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LOUISVILLE /JEFFERSON COUNTY
DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER
Week of March 19, 2010
The link to this electronic newsletter is being e-mailed to 7,500+
Jefferson County Democrats
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CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT LIST OF EVENTS
Updated on a regular basis
Bulletin Board:
New Analysis Confirms Health Care Reform Will Help Hundreds
of Thousands of Louisville Families
The health care
reform legislation that will soon come to a vote in the House of
Representatives will bring significant benefits to Kentucky’s 3rd
Congressional District. According to a new report using data from the U.S.
Census, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Department of Health and
Human Services, hundreds of thousands of families and individuals in
Louisville will see improvements in their coverage or benefit from
provisions in the legislation. 
“With premiums skyrocketing every year for thousands of families and 900,000 Kentuckians now without insurance, we can’t afford to wait any longer,” said Congressman Yarmuth. “The long overdue passage of this historic legislation will put Americans back in control of their health insurance choices and ensure that all Kentuckians have access to high-quality, affordable health care.”
Data from the Analysis indicates that in Louisville --
176,000 families and 15,700 businesses will get tax credits and assistance to help make coverage more affordable.
9,000 Louisvillians with pre-existing conditions will be able to get the coverage they need
Improve Medicare for 117,000 people and CLOSE the Medicare Part D prescription donut hole.
Reduce the Cost of Uncompensated Care by $130 million per year for Hospitals and Health Care Providers.
Give 51,000 young adults the ability to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 27.
Extend coverage to 30,000 uninsured individuals and guarantee that no one can be dropped from their plans because they get sick.
Improve coverage for 452,000 Louisvillians.
THE COOK REPORT, by Charlie Cook
Divide And Conquer
It's not a good time to be arguing for one-party control of the White House and Congress
If Republican strategists can read poll results, it's not hard to figure out what some of their closing arguments will be heading into the November 2 midterm elections.
Republicans know that their brand is still damaged from the eight years of George W. Bush's presidency and the six years that the GOP controlled Congress. A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows, for example, that just 31 percent of adults nationwide rate the Republican Party positively and that 43 percent rate it negatively. Indeed, in three NBC/WSJ polls this year, the GOP was viewed positively by 30 to 32 percent of respondents and negatively by 38 to 43 percent. Voters are hardly telling the Republican Party, "Come on back; all is forgiven."
But another finding in the latest poll provides a clue as to what the GOP will be stressing this fall. When Democratic pollster Peter Hart and Republican pollster Bill McInturff, two of the best in the business, asked, "In general, do you think that it is better for the same political party to control both the Congress and the presidency so they can work together more closely, or do you think it is better to have different political parties controlling the Congress and the presidency to prevent either one from going too far?" only 30 percent of all adults and 31 percent of registered voters preferred one-party control. A whopping 61 percent of all adults and 60 percent of registered voters opted for divided government.
Simply put, voters don't really trust either party. To many voters, in midterm elections when the party that holds the presidency is a constant, the idea of not putting all of their eggs in one basket is pretty attractive.
Even in the heady days just after President Obama was inaugurated last year, when the February NBC/WSJ poll indicated that 68 percent of adults viewed him positively, 60 percent approved of the job he was doing, only 26 percent disapproved, and just 19 percent viewed him negatively, the Democratic Party was viewed positively by just 49 percent and negatively by 31 percent. Now the party's numbers are, in pollster parlance, "upside down": The Democrats' 43 percent negative score is 6 percentage points above its 37 percent positive rating. Obama's job-approval rating is down to 48 percent, with 47 percent disapproval; but he is still viewed a lot more favorably than the Democratic Party or the Democratic-controlled Congress, which now has a job-approval rating of just 17 percent, with 77 percent disapproval.
Although some Democrats try to take solace from the fact that the Republican brand is even more damaged than their own, they should not forget that midterm elections are a referendum on the party in power. It's rare for midterm voters to want to punish the minority party.
Democrats hold 59 percent of the House seats, so the responses to a recent Hart-McInturff question should truly alarm them. The pollsters asked, "If there were a place on your ballot that allowed you to vote to defeat and replace every single member of Congress, including your own representative, would you do this or not?" Fifty percent of voters said they would; a minority, 47 percent, said they would not.
