Comments on: Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Mike McMahon – No on Health Care (UPDATE: And Massa, Matheson, TANNER, Teague)

By: hipparchia

hipparchia — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:32:07 +0000

ah, i’d forgotten that one.

but he uses this trick all the time and after a while it loses its resonance

if it’s a trick, then yes, it would lose its resonance, as you say.

otoh, there were changes, especially in the section on cramdown, between the original bill and the final bill.

if the changes made the final bill more homeowner-friendly, then yes, boo hiss to massa. if the changes made the bill less homeowner-friendly, then kudos to massa instead. i confess to not knowing enough about the subject to know which version of the bill was the best, nor was i paying enough attention to this at the time.

By: David Dayen

David Dayen — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:08:19 +0000

Here’s Eric Massa voting against cramdown to help stop foreclosures: http://www.openleft.com/diary/12062/

I’m sure that didn’t go far enough either.

Eric Massa is a pretty good lawmaker but he uses this trick all the time and after a while it loses its resonance

By: hipparchia

hipparchia — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:35:14 +0000

anyone in new york state politics? can you name names? or is this another case of ‘everyone knows’? this construction has become a staple in talking about politics so i’m not buying it if you’re quoting unnamed sources.

and wasn’t the climate bill really sucky too? at least for liberals of the old school?

on the campaign trail he comes out in support of single payer and rolling back the bush tax cuts. then he gets elected. looks to me like he’s doing what the voters in his district elected him for.

By: David Dayen

David Dayen — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:14:08 +0000

People, this is not my assessment. Talk to anyone who does politics in New York State and they will tell you the same thing. He didn’t want to take a tough vote on the climate bill and so he said it wasn’t good enough. He didn’t want to take a tough vote on the health care bill so he says it’s not good enough. It’s interesting how the sum total of his tough votes end up being the exact same ones that Randy Kuhl would take.

By: hipparchia

hipparchia — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:05:22 +0000

you should probably take back what you said about eric massa. he ran against the republican incumbent randy kuhl in 2006 [lost] and again in 2008 [won] in that "tough" district. in oct 2008, mere weeks before the election, in a debate with kuhl, massa stated his support not only for single payer, but also for rolling back the bush tax cuts. massa only joined up with other supporters of hcan and obamacare after he was elected. what valley girl said. massa would probably have supported hr 3200 if it had been a better bill.

By: jenmarie

jenmarie — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:36:33 +0000

Thank you. Eric is a stand up guy and speaks truth, always. I happen to agree with his reasons and would rather see nothing pass than a piece ‘o shit bill.

By: doobee0810

doobee0810 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:20:38 +0000

Please read this great LTE re TN Rep Jim Cooper, then call his office: http://bit.ly/1SPsBm

By: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle

Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:58:14 +0000

What’s funny(in a perverse way) is that McMahon was playing gavel wielder for a day(like Tauscher used to do a lot).

By: Valley Girl

Valley Girl — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:11:04 +0000

Massa continues to use an “I’m for single payer” construction so he doesn’t have to take a vote in a tough district.

Sorry, that is just plain wrong. I find that a total insult to Eric Massa’s integrity. Massa is a SP supporter, although from things he’s said my impression is that he would have supported the bill if it weren’t so stinking bad.

By: ubetchaiam

ubetchaiam — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:44:45 +0000

Yeah !!!!!!!!! Maybe this piece of shit- as it is currently written- will be defeated.

More likely, it will be like the fucking financial ‘bailout’ ; defeated first time around but then Obama jumps in ,appealing to party loyalty instead of whats right for citizens, and it passes the second go round.

Disgusting.