Good humor and bad omens at Radio TV Correspondents dinner

One bad sign for the future of media in the US is that CNN did not host its usual pre-dinner party at the 66th Annual Radio TV Correspondents dinner at the Washington Convention Center last night. The only news organization to host a cocktail reception this year was FOX. “We’re the only game in town,” said Chris Wallace, host of the public affairs show, FOX News Sunday. But the FOX party was closed to members of the other media and your name had to be on the tightly guarded list at the door to get a cocktail there.

At the huge dinner, which was held in a ballroom the size of Dulles airport, Vice President Biden filled in for President Obama, who stayed away to host his own St. Patrick’s Day party at the White House. Biden brought down the house with some of his remarks:
On Radio, Television and newspapers: “At least you guys still have an audience.”
On living in the Vice President’s Mansion, having commuted to Washington from Wilmington, DE during his Senate years: “I’ve voted for public housing all my life. But I never knew it could be so good.”
On freedom of the Press: “Liberty can’t be protected without freedom of the press, but the only news outlet that’s ever given me a fair shake is Amtrak magazine.”
On how words have a different meaning in the Nation’s Capitol: “I’ve learned that Reconciliation means war and a Senior White House Official means Rahm."
On being attacked in the press: "When Dick Morris is quick to point out every time I put my foot in my mouth, at least I can say it’s MY foot.”
On the 2,000 page Health Care bill: “ That’s more than Sarah Palin can write on her palm.”
On the Economic Recovery bill: “Republicans say the recovery bill hasn’t created any new jobs. Tell that to Scott Brown.”
On the wide screens surrounding the dinner crowd Biden showed a photograph of him with the family dog biting his cuff. “You can it’s a Democratic dog. It’s biting the hand that feeds you.”

The vice president was followed by Chinese-born comedian Joe Wong. “My childhood memories were totally ruined by my childhood, he began. Wong said that he recently became a US citizen after having to take many tests about American history. On one test he was asked to identify Ben Franklin.“Oooohhh,” he said, having been unsure of the answer. “The reason our convenience store gets robbed?” One question on the test was regarding the meaning of Roe v Wade. Wong answered, “Two ways of coming to the United States?” If Wong runs for president in the future he says he might run on a health care platform. “I know that most people die of natural causes. As president I will find a cure for natural causes.”

“I have a great foreign policy. I’m from China. I can see Russia from my back yard.” Wong said he would stay in close touch with US allies by text message, but he would only “text our enemies when they’re driving--’So you’re building a nuclear weapon. LOL.”

Reconciliaton explained

On Capitol Hill today Bill Heniff from the Congresssional Research Service and Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, offered some insight into Reconciliation, the process which will most likely be used to pass Health Care Reform. Reconciliation is relatively new. It was first used in 1974 and is a legislative process in the Senate intended to allow consideration of a contentious budget bill without the threat of a filibuster. It is used specifically to change existing law, explained Heniff. It is referred to as an expedited procedure and must be reported by the Budget Committee, which is prohibited from making any changes to what has been submitted. That is left to the Rules Committee. Reconciliation goes to the heart of how the Senate operates. Under normal rules, Senators can debate as long as they like and offer amendments. Reconciliation strips Senators of those rights.

Unlike cloture, a procedure which allows the Senate to cut off debate with 60 votes and get to a final vote on a bill, (“After 30 hours they can vote. That’s how they did the Xmas Eve vote on Health Care Reform. They were able to calculate when they could vote,” said Heniff.) reconciliation does not guarantee a final vote. Senators can offer an unlimited number of amendments, allowing a determined opposition to indefinitely delay a reconciliation measure. And although those amendments cannot be debated, merely voted on, the only way to end the adding of amendments is “through exhaustion.”

In the reconciliation process there is also the matter of the Byrd Rule which stipulates that reconciliation cannot include “extraneous matters.” A matter is considered extraneous if it does not have any impact on the budget or reduce the deficit by $1 billion. A provision would also fit the definition of “extraneous” if it increases the deficit in any fiscal year in the future, whether in one, five, ten or 20 years. And there are “no bright lines,” said a Heniff. “It is very challenging to determine whether a proposal is extraneous.” However, The Bird Rule can be waved by 60 votes and has been waved on reconciliation measures before.

Green discussed recent polling which found the public is “fine with the Senate using reconciliation to pass health care reform,” as long as they “like the bill.” Green’s organization polled 9 key Senate States and found a majority of those poled, including 56% in Nevada, 65% in Washington Sate, 62% in Iowa, 62% in Minnesota, 57% in North Dakota, 61% in Virginia, 58% in Colorado, 57% in Missouri all like a bill that contains a Public Option and House districts favored Public Option by 64%-73%.
It is unlikely, however, that a Public Option will be included in any final bill that is passed simply because the White House has not offered strong support for the measure.

Valery Gergiev said he is dedicated to bringing more American artists to Russia and he sees music as an instrument of harmony between the United States and Russia. Gergiev came to see a film about himself at the Russian Embassy last night. The film, entitled, "You Cannot Start without Me," was directed by Academy Award winner Alan Miller and offered an intimate look into the demanding life of the celebrated Russian conductor, who has been in Washington conducting the Mariinsky opera and ballet at the Kennedy Center. Gergiev, whose unshaven face is his trademark, sat in the plush upholstered seats in the Embassy's theater surrounded by vips and watched as the scenes of his life growing up in Russia, or conducting planning meetings with artists and his staff backstage at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersberg, or travelling by train throughout Russia, or conducting orchestras all over the world rolled by. Valery showed enormous promise as a young boy growing up in the Caucasus, the high mountains, which shaped him and inspired him with their awesome snowcapped glory. He said one could almost hear the voices of grandfathers speaking in the winds of those mountains. His father died when he was only eleven but young Valery's enormous talent on the piano sustained him and gave him a way to prove his worth to his father. By the time he was 16 he realized he had been given the gift of comprehending how the various parts on the page--violins, cellos, brass, French horns, English horns, violins, tympani, all fit together as a whole. That gift has propelled him to the pinnacle of the conducting field and brought him fame and fortune. The camera focused on his sweetness as a father of two young boys and a little girl, but Gergieve explains that he regrets he has little time to spend with the children because he is travelling the world conducting a different piece every day. "What do you want to be when you grow up," he asks his five year old son who is sitting on his knee? "I want to drive an Ocean liner. A big one," the boy replies to Gergiev's amusement. The film portrayed Gergiev's intensity and charisma as he conducts Stravinsky or Wagner, weilding his baton with animal passion and ferocity. "The process is very alive," he said of conducting. "It's unpredictable." Gergiev is worried that the live classical concert may be lost on future generations who live by the Ipod. He is working to interest young people in music all over the world.