stupak

So this is what I learned from the last weekend of the health care reform debate. First, lay a coffin at a white house fence and you're subject to arrest. Spit and yell abuse at members of the Black Caucus as they enter the Capitol and you'll be left in peace. The same goes for screaming epithets at Barney Frank. If you're going to mass half a million strong for immigration reform, don't expect coverage on CSPAN when they're covering live events in and around Capitol Hill -- not if there are hundreds of epithet throwers somewhere close to cover. And I learned that after all, it has to be said, some Democrats do have spine. Unfortunately the rest could take some lessons in how to negotiate from the teeny weeny criminalize-abortion caucus and Rep. Bart Stupak. Finally I learned that Nancy Pelosi is one hell of a house leader. She really can corral a majority when she wants. In fact, she and President Barack Obama can be really persuasive, when they want to be. So let's not hear any more bunk about the impossibility of the aforementioned immigration reform, or repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, or actually coming up with some real financial regulation. They can do it when they want to. The one thing that remains a mystery is how to make them want to. If you don't have a mountain of cash, that is.
The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.

The final fight over the health care reform bill is coming up, and women's health care been a key issue throughout, as we've reported many times. This video from Not Under the Bus is here to remind us not to give up and to take action to ensure women don't get thrown under the bus for the sake of reform. January 13 is the national day of action!

The Senate held a historic vote on health care reform this morning at 1 AM. Splitting exactly along party lines--that is, if you call Joe Lieberman a Democrat--the health care bill made it through a cloture vote and is one step away from final passage and the conference committee. To get so-called moderate Democrat Ben Nelson on board, however, Harry Reid had to agree to a decidedly un-moderate compromise on abortion rights. It's not Stupak language--but it's close. Stupak's staffers, meanwhile, were sending frantic emails to catholic bishops and top republican staffers asking for their help to keep his amendment in the final bill. If that's bipartisanship, they can keep it. So who says these guys are so moderate, anyway? -- Laura Flanders

For over forty years, power-drunk Catholic leaders have accused independently-minded women of committing all manner of crimes and immoralities. It's ironic, considering church leaders' role in pervasive, prolonged and systematic child abuse. Not for universal coverage, they pushed a measure that seeks to strip millions of women of affordable health coverage and reproductive choice. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky vowed in a speech Monday that the so-called Stupak-Pitts amendment wouldn't make it into the final bill, but the Church is all over Washington, and it's shown that it still has a hold on our politics. Can some one please explain: why is that? … Tell me again: Why are we listening to those who cover for child abusers tell us anything, anything at all, about health? … And you might add -- and why are they tax-exempt? -- Laura Flanders