Celebrity Justice

Just a quick comment on the new McCain commercial comparing Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

In a country that turns out more enthusiasm for American Idol than American politics, spotlighting your opponent's popularity and placing him in the same sphere of celebrity as the nation's biggest tabloid-sellers doesn't just help him and hurt you, it makes you seem really, really really old and out of touch.

Besides - as Craig Fuller (Republican strategist) reminded us last night - Ronald Reagan...pre-President...actual movie star...

Did no one on the McCain ad team think of that?

I went to the Nats game tonight. For about 5 innings. The new stadium's nice. For a stadium.

All in all, it was a hot muggy night, and the home team was getting creamed. There was no need to stay and watch the massacre.

The night wasn't a total loss though. I had good company, we had great seats, and there was the joy that is the Presidents Race. Slightly disturbing and yet oddly entertaining:

Job Security

I spent about an hour on the phone (btwn yesterday and today) with my former employer's benefits representative for Blue Cross Blue Shield. The insurance company denied covering blood work done the day of surgery (to make sure it was ok to do surgery). They said it was “routine” blood work, and I am only allowed one set of tests a year from my ob/gyn. Small problem… this was my dermatologist, not my gynecologist.

Yesterday's rep said even though the gynecologist's name is nowhere to be found on the claim document, this charge came from his office. Today's rep said she doesn't know what yesterday's rep was smoking (my words not hers. she was much nicer than that).

Anyway, the charge was from the doctor on the claim form (imagine that), and now the rep's got to go back and get a new claim code and resubmit the paperwork for adjustment.

I don't even want to guess how much time, money, and manpower (besides my own) will be wasted in the course of fixing this debacle.

But this is exactly why I do what I do now...and why we're going to win.

Oh Baby

Chez and Jayne welcome Inara Grace

Congratulations

Mistery Shopper

Someone special is having surgery today.

I'm thinking good thoughts for him.

I'm also in charge of finding the perfect get well gift but have been informed I need approval before completing the purchase. Apparently, not everyone appreciates my unconventional selections.

I refuse to concede.

I still think the incredible misting fountain was an excellent choice.

213

That's how many emails I've gotten today. Approximately. I know because if I don't update my Blackberry, they pile up.

I cleared a handful this morning before coming to work so let's round up to 225 for argument's sake.

That's absurd. 225 emails. And it wasn't even a particularly busy email day. Or at least it didn't feel that way.

Or I'm just so used to the deluge that I don't even notice anymore.

Pooped

And with that...it's the weekend!

While Austin was a lot of fun and uberproductive, I'm still wiped and feel like I haven't had an ounce of downtime in ages.

So I'm checking out for now. The poem of the week's been updated. I like it. Read it out loud. And remember to check out John's column here on Sunday.

Have a good one.

UPDATE: So it turns out I'm a week behind on the poem of the week. This is the new one. I like it too, but you don't have to read it out loud. Well, you can if you want. Or not. I'm just saying. Oh, nevermind.

Blast from the Past

Google just "alerted" me with the transcript of my second day ever on the air at CNN. Apparently, I used the phrase "sort of" a lot:

WOODRUFF: We continue now with our weeklong look at the growing influence of political blogs. With me here in Washington are, again, Howard Kurtz of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES," and Jacki Schechner, who is our blog reporter.

Jackie, tell us what you're seeing now.

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN BLOG REPORTER: You are absolutely right, Judy. They are talking about whether or not the journalists are going to jail. And Howie is with me here to talk about that a little more.

We actually -- when the news broke, we went onto the blogs to take a look and see who was talking about it. InstaPundit broke and said the subpoenas are out. That was the first time we sort of saw that. And that was just before noon, so about the same time, a little bit after the news came out.

Then we went over to Vodkapundit.com, and what they were talking about there, they had the press release that came from "TIME" magazine where the editor in chief was standing behind his journalist. And he was basically saying that journalists have to protect their sources, that's absolutely what they must do or they lose their credibility as journalists.

KURTZ: You might think, Jacki, that it would be a great first amendment debate about should Judy Miller and Matt Cooper go to jail, why should they go to jail, what would this -- what kind of chilling effect would this have. But that doesn't seem to be the focus of the debate.

