May

1

Swimming in Congressional Candidates

May 1, 2007 |

Tonight’s podcast ended up almost entirely on the 5th U.S. Congressional District — the battle to replace Rep. Marty Meehan. He intends to resign next week. We have been tracking the five Democrats and one Republican in the hunt.

We had our first guest, Lowell’s Dick Howe. He is a keen observer on the race and probably the most knowledgeable person around about the candidates.

We concurred that the candidates are very similar on many issues. They have very little time and in most cases, scant resources, to differentiate themselves.

Health care may be the big one and will certainly be a factor in debates. Nicki Tsongas and Eileen Donoghue so far have been on one extreme. Both sat or sit on health-care-related boards and both have come out against single-payer systems and for the “free” market forces. Jamie Eldridge has already staked out the progressive ground with a call for real universal health-care.

If all other factors remain similar or equal, this can be a big issue.

Posts of the Week

Mike’s blog post of the week came from South Carolina’s Seeding Spartanburg. The entry Chomp, Chomp, Chomp described an even meaner mirror image of party politics there to Massachusetts. The sandlappers also have pretty much a one-party, Republican, state.

The blogger, Tammy, notes that “…SC Democrats really don’t have to play dirty. We can just sit back and watch the SC GOP eat themselves from the inside out. Who wants to play the way they do? Now that they have destroyed their opponents using Lee Atwater strategies, they are using Atwater strategies on each other. It don’t matter in SC. Everyone is game.” She’s hard on the local as a result, claiming political and social stagnation as a result:

(T)he majority in this state, while they would brag about where their hard work has gotten them, are still spinning the same wheels their Grandaddy was. And that ain’t “gettin’ somewhere” in my book. People deserve better than what they’ve gotten.Good job exploiting the not-so-bright of South Carolina. Exploit the poor, rural and middle class folks. Take advantage of good hearted people by telling them war is good and gays are bad. Pitting black against white. Baptists against whoever…cheating at straw polls… (how SAD is that?)

Ryan’s Blog of the Week is a new one from Professor Brian Williams of UMASS Dartmouth, Dispatch from Afghanistan. He’s a real-life Indiana Jones, meeting warlords in Afghanistan in one dangerous trek after another. Currently, he’s on a year-long sabbattacal and has started a blog for the Standard Daily Times. He’s a fascinating guy and knows about as much as anyone on America’s Other War and Afghanistan in general (not to mention he was an expert on al Qaeda before the President knew what terrorism was). He’s got a cult-like following at UMASS Dartmouth and I thought people would enjoy - and benefit from - reading his new blog.

Lynne’s pick is from Charley at Blue Mass Group, who posted a response to the response from Niki Tsongas regarding health care. Charley hit on the exact note I had wanted to but didn’t have time, and raised some serious questions that still need answering.

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Comments

5 Comments so far

  1. turch on May 2, 2007 9:10 am

    Your representation that Eileen Donoghue is opposed to single payer is completely incorrect. I have been there in person and heard her state that her position is that “all options are on the table, including single payer.” I think her position is much more reasonable and open minded than Ms. Tsongas’. Furthermore, Ms. Donoghue is on a volunteer board of a community hospital and receives no payment for her service there. Ms. Tsongas is on the board of an HMO and her campaign is being chaired by an HMO consultant.

    I’d hardly characterize that as both being at “one extreme.”

    On the topic, if Jamie Eldridge is in favor of single payer and not supportive of the Massachusetts plan, I wonder why he voted in favor of the Massachusetts plan just one year ago?

  2. Lynne on May 2, 2007 9:20 am

    Well then, she will have to explain this quote from the Lowell Sun:

    But many of them said universal, single-payer health care is too big a leap to take for the country at this time.

    Donoghue, who sits on the board of directors at Saints Medical Center in Lowell, said a single-payer system “in a perfect world, might be a nice option.”

    But she said government health-care programs are too overrun by bureaucracy and poor management to expect a smooth expansion to universal health coverage.

    That doesn’t sound like “all options are on the table” to me…

  3. Lynne on May 2, 2007 9:23 am

    And by the way, there’s tons of evidence to suggest she’s incorrect. Government health care is too overrun with bureaucracy and poor management? *ahem* Last I checked, it was private insurance that had the stupidly high overhead, and government-run programs with real low overhead.

    And given that just today I was ready to strangle my HMO yet again for their goddamned red tape in order to get an important prescription, I think it’s rather the opposite. I’d way prefer my grandmother’s Medicare plan than this stupid, expensive, money-grubbing HMO any day.

  4. turch on May 2, 2007 3:03 pm

    Lynne: Mimi points out elsewhere that Donoghue gave those quotes without much opportunity to elaborate or provide detail. Indeed, the second portion of the quote aren’t even direct quotes. I’m going to wat and see what the campaign’s statement on this issue is - directly from them and not filtered through the Lowell Sun in paragraph X in one quote.

  5. Revenge of the Congressional SFifth? : Left Ahead on August 30, 2007 2:41 pm

    […] podcast features Dick Howe, blogger extrordinaire and our first former guest-host to repeat their starring role. His blog was among the best for MA-05 news, videos and […]

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