Latest News Roundup

Since I've been gone since the 31st, here's a quick roundup of the news that I'm aware of that has taken place in the meantime.

U.S. Senate news:

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was quoted in a soon-to-be-released book on the 2008 Presidential election as saying that Barack Obama was "light-skinned", "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." GOP leaders point to the double-standard in how Reid is being treated for his comments and how Republican Sen. Trent Lott was after his comments several years ago. Reid continues to trail GOP opponents by 5-10 points.
  
• Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) announced that he will not run for reelection this year. He had been facing a very difficult race, with the top Republican candidates leading him by up to 10 percentage points. His stepping aside may make it easier for the Democrats to hold the seat.
• Scott Brown, Republican candidate in the special election for Ted Kennedy's old seat, is now neck and neck with Democrat Martha Coakley. Brown held a "money-bomb" today, with a goal of raising $500,000. However, by mid-afternoon, over $750,000 had been brought in, and the current goal is now $1,000,000 (at 7pm CST, $878,000 had been raised).>
• Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) trails relatively unknown GOP candidates by 10-12 points in the latest polls.
• Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) announced that he will not seek reelection, in a move that has drawn sitting Republican Governor John Hoeven into the race. Hoeven had been beating Dorgan by substantial margins in recent polls.
  

U.S House news:

• Democrats still are on pace to lose a ton of seats in the midterm election this year. Rep. Parker Griffith of Alabama switched parties shortly before Christmas, reminiscent of the party switches that took place in 1994.
• Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) believes that the balance of power in the House will be very close, but that due to that he will have the most influence he's ever had, no matter who is in the majority.
  

Other news:

• State Rep. and Majority Floor Leader Tad Jones (R-Claremore) announced his intention to run for Labor Commissioner, joining fellow Republican Jason Reese as the announced opponents for Democrat incumbent Lloyd Fields.
• The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) is sponsoring a news site, with a focus on the State Capitol and governmental affairs. CapitolBeatOK.com launched at the end of December.
• Apparently, parts of Oklahoma experienced an extremely rare lake-effect snow while I was gone...
• Congresswoman Mary Fallin (R-CD5) leads State Sen. Randy Brogdon (R-Owasso) by about 50% in the latest gubernatorial election poll. She also cruises to victory over Democrats Drew Edmondson and Jari Askins.
  

... and that's about all I can remember to post. Let me know if I missed something big while I was in the Mexican Riviera, taking in the 80° weather!

Winners and Losers in the Senate Health Care Bill

Here's a short list of winners and losers in the Senate version of ObamaCare/health care 'reform'.

Winners:

• Nebraska - gets permanent federal funding for the Medicaid expansion, at the expense of the rest of the Union, a bribe for Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).
  
• Vermont, Massachusetts and Hawaii - get partial, short-term federal funding for Medicaid expansion.
  
• University of Connecticut - gets $100M for hospital construction, thanks to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).
  
• Louisiana - $300M in increased federal Medicaid subsidies, in order to buy the vote of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA).
  
• Medicare providers (physicians and hospitals) in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah - will get paid more than other states under the reimbursement formula.
  
• Medicare Advantage members in Florida - will get to keep their coverage, while the program gets deep cuts in the rest of the country.
  

Losers:

• The American People - new taxes, worse health care, more government control... what's there to like?
  
• The American taxpayer - 400 billion dollars in new taxes.
  
• Unborn babies - abortions will still be paid for with taxpayer funds (particularly on Indian reservations).
  
• Future generations - those who will have to pay for this in the future (which includes young Americans like myself).
  
• Tanning salons - will get hit with a 10% tax (to replace a discussed-but-dropped tax on cosmetic surgery).
  
• People making over $200,000 a year - Medicare payroll tax increased by 0.9%.
  
• Insurance companies - must spend at least 85 cents per dollar on medical costs, leaving 15 cents for overhead, salaries, stock-holders, et cetera.
  
• Generic drug makers - name-brand companies won 12 years of protection from their generic competitors.
• State budgets - Medicaid expansions will be a budget-breaker, in a time when 49 of 50 states are facing budget shortfalls (some of them quite severe), and states like California are facing bankruptcy.
  

These are just some of the winners and losers. If you want to add some, leave a comment.