A lot of the Web sites beating up on Bob Novak. He's not a popular figure on the left, and wondering about his involvement in this whole thing. It was his 2003 column that started this.

And I've got a soap box -- excuse me, I've got SoapboxBlog.com up here talking about Jeff Gannon, the online reporter who resigned last week. He had something to do with reporting on the Plame case as well.

"How does a writer for a pretend news service get access to CIA documents on Valerie Plame?" So there are different sidebar aspects of this whole story that seem to be exciting the blogers more than the more fundamental question for people in my line of work, which is reporters protecting their sources and staying out of jail.

SCHECHNER: Well, Gannon was one of the big stories that we covered yesterday. So it's all sort of interconnected, which we talked about, how the blogs sort of feed back on each other.

And then we went over to DailyCause (ph), which is interesting, because Cause (ph) says that they should give up their source, that who are they protecting, who are these reporters protecting? It's somebody in the Bush administration who is using them, which I think you mentioned earlier that it's a possibility.

KURTZ: Very easy to say, but if they were to take that advice, they basically would be out of business. Who would ever trust them again? Who would ever give them information and say, "You can't use my name?"

It's a very risky road to travel down when you've made a promise to somebody that you are going to expect to keep.

SCHECHNER: That's right. As a journalist, that's sort of where your credibility begins and ends.

We also want to talk about Eason Jordan, that issue in the blogs. Not so much about Eason Jordan, even though that's sort of the topic of conversation, but more about the role of the blogger and the role of the mainstream media and how they can sort of interconnect.

Buzz Machine was one that was sort of talking about the Internet and how the Internet changes journalism in the face of journalism, and how sort of there's eyes and ears everywhere now, and how that's going to change the mainstream media. There's other sites like Captains Quarters, where they're talking about the integration, the synthesis, is the word he uses, the old and the new media. "The Washington Times" was an example that he cited as somebody who's actually starting to do that well.

And then PressThink, which I think is really interesting. A site we talked about yesterday where you can go and see what the stories are through the day.

KURTZ: In real time.

SCHECHNER: In real time. Which ones are rising, which ones are falling, what's number one.

The number one today that people are checking out is this thing called PressThink. And it's written by Jay Rosen, an NYU professor. And he's talking about -- he says it's his closing thoughts on the resignation of Eason Jordan. But what he says is, "The solution when you miscommunicate has to be more communication, not excommunication." KURTZ: But the debate has very much moved from should Eason Jordan have resigned as CNN's chief news executive over those comments he made about the U.S. military and journalists in Iraq, to the role of the blogosphere. You have bloggers arguing with each other, is it a lynch mob or not, are we providing a good factual check on the mainstream media or not.

You certainly have some resentment from people in the old dinosaur media. Now you have people looking over their shoulders. And so it's interesting the way this has just absolutely caught fire. And I think this will rage for days because...

SCHECHNER: Oh, absolutely.

KURTZ: ... it's like the Dan Rather story. It's a tale in which bloggers played an absolutely essential role. This would not have happened without that original posting from somebody who attended the Dallas conference and now they are either celebrating or in some cases having second thoughts about their role in the Jordan case.

SCHECHNER: Yes. I mean, there is some call out there still for the tapes to be released from Davos and the World Economic Forum and all of that stuff.

KURTZ: I would like the tapes to be released. Let's resolve the question of what he said and what he didn't say.

SCHECHNER: Right. Right. But I think also now they're talking about integration, not so much who's right, who's wrong, who's checking whom, but how do we integrate this and how does this new medium become part of mainstream media and sort of integrate and become one big journalistic entity with sort of checks and balances and that sort of thing.

Another story that sort of relates to this we thought was interesting, it was rising on -- on (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We took a look at it, and it's been rising all day.

It's BatesLine.com. And it's a Tulsa, Oklahoma, blogger.

He got a letter from "Tulsa World," a local newspaper, that basically said, stop publishing bits and pieces of what we publish. And they sent him a letter, sort of a cease and desist, and said that we'll take legal action if you don't stop. You want to reprint anything that's on our -- in our newspaper, you need to get clearance for it.

