links for 2010-03-02

White House officials tell ABC News that in his remarks tomorrow President Obama will indicate a willingness to work with Republicans on some issue to get a health care reform bill passed but will suggest that if it is necessary, Democrats will use the controversial "reconciliation" rules requiring only 51 Senate votes to pass the "fix" to the Senate bill, as opposed to the 60 votes to stop a filibuster and proceed to a vote on a bill.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been awaiting the president’s remarks direction on how health care reform will proceed.

In his remarks, scheduled to be at the White House, the president will paint a picture of what he will say will happen without a health care reform bill – skyrocketing premiums, everyone at the mercy of the insurance industry as recently seen with the 39% premium increases proposed by Anthem Blue Cross in California.
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The Democrats and Obama will OWN it – Own it!

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) Tuesday derided as "a joke" a bipartisan proposal being crafted by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), and John Kerry (D-Mass.) to address climate change since it does not spell out what to do with toxic waste that would be generated by proposed new nuclear plants.

"There's no nuclear power, there's no recycling, there's no storage," McCain said. "It's a joke when there's no site recycling and there's no storage. Nuclear power is not viable without recycling and without storage. Period."
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McCain is right on this one….

Obviously, I'd prefer a strong conservative Republican over a moderate liberal Democrat as the next senator from California. But Mickey Kaus would provide the sort of iconoclasm the Democratic party desperately needs, particularly in California. If more Democrats were as empirical and tough-minded as Mickey, the country and the state would be in a lot better shape. I'm reminded that WFB supported tough-minded Democrat Joe Lieberman over squishy Republican Lowell Weicker on similar grounds. Still, I hardly think what Mickey needs to win in a Democratic primary is full-throated support from the likes of me, or National Review. (There's a story about Lyndon Johnson begging The New Republic to stop praising him and start attacking him because in Texas, praise from The New Republic was less than helpful). So, I'm fully prepared to attack Kaus's outrageous, left-wing vanity run to be the next left-wing looney bird from Hollyweird!
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Attack him……We want Boxer gone