Republican Rep. Michael McCaul is working hard in D.C. to make sure that Texans in the 10th District receive no meaningful health reform. With efforts to block President Obama's proposals at every turn, the unremarkable incumbent has now taken to touting bogus polls and whining about not being included in the process. And what does McCaul have to show for it? A Republican bill that will leave 17 million Americans uninsured, and won't cut the deficit nearly as well as the Democratic bill.
Last week, Michael McCaul went on KVUE to complain about health insurance reform, touting an oh-so-scientific poll from his own website. From KVUE, October 31, 2009:
"In my view, the majority of the American people don't support [the Democratic health reform plan]. Certainly in my district, on my website I have a poll, and it's about 85% against this, it's what's called the public option, the government-run option, the government takeover of our healthcare, it's one sixth of our economy."
Michael McCaul is wrong about health reform. In August, 77% of Americans supported the public option, according to a SUSA poll. That's even higher than it was in June. According to an ABC News poll conducted last week more Americans prefer the Democrats' public option than a watered-down, bipartisan compromise.
McCaul continues on with a series of bogus Republican buzz-words against health reform: "government-run takeover," "getting in between you and your doctor" and "health czar!" Funny, last time I checked, the only person coming between me and my doctor was some insurance company bureaucrat trying to decide if I really need that M.R.I., or visit to a specialist, or blood test, or not. And what's with their czar fetish?
To provide justification for his position, McCaul sites a bogus poll conducted on his website. (How does he know the folks voting on his website are only constituents? Hmm?) On his Facebook Feed, McCaul also published the results of another bogus poll conducted during his own tele-town hall, with 65% opposed to the public option.
Whaaat? You mean to say the small sample of folks who bother to visit his website or join a tele-town hall happen to overwhelmingly agree with his views on the public option?! What's extra irritating here is how the newscaster just takes the bogus statistic as God-given fact. Then she has the gall to suggest that health reform is actually moving too fast. As anyone who has actually been following the legislative process can tell you, things are definitely NOT moving too fast, especially for the 9.3 million Texans who were uninsured for all or part of last year.
Then, just this week, McCaul continued whining in a call-in press conference that Obama and the Democrats have "left out" the Republicans in the health reform process. This is disingenuous, for three reasons.
First, the Republican bill championed by McCaul is widely considered to be a dismal failure. From Ezra Klein:
In 2019, after 10 years of the Republican plan, CBO estimates that ...17 percent of legal, non-elderly residents won't have health-care insurance. The Republican alternative will have helped 3 million people secure coverage, which is barely keeping up with population growth. Compare that to the Democratic bill, which covers 36 million more people and cuts the uninsured population to 4 percent.
According to CBO, the GOP's alternative will shave $68 billion off the deficit in the next 10 years. The Democrats, CBO says, will slice $104 billion off the deficit. ... The Democratic bill, in other words, covers 12 times as many people and saves $36 billion more than the Republican plan.
McCaul describes the Republican bill as better, because it "incentivizes the free market and the private sector to provide coverage." Except that's the same idea that has failed Americans since World War II. It's no change in policy, and it will do very little to change the rate of uninsured Texans.
Second, Republicans--teabaggers and members of Congress alike--are deliberately trying to obstruct the reform process for ideological and political gain. They spent all summer yelling about death panels and insuring undocumented immigrants and shouting "YOU LIE!" during joint sessions of Congress. Republicans are too busy trying to prevent meaningful reform and coverage that will extend to all Americans, in order to support their buddies in the insurance industry. All they want is for President Obama's plans to fail--they don't care about meaningful reform, they only care about their own electoral prospects in 2010 and beyond.
Third, while McCaul complains about not having a seat at the table, he made it nearly impossible for his own constituents to share their views on health reform. He complains that the Democratic bill was written "behind closed doors in Washington," despite the many open town-halls held by Democratic Representatives and constant stream of news coverage about every single step of the process and constant updates from Democratic Congressional leaders.