So his call basically was, help me out here. I'm going to need to speak on behalf of all the bloggers.

And there's some of the bloggers who've responded -- Wizbang blog was an interesting response that we came up with. Kevin Aylward wrote a letter back to John Blair (ph), who is the VP of "Tulsa World." And this is the quote: "It's a bad idea to tangle with the community of Web blogs," and he refers to Rather (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And basically says, "When you attempt to silence them, you attempt to silence them all."

KURTZ: It sounds like he's saying nice little site you got here, it would be a shame if anything happened to it. But, you know, if this blogger is really just picking up bits and pieces from the biggest newspaper in Oklahoma's capital, and putting his own comments on it, everybody does that these days.

I do that every day on WashingtonPost.com. I provide the links. Other news organizations like that because it drives traffic to their sites. You can't just steal outright the entire editorial product. That's called theft.

SCHECHNER: Right.

KURTZ: But if you're just picking out bits and pieces, especially if you're linking to the source and crediting the source, then I'm not sure that "Tulsa World" is going to win on at least the public relations battlefield.

SCHECHNER: Well, that's what they were saying, that he's linking. And really that's not infringement or anything. So we'll keep an eye on it and see if this gets any bigger.

We'll turn it back to Judy.

WOODRUFF: And Jacki, you're answering a question I was going to ask, which is, how much of all the conversation back and forth on these blogs is driven by cable television news? You've got three, at least three channels out there. Certainly CNN right in the middle of it. But you are saying that some of this conversation is being picked up from newspapers?

SCHECHNER: Well, they're picking up some of these issues and then they're discussing them and talking about them. It's not so much their self-discovery today. They're not necessarily finding new issues today. But a lot of them are sort of talking about what's going on.

Michael Jackson being one good example. We...

(CROSSTALK)

KURTZ: I've got Dead Pool (ph) up here and they've got -- a lot of people posting about the fact that Michael Jackson was taken to the emergency room today. Dead Pool (ph) says, "Just keep him out of the children's cancer ward, OK?" That gives you the tenor of the comments.

But I'm not seeing much about Michael Jackson in many of the political blogs that I look at regularly, even though it's been on cable television so often. There isn't as much for them to argue about in this case. Although it may not go away. I mean, after all, we're still in jury selection.

SCHECHNER: It's always ever-changing. So we'll have more tomorrow and see what's going on then. WOODRUFF: All right. Jackie Schechner, Howard Kurtz, thank you both. And a reminder there at the end that all these blogs are not political blogs. They do look at issues and what's going on across the spectrum.

True Story

Me: Hi. I had a couple of tests done on Tuesday. I was just calling to see if the results were in yet.

Nurse: Hang on....Do you have United Health Care?

Me: Yes.

Nurse: Yeah. Um, United takes a little longer. Try back on Monday.

Medical care delayed by paperwork and bureacracy? Shocker.

We care. Leave a message.

If you've launched a "listening tour," it's a good idea to pick up the phone:



UPDATE: We gots ourselves some coverage here and here and here.

On Three...1...2....

I've got an all day staff meeting today so posting will be on the light side. However, we do have a new video, and I'll put it up here as soon as it's done.

It's a good one. AHIP's not going to be pleased.

Death by Legume

It's been a while since we've had a good "Seriously Florida, WTF?" but Miss Lindsay emails a placeholder from Cincinnati that's equally absurd:

Assault with a deadly peanut?
She's also accused of damaging car

By Lori Kurtzman

Police say it's a case of assault with a deadly peanut.

Robyn Lee, 23, of Corryville, was charged with aggravated assault after being accused of trying to cram a peanut in the mouth of her allergic neighbor Saturday evening. Lee appeared in court Monday on the peanut charge and a related criminal damaging charge.

According to police and court records, Lee was riding in a car with a neighbor, Shenna Ferguson, just after 6 p.m., when she allegedly tried to put the peanut in Ferguson's mouth.

"I told her to stop because I was very (allergic) to peanuts," Ferguson wrote in an affidavit. "She laughed."

The women headed to the Tri-County Mall in Springdale, where Lee continued to taunt her, Ferguson said.

