The Chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee resigned his post today.

Oh, what's that? You say I must mean yesterday? Well, yes, the chairman did resign his post yesterday. But it happened again today. Two chairs in two days - and given who those two chairs were, that's not necessarily a bad thing. From The Hill:

Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) will be the acting chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced to her caucus on Thursday.

The startling announcement comes a day after Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) appeared ready to take the reins of the committee from Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.).

Stark was the next in line for the post in terms of seniority, but some panel members recoiled at the idea of his leading the committee. Stark is known for making controversial and eccentric remarks, and in 2007 he apologized on the House floor for comments about President George W. Bush and the Iraq War...

The shuffling of chairmen is sure to raise questions about how Pelosi handled the issue.

Yesterday I wrote that Stark was a lousy choice but that nonetheless, "anyone’s got to be better than Rangel, even if not by much." Still, better than Rangel or not, Stark does have major issues: he's attacked his "Jew" colleagues, claimed that a black Bush 1 administration was a "disgrace to his race" (Stark himself is white), and more. Levin will be a much better chair. His past does not include such scandals, and the National Journal ranks him as the 94th most progressive House member, compared to Stark's 140th.

It would have been better for us if Levin took over right away rather than going through Stark first, but either way, this does show that our caucus is dealing with its scandals and corruptions in a better way than the 2005-6 Republicans ever did, and that we're doing it well before the election or even Labor Day.

The bigger question is what this means for Nancy Pelosi's leadership. Her entire handling of the Rangel, and now general Ways & Means, scandal is her biggest political misstep since her extremely aggressive backing of Jack Murtha for House Majority Leader over Steny Hoyer. Political missteps won't hurt her much outside the Beltway, but they will strike a blow at her credibility within. Whether or not ramming the Senate health care bill through the House helps her image as someone who gets things done or takes her down a peg with bitter progressives remains to be seen. My own take is that she's Nancy Pelosi - she'll bounce back from anything, it's what she does - but this will make for an unpleasant few weeks.

I'll also be interested to see what effect having a Michigan Congressman in charge of the House's finance panel will have on future auto industry discussions. (And yes, he is related to Carl; they're brothers.)

Charlie Rangel has temporarily stepped aside as Chairman of House Ways and Means (the counterpart to Senate Finance). From CNN:

The 20-term New York Democrat told reporters he had submitted a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requesting a temporary leave of absence until a broad-reaching House ethics committee investigation concludes.

Rangel had told reporters Tuesday night he had no plans to step aside from his powerful post. The Ways and Means Committee is responsible for drafting the nation's tax policies.

Rangel is being investigated for, among other things, failing to pay taxes on a home in the Dominican Republic. He was formally admonished Friday by the House ethics committee for violating rules on receiving gifts. Specifically, the committee found that Rangel violated House gift rules by accepting reimbursement payments for travel to conferences in the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008.

Politico says , “With Rangel stepping aside, it's not clear who will take the chairmanship.” CNN says not so fast: "A source told CNN on Tuesday that if Rangel stepped aside, senior Ways and Means Democrat Pete Stark would take over as the committee's chairman 'on a temporary basis.'" First Read adds, "Eventually, it's probably going to be [Rep. Sandy] Levin, but Stark may get it temporarily if Rangel simply gives it up temporarily. But for the long term, Levin is the preferred choice among the Dem leadership. And even if Stark gets the gavel, his health problems may prevent him for truly running the committee, giving Levin de facto control."

This is allegedly a temporary “leave of absence,” but then again, Tom DeLay always planned on returning to his leadership post, too.

This is a wonderful turn of events. We don’t need the albatross of corruption around our party’s neck come November, and we don’t need it around our government’s neck, well, ever. Rangel, corrupt or not, is a buffoon who doesn’t grasp important policy details, doesn’t pay attention to ethics rules, and vehemently denies that a Congressman is responsible for his staff. We don’t need that in Congress.

It took an indictment to strip Bill Jefferson of his plum assignments. It’s good to see our party moving in the right direction on this – tougher action, and for no less than a close ally of the Speaker. That's not only tougher action than we've taken with other members in recent memory, it's also more than anything the Republicans can claim they did in 2006.

The new, “temporary” Chairman, Pete Stark, has a history of controversial and racially insensitive statements. He’s also no ethical peach himself, currently under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics for his own tax issues. The National Journal says he is but the 140^th most liberal member of Congress. Still, anyone’s got to be better than Rangel, even if not by much.

There was a perceptible difference between the coverage on the tsunami that hit South-East Asia in December 2004 and the earthquake that hit Pakistan in October 2005. The tsunami received far more extensive coverage in all countries analyzed in both television and print media which in turn affected people's behaviour in terms of private donations.

... the tsunami received ... private donations amounting to $178 millionwhile only $8 million has been collected for the earthquake so far.
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"Here may lie the most important effect of mass communication, its ability to mentally order and organize our world for us. In short, the mass media may not be successful in telling us what to think, but they are stunningly successful in telling us what to think about."
-Shaw & McCombs, 1977

http://www.agendasetting.com/res_theory. php#ASexamples
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There's more...

There's something about nine figures that grabs the attention. (Worked for Teresa...) [Even more, 12 figures. Er...oops]

So, when it comes as a novelty to read on CQtoday

House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark will intensify efforts this week to lay the groundwork for Medicare cuts likely to target many sectors in health care. The California Democrat has already clarified that he will try to trim payments to Medicare Advantage plans, but this week he'll begin turning more of his attention to Medicare payments to hospitals, home health agencies and skilled nursing facilities.

Stark is likely to have to hit many sectors because of how much money he'll need -- up to $100 billion, lobbyists estimate -- to fund Democratic policy priorities, ranging from covering more uninsured children to blocking payment cuts to doctors.

There's more...

Calitics has a piece on Congressman Pete Stark's  AmeriCare Health Care Act which would provide universal healthcare coverage and would cost less than what we currently pay.

http://bluesunbelt.com/showDiary.do?diar yId=359

There's more...