Sirotablog
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. David writes about political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties.
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November 15, 2007 8:18 AM
Yup, I Was Right
Per my last post, I just wanted to let readers know that, in fact, I was completely correct: The Elite Pundits' attack on John Edwards declaration that he will take away lawmakers health care benefits is, in fact, a sham. A president does, in fact, have the power to do just what Edwards is proposing. Here's an excerpt of a note I got from a source on Capitol Hill:
"David, you are absolutely right, and I wouldn't hedge on this. The FEHBP Plan is funded through each federal agency's budget. In the case of Members of Congress, Senate and their staff, the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill directly funds their health benefits, salaries and expenses. If the President, wanted to take away these benefits he could simply veto this bill."
So...when are the Elite Pundits going to correct the record?
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TAKE ACTION
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About David Sirota
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Hostile Takeover. He lives in Denver, Colorado. His daily blog can be found at CREDO Action. He contributes regularly to the Denver Post's Web site, is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and is working on his second book. He has been profiled in Newsweek and the Rocky Mountain News and is widely known for his reporting on political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties. Sirota serves as co-chair of the Progressive States Network, a 501(c)3 organization that supports state legislators and that is a partner of CREDO.
You can subscribe to Sirota's e-mail newsletter by going to davidsirota.com and signing up in the lefthand corner. To find out more about Sirota, download his official biography or see his recent media appearances. You can e-mail him at sirota@credoaction.com.
The views expressed on this blog are his own, and do not necessarily represent the views of Working Assets (publisher of CREDO Action) or the institutions Sirota works for.
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Recent Sirotablog entries
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Discussion
!!Off topic alert!!
This is a great interview with Matt Taibbi:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christian-avard/rolling-stones-matt-taib_b_72597.html
This guy has an interesting background.
Choice quotes:
On how the legislative process works:
"I think the stuff that (Bernie) Sanders showed me about how bills can be completely rewritten in committee in the middle of the night, how they are sent to the floor and nobody ever reads them, how they can be rewritten in conference, and how amendments can be shot down by House leaders... It was amazing how easy it is how two, three, four people strategically placed in Congress can completely dominate the whole process... If you just wanted to run Congress for your financial backers, it's really easy to do."
On how reporters approach campaign coverage:
"...it's all like an extended school field trip. If you're an inexperienced young reporter, which many of these people are, it seems like a lot of fun. There's this aspect of it where you have a proximity to power, which for a lot of young reporters is really intoxicating. I mean politics is like Hollywood for ugly people and these reporters, for a lot of these people, being near Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is like the sexiest thing they're ever going to be involved with. So they tend to be uncritical about it because for them, it's very fun."
On covering the clean and the filthy sides of campaigns:
"You have the fake thing that everybody sees which is the campaign trail, where the guys get out, give these bullshit speeches, and everybody argues over which one looks better in a duck hunting jacket. Then you have the real story that goes on behind the scenes, which is all these guys are raising $300 million dollars, and every dollar they raise is for a favor they're going to trade in four years... When Hillary Clinton goes out and raises $300 million, that means next year she's going to do x, y, and z for all these guys and all of that is just a lot more meaningful than the shit that comes from the trail about how we need a strong America and all that stuff. I mean that's the real story."
(note to web developers for this new site. WE NEED THE PREVIEW OPTION. I never, ever, ever post without previewing first. Ever. I control formatting on my posts, I want them to appear exactly the way I want them to, and I cannot check that without "preview". /end tirade)
If Edwards really wanted to do something about American Health Care he'd come out for:
The Single Payer System...!
Don't take their health care away, just give us We The People some...
Even those who have insurance are being cheated and or deny treatment..!
Get the Insurance Companies out of our Health Care...!
3rdoption,
Congress needs more Independent Congresspeople the likes of Sanders. Edwards is just puff and fluff and for Sirota to back that former DLC hack is just DISGUSTING already !
As for impeachment, it has to start in the House first and then the Senate can take it from there. First off though, the only way the Bush/Cheney gang can be impeached is to first ABOLISH both parties from the House and Senate and replace them with INDEPENDENT candidates. Only then can America run those rightwing motherfuckers down !
What makes Dave Sirota think Congress wouldn't override (easily) a veto of legislation funding their health benefits?
Has Dave Sirota never heard of the fact that vetos can be overridden? I assume he must have, but you can't tell it from his rhetoric.
You'd bet Congress would override any cutting of THEIR health benefits in a heartbeat and then proceed to impeach Edwards after that.
If anything Congress needs to be prosecuted under the RICO act because they are nothing but a bunch of racketeers and shakedown artists.
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