"She told me don't forget about the peanuts," Ferguson wrote. "Once she said that I shut up."

Lee allegedly threw peanuts at Ferguson when the women reached the mall. Ferguson went inside, then returned to her car to fetch an ATM card. She noticed Lee was stooped near Ferguson's gold Chrysler, "messing with my tires."

The windshield wipers were torn off, the car was keyed and the tires were deflated, Ferguson wrote.

A judge set Lee's bond at $5,000 and ordered her to stay away from Ferguson. There were no indications that Ferguson had suffered an allergic reaction after the alleged peanut attack.

Famous Fan

You'll never guess where HCAN news is popping up now.

Yesterday's rally in Ohio was a huge success. We've got one tomorrow in Connecticut and another Friday in Virginia. I'll post the details on both later today.

In the meantime, watch our video again and pass it on to friends. The more eyeballs, the better.

Golden Girl

Estelle Getty passed away today. She was 84.

The Washington Post paints the picture of a woman of grace, humor, and humility. It's exactly what I would have expected.

Gotcha

Mark Kovac reports on Kim - an SEIU member - who stood up and spoke out against AHIP today in Ohio:

Tense Moment at America’s Health Insurance Plans Campaign Launch

Here’s the audio from an audience question during the American Health Insurance Plans’ launch of the Campaign for an American Solution today in Columbus. AHIP, the trade group representing the health insurance industry, billed the event as a roundtable discussion with uninsured residents; its campaign is promoting health care reform members believe will lead to greater “coverage, affordability, quality, value, choice and portability.” The questions comes from one of the critics who don’t understand how an insurance industry built on profit can objectively and effectively push for lower rates and better quality coverage for all citizens, including those who can’t afford it.

Our own Jason Rosenbaum made a video out of that audio. It's compelling.

Lorraine from Progress Ohio put her event photos online here.

And here's an excellent Slate write on AHIP vs. HCAN.

photo courtesy Lorraine

Stark Reality

Rep Pete Stark sees the AHIP "listening tour" for what it is.

When Harry Met HCAN

We're not buying it this time around.

This morning's Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Health insurance industry launches own reform drive in Ohio

...Fifteen years ago, insurers helped sink reforms proposed by President Clinton with an ad campaign featuring a fictional couple, "Harry and Louise," who complained Clinton's cures would worsen problems.

Now, the industry is more conciliatory. Its first newspaper ads say: "Health care costs too much. We agree." The insurers won't reveal how much they're spending on their "Campaign for an American Solution" initiative, or say whether they prefer proposals by Republican Sen. John McCain or Democrat Sen. Barack Obama.

"They are both talking about areas where there's lots of room for consensus, like prevention, management of chronic conditions, and making expansion of coverage a top priority," says AHIP Executive Vice President Mike Tuffin.

The insurers want any reforms to build on the current system, which covers 250 million Americans, and say that tax credits could be used to extend coverage to some of the nation's 47 million uninsured. When they hold their event in Columbus, a separate health-care reform coalition funded by labor unions and Democratic-leaning activist groups will protest outside. That group, called Health Care for America Now, says that profit-driven health insurers can't be trusted to fix the system.

Health Care for America Now - which launched its own $40 million voter mobilization campaign earlier this month with events in 38 states - wants private insurers to be regulated strictly, so they can't deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, hike premiums for the sick or elderly, or charge higher rates to women. It also seeks public health insurance as an alternative to private plans.

"Health care will be a big issue regardless of who is elected president," says the group's national campaign manager, Richard Kirsch. He prefers Obama's approach to McCain's, in part because Obama wants a public health insurance option....

image courtesy of Goddard Claussen

Own3d

Just a sampling of the counter coverage today:

Columbus Business First: Health-care reform coalition rejects industry-led efforts

Politico's The Crypt: SEIU pans new insurance industry health-care reform plan

AP via Rocky Mountain News: In Ohio, insurance industry touts health reform

MSNBC: HEALTH CARE GROUP BLASTS INDUSTRY

Richard's take on the topic crossposted here and here.

Winging It

Good Morning!

