Dorgan and Ritter and Dodd, Oh My!

Within the last 24 hours we have gotten news of Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan and Colorado Governor Bill Ritter not intending to seek re-election for 2010. And now comes word that Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, whose numbers have been down in the polls and would have had a hard time winning another term, has scheduled a press conference for today in which he is expected to announce his retirement after five terms.

Dodd's seat looks safe as Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal might step in and run a little earlier than his anticipated run against Joe Lieberman in 2012, but I think you'd have to expect to lose a seat in conservative North Dakota when Dorgan steps down.

Is it really looking that bad for the Democrats in 2010? I personally don't think so. I think the teabaggers' numbers don't match their loudness, despite what certain polls say.

Guess Who I Met New Year's Eve?

Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd and his family attended the New Year's Eve Broadway matinee performance of Mary Poppins. I met him as he was being given a backstage tour after the show. He was very friendly and down to earth, and his wife Jackie and their daughters were lovely.

I know that for the most part friendliness is normally the way of politicians in order to secure votes, but I don't live in his state and it felt genuine.  Imagine my surprise when after I thanked him for posing for the photo with me, he replied, "Thank you for asking."

Dodd Has Prostate Cancer

NY Times: Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the 65-year-old five-term Connecticut Democrat, has early stage prostate cancer, which he plans to announce at a news conference Friday afternoon in Hartford, according to an aide to the senator.

Mr. Dodd’s condition was caught extremely early, through regular screening, and he will probably use the upcoming Senate recess to undergo surgery, the aide said.

Geithner Requested AIG Bonus Loophole

According to CNN's Ali Velshi, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was responsible for adding the AIG bonus loophole.

...Geithner told CNN Thursday his department asked Sen. Chris Dodd to include a loophole in the stimulus bill that allowed bailed-out insurance giant American International Group to keep its bonuses.

If this is true, then Geithner should resign. Yes, we'll hear about it for the next week how yet another one of Obama's appointments was a screw up, but this one was over the top, especially in light of the fact that everyone was trying to throw Senator Chris Dodd under the bus for approving something administration officials at the Treasury Department requested. That's the Bush way of doing things (ie. George "Slam Dunk Medal of Freedom" Tenet) and it shouldn't be tolerated if we're to have any faith in what President Obama has to say in the future.

AIG Bonuses? Don't Look at Dodd - UPDATED

Over the past few days, I've heard from multiple sources that Senator Chris Dodd fought to retain the retention bonuses for executives in the AIG contract. I thought that a bit strange and then I heard it again on Countdown with Keith Olbermann last night. But according to Marc Ambinder, Dodd is not to blame.

...Dodd is being blamed for OK-ing a proviso in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act guaranteeing previously sanctioned employment contracts. He faces intense political pressure because of his long-standing friendship with bankers and lenders, which has made him a key player in the negotiations between financial institutions and the government. In a statement yesterday, Dodd called on AIG executives to voluntarily refuse their bonuses. The truth is that the codicil was added in conference by mutual agreement of House and Senate Democrats and the White House.

Why would they agree to this? As Ambinder explains, then and now, they had no intention of nationalizing the banks, wanted to work with the banks and were afraid of the backlash if the perception was that the government could step in and abolish employee contracts at will.

...In conference -- Dodd was not a conferee -- the following clause was added to reconcile differences between the Senate and House bills:

iii) The prohibition required under clause (i) shall not be construed to prohibit any bonus payment required to be paid pursuant to a written employment contract executed on or before February 11, 2009, as such valid employment contracts are determined by the Secretary or the designee of the Secretary.

Dodd, the chair of the banking committee, agreed to this language because most all of the stakeholders - including the administration - wanted it. But the original bill passed by the Senate contains Dodd's compensation limits without the carve out the exemption for bonuses. So there is no evidence that Dodd bowed to pressure from his contributors or that he was the author, the force of nature, behind it.Why the rush to blame Dodd? Apparently he has the lowest approval of any incumbent and his seat may be up for grabs. I would be very interested in knowing where the "blame Dodd" story originated, and wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it's a Republican red herring to try and gain a Senate seat in 2010. Good luck with that in the blue northeast.

There are plenty of places to look for fuck ups, but solely putting it on Dodd's shoulders isn't entirely fair.

(H/T Ambinder)

UPDATE (3/19/09 5:20pm): Glenn Greenwald: The dishonest "Blame Dodd" scheme from Treasury officials

There is a major push underway -- engineered by Obama's Treasury officials, enabled by a mindless media, and amplified by the right-wing press -- to blame Chris Dodd for the AIG bonus payments. That would be perfectly fine if it were true. But it's completely false, and the scheme to heap the blame on him for the AIG bonus payments is based on demonstrable falsehoods. (Continue reading using link above.)

Dodd and Feingold To The Rescue?

Shhh... don't tell anyone, but it looks like Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold are going to filibuster the FISA compromise bill. But they're not using that word. Must be bad juju.

Initially there were reports that Feingold would not filibuster the bill. But in an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now, Feingold explained procedure:

AMY GOODMAN: Senator Feingold, will you filibuster this bill?

SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD: We are going to resist this bill. We are going to make sure that the procedural votes are gone through. In other words, a filibuster is requiring sixty votes to proceed to the bill, sixty votes to get cloture on the legislation. We will also—Senator Dodd and I and others will be taking some time to talk about this on the floor. We’re not just going to let it be rubberstamped.

AMY GOODMAN: Would you filibuster, though?

SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD: That’s what I just described.

