Capital Games

Making a move

My blog is moving to a new platform at http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/capitalgames/ and this will be my last post at this site.

Thanks for taking the time to read this stuff, and please update your bookmarks to the new site.

Menendez book coming

Sen. Bob Menendez has a book coming out next month.
“Growing American Roots: Why Our Nation with Thrive As Our Largest Minority Flourishes,” looks at the influence of the Hispanic population, according to a news release from publisher Penguin Group.

The book also includes “a call for sweeping social and economic legislation, immigration reform, improved health care, and an end to the discrimination and prejudice that Hispanics face.

Listed as co-writer with Menendez is Peter Eisner, a former deputy foreign editor of the Washington Post.

Lautenberg: 'Made the case'

“President Obama showed great leadership tonight and made the case for why health care reform is so important to our economy and of course, the well-being of our families.

"We need to make quality, affordable and stable health care available to every American so that no individual or family drowns in medical debt or is denied the care they need. 

"I share the President’s vision and pledge to fight for reforms that will benefit New Jersey families.”  

Menendez: 'True leadership'

Sen. Bob Menendez's take on President Obama's speech:

“President Obama stood before Congress and the nation tonight with the true leadership, vision and honesty that the American people respect. It was important for him to explain why the status quo is unhealthy for our loved ones, our family finances and our nation’s budget, and how we can fix it. He did all of that with strength and purpose, and we are on our way to healing the health insurance system.

“This is a serious matter that deserves an honest and serious approach. It is time to rise above the politics of fabrication and fear that powerful, entrenched interests have used to turn the debate into a brawl. Americans demanded a change from the cynical politics that took our nation in the wrong direction, and we are standing up for responsible policy and politics. Together with President Obama, many of us are committed to making sure that your health insurance won’t drain your finances but will actually be there for you when you need it the most. We are going to pass long overdue reform that makes ours a healthier and wealthier nation.”

Obama hugs Holt's guest; quotes Pascrell's

When 30-year-old Adira Riben of Monmouth Junction called Rep. Rush Holt to talk about her health insurance problems, he invited her to Washington to hear President Obama's speech as his guest in the House gallery.

According to Holt's office, Riben had to move back to New Jersey to live with family after losing her job in Louisiana. She tried to buy COBRA continuation coverage, but she'd been covered by a Louisiana HMO that only provided benefits down there, so she'd be buying coverage but not be able to use it.

"After the speech, we were waiting to see the president, and [Holt] pointed me out and told [Obama] my story. He shook my hand, gave me a hug, and he said, 'We can do this,'" Riben said afterward.

Riben, who has two chronic health problems, had never attended a speech like that before.

"It seemed powerful, more than seeing it on TV. It seems a lot more concrete when you hear him say it in person," she said.
Holt, D-Hopewell Towship, said he was impressed Obama spent most of his night reading off his left-side teleprompter, which meant he was speaking at the Republican side of the House.

“He was saying, I’m going to work with you, but I’m not going to take any guff. If you want to talk seriously, I’m open to it. If you want to delay, I don’t have any time for you,” Holt said. “In politics, that was pretty strong stuff.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-Paterson, was also proud about the props Obama paid to his guest in the gallery. He invited Wendell Potter, a former public relations executive for the Cigna and Humana health insurance companies.

According to Pascrell’s office, it was Potter Obama was referring to when he was talking about insurance companies denying needed care.

“Insurance executives don’t do this because they are bad people. They do it because it’s profitable. As one former insurance executive testified before Congress, insurance companies are not only encouraged to find reasons to drop the seriously ill; they are rewarded for it. All of this is in service of meeting what this former executive called ‘Wall Street’s relentless profit expectations.'"

Obama speech calisthenics

Had a good view of two North Jersey lawmakers from the gallery tonight, Reps. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, and Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson. And when one was up, the other was sitting down almost throughout the night.

When President Obama said health reform would include a provision requiring spending cuts if promised savings do not materialize -- and pointed out that part of the deficit he faces was caused by "too many initiatives over the past decade that were not paid for" -- Democrats leaped to their feet. Some hooted.