I am back in DC after an 11+ hour travel bonanza yesterday. It started out quite odd. We got to the airport at 9am for a 10:30 flight and went to check in at the self-serve kiosk. My reservation had been changed to another airline (with no details), and my colleague's reservation had been lost altogether. A third woman traveling back to DC from Austin had been switched to another airline too - but not the same airline listed on my screen.

Delta had two - maybe three - people available for a ridiculously long line of confused travelers. The man who helped us out spent a good 30 minutes trying to solve the mystery of the miraculously changing and disappearing flights. Turns out Delta "at the last minute" downgraded its plane and bumped 16 people off the flight. None of us got a notice from the airline.

My colleague and I got rebooked on an American Airlines flight a few hours later with a connection through Dallas we just barely made. The third woman had to fly Northwest through Memphis - a route she intentionally avoided due to a past nightmare layover in Memphis.

So much for free will.

We started our day meeting at 8:30am in the lobby of the hotel. I didn't walk in the door here until close to 8pm. And I know for a fact that our incident was not an exception to the rule. Several people yesterday had issues getting back.

Once I fix health care, I'm going after the airlines. What a mess.

Insurance Company Rules

Our new video is now live:

Can't We All Just Get Along

Apologies for missing a couple days of content. It's been busy here in Austin AND back in DC. We're now planning a rapid response event to the Insurance Industry's pseudo campaign launch in Ohio on Tuesday.

Right now, I'm sitting in a panel about Health Care Reform and Dr. Giuseppe Del Priore is telling stories about insurance company bureaucracies and their stall and delay tactics. I know many on this panel are strong single-payer advocates so they have a little disagreement with our coalition, but it seems we have so much more in common than they seem to appreciate.

We definitely have the same enemy. Maybe they will come to our panel this afternoon and see our video and be inspired to open up lines of communication.

That would be nice.

Geektastic

I'm in Austin at Netroots Nation. I took this picture at lunch where you could get Whole Brisket for $9/lb. I went with the chicken.

Anyway, so far this convention is exactly how you might picture it. There are bunch of people in the hotel lobby typing away. Occasionally, we'll play musical power cords and let someone running low amp back up. But all in all, it's pretty tame.

I got outed at a panel this morning. I was standing in the back quietly minding my own business when a panelist had the room turn around to see me. Awkward.

More zany moments to come, I'm sure.

I Buried the Lead

So the reason I was testing mobile posting last night is because I'm going down to Austin for Netroots Nation - or as I lovingly refer to it, Bloggerpalooza 2 (The CNN Blog Party on Election Night 2006 was the original in my mind).

I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I plan to cover Jason - our new blogger - in stickers and make him take lots of pictures with lots of interesting people, but beyond that, it's wide open.

I'll check in here or here when inspiration strikes.

Test Run

I thought I'd see what mobile posting looked like before counting on it as a viable option while traveling.

I'm also desperately seeking something that'll get me to love Twitter and want to do it all the time. So far, no such luck.

I Haz a Badge

You can too.

Law and Order

Anyone else reading the "Who Killed Chandra Levy?" series in the Washington Post?

I was in NYC when she disappeared, and while it was certainly a story there, it wasn't nearly as consuming as I've heard it was here.

It's too early to say what we'll discover from revisiting the series of events surrounding Levy's death because the paper's unveiling the tale in pieces, but I do hope it manages to accomplish more than just being a high-profile murder revisited.

Cover Story

Hendrik Hertzberg - the editor if political commentator for The New Yorker - is on MSNBC right now explaining away this cover. He says the point of the illustration is to make fun of the misinformation out there about Obama.

What he's missing is that the general population won't read The New Yorker and won't "get" the irony. What they will get is a free anti-Obama poster to pin up and pass around - courtesy of a "respected" magazine.

Mr. Hertzberg, you're not helping.

(Bill, you are. Thanks for the correction)

Sad news this Saturday. Tony Snow lost his battle with colon cancer. He was 53.

And...Scene

It was a big week. We launched. The Health Care for America Now campaign is officially underway.

I've got some work to do over the weekend (like coordinating 200+ pages of press coverage), but it will be nice to relax a little knowing the week went well.

How about a little poetry courtesy of the poem of the week? And don't forget to check out John's column on Sunday here.