Meanwhile, it's McCaul who is largely operating behind closed doors, having private meetings with folks who seem to unanimously oppose reform. According to his website, McCaul held only one in-person town hall, at 9:00 a.m. on a Friday, in Katy, the day before Labor Day weekend. He waited until the final day of the Congressional District working period to solicit real input from his constituents. It was only posted to his campaign website three days before the event. Sounds as if Rep. McCaul doesn't want to hear what his constituents have to say. In a district that spans 150 miles from Austin to Houston, he holds only one event, off in one of the most Republican parts of the district. There sure was no event in Travis County, because if there was, McCaul would have heard an earful from his constituents who are tired of losing coverage for pre-existing conditions, being dropped from their plans, and watching premiums rise as access to quality care drops.
To conclude, let's sum up the many ways in which Michael McCaul is wrong about health reform:
Elections have consequences. Barack Obama won, and Democrats have significant majorities in the House and Senate. Democrats are supposed to set national policy. That's what people voted for. (N.B.: Olympia Snowe is not a Democrat and should not be setting health care policy.)
If Republicans want a seat at the table they need to offer real solutions backed by their party, not just vitriol and obstruction. A bill that leaves 17 million people uninsured and doesn't cut costs as well as the Democratic bill is not a real solution.
Congresspeople can't conduct bogus polls on their websites and conference calls and tout it as scientific fact. Anyone who actually has a say in our nation's education funding should know better. The thought makes me shudder.
Michael McCaul is yet another out-of-touch Republican in Congress working hard to prevent the people of the 10th Congressional district from having access to quality, affordable health care. He needs to go.
In early October, I sent a message in support of health care reform and a public option to my U.S. Representative, Michael McCaul (TX-10). As I know the representative is ideologically disinclined to support Democratic initiatives or a public option, I was surprised to receive a reply:
October 6, 2009
Dear Mr. Lyon:
Thank you for contacting me with your views on HR 3200, the America's Affordable Health Choices Act. I appreciate your opinions that help guide and inform me in Congress.
According to the DCCC there are 67 House Republicans who voted against the stimulus package. But when these no voters are back in their home states they like to brag and swagger about bringing home the bacon. On a different level, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison joins these ranks. She voted against the stimulus bill and yet she criticized Rick Perry for turning down federal funding for extended unemployment benefits.
Texas has its fair share of outstanding hypocrites. Check the list below to see if your U.S. House Rep. is included in the GOP Hall of Hypocrites. I must admit that I am not shocked to learn that my U.S. Rep., John Culberson, is among them. I betcha your U.S. Reps are too.
Does Texas Congressman Michael McCaul support the segregation of buses? Because on of his biggest friends -- the infamous Rush Limbaugh -- called for just that today during his radio program.
Then Rush took a caller who said the local police investigating the bus assault said today the attack was not racially motivated. Rush responded to these developments put out by the local law enforcement:
LIMBAUGH: I think the guy's wrong. I think not only it was racism, it was justifiable racism. I mean, that's the lesson we're being taught here today. Kid shouldn't have been on the bus anyway. We need segregated buses -- it was invading space and stuff. This is Obama's America.
Call Congressman Michael McCaul, and ask him to denounce Limbaugh for calling for segegating buses!
Brenham 2000 S. Market Street, Suite 303 Brenham, TX 77833 979-830-8497 979-830-1984 (fax) Office Hours: Monday 1pm – 5pm, Tuesday and Thursday 8am – 5pm CT
Katy 1550 Foxlake, Suite 120 Houston, TX 77084 281-398-1247 Office Hours: by appointment only
Tomball Rosewood Professional Building 990 Village Square, Suite B Tomball, TX 77375 281-255-8372 281-255-0034 (fax) Hours: Monday – Friday, 8am – 5pm CT
Last May, Governor Perry honored Rush Limbaugh as an "honorary Texan" -- and the following video (which we originally posted on BOR) was shot:
Call Congressman McCaul today! Demand that he denounce Rush Limbaugh for asking us to return to the days of segregation! Tell him to end his communications with Rush immediately -- that he must denounce him and never appear with him again.
