Every Republican in the third managed to slither out of the woodwork and from under their rocks to run for John Boozman’s seat.  As such, it’s going to be a slug fest to make it out of the primary and we’re already seeing some shots fired.

First, Rogers mayor Steve Womack, to the surprise of all watching, managed to inject some reason into the primary.

Rogers Mayor Steve Womack managed to distinguish himself slightly, but importantly, from the eight-person Republican field for 3rd District Congress. He left the door open the tiniest crack — and Gunner DeLay pounded him for it — to tax increases of some sort if all other efforts to sustain Medicare fail.

All the other candidates routinely nixed taxes or borrowing to sustain Medicare. In other words, they’d happily cut Medicare when push comes to shove.

After the forum, Womack was asked to clarify if a tax increase was among the options that had to “be on the table,” when discussing future funding for Medicare.

He said “always and never” are hard to back up, so a tax increase would have to be on the table as a “last resort.”

In a Republican primary, this passes for a profile in courage. Also plain old common sense.

Unfortunately for Womack, courage and common sense are not Republican values.  And don’t ever dare say the words t-a-x-i-n-c-r-e-a-s-e.  We can have two wars raging, an economy in the toilet, sky high deficits and national debt, and God knows what else befalling the country, but suggest that we might actually have to pay for something and the GOPers lose what little sanity they have.  Cue Gunner Delay.

When questioning returned to DeLay on an unrelated subject, he called Womack’s answer to Medicare funding question a defining issue in the campaign.

DeLay, a former prosecutor and state legislator, said it “boggled the mind” that Womack would say a tax increase or borrowing money were “on the table.”

Womack took exception, insisting he did not suggest a tax increase to fund Medicare, and he accused DeLay of putting words in his mouth.

During the next round of questioning, DeLay targeted Womack again, saying that unlike some of his opponents he would not propose any new government spending.

In March, Womack pledged to work to establish a national program to partner with local communities for the construction of regional wellness centers, like the one in Rogers.

The next day, DeLay called the idea a “billion-dollar boondoggle,” saying it’s not the role of government to build fitness centers that would cost billions of dollars and create an unfunded mandate for local governments.

In his response to the continued criticism today, Womack told DeLay that continuing “to put words in my mouth is not a sanitary thing to do.”

Womack then reiterated the program he suggested would not be mandatory, would only be launched if funds were available and could reduce the Medicare liability by improving the health of Medicare recipients.

After the forum, Womack was asked to clarify if a tax increase was among the options that had to “be on the table,” when discussing future funding for Medicare.

He said “always and never” are hard to back up, so a tax increase would have to be on the table as a “last resort.”

To sustain Medicare, benefits have to be cut or there has to be an infusion of revenue that would ideally come through more people paying into the system as a result of economic growth, Womack said.

Another one of Womack’s opponents piled on:

“Raising taxes is not the answer and neither is raising the eligibility age,” responded Boone County Judge Mike Moore in a statement that was careful no to mention his opponents by name. “Congress has been debating this issue for decades and it has only resulted in the program facing bankruptcy. Our parents and grandparents sacrificed their entire lives to make sure we were taken care of and we need not punish them by raising their taxes, forcing them to have less time with their grandchildren, or wasting their time with decades more of meaningless debate.”

Leaving aside the fact that Moore’s statement is basically meaningless dribble for the time being, let’s return our attention to Steve Womack.  He starts off looking as if he will stand his ground and defend himself:

“It is obvious that Gunner Delay considers me to be an immediate threat to his election to the U.S. Congress—hence, his insatiable appetite to call me out on anything I say,” said Womack in an email interview with the Tolbert Report today. “He does not hesitate to take things out of context.”

Oh snap!  I know he didn’t!  But wait, there’s more:

As for his response on Medicare funding, Womack went on to say, “I simply said that given the condition we are in, all options must be on the table right now. I am opposed to new taxes. I favor spending cuts. I want to shrink government. I also favor tax cuts that incentivize the creation of jobs, which I believe is our nation’s top priority right now—and the only legitimate way to get the deficit under control and begin the difficult task of reducing our enormous debt.”

And just like that, he cowers, caves, and flip flops.  Pathetic.  I hope David Whitaker’s paying attention, because both the flip flop and the spending cuts bit would be great ways to hit this bum if he’s the nominee, and everyone of these clowns that weighs in on this is opening themselves up to a shot at their commitment to seniors.  You send out a bunch of mailers warning everyone in the district that’s 65+ that the Republican nominee wants to cut their Medicare and see how long this one stays “safe Republican”.

Speaking of Whitaker, while the Republicans slugging it out he’s got the Dem side all to himself and he is running a great campaign as an openly progressive candidate.  This district is extremely tough, but as I’ve said before there is a chance, however slim, to win it, especially if Whitaker can bring a whole new batch of voters into the election with him, namely Hispanic Arkansans.  This whole Medicare fiasco can only help, especially if Whitaker hits the eventual winner (assuming he or she had something to say on this) over the head with it right after the primary, or more likely the nearly inevitable runoff election.  Normally I think primaries are a good thing in many ways, but in this case I think it has the potential to get real ugly real fast and leave the eventual nominee battered and exhausted.  That’s one more asset to the Whitaker campaign, and in that district he’ll need every one he can get.

In a statement, Blanche Lincoln joined Ben Nelson (NE) and Evan Bayh opposing the use of reconciliation to pass a fix to the Senate health care reform bill.

This is really the only way a health care bill could possibly be passed at this point. So, after voting for passage, Lincoln wishes to prevent even the current bill from passing.

The Hill

Democrats have been considering a number of options on how to pass their health care bill since losing their filibuster-proof majority in Massachusetts’s special election last Tuesday.

One of the emerging options would be for the House to pass a “sidecar” bill making fixes to the Senate’s original health care bill, and then sending the fixes to the Senate to pass under reconciliation, which would require a simple, 51-vote majority [fixed].

This option requiring only 51 votes (reconciliation), is the only way a comprehensive health care bill will pass since Democrats would never be able to have another vote and get one Republican to sign on. It is simply fantasy to suggest otherwise. Of course, the current bill passed by the Senate has too many problems that need fixing still. That is why the House refuses to pass it until the Senate agrees to fix the bill. However, that would require another 60 vote threshold that the Senate cannot make. Therefore, the only way to fix the bill is to pass it through reconciliation.

The Hill

“I am opposed to and will fight against any attempts to push through changes to the Senate health insurance reform legislation by using budget reconciliation tactics that would allow the Senate to pass a package of changes to our original bill with 51 votes,” she said in a statement. “I will not accept any last-minute efforts to force changes to health insurance reform issues through budget reconciliation, and neither will Arkansans.”

Arkansas wants a Public Option and Blanche Lincoln keeps putting words in Arkansans’ mouths. A public option could pass the reconciliation process, as it only requires 51 votes or 50 votes and Joe Biden’s tiebreaking vote. A Medicare expansion would likely have this much support as well. For more on this, see my post.