Happy weekend. Have a good one.

Color me Impressed

Well said. Very.

UPDATE: Also terrific.

Like Having Sex with an Ex

I went back on TV Thursday.

(thx to Bill for the screengrab and Joe for the video)

Truth be told, it felt a little strange to be on the subject side, but it didn't make me miss the past. In fact, it had just the opposite impact. I could not be happier with where I am now.

Seriously?

Fact-check your own writing much?

Health Care for America Now...us.

Americans for Healthcare...not us. A project of SEIU.

Why is this so difficult to figure out?

Oh, and how about doing some reporting? "More reporting" seems a little ambitious for you at this point.

No Means No

Which part of this sentence on the HCAN website is unclear?

We do not respond to solicitations for advertising.

Stop calling me. And please stop saying things like, "I know you said you don't want ad solicitations, but..."

Do The Work

I don't have time to launch into specifics right now, but it really is disconcerting how little "reporting" is actually taking place anymore.

It's a good idea to call the organization you're writing about before you just repeat secondhand information as if it's fact. Even if you're writing a negative story about someone or something, journalism 101 states you must at least make an effort to contact the entity before you run with it.

You might just find out you were wrong. Very very wrong.

In Case You Missed It

We're advertising:

Greatest Hits

This is by no means a complete collection. It's just the national blogs and some of the larger print outlets:

Greg
Sam
Jane
Duncan
Ezra
NYT Caucus
This Modern World
Wonkette
WaPo Trail
Sirota
Susie
Matthew
Reuters
MSNBC

Launch Day

Here's the AP write:

Money, ads give health care top political billing
By JIM KUHNHENN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health care is returning as a campaign issue, with special interest and advocacy groups preparing to spend at least $60 million to push politicians to embrace universal access to medical coverage.

The efforts, one by a coalition of labor and liberal groups and another by AARP, also include direct appeals to the presidential contenders and congressional candidates to change a system in which millions of people are without coverage.

A coalition of labor unions and Democratic-leaning organizations called Health Care for America Now on Tuesday was announcing a $40 million campaign to promote affordable health care coverage for all. The group is spending $1.5 million on a national cable ad, and print and Web advertising. It also plans to spend $25 million on advertising through the end of the year. The effort will concentrate on key congressional districts in 45 states, where the coalition also plans to deploy 100 organizers.

A top goal is to encourage lawmakers to devise a plan that would offer consumers the choice of retaining their current private coverage, choosing a new insurance plan or joining a government-run plan. The options are designed to address one of the insurance industry's central criticisms of President Clinton's failed plan.

"We've got to make the plan that we put forward reasonable to people who don't have health insurance and desperately need it, but also not threatening to people who do have fairly decent health care and would gladly support health care change as long as it doesn't undermine what they've got," said Roger Hickey, co-director of the liberal Campaign for America's Future, part of the Health Care for America Now coalition.

Still, sharp disagreements are certain to surface.

The insurance industry's proposal for expanded health care puts more emphasis on private plans than on public ones. And the coalition's ad, which is to air Tuesday on cable, makes clear that the old battle lines remain. "We can't trust insurance companies to fix the health care mess," the ad states.

The AARP-led group is airing an ad on national cable and in markets in key states calling on the presidential candidates — Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain — to keep discussing health care and financial security. The seniors' advocacy group, acting on behalf of a coalition called Divided We Fail, plans to spend more than $20 million through Labor Day to push for bipartisan solutions to health care and Social Security.

McCain would provide refundable tax credits of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families that buy health insurance, but would not require universal coverage. Obama would require coverage for children, not adults, and would aim for universal coverage by requiring employers to share the cost of insuring their employees.

"We felt we needed more than policy ideas, but the political will to actually get something done," said Nancy LeaMond, an AARP executive vice president.

To that end, the AARP is working with partners from across the ideological spectrum — the Business Roundtable, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Service Employees International Union. They are asking candidates to sign pledges that state: "I am committed to working with my colleagues across the aisle to develop and implement policies that provide all Americans with access to quality, affordable health care and lifetime financial security."

To the membership of Health Care for America Now, bipartisanship is less important than adherence to its principles, which also include greater regulation of health insurance companies, costs based on a family's ability to pay and cost controls without sacrificing quality.

