It's hard to win the battle of words when media outlets insist on calling conservative Democrats "moderate" and "centrist." When polls show that the vast majority of voters in both parties support raising taxes on the rich, insisting on protecting the revenue stream of millionaires and billionaires is hardly a "moderate" position. Just sayin', Josh Marshall:

Moderate Senate Democrats are signaling strong resistance to tax increases in the President's deficit-reduction plan, and the early disapproval within his own party will no doubt give Republicans on the deficit super committee plenty of cover to block any and all revenue-raising aspects of Obama's plan.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) told reporters Monday night that he's put off by all the talk about increasing taxes when he believes the primary and only goal of the deficit super committee should be finding cuts to hack away at the deficit.

"Tax increases have to come second to cutting," he said. "I was just home over the weekend and that's what [my constituents] we're all talking about."

Which constituents, Ben? Oh, you mean your largest donors, like Big Pharma and the finance industry! Bless your heart!

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who represents a state whose economy is dependent on energy production, last week said the offset for Obama's new spending plans, which includes the elimination of oil and gas subsidies, "was not going to fly."

"Terrible," Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) told Politico last week when asked about the president's ideas for how to pay for the $450 billion price tag. "We shouldn't increase taxes on ordinary income. ... There are other ways to get there."

Clearly trying to withhold her opposition -- at least for the day, Landrieu ducked into an elevator when reporters tried to stop her Monday night to ask her opinion about the President's speech.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), a co-chair of the deficit super committee, gave an oblique response when asked Monday night about her response to the President's speech and how it would affect the super committee's work, noting that she hopes the panel can take a "fair and balanced" approach.

"Fair and balanced." Hmm. Where have I heard that one before? Oh yeah, it's wingnut foreplay - i.e. the sweet nothings they whisper in your ear right before they stick it to you!

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Glenn Beck repeated on his Fox News show yesterday a line he had tried out earlier in the day on his radio show (and Rush Limbaugh used it too): Sen. Mary Landrieu is a high-priced prostitute because she wrangled in $100 million in aid to Louisiana in exchange for her Saturday vote for cloture in moving the health-care reform package forward in the Senate.

Beck: Look, if this health-care bill was right, would you need a hundred million dollar bribe -- oop, uh -- what are they actually calling it? Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana -- she was on the fence with this health-care bill, but then she ended up voting for it! What changed her mind? Some amazing cost-cutting maneuver, something that she was reading the bill and went, 'Oh my gosh, that's gonna make sure that everybody gets Band-Aids who has boo-boos.' No, it was reported on Friday that her vote was sold for 100 million dollars.

Yeah, hundred million dollars, right there in the health-care bill. A bill about health and care and covering people on health-related issues! Senator Landrieu was assured that her state, Louisiana, in the bill, would get 100 million dollars in aid.

[Video] Sen. Landrieu: I am not going to be defensive about asking for help in this situation. And it is not a 100 million dollar fix, it's a 300 million dollar fix.

Beck: Well, I'm sorry! So we know you're hookin', but you're just not cheap.

It's three hundred million dollars. She went on to point out that there's bipartisan support for this money in Louisiana. Ohhh! Well, how about it there support in Texas? How about Washington, are you for it? Oregon? You cool? Ohio? Are you good with it? Ohhh, that's great.

Nevermind all the details Beck has wrong here (Landrieu was just voting on cloture, not the bill itself; Landrieu in fact remains officially "on the fence" in terms of voting for the bill itself; and moreover, this kind of horse-trading is a standard feature of the American legislative system).

And those other states he mentions were not recently struck by one of the biggest natural disasters in American history nor are they still reeling economically from its effects. Do people in other states mind that Louisiana is getting this help? Well, speaking as someone from another state, hell no. It's what we do as United states, ya know.

But the biggest point is that he pretends this was just generic "aid" for Louisiana completely unrelated to health care -- when in fact the funds will go to the state's Medicaid program, which is near collapse after the economic effects of Katrina. That is to say, it will mostly go to help poor and indigent people, many of them minorities. You have to wonder if that's what Glenn Beck objects to.

At the end of this rant, Beck intones:

I guess shame is dead. Shame died.

It sure as hell did on Glenn Beck's show. Not sure it was ever alive there, though.

Sam Stein reports that the pressure is now on Republican Rep. David Vitter to denounce Beck's remarks.

With Democrats like these...:

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) took quite the political heckling in Nebraska the past few weeks. Both he and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) have come under fire for their on-again-off-again opposition to a public health care option as part of the overhaul now in Congress.

Nelson has said he won't filibuster a bill with a public option in it, so his foes have moved on.

Now Landrieu will be getting the Nelson treatment. Change Congress, the group that sniped at Nelson the last few weeks, is now setting its (web) sites on her. She'll be on the receiving end of $10,000 worth of online ads targeting her for taking $1.6 million from big health care and insurance interests.

The ads link to a petition calling on Landrieu to back a public option and break with big insurance companies.

The Howard Dean funded group Democracy for America will also go after Landrieu, sending e-mails to its 20,000 Louisiana members asking them to call her office and press her to back a public option.

If Landrieu doesn't move back in support of a public option, said Adam Green of Change Congress, direct mail will be sent to Louisiana donors calling on them to withhold campaign funds -- call it fund-suppressing. DFA, meanwhile, is working on a TV ad set to attack Landrieu for her opposition to a public plan.

Before opposing the public option, Landrieu signed a letter declaring, in specific terms, her support for it.

It's literally unbelievable to me that when you have polling that shows that the public supports a public option for health care by enormous margins (83-14%) and yet we have Democrats dithering over it. The Change Congress ad hits home to Louisianans pretty effectively:

Continue reading »

Cooper started the interview this way:

Cooper: "Does the federal government bear any responsibility for what is happening, should they apologize for what is happening now?"

Landrieu put on a happy face and thanked all the wonderful politicians for showing their support. I mean WTF? Everyone is worried about their own asses and doing little if anything for the people on the ground.

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Think Progress has the transcripts.

Jeralyn: "He laced into Sen. Mary Landrieu saying people who have witnessed the devastation don't want to hear politicans congratulating other politicians for how they've responded. He was yelling, basically, "Don't you get it yet?" He mentioned seeing a woman's body on the ground being eaten by rats. Landrieu told Anderson she understood what he was saying and then thanked the President again ."

All Spin Zone: Cooper Rocks: "Cooper has been down in the middle of the devastation on the Gulf Coast since the beginning of the week. Today, he apparently hit his breaking point...read on"

Wonkette: Cooper's 360 Roundhouse: Do not get the pretty boys mad: Mary Landrieu goes on about how great Bill Frist is. Anderson Cooper responds that it's hard to take politicians thanking each other when rats are gnawing dead bodies in the streets...read on
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