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Finally we are starting to see some new ads come out from the left exposing the Republican’s quest to destroy Medicare. The first one is coming from Americans United for Change, in which they are targeting certain Republican members of the House who are supporting the Ryan Plan. Here’s the ad, which will air in the districts of Steve King (R-IA), Sean Duffy (R-WI), Chip Cravaack (R-MN)  and Paul Ryan himself:

Then the DCCC comes out with a new web ad, expanding the field. In “Broken Promises: House Republicans Vote To End Medicare”, the DCCC seizes on the Republicans shredding their “Seniors’ Bill of Rights”

Hopefully this is the start of the left showing more spine and countering the hypocrisy and ideological destruction of America the GOP is bringing down. All we need now is a larger audience for these ads – hopefully one of a national scale.

The Senate has just ratified the START treaty by a 71-26 vote. All Democrats voted for the bill and 13 Republicans, 1/4 of the Republican caucus, broke with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to ratify the new treaty.

(On a side note, sorry for the lack of posting. With the holidays, a bad cold and massive work load, I haven’t been able to keep up with anything!)

This is an interesting article from the AP:

A brother of U.S. House Republican leader John Boehner (BAY'-nur) would have seen his unemployment benefits dry up if the congressman had succeeded in his push to defeat an extension-of-benefits bill passed this week.

Boehner and most fellow Republicans opposed the measure Thursday, but 61-year-old Bob Boehner said Friday he isn't bitter.

Bob says he doesn't want his brother voting for government programs that aren't paid for, even if that hurts him. He lost his job with the southwest Ohio city of Reading in February.

Well that’s really nice and brotherly, but there is something interesting here. The bill that passed was for the people on long-term unemployment. Bob is still in his initial 6 month period for Ohio, meaning he hasn’t even hit his first extension. In other words, while the people weren’t getting paid, Bob still was. That’s a nice little fact for the AP to omit.

Another thing worth mentioning. Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) is very good. I have been in it from my firefighting days and my father is a retired city worker getting a very nice pension from it. I don’t know how long Bob Boehner has held his job, but I got a feeling his future isn’t looking as dark as those 30-50 year olds that have no future right now.

Again – just some little facts to put this into perspective.

The Senate's longest serving member, Robert Byrd, died this morning at the age of 92. This really isn't a big shocker. Byrd's health has been deteriorating for years and given his age, it was pretty much expected that this was coming after the news of his serious condition yesterday.

As far as a replacement for Byrd, well Nate Silver points out the timing on this. It looks like there will be a special election. If Byrd would have held on one more week, then the governor would have been able to appoint a replacement.

And then there's the big question - the fate of financial reform. That's pretty much uncertain now that the Democrats have one less vote. My guess is that it will be gutted even further to bring on Snowe or Collins.

How dare you lose your job in the Republican created economy!

The GOP has already been saying that they will run on repealing healthcare. Let’s look at the things that will already be enacted at that time.

NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CHILDREN WITH PRE?EXISTING CONDITIONS — Prohibits new health plans in all markets plus grandfathered group health plans from denying coverage to children with pre?existing conditions. Effective 6 months after enactment.

So will Republicans campaign to let these children go without coverage? I don’t know how well that will work. They are so worried about stopping abortion, yet once the child is out of the uterus they are on their own? Yes – try to argue that one Republicans.

IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH?RISK POOL) — Provides immediate access to affordable insurance for Americans who are uninsured because of a preexisting condition — through a temporary subsidized high?risk pool. Effective 90 days after enactment.

A high risk pool – the very same thing that the GOP’s 2008 presidential candidate campaigned on. Are the Republicans going to get rid of one of the cornerstones of the McCain campaign? Will they be able to face the people this will affect and tell them “sorry – you’re out of luck”?

EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 26TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE — Requires new health plans and certain grandfathered plans to allow young people up to their 26th birthday to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice. Effective 6 months after enactment.

That’s the cost of the House health care bill. The full CBO report isn’t out yet, but it should be rather soon now. The Hill has some other early numbers:

The nonpartisan budget office told lawmakers that the health bill set for a vote this weekend would cut the deficit by $130 billion over the next decade, and $1.2 trillion  in the second decade of the plan's implementation.

This should set us up for a vote on Sunday.

Dennis Kucinich is holding a press conference tomorrow morning to announce his vote on the health care reform bill. Just now on MSNBC, Howard Fineman just reported that his sources are telling him that Kucinich will announce he is supporting the bill now. If this is the case, then this is very big news and a key hurdle to final passage.