"The whole goal is to create a mandate next year for the president and Congress to enact health care reform that meets our principles," said Richard Kirsch, the coalition's campaign manager and a health care advocate who has worked on reform legislation in New York.

Health Care for America Now members include such unions as the SEIU, the AFL-CIO, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and Democratic-leaning organizations such as the Center for American Progress, MoveOn.org, and the Campaign for America's Future. Many of the groups have endorsed Obama or have members advising his team.

Neither coalition plans to become involved in the presidential contest, though Kirsch made clear that Obama's plan meets Health Care for America Now's principles and McCain's does not.

It's Alive

The Health Care for America Now website is now up and running.

Also, I wrote up a little (ok, not so little) post for Americablog explaining why I've been missing in action lately.

If you think content's dropped off here, you should see how infrequently I've been contributing there.

Anyway, tomorrow's the big day, and now's the weird calm before the storm.

Made for Me

Ever see a product on TV and think, "That was totally made for me?" I'm not talking about the late night "Hmmm...that looks kind of interesting. Maybe I do need a Chia Hip-hop ab Bedazzler." I'm talking about the one product that could alter the very core of your being.

I think I found that this morning. If this thing works, my plant-killing days may be over forever.

Happy 4th

Catch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN this afternoon? We did. It was disturbing.

Much more palatable is the poem of the week which hasn't been updated yet but will be by the end of the day (or so I've been told). I'm also a big fan of John's column which will be online Sunday here.

Have a fabulous weekend, and I'll be back with more on Monday if not sooner.

Details

I did speak to Julie last night, and her write is definitely closer to accurate (though she did get the website wrong). It's healthcareforamericanow.org:

New Health Reform Group to Spend $40 Million
By JULIE BOSMAN

It could be a version of the “Harry and Louise” television commercial that helped kill Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health care plan in 1994, only this time, it will be in favor of reform.

A national advertisement by the newly formed group Health Care for America Now, to be released on Tuesday, will take on insurance companies and argue for comprehensive, affordable health care in the United States, a spokeswoman for the group said Wednesday.

Its theme? “You can’t trust the insurance industry to fix the health care mess,” said the spokeswoman, Jacki Schechner. “We’re educating the public about our principles and what we’d like to see from the president and the new Congress.”

Health Care for America Now, an umbrella group of labor unions, health care organizations and liberal activists, said Wednesday that it would spend $40 million to promote affordable health care.

And it has chosen Elizabeth Edwards as its most visible public face. Mrs. Edwards, the wife of former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, will speak at the group’s inaugural event at the National Press Club in Washington on Tuesday.

After making an initial buy of $1.5 million for national television, print and online advertisements, the coalition said it would pour $25 million into additional advertising. The first commercial will run in national newspapers, on CNN and MSNBC and online.

The presence of Mrs. Edwards, an outspoken liberal activist and health care advocate, could give fund-raising efforts a boost. Mrs. Edwards, who has incurable cancer, has made health care her signature issue since Mr. Edwards dropped out of the Democratic presidential race in January.

On its Web site, cancampaign.org, the group is described as a “grass-roots movement” for affordable health care. It includes MoveOn, Planned Parenthood, the Campaign for America’s Future and the Service Employees International Union.

UPDATE: More press this morning. From the WSJ:

Big-Spending Groups Enter Campaign Fray
By BRAD HAYNES

As Democrats and Republicans gear up for the general election, a string of interest groups are launching their own campaigns to elect candidates who support their agendas.

A coalition of liberal organizations will announce plans next week to spend $40 million this election cycle to promote health-care reform and candidates backing the group's proposals. The interest group, Heath Care for America Now, is the latest to unveil an issue-based campaign to influence the November election, and its budget makes it one of the largest.

These independent groups are playing a growing role in national politics, especially since a 2002 campaign-finance law banned individuals, corporations and labor unions from making unlimited donations to the national political parties.

The National Rifle Association has said it will spend $40 million on this year's presidential contest, combining registration, turnout and advertising efforts, and devoting $15 million to attack Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's positions on gun ownership.