Pascrell, who was seated on the aisle on the Republican side of the room, waved his arms at his GOP colleagues, mockingly urging them to stand too.

There also were several points during the speech when all Democrats and most Republicans, but Garrett, who was continuously checking his Blackberry during the speech, did not. Here's some of the lines Garrett chose not to applaud:

• "I will not let up until those Americans who seek jobs can find them."

• "Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition."

• "No one should go broke because they get sick."

• Large groups of customers bargaining with insurers is "how everyone in this Congress gets affordable insurance. And it's time to give every American the same opportunity that we've given ourselves."

On one issue -- tort reform, the bane of trial lawyers -- Pascrell was one of only a handful of Democrats to stand and applaud with all of the Republicans.

Thanks for the invite...

Is a White House invite losing its luster with Democrats in Congress?

Rep. Rush Holt, D-Hopewell Township, was on the guest list for last night's Ramadan celebration at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., and even got out shout out from President Obama on the podium. But you know people from New Jersey always like to leave early to beat the traffic, so, well, let the official transcript tell it from here... 

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release                               September 1, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT IFTAR DINNER
8:08 P.M. EDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  Please, everybody have a seat.  Thank you.  Well, it is my great pleasure to host all of you here at the White House to mark this special occasion -- Ramadan Kareem. 

I want to say that I'm deeply honored to welcome so many members of the diplomatic corps, as well as several members of my administration and distinguished members of Congress, including the first two Muslims to serve in Congress -- Keith Ellison and Andre Carson.  Where are they?  (Applause.) 

Just a few other acknowledgements I want to make.  We have Senator Richard Lugar here, who's our Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.  Where is Dick Lugar?  There he is.  (Applause.)  Representative John Conyers, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.  (Applause.)  Representative Rush Holt is here.  Thank you, Rush.  (Applause.)  Have we found you a seat, Rush?  (Laughter.)

REPRESENTATIVE HOLT:  I’m on my way to the train.  (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT:  I got you.

Webber: Pallone should be ashamed

Jay Webber, the chairman of the Republican State Committee, issued this response to Rep. Frank Pallone's challenge to Chris Christie:

"Representative Pallone's assertions stretch believability to the breaking point and approach the territory of a paranoid conspiracy theory. Congressman Pallone has politicized the legislative process, and now he's impugned the integrity of an entire office of public servants. To allege misconduct in high places, without facts and on the flimsiest of inferences, is reckless, irresponsible, and sleazy. Congressman Pallone should be ashamed of himself. He owes an apology to the U.S. Attorney's office and his constituents - who would be better served if the congressman focused on the issues he was elected to deal with."

Pallone: Justice, campaign overlap

 

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Long Branch, questioned how much overlap there is between the prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark and the campaign of their former boss, Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie.

In a news release on his official Congressional letterhead, Pallone repeated several talking points of the re-election campaign of Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine including that it was revealed last week Christie held a secret meeting with Karl Rove, then President Bush's top political adviser, "to plot his gubernatorial campaign."

Pallone also seized on a video clip posted on the blog Firedoglake from what is reported to be a Feb. 28 talk. In it, Christie said former colleagues in the U.S. Attorney's office were watching the news and would be coming to Trenton with him if he wins the election to clean up state government. In the video, Christie says:

"They saw a lot of waste and abuse being investigated while we were in the U.S. Attorney's office that didn't rise to the level of a crime. So I told them, the good news is, when we get to Trenton we don't have to worry about beyond a reasonable doubt anymore."

To Pallone, this indicates that federal prosecutors are counting on Christie to give them jobs in the future. Pallone said:

"He should disclose who they are, what they communicate with each other and what plans they are making. Mr. Christie is no longer responsible for enforcing the law but he isn't supposed to break it."

Spokesman Rich McGrath defended putting the news release out on official letterhead by arguing Congress has a responsibility to enforce the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from engaging in political activity. McGrath said:

"We wouldn't be living up to our responsibilities if we turned away and ignored the situation."

More uninsured

New county-level data released today by the Census Bureau shows the percentage of people without health insurance grew sharply throughout New Jersey between 2000 and 2006.