobody wants to open up that issue in the middle of this"
12. Of course, it's TOO LATE for anyone to TELL THAT to Pelosi/Obama
13. Whether congresspeople would agree to gulp the same pills they'd make the rest of us swallow is also a serious concern
14. Feingold was pinched pretty hard as well to repudiate the cruel descriptions tossed around by Reid, Pelosi and Gibbs, disparaging the first-amendment-armed critics of Obamacare, whom even Feingold can no longer finesse
15. No more stimuli, continued Feingold, Plan Pelosi was only an emergency, he caviled---excuses, excuses
16. He's nervous now about deepening debt and the resultant "hyperinflation"
17. He repeatedly, roundly and rigorously reproved cap and trade
18. The Global Warming Protection Act, he explained, isn't worth even a crummy carbon credit, since there's no way to enforce foreigners following suit
19. Meanwhile, Obama underwrites oil drilling offshore IN BRAZIL
20. Feingold opposes gun "registration," he wants you to know
21. It's amazing, really---health care, deficits, states rights, abortion, stimuli, cap and trade, gun control---exactly WHEN did Russ Feingold morph into the Cheesehead version of NEWT GINGRICH?
22. Finally, the kicker, as significant a sentence as has yet been said inside DC this season---Feingold affirmed before his fired-up flock: "I AM THE DEMOCRAT WHO HAS VOTED LEAST OFTEN WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA"
Wow!
Denied:1up! Software ()
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold told a large crowd gathered for a listening session in Iron County last week there would likely be no health care bill before the end of the year - and perhaps not at all.
It was an assessment Feingold said he didn't like, but the prospect of no health care legislation brought a burst of applause from a packed house of nearly 150 citizens at the Mercer Community Center.
"Nobody is going to bring a bill before Christmas, and maybe not even then, if this ever happens," Feingold said. "The divisions are so deep. I never seen anything like that."
Feingold reiterated his appraisal a bit later.
"We're headed in the direction of doing absolutely nothing, and I think that's unfortunate," he said when asked about the plight of uninsured Americans.
The Mercer session was spirited but civil - as Feingold himself accurately described it - with most people focused squarely on the health care issue, followed by the deficit as a runner-up concern.
During the discussion, Feingold said he could not declare whether he would support a health reform bill until he has actually seen one, and he said he would then seek out the opinions of Wisconsinites. The Senate recessed in late July with a deadlocked Senate Finance Committee unable to finish work on a bill.
"When I get a proposal I can look at it and decide whether I will support it," he said. "I will let the people of the entire state talk to me."
The senator, a declared proponent of health care reform in principle, nonetheless did not seem too concerned about a potential failure of the Obama administration's effort. He said there was merit to the idea of trying a variety of proposals in various states first.
"Lindsay Graham and I sponsored legislation to have pilot programs in five states," Feingold told the audience. "Maybe we should try some different things. There might be a single-payer state. There might be a co-op state. Let's get some evidence on the ground. This thing right now is not going in the right direction. We might be in a situation where there won't be a bill worth passing."
In 2007, Feingold and Graham, a South Carolina Republican, introduced the State-Based Health Care Reform Act, which would have allowed states to decide how to achieve insurance coverage.
The senator said again last week he did not think a "one-size-fits-all" approach would work as well as giving states program flexibility.
At the listening session, Feingold did allay some expressed concern about federally-funded abortions being included as part of a health-care reform package. An amendment removed that provision from the House version of the bill, he said, and a Senate bill won't reintroduce it.
"There's no way we're changing this to offer public funding of abortions," Feingold said. "Nobody wants to open up that issue in the middle of this. That's one thing you won't have to worry about."
One audience member pointed to the generous health benefits federal lawmakers enjoy and wondered if Feingold would pledge to take the same health insurance that Congress "will make the rest of us take."
"I will support a law that will bring us under it," he said. "If I am eligible, I will join it. If I can be part of the system, I will be."
However, he observed, that might not be possible if a government plan is means-tested because his income would no doubt disqualify him.
Finally, Feingold repudiated Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's remarks calling vocal critics of health care reform at town hall meetings "evil mongers."
Feingold called Reid's remarks unfortunate and inappropriate.
The nation's growing deficit was a major topic, too, and Feingold repeatedly cited his credentials as a balanced-budget type of senator.
"I ran for the U.S. Senate on a platform to balance the budget," he said. "In 1992, we had one of the largest deficits in history and we balanced the budget. I led the charge in 1992 to get rid of the federal deficit, and when Bill Clinton left office, there was no federal deficit."
Feingold said he supported the stimulus package earlier this year because of the recession, but he said he would not guarantee his vote for a second stimulus if one was proposed.
"This was an emergency situation to get the economy going," Feingold said. "And I have told the administration not to count on me for another stimulus package. You can't just keep doing this because it creates hyperinflation."
Feingold also said he has not been a supporter of so-called cap-and-trade proposals, and he compared the issue to global warming, at least with respect to gaining cooperation from other nations.
"You know, the other countries won't play ball," he said of his attempts to get the international community to work together on global warming. "Maybe we should impose tariffs. We should put some pressure on them. They cannot be given a free pass, and we cannot do cap-and-trade alone."
Feingold said his lack of support for cap-and-trade and his votes to cut spending have sometimes put him at odds with the Obama administration.
"There's a survey that shows that I am the Democrat who has least voted with President Obama," he said.
Actually, according to CQ Politics, Feingold and Arlen Specter, who recently switched to the Democratic Party from the GOP, are the two least likely Democrats in the U.S. Senate to vote with the president, with both having supported Obama 86 percent of the time. By contrast, Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl has voted with the president 97 percent of the time.
On another issue, Feingold said he opposed legislation to require gun registration, and he said such legislation would die a quick death in the Senate.
"I have opposed gun registration all my life, and I will continue to oppose it," he said. "We've got the votes in the Senate to kill that."
The Prof
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