Ezra Klein continues his march towards DFH-dom:

The administration scored a big victory last night, or at least it thinks it did. After President Obama finally threatened to make recess appointments if Senate Republicans didn't let some of its nominees through the confirmation process, the Republicans allowed the Senate to confirm 29 of them last night. As if to thank them, the White House promptly shot itself in the foot.

[. . .] At this point in his presidency, George W. Bush had made 10 recess appointments. Over the course of his presidency, he would make almost 200. Bill Clinton made about 150. In describing recess appointments as "a rare but not unprecedented step," Obama made it harder to actually make any, because he's defined the procedure -- which, unlike the hold, is a defined constitutional power of the president rather than a courtesy observed in the Senate -- as an extraordinary last-resort. [. . .] At what point does the administration accept that its success is dependent on finding ways to avoid being filibustered? Reconciliation can't be considered a nuclear option and recess appointments can't be saved for special cases. George W. Bush understood this and used reconciliation and recess appointments routinely in his first year. [. . .]

(Emphasis supplied.) All kidding aside, good for Ezra for finally getting it and arguing the case. I'm rooting for him again.

Speaking for me only

218 (temporarily 217.) It's an important number in Washington, D.C. Apparently the Villagers do not understand it. Take Jon Chait, please:

The Senate doesn't need 60 votes again to pass health care reform. It just needs 50. The excuse that reconciliation is nasty and controversial is just incredibly lame. At the same time, the real decision-maker here is the House of Representatives. We could have comprehensive reform enacted next week if the House just passes the Senate bill. The House's reluctance to pass the bill first and then patch it through reconciliation is one of the major obstacles here. [. . . T]he House is where the action is at.

(Emphasis supplied.) Actually, the House is where there is not a snowball's chance in hell of passing the Senate Stand Alone bill. That number, 217, stands in the way. There needs to be a reconciliation fix in place for the House to pass the Senate Stand Alone bill. Holding your breath until you turn blue is not a strategy that will work for the Villagers. They need to get their Senate buddies in line. Or there will be no Senate health bill. They may be surprised to discover how few people will mourn its death.

Speaking for me only

Ezra Klein going DFH on the Senate shenanigans on the jobs issue:

The Senate Finance Committee has released a draft (PDF) of its jobs bill[. . .]:

[. . . T]here are two process agreements that are essential to completing action on [the jobs bill.] Fulfilling these agreements has been a condition precedent to the bipartisan discussions that have occurred. [. . .] [W]e are committed to timely consideration of permanent bipartisan estate and gift tax reform.

[. . .] This is the compromise that appears to have led to this package: not a better or bigger or more tax-focused jobs bill, but massive tax cuts for the rich. Tell me again why Democrats are bothering with a bipartisan jobs bill rather than running the legislation through reconciliation?

(Emphasis supplied.) Uh oh, Ezra. you are risking being a Not Serious Person with this kind of stuff. Careful.

Speaking for me only

Below I critiqued Jon Chait for writing "[t]he left has [. . .] help[ed] convince many liberals that the health care bill [. . .] is a worthless compromise not worth fighting for." Ironically, I then found this from Ezra Klein:

One of the problems with the health-care reform bill, I think, is that it's been oversold. [. . .] [I]t's not nearly so big as people think.

Ezra links to an earlier post, where he writes "We're doing a lot on health-care reform this year, but we're not doing that much. And we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking otherwise. We'll be back at this again, and soon." Define soon, Ezra. The problem for the Senate bill proponents is the bill really is almost nothing in terms of reform. The undiluted progressive good in the bill is the expansion of Medicaid. Want to sell the bill to progressives? Stick to that point. The rest of the bill is not convincing at all.

Speaking for me only

I had my fun with some Village bloggers regarding their arguments defending President Obama as not being able to control the Congress, so I must admit to an internal chuckle when I read this from Ezra Klein today:

Bush had this right. In his first year in office, he was using recess appointments and running major legislation through the reconciliation process. That normalized those moves for the rest of his administration. Using those tools wasn't a story. The Obama White House, by contrast, is holding those moves in reserve, which has allowed Republicans to paint them as extraordinary measures. But they're not extraordinary measures. They're basic elements of governance in an era of polarization and procedural obstructionism, and the White House should treat them that way.