On the generic congressional ballot test, Democrats held a 3-point advantage among all registered voters in the latest NBC/WSJ poll, 45 percent to 42 percent. Among the subsample of voters most interested in the coming election -- a group that is more likely to resemble the midterm electorate, which generally has one-third fewer voters than in a presidential election -- Republicans had a 13-point edge, 52 percent to 39 percent. That was similar to their 15-point advantage, 50 percent to 35 percent, among very interested voters in the January 10-14 NBC/WSJ survey. (In the Gallup tracking survey of all registered voters for the week of March 8-14, Democrats had a 3-point advantage as well, 47 percent to 44 percent. Gallup noted, however, that in its experience, Democrats need a 4-point lead among registered voters to run ahead among likely voters, and to win a majority of House seats.)
Heading toward an election in which the Democratic-controlled Congress is less popular than the Democratic president, don't be surprised if Republicans spend more time advocating divided government than talking up their own battered brand.
THINK FAST
Fox News host Glenn Beck's recent attack on churches that preach about social justice has "prompted outrage from several Christian bloggers." Rev. Jim Wallis, who leads the Christian antipoverty group Sojourners, called on Christians to leave Beck. "What he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith," Wallis wrote.
Nearly 10,000 "rescue and cleanup workers at ground zero [of the World Trade Center attacks] who sued the city over damage to their health" have been awarded a $657.5 million settlement. The plaintiffs have been suffering from ailments such as asthma for years following the rescue efforts.
"Democratic Congressional leaders struck a tentative agreement" yesterday to bundle an overhaul of federal student loan programs "into an expedited budget package along with" a health care bill. The move "breathes new life" in the loan plan and would allow "both measures to be passed by the Senate on a simple majority vote."
Fox News host Glenn Beck thinks Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" is "anti-American" "propaganda."
In an interview with The New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin, Justice John Paul Stevens -- who will soon turn 90 years old -- announced that he plans to retire soon. "You can say I will retire within the next three years. I'm sure of that," Stevens said. Asked about President Obama, Stevens added, "I have a great admiration for him, and certainly think he's capable of picking successfully, you know, doing a good job of filling vacancies."
Senate Republicans "remain deeply divided" over how to handle earmarks and will meet this week to decide whether to "follow their House counterparts and impose a moratorium on the practice." "We're going to discuss it and see what to do. We have different views within our caucus," said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN).
C-Span will formally announce completion of the C-Span Video Library as "virtually every minute of its video archives," covering 23 years of history, have been uploaded onto the Internet. "You can see if politicians are saying one thing today, and 15 years ago were saying another thing," said C-Span founder Brian Lamb.
"Student lenders are mounting a final push" to derail landmark student lending legislation that would cut out the private lender middlemen from federal student loans. The lending industry is warning of a "government takeover" of federal student loans.
The Senate "cleared the way" yesterday for final approval of a Democratic jobs bill, voting 61 to 30 to end debate and proceed. Six Republicans voted in favor of cloture for the bill that includes tax breaks for companies that hire workers "along with an extra $20 billion for highway and transit construction."
Fifteen Republican senators joined almost all Democrats in voting down Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-SC) amendment that would have established "an earmark moratorium for fiscal years 2010 and 2011." The 68-29 vote rejected a two-year moratorium on spending provisions that include members' pet projects.
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) headlined a fundraiser for Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) last night. Cao's fundraising has dipped ever since he voted for the House's health care bill last November. Cao has indicated he will vote against the health reform package in the coming days.
YOUR COMMENTS
Recent Senate Votes
Tax
Extenders Act of 2009 - Vote Passed (62-36, 2 Not Voting)
The Senate passed this bill that would extend unemployment insurance and
COBRA health care subsidies through December 31 and would prevent a cut in
physicians’ Medicare reimbursement rates. The bill now goes to the House.
Sen. Mitch McConnell voted
NO
Sen. Jim Bunning voted
NO
Impeaching Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. for high crimes and misdemeanors
- Vote Passed (423-0, 7 Not Voting)
The House impeached Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. of Louisiana with four
charges: that he accepted gifts in exchange for official actions, falsified
and withheld information during a bankruptcy proceeding, made false
statements as part of his Senate confirmation and received money from
lawyers involved in a case that he oversaw. Unless the judge resigns, the
Senate will hold a trial. A conviction on any of the four counts would
remove Judge Porteous from office.
