Cal Berkeley Democrats

Fall BBQ 2009

Calapalooza 2009

Nightly News Scan, 9/19/09

First, national news: Huckabee is tops in conservatives’ straw vote — AP FCC to propose net neutrality rules — WSJ Dodd Pushes New Plan to Oversee Banks — NYT Key amendments to the Baucus plan — Daily Kos Tax on ‘Cadillac’ Plans Draws Flak — WSJ Is the Mayo Clinic a Model Or a Mirage? [...]

California: Taxes vs. Spending

For many people, the economy is issues one, two, and three. This is understandable, as national unemployment sits at 9.7% . California is even worse at 12.2%, the highest ever recorded. During California’s budget battle, some argued that given our economic doldrums, we couldn’t afford to raise taxes. Doing so, they claimed, would have reduced [...]

Nightly News Scan, 9/18/09

Sorry this is a day late: House passes overhaul of college aid program — AP Young Americans and Health Insurance Reform — HealthReform.gov What Baucus Got Right — The Atlantic Fed Considers Sweeping Rules to Regulate Pay at Banks — New York Times Unemployment in California at 12%, Highest in Nearly 70 Years — New [...]

Painting the Community Blue

Last Saturday, 22 Cal Dems members decided to spend part of their Saturday working with the organization, Rebuilding Together Albany.  We helped fix up the home of Ms. Giller, a ninty-six year old woman who lives in the Berkeley area about eight minutes from campus.  While the main task was to scrap off and safely [...]

Evaluating Baucus’ Bill

Without a doubt, there are many, many reasons to be mad at Max Baucus. However, as The Atlantic notes, he did get a few things right. Namely, his “chairman’s mark” has a host of reforms, some high-profile and some low-key, which provide a solid fiscal foundation for health reform. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office [...]

An Argument for the Public Option

President Obama has set a clear goal of comprehensive health care reform before the end of this year. He has boldly determined that deferring urgent changes to the American health care system cannot wait another year. But in accomplishing this goal, Congress has a responsibility to make sure health care reform serves the public interest [...]

Nightly News Scan, 9/17/09

Read the first article. It really puts health reform in perspective. Study links 45,000 U.S. deaths to lack of insurance — Reuters Obama Calls on Young Adults to Back Health-Care Reform — Washington Post House Votes to End Federal Funding for ACORN — WaPo Missile Sense — NYT Bankers Face Sweeping Curbs on Pay — [...]

Health Care Reform: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

As of today, all five of five relevant committees have unveiled health proposals. Four have passed them (Senate HELP, House Education and Labor, House Ways and Means, and House Energy and Commerce), while one has not (Senate Finance). Spread throughout these bills are many ideas, some good, some bad, and some ugly. At this point, [...]