Now he tells us. For a year, he told us Obama could not do such things. Well, better late than never.

Speaking for me only

Manning throws a late pick to seal Saints win. Final score Saints 31 - Colts 17.

More . . .

The Super Bowl is tonight. The game itself is of interest and I will do an in depth analysis later today. But right now I want to discuss the key prop bet of the event:

Super Bowl XLIV - How many times will Pete Townshend do his legendary windmill move? Windmill move must be a full 360 degree revolution and be shown on TV to be counted for this wager. Pete Townshend windmill moves during halftime show.

Over 5½ (-270)o,(+210)u

I love the over, even at the price.

This is an Open Thread.

It takes some chutzpah for a Village blogger like Jon Cohn to insist that progressives clamor for the Senate health bill. Cohn writes:

I should probably reiterate what I've said before. Nobody--not the president and not the members of Congress--are going to move if progressives don't push for [the health bill]. That's where the real shove has to start.

Progressives have been marginalized and insulted throughout the process. Many, if not most, do not care for the Senate health bill. And now one of the people who did the marginalizing and insulting (one of the big proponents of the bill killing excise tax), insists progressives have to fight for the Senate health bill? Amazing.

More importantly, it is not going to happen. Unless someone is offering up a public option (which is not on the table of course), forget about progressives whipping for the passage of the Senate health bill. The Senate health bill is Jon Gruber's and Max Baucus' and Barack Obama's and the Villagers' baby. It is on them. You can't spend a year ridiculing, ignoring, and insulting progressives and then expect them to rally to YOUR cause.

Speaking for me only

Politico:

Sen. Al Franken ripped into White House senior adviser David Axelrod this week during a tense, closed-door session with Senate Democrats. Five sources who were in the room tell POLITICO that Franken criticized Axelrod for the administration’s failure to provide clarity or direction on health care and the other big bills it wants Congress to enact.

Evisceration joke explained here.

What could give AT&T's sagging 3G network, the iPhone and the iPad a boost? Equipping them to use the SlingPlayer Mobile App that works with a Slingbox on the 3G network, not just wireless. And it looks like it's happening. Here's the skinny.

I don't have a SlingBox, but my dentist does, and I've been playing with it when I go to his office for a couple of years. It works well. It's a box you plug into your cable tv at home, and when you are anywhere else, you can watch it on your phone, change the channels, watch programs you've TIVO'd, etc. [More...]

digby:

The WaPo's Steven Pearlstein tells me on MSNBC that the American people shouldn't expect Washington to be able to do anything about jobs because it's the result of "imbalances" that have to be "worked out" and it's going to take time and people just need to be patient and take their medicine. (Mrs Alan Greenspan agreed and added this hysteria over jobs in congress is all just politics in the wake of Massachusetts.)

Those are excellent observations from successful political celebrities who have jobs and are among the wealthiest Americans who can afford to "ride out" the slump. For most people, who aren't any of those things, not so much.

At least they didn't say "let them eat cake!" The strangest thing is these folks think they understand "real" Americans.

Speaking for me only

From Sports Left -- New Orleans Saints LB Scott Fujita is speaking up for gay rights at the Super Bowl:

Last fall, in an interview on the Sirius XM Satellite Radio show “Edge of Sports,” Fujita bluntly supported a march for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. “Just because I’m in favor of gay rights doesn’t mean I’m gay,” Fujita told the host, Dave Zirin. “I know who I am. My wife knows who I am.” Fujita, who played in college at California, and his wife, Jaclyn, have twin daughters who are 2 years old.

In Tuesday’s Super Bowl session with members of the news media, Fujita, who said his teammates give him some gentle teasing in the language of the locker room for his public opinions, reflected on how the campus he attended is known for progressive attitudes. “There is a certain stigma that comes with being from Berkeley,” he said. “And I’m proud of that stigma.”

[MORE . . .]