Has anyone read the latest posts about the Jack McDonald vs Michael McCaul race for the Texas 10th District? We deserve a strong, progressive Democratic candidate in a district which is trending Blue. Increasingly, it looks like McDonald has the same "I'm not really a Republican" problem plaguing Tom Schieffer's candidacy.
I have found a few documents that I find very surprising and require some answers. A short ten years ago, Jack McDonald was registered as a Republican in New York City where he worked for a prominent Wall Street law firm. See the link below:
Okay, so he was once registered GOP - I'd like to know why and what changed his heart and I'm sure I can accept those answers. What deserves a little more explanation is why he was repeatedly donating to George W Bush - one big contribution coming as late as 2003. See the link below:
Our last TX-10 candidate, Larry Joe Doherty recently put his support behind Jack McDonald, but is anyone asking any questions about McDonald's past political affiliations, his donations, and his positions on key progressive issues? I think it is very important that we know who he is, what he stands for, and where he is going to lead our Congressional District, if elected.
In Texas, we have a distorted view of what a "swing seat" is for Democratic targeting. Given our multiple rounds of redistricting, true marginal seats in the traditional sense are hard to find. Texas Democrats either hail from incredibly safe districts, districts that are safe due to demographic trends but not ideology, or Republican districts where great Democrats make an exception (Chet Edwards).
That said, it's encouraging to see not one, but two Republican Congressional seats listed among the top 10 potential "dark horse" breakout races that are causing buzz in the Beltway. And not only that, but they are at the top of the list.
McCaul was technically a lower-tier Democratic target in 2008, but that was really only because his opponent, former TV judge Larry Joe Doherty (D), was raising money like gangbusters. Doherty really didn't have the right profile, and he wound up losing by a pedestrian 11 points - the exact margin of the presidential tally in the district. Now, Democrats have another big-money candidate, with businessman Jack McDonald raising $300,000 in the first quarter. We'll see if he has the right profile, but the fact that he is vice chairman of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce suggests he might. The party has already put McCaul near the top of its target list.
4. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas)
Democrats tried to mount a late charge in 2006 against National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), and they could do it again in 2010 against current NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) only took this suburban Dallas district 53-46 in the 2008 presidential race, and the heavily Hispanic areas have grown at a faster pace than the white areas. Sessions's district is actually probably more fertile ground than McCaul's, but Democrats might not have as good a candidate. Attorney Grier Raggio (D) has an exploratory committee, but it's not clear who else might emerge.
In TX-10, Democrat Jack McDonald expressed earlier today that there is good reason to be paying attention to the 10th yet again, having raised over $634,000 to date with over half a million on hand, even while in exploratory mode and having yet to roll out campaign staff or field. While there isn't a equivalent Democratic response in TX-32 up in Dallas as of yet, the more competitive nature of the district and county coordinated campaign there provides a bit more breathing room for a top notch candidate to get settled.
Last week I reported on Texas Republicans embrace of Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich (or at least their money) even as these far-right players made racial attacks on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. I made reference to Limbaugh's attendance at a fundraiser for Rep. Michael McCaul where he was made an honorary Texan by Gov. Rick Perry.
I know a number of local Democrats were interested in seeing video from that private event which McCaul was hiding the location of until the last minute. Well, Gov. Perry was so kind as to have his staff take video of the event and posted his speech and shoutout of "God Bless Rush Limbaugh" to his campaign's YouTube channel. And McCaul? He's standing by the entire time clapping and grinning at the whole scene. Watch it for yourself.
This isn't a case of guilt by association or proximity (though I can't imagine wanting to be in close proximity to Rush Limbaugh metaphorically or physically). McCaul has yet to repudiate or distance himself from the racially inflamed comments made by Limbaugh and Gingrich which even RNSC chair Sen. John Cornyn has distanced himself from calling them "terrible" and "not the kind of tone that any of us want to set".
And while Limbaugh is still set to headline Cornyn's fundraiser for the RNSC, McCaul is set to benefit from the House Republican committee's fundraiser with Newt Gingrich the same day, next Monday. The DCCC asks the prescient question.
