Almanac: At the Capitol

Franken tears into Comcast's CEO for saying one thing while his company does another.

NASHVILLE — After flirting coyly for months, Sarah Palin this weekend launches an aggressive play to become the leader of the tea party movement, a move with major political upside for the former Alaska governor, but also one rife with risk.

NEW YORK — No one except a few insiders has seen it. Yet a "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life" ad featuring football star Tim Tebow and paid for by a conservative Christian group is already perhaps the most hotly debated Super Bowl commercial ever.

Minnesota's Joe Basel. Photo: David Weigel

NASHVILLE — Justin Elliot picked up on my observation that Joseph Basel was here at the National Tea Party Convention and wondered how Basel was allowed to leave his home state of Minnesota before the Landrieu phone tampering case came to trial. I asked him.

“I’m on bond,” said Basel. “I just signed a piece of paper and I could go. I get pre-approval for travel outside of Minnesota, run by a supervision officer — I just gave him a call and said ‘I’m going to go to Nashville.’”

Basel pointed out that James O’Keefe had left his New Jersey home for New York to tape an interview with Sean Hannity. “We’re all fine,” he said. “It’ll all work out.”

Update: TPM has more.

Here's a look at who will be on this weekend's public policy shows...

Democratic leaders apparently want to look like they are playing nice with Republican Gov.

The governor warns lawmakers not to curtail his authority to balance the budget but DFL leader says courts may settle issue.

Whether Democratic Minnesota senators favor passing a tax increase this year is an unanswered question.

Letter to leaders promises veto.

McCollum will discuss issues "being debated in Congress."

Reps. Keith Ellison and James Oberstar have signed on to a letter written by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., that urges the Senate to pass the public option for health care reform as part of any reconciliation process.

The Polis letter, sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday outlines three reasons why the public option should be included in reconciliation: “The public option is overwhelmingly popular”; “The public option will save billions for taxpayers, speaking to the fiscally-responsible sensibilities of our constituents”; and “There is strong support in the Senate for a popular public option.”

Democratic Reps. Betty McCollum and Tim Walz are not committed to such a process, according to the Progressive Change Committee, and Rep. Collin Peterson has stated he opposes a public option.

Full text of Polis’ letter:

The Honorable Harry Reid
Office of the Majority Leader
United States Senate
S-221, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Majority Leader Reid:

As the Senate continues to work on health reform legislation, we strongly urge you to consider including a public option.

Here are the reasons for this request:

1) The public option is overwhelmingly popular.

A December New York Times poll shows that, despite the attacks of recent months, the American public supports the public option 59% to 29%. And a recent Research 2000 poll found 82% of people who supported President Obama in 2008 and Scott Brown for Senate last week also support the public option. Only 32% of this key constituency is in favor of the current Senate bill – with more saying it “doesn’t go far enough” rather than it “goes too far.”

Support for health care legislation started to fall as popular provisions like the public option were stripped out and affordability standards were watered down. The American people want us to fight for them and against special interests like the insurance industry, and it is our responsibility to show them that their voices are being heard.

2) The public option will save billions for taxpayers, speaking to the fiscally-responsible sensibilities of our constituents.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the public option will save taxpayers anywhere from $25 billion to $110 billion and will save billions more when private insurers compete to bring down premium costs. The stronger the public option, the more money it saves.

By including the public option, we can simultaneously reduce tax increases and the deficit. This is a common-sense way to temper the frustration of Americans who question whether Congress is spending their money wisely and fighting for the middle class.

3) There is strong support in the Senate for a popular public option.

It is very likely that the public option could have passed the Senate, if brought up under majority-vote “budget reconciliation” rules. While there were valid reasons stated for not using reconciliation before, especially given that some important provisions of health care reform wouldn’t qualify under the reconciliation rules, those reasons no longer exist. The public option would clearly qualify as budget-related under reconciliation, and with the majority support it has garnered in the Senate, it should be included in any healthcare reform legislation that moves under reconciliation.

As Democrats forge “the path forward” on health care, we believe that passing the public option through reconciliation should be part of that path. We urge you to favorably consider our request to include a public option in the reconciliation process.

Sincerely,

Jared Polis, Member of Congress
Chellie Pingree, Member of Congress

The Legislature is working to make the state's primary election date a month earlier.