Freedom's Watch, a conservative group, says it could spend as much as $200 million to try to elect Republicans to the House of Representatives. The liberal groups Campaign for America's Future and Defenders of Wildlife each have said they will spend roughly $4 million. Planned Parenthood, through a subsidiary, has said it will spend $10 million this year to push candidates who support abortion rights.

Spending by outside groups grew to nearly $600 million in the 2006 midterm elections, from about $210 million in the 2000 presidential and congressional elections, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. Independent expenditures are expected to break records again this cycle.

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, championed by Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, aimed to reduce the influence of money in politics by limiting donations to political parties. As a result, a number of major donors have turned their money over to interest groups, many of which can accept unlimited contributions without disclosing donors or spending.

Health Care for America Now is an example of one such "issue group." The coalition, which will employ organizers in 45 states, plans to spend $25 million on advertising in closely contested areas, promoting guaranteed health care. The organization's launch Tuesday is paired with $1.5 million of advertising on national television, in print and online.

The group says it is nonpartisan, but the principles it has laid out fit the universal health-care proposals from all of the major Democratic presidential candidates in the primaries. And the coalition has begun identifying friends and foes of its agenda.

"We're asking members of Congress and candidates, 'Whose side are you on?' " says Jacki Schechner, the coalition's spokeswoman.

Survey Says

Well, this is a fascinating twist. I am learning about the media from the other side for the very first time, and it is not hard to see why there's skepticism and growing mistrust.

Politico got it wrong. And then The Page got it wrong because they grabbed it from the Politico. And then TPMElection Central got it wrong because... You see where this is going.

Guess how many of these reporters bothered to call me before they posted that Elizabeth Edwards was either heading up our coalition or headlining our launch event.

Yup. None.

When you're a reporter, a little fact-checking goes a long way.

She'll be there, speaking on behalf of Center for American Progress Action Fund, and we're thrilled to have her. But to say she's headlining the launch - let along heading up the campaign - is just not true.

Mark corrected his headline, and Greg has too (which I definitely appreciate). But in the day and age of instant publishing, it wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure you've got the info right before you put it out there.

And as an aside, how many times does Politico have to get it wrong before people starting taking notice?

If you haven't read Chez's piece yet about the insurance industry, you should.

Why Health Care Needs Fixing

From yesterday's NYT:

EDITORIAL
Maybe I’ll Get Better on My Own

While politicians have been debating endlessly over the best ways to reform the American health care system, the plight of American patients has rapidly worsened. A new national survey found that an alarming 20 percent of the population, some 59 million people in all, either delayed or did without needed medical care last year, a huge increase from the 36 million people who delayed or did not seek care in 2003.

As expected, people who have no health insurance — there are some 47 million of them — were most likely to make that difficult choice. But insured people also chose to go without care in ever-larger numbers.

According to the survey, the main reason is soaring medical costs, which have outstripped the modest growth in wages in recent years. High costs are deterring not only the uninsured from seeking care, but also many insured people who are struggling with higher deductibles, co-payments and other out-of-pocket expenses as their employers or health plans shift more of the cost burden to them.

Many patients with insurance said they went without care because their health plans would not pay for the treatment or their doctors or hospitals would not accept their insurance. Both insured and uninsured patients said they skipped treatments because they had trouble getting timely appointments, were unable to get through on the telephone, or could not make it to a doctor’s office or clinic when it was open. No doubt a weakening economy, high fuel prices, the home foreclosure crisis and general economic anxiety also played a role.

Sadly, previous gains in caring for low-income children have reversed, largely because their parents lost employer-sponsored coverage.

The telephone survey of some 18,000 Americans was conducted by the Center for the Study of Health System Change, a respected nonpartisan research group, and was financed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It relied on respondents’ views that they needed the care and did not explore what health consequences resulted.

Champions of so-called “consumer-directed health care” might argue that the market is working — people are wisely delaying or forgoing care of low marginal value. But it is disturbing that unmet medical needs increased the most for people in poor or only fair health — those most likely to get even sicker if they don’t get treatment.

The new survey further strengthens the case for universal coverage, with moderate cost-sharing provisions. All Americans should be able to get medical care when they need it.