"For five days, Representative Michael McCaul had a simple choice to make: He could strongly denounce Newt Gingrich's shameful rhetoric or stay silent and just take his money," said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "With five days to go until the fundraising dinner with Gingrich, will Representative Michael McCaul finally speak out against the radical right or continue to remain silent and take their campaign cash?"
Following is the text of a fax I just sent to the office of my Congressman, Michael McCaul:
January 29, 2009
BY FAX: 202-225-5955
Congressman Mike McCaul
United States House of Representatives
131 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC
Dear Congressman McCaul,
As constituents and voters, we are expressing our dissatisfaction with your vote against the economic stimulus package. Making the unanimous Republican vote obviously partisan is the ludicrous proposal by the House Republicans of trying to stimulate the economy with nothing but tax cuts.
Speaking as a business owner and successful investor and as a family who has paid ample local, state and federal taxes, being over-taxed is not the problem. People are losing their jobs. People are losing their investments and their homes. People are losing their capital that in better times might be invested with a certain amount of tax incentive. This is not such a time.
Stop playing partisan games while the country is going down the drain. Your actions and your fellow partisans' actions are outrageous and disgraceful.
Joining me in signing are my wife and son. All of us are registered voters in District 10.
I am focused on serving the people of the 10th Congressional District of Texas for a third term. I am humbled that so many people have encouraged me to run for Texas Attorney General. But as of right now that office is not vacant and I support Greg Abbott for re-election. If it becomes vacant, I will seriously consider whether that is the best way for me to continue to serve the state of Texas.
Of course, if McCaul does opt to run for Attorney General, the Tenth Congressional District, which runs from Austin to Houston, would be an open seat.
Selby lists 2008 primary candidate Dan Grant and Jack McDonald, a CEO of an Austin-based company, as two Democrats considering the race.
Update: Lorenzo Sadun, a former candidate for TX -10, wrote in the comments:
I know (and admire) Dan Grant, but don't know anything about Jack McDonald. Can anyone fill us in?
Dan Grant ran against Larry Joe Doherty in the 2008 primary and enjoyed the support of many Democratic activists in Austin.
I didn't know anything about McDonald, but judging from the biography on his company's website, he could be a formidable candidate.
Jack McDonald is chairman and chief executive officer of Perficient, a leading information technology consulting firm serving Global 2000 clients throughout the United States. McDonald joined Perficient in 1999, led its initial public offering (NASDAQ: PRFT) and built and led a team that has transformed the company from a startup to an award-winning industry leader with $240 million in annual revenues and 1,400 professionals in 19 major North American markets and global locations in Eastern Europe, India and China.
...
McDonald serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations that provide economic, education and healthcare opportunities for Central Texans and work to protect our land, air and water ...
TEC reports show that McDonald contributed $3,000 to the campaign of State Rep. Chris Turner.
If McCaul does ultimately decide to enter the AG's race, expect contested Republican and Democratic primaries in TX-10.
It's not often that Republican incumbents or their staffs muse openly about being worried about their re-election changed. Especially not if they are Texas Republicans.
But that's what's happening in the 10th District according to the Statesman.
The campaign of U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, wasn't exactly thrilled with the first few days of early voting.
McCaul campaign manager Jack Ladd told supporters on Wednesday night that, according to past primary history, Democrats in Harris and Travis counties outvoted Republicans two-to-one in early voting.
"This is very bad news," McCaul campaign manager Jack Ladd said in an email to supporters. "If you think your friends are volunteering, they are not. I know I'm not going to sit down and die, and I know you will not either. There are only 12 days left, and this is not a lifelong commitment, we are asking you just give part of a day or days and help keep CD10 Republican."
For a more in depth overview of the race, be sure to check out this article.
In addition a new Research 2000 poll has the race tightening with McCaul up just 46-42. As was noted in the write up...
McCain wins the district 48-41. Bush won the district 62-38 in 2004. That augurs well for Noriega, and maybe even Obama.