A joint statement released by Dodd and Feingold explains that "they will oppose efforts to end debate on this bill as long as it provides retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that may have participated in the President's warrantless wiretapping program, and as long as it fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans."

Hmmm... so basically, they're going to filibuster without using the word "filibuster"... maybe it's bad luck to use the word "filibuster" on the Senate floor. Sort of like using the word "Macbeth" in a theatre.

Shhh... don't tell anyone, but it looks like Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold are going to "Scottish play" the FISA compromise bill!

Ready To Mislead On Day One

Hillary Clinton on sniper fire:

"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

The truth:

"...I was told was that we had to land a certain way and move quickly because of the threat of sniper fire. So I misspoke — I didn’t say that in my book or other times but if I said something that made it seem as though there was actual fire —that’s not what I was told. "

"If I said something that made it seem as though there was actual fire..."? You mean like running with your heads down to get into the vehicles? Clinton "misspoke"... about getting shot at. I suppose when it happens so often, you tend to forget where or when.

From Clinton's campaign website:

"From her time in Arkansas when she improved rural health care to her successful effort to create the SCHIP Children's Health Insurance program which now covers six million children, Hillary has the strength and experience to ensure that every man, woman and child in America has quality, affordable health care."

The truth:

Boston Globe: ...the Clinton White House, while supportive of the idea of expanding children's health, fought the first SCHIP effort, spearheaded by Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, because of fears that it would derail a bigger budget bill. And several current and former lawmakers and staff said Hillary Clinton had no role in helping to write the congressional legislation, which grew out of a similar program approved in Massachusetts in 1996...

"I do like her," Hatch said of Hillary Clinton. "We all care about children. But does she deserve credit for SCHIP? No - Teddy does, but she doesn't." ... Hatch, a longtime Kennedy friend, said he didn't want to criticize Clinton, but felt that the record should be set straight about how the SCHIP program was developed.

...Asked whether Clinton was exaggerating her role in creating SCHIP, Kennedy, stopped in the hallway as he was entering the chamber to vote, half-shrugged.

"Facts are stubborn things," he said, declining to criticize Clinton directly. "I think we ought to stay with the facts."

To top it off, some lawmakers and staff members are privately pissed at Clinton's exaggeration of her role and the claim that she "helped create" SCHIP, especially after missing the November 1st vote to extend it, as did Barck Obama, Chris Dodd and John McCain, while they were out on the campaign trail. It passed even without their votes.


Hillary Clinton on peace in Northern Ireland:

When asked by National Public Radio whether she had been in the "centre of the room" during Northern Ireland peace talks, she said: "What I was was part of a team and that team included obviously the principal negotiators under the direct authority of my husband.

"I wasn't sitting at the negotiating table but the role I played was instrumental. I guess it was in December when Ian Paisley [Democratic Unionist Party leader] and Martin McGuinness [Sinn Fein leader] came to the United States.

"I think they met with the leadership of Congress, with the President and with me and they thanked me publicly for the role I had played."

...This month, Terry McAuliffe, Mrs Clinton's campaign chairman, told CNN: "We would not have peace today had it not for Hillary's hard work in Northern Ireland."

The truth:

...Mrs Clinton's version of events has been challenged by Peter King, an Ulster Unionist Party negotiator at the Good Friday talks in 1998, who said: "Hillary Clinton was totally invisible at the actual negotiations.

"As far as I am concerned, Mrs Clinton was as relevant to peace in Northern Ireland as Tony Blair's wife or the ex-wife of Bertie Ahern [the Irish prime minister]."

...Both Unionist and Nationalist negotiators told this newspaper that while Mrs Clinton's work with women's groups was positive her overall role was peripheral and she played no part in the gruelling negotiations that took years.

Clinton says she was publicly thanked. Show me the transcript or video or audio; something that shows Hillary Clinton being publicly thanked and we can put this one to bed.

Just yesterday, one of Clinton's campaign surrogates (I can't remember who) was defending her peace in Northern Ireland claim to Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC. When Mitchell addressed Lord Trimble's quote that Hillary's claim was a "wee bit silly", said Clintonite dismissed Lord David Trimble as a "crankpot" but was quick to use Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume's name and tried to change the subject. Mitchell, being on the ball, immediately pointed out that Hume shared the prize with Trimble!

Hillary on Family & Medical Leave Act:

Again, from the Clinton campaign website:

As First Lady, she helped pass the Family and Medical Leave Act and helped found the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancies, which established and achieved a goal of reducing teen pregnancies by one-third between 1996 and 2005.

Really? The Family and Medical Leave Act was signed into law on February 5th, 1993, just 16 days after Bill Clinton took office. Did she give Bill the pen? Was she whispering how to spell his name while he signed it? The FMLA legislation was vetoed twice and took over seven years before it was passed. Senator Chris Dodd introduced FMLA in 1986. Did Dodd call Hillary Clinton to help draft it while she was in Arkansas?

Now, she may have helped in extending it once she became a Senator in 2001, 15 years after the legislation was first introduced and 8 years after it was signed, but to imply that you helped passed FMLA when in fact it already passed though Congress before your husband even took office is completely misleading. Just because you support something doesn't mean you helped pass it. Hell, in that case even I helped pass FMLA.

I could go on about how she claims to have negotiated with the Macedonian government to open borders for the refugees of Kosovo even though the borders were already open, or the whole NAFTA-Gate thing, but you get my point. When you're basically running on experience, and then embellishing and exaggerating that experience, you undermine campaigning on experience. And although there are solid experiences in Clinton's background, the fact that she feels she needs to lie to make them better than they were, adds doubt to their validity.

Hillary Clinton: Ready to Mislead on Day One