Rep. Brett Guthrie voted
YES
Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES
Afghanistan War Powers Resolution - Vote Failed (65-356, 9
Not Voting)
The House rejected this resolution that aimed to set a withdrawal timeline
for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Rep. Brett Guthrie voted
NO
Rep. John Yarmuth voted NO
BIG BUSINESS TRYING TO KILL REFORM: On the other side, a group of big business interests is funding "a multimillion-dollar wave of advertising" that "takes aim at about 40 House Democrats whose votes will help determine" the fate of health care reform. The 248-member coalition -- which includes National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation -- is led by the United States Chamber of Commerce and plans to target its ads towards the "27 Democrats who supported the health care bill last year and 13 who opposed it." "The organizations have already spent $11 million this month focusing on these lawmakers, with more spending to come before an expected vote next weekend." The new campaign "will last about 10 days and cost between $4 million and $10 million," the Seattle Times reports. Separately, "the health-insurance industry lobby America's Health Insurance Plans launched a $1 million-plus ad campaign on national cable TV blaming doctors and hospitals for rising premiums and "Americans for Prosperity, a group financed by David Koch, the oilman, is also jumping into the fray with an advertising campaign of nearly $1 million." "There is definitely more passion from people opposed to the bill," Altmire admitted, noting that his office has received hundreds of calls from angry constituents. "I have to decide between passing this bill or doing nothing at all. I need to do what's best for my district."
BLOG WATCH
FedEx's CEO is
'lobbying
fiercely'
to preserve special treatment that keeps his drivers from unionizing.
Health care reform is
getting more popular.
Do the
Democrats
have the guts
to reform the filibuster?
The Internet
grew
20 percent more hateful
last year.
Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) attacks a House procedure
he used in 2006.
The health care bill will prevent insurers from imposing
unreasonable premiums
sooner rather than later
New CNN political contributor Erick Erickson has
accused a liberal military veterans
of "throwing your countries under the bus after service."
Virginia attorney general
urges people not to get Social Security
numbers.
Glenn Beck
backs away from his criticisms of social
justice.
1967 flashback:
"Gov. Romney would quit church for Social Justice."
DAILY GRILL
"We
now know there was $860 some billion spent in the stimulus bill, and it
didn't work. It was a failure. Jobs weren't created." -- Rep. Eric Cantor
(R-VA),
2/18/10
VERSUS
"It's something that study after study has indicated would produce hundreds
of thousands of jobs for our state. "
-- Cantor,
3/11/10, referring to a project funded by the stimulus
HUMOR
"Congress is getting ready to vote on President Obama's
health care bill. It's going to be a close vote. The House Democrats say
it could be a real tickle fight." -David Letterman
"Well,
President Obama, turning up the pressure on Congress to pass this health
care reform. In fact, he's telling Democrats, if they don't vote for this
bill, he will go out and campaign for them in November." -Jay Leno
"President Obama went on Fox News tonight to pitch his plan for healthcare
reform. Obama going on Fox News? That's like
John Edwards going on 'The Marriage Ref.'" -Jimmy Fallon
"In an interview in GQ magazine, John Edwards's mistress said she slept with
him on the first day they met, but she wasn't his mistress, she was just
playing the role. And, apparently, the audition went so well, she got the
job!" -Jay Leno
"Rielle Hunter told GQ that she will love John Edwards until death do us
part, to which Elizabeth Edwards said, 'You know, I can arrange that.'" -Jay
Leno
"You guys see the
'GQ' pictures of John Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter? Today, she
called them 'repulsive', and says she trusted 'GQ''s photographer to take
classy photos. Yeah, because anytime I'm on a bed in nothing but dress shirt
and underwear next to a Dora the Explorer doll, I think, 'This is gonna look
classy.'" -Jimmy Fallon
"President Obama announced over the weekend that he gets 20,000 letters a
day calling him an idiot. And I said, 'Hey, welcome to the club.' ... I said
to myself, 'Well hey, maybe I am presidential material.' ... But in all
fairness, a lot of those letters come from
Dick Cheney." -David Letterman
"You know, I was thinking about this health care problem. If you took all
the money the Republicans have spent to stop health care and all the money
Democrats have spent trying to get health care, we could afford health
care." -Jay Leno
"President Obama has announced this week that he has donated all of his
Nobel Prize money to a charity that deals with those that have no hope: the
Democratic Party." -Jay Leno
"In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Obama called for an
overhaul of the 'No Child Left Behind' law. It will now be called 'The World
Needs Janitors, Too.'" -Jimmy Fallon
"It seems The Journal of Neurology reports that the longer you smoke, the
less likely you are to develop Parkinson's disease. So what are they telling
us? Follow me guys. Remember, a couple of months ago, doctors said drinking
a glass of alcohol every day was good for your heart. Smoking prevents
Parkinson's disease. Marijuana is good for glaucoma. Sex is good for your
prostate. You know, screw health care. Let's party!" -Jay Leno
INTERESTING
Workers Crushed by Toyota, By BOB HERBERT
California has been very, very good to Toyota. It is one of the largest markets in the world for the popular Prius hybrid. Nearly 18 percent of all Toyotas sold in the U.S. are sold in California. The state has showered the company with benefits, including large-scale infrastructure improvements for its operations and millions of dollars for worker training. California is one of the key reasons that Toyota is the wealthiest carmaker on the planet.
Toyota is paying the state back with the foulest form of ingratitude.
The company is planning to shut down the assembly plant in Fremont, Calif., that makes Corollas and the Tacoma compact pickup. The plant closure will throw 4,700 experienced, highly skilled and dedicated employees onto the street during the worst job market since the Depression, and it will jeopardize nearly 20,000 other jobs around the state.
It is a cold and irresponsible act on Toyota’s part, a decision that was not necessary from a business standpoint and that completely disregards the wave of human misery it is setting in motion.
The New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant (generally referred to as NUMMI) began as a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors in 1984. G.M. abandoned the venture when it collapsed into bankruptcy proceedings last year. Toyota declared that the plant was no longer viable because of the absence of G.M. and announced that it would close at the end of this month.
What has not been made clear to the public is that for many years the plant has been used primarily to produce vehicles for Toyota, not General Motors. A report prepared for a state commission that has been seeking to avert the plant closure noted that “G.M. accounted for only 10 percent of the plant’s production last year and an average of 15.4 percent between 2001 and 2009.”
In fact, from Jan. 1 to Feb. 27 this year, with G.M. gone, Toyota produced 61,000 sparkling new vehicles at the plant. That was more than double the 27,000 that were produced in the same period in 2009, when G.M. was part of the operation.
The report, written by Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley, noted that “Toyota could easily fill its production lines at NUMMI by building a higher percentage of the Corollas it sells in the U.S.,” or by adding a new model to the plant — a hybrid, for example.
What we’re dealing with here is the kind of corporate treachery toward workers and their local communities that has ruined countless lives over the past several decades and completely undermined the long-term prospects of the economy.
The NUMMI plant is a heck of a lot more viable than the nonstop dissembling of top Toyota executives. The company could keep the plant open and profitable if it wanted to. But, instead, it has decided to shift the production of these vehicles to Japan, Canada, Mexico and Texas.
The scale of the ingratitude is breathtaking. The U.S. is the largest market for Toyota vehicles in the world, larger even than Japan. The Corolla, one of the vehicles produced at NUMMI, is the best-selling car of all time.
Beyond sales, Toyota has reaped endless benefits not just from California, but from the U.S. government and other states as well.
The federal cash-for-clunkers program, for example, was a bonanza for Toyota. As Professor Shaiken’s report put it: “The automaker ranked first in ‘Cash for Clunkers’ sales in summer 2009, a stimulus effort that allocated $3 billion in incentives to trade in older models for newer, more fuel-efficient ones. The Corolla proved the most popular model.”
Among the infrastructure investments made by California on behalf of the NUMMI plant was the dredging of the Port of Oakland 12 years ago at a cost of $410 million. That was done to accommodate the types of cargo ships required by the plant.
It will be a crushing economic blow if Toyota, as planned, high-tails it out of Fremont. Like the rest of the nation, California is struggling with the worst employment crisis since the 1930s. The NUMMI plant closure would be the single biggest layoff in the state since the start of the Great Recession in December 2007.
Those who are trumpeting the alleged fact that the recession is over should consider that the unemployment rate in California in January (the last month for which complete statistics are available) was a mind-numbing 12.5 percent. That was the fifth worst in the nation. In eight California counties, the jobless rate — not the underemployment rate, mind you, but the official jobless rate — was higher than 20 percent. Those counties are suffering through a depression.
The human toll behind such data is of no apparent interest to the fabulously wealthy Toyota operation.
Buy American Mention of the Week, By Roger Simmermaker
NONE THIS WEEK
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Roger Simmermaker is the author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism and writes "Buy American Mention of the Week" articles for WorldNetDaily.com and his website www.howtobuyamerican.com. Roger is a member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union, has been a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, and has been quoted in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Business Week among many other publications.
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