Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine says the health care reform bill will prove to be good politics for the party.
Kaine, the former governor of Virginia, spent Friday at meetings and fundraisers in Charlotte and Raleigh.
In a telephone interview, Kaine said the bill will be popular once it passes. Seniors will get a break on prescription drugs, families will be able to keep their children on their insurance policies until the children turn 26, and the worst policies of insurance companies will be curbed, he said.
"Americans will see that, and they won't see the boogeyman argument the other side has come up with," Kaine said.
"It's not only going to do good for virtually every American, it's really going to show up the fact that these guys are making stuff up."
Kaine said the party has been working to thank Democrats who are already supporting the bill. Others, who may need reassurance or help in the fall, are getting the party's promise of support.
"We're definitely trying to show all of our Democratic congressmen, 'Stand with us, and we're going to stand with you,'" Kaine said.
Easley's fine is 5% paid
The campaign committee of former Gov. Mike Easley has delivered a $5,335 check to the State Board of Elections, saying the money was for "partial satisfaction" of the $100,000 fine levied against Easley last year.
Treasurer Joseph A. Newsome said in a letter that the payment was from the remaining cash on hand in the Easley campaign bank accounts, and the accounts are now closed. He did not indicate whether the rest of the fine would be paid.
Easley has said he wants to pay any amounts he owes.
The elections board issued the fine after a hearing in which testimony showed Easley took free flights from friend and supporter McQueen Campbell.
Records show the campaign had not spent money, other than on fees and taxes, since the fine was made public.
The committee began 2009 with $427,700 in its accounts, but that money was spent on lawyers as legal and ethical troubles surrounded Easley. Separately the campaign has listed that it still owes a six-figure debt to lawyers.
Easley had testified during the hearing in October, as it became clear that he took free flights, that he wanted to pay up.
"I think the important thing is that we get it sorted out, and if we owe it, we pay it," Easley testified then. "I don't know any other answer other than to say that."
Pressure's on Kissell
If anybody can appreciate the kind of pressure Democratic U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell may feel on the pending health care vote, it's the man whose job he took to get to Washington.
In 2001, Republican House leaders pressed then-Rep. Robin Hayes to support so-called fast-track trade authority, even though displaced textile workers from home told him it would cost his district jobs. With time ticking down, the vote was 214-214.
All eyes were on Hayes. The floor manager held the gavel, poised to swing. With tears in his eyes, Hayes cast the deciding vote. The bill passed.
"There's tremendous pressure being put on him," Hayes said Thursday. "The pressure, particularly on Larry, gets more and more as you approach the vote."
Kissell, a Biscoe Democrat, has already made it clear he plans to vote against the bill. He has said he opposes proposals to pay for the bill in part by cutting Medicare, which he has called his "line in the sand."
In November, Kissell was one of three N.C. Democrats who voted against the House version of the bill and the only one from a district President Barack Obama carried in 2008.
Pressure is coming from both sides. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released the results of polls in the districts of 10 key members of Congress, including Kissell's 8th District. It showed a majority of voters oppose the current legislation.
The State Employees Association of North Carolina also targeted Kissell with a Concord rally. The group's message: "Stop Kissing Up to Insurance Companies."
By staff writers Benjamin Niolet, J. Andrew Curliss and Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer
