Susan Ferrechio

Senate in holding pattern as Reid tries to cobble together health bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was still hoping to complete a health care overhaul by the end of the year, but time is running out and members of the Democratic caucus say he has all but ruled out debate beginning this week. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., told reporters that Reid promised "days -- not a day or two" for lawmakers to review the yet-to-be-seen bill before attempting to clear a 60-vote procedural hurdle needed to bring the legislation to the Senate floor. When asked whether debate on the bill would have to wait until next week, Casey told The Examiner, "That would be an accurate assessment. That was the implication considering the time we will...

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McCain says trying KSM in New York would be like trying Nazi in San Francisco

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is comparing the decision to decision to try accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other terrorists in New York City to trying Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering in San Francisco. "It's ridiculous," McCain told me. "These are war criminals and terrorists and they should not be privy to regular courtroom...

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As health bill battle rages, Dems try to squeeze in jobs plan

While health care remains the primary worry for Congress in the waning weeks of the session, lawmakers are also to pass the controversial plan and still have time to shift gears to job creation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he plans to clear the deck after health care passes to take up a jobs creation bill. But since Reid's health care bill has yet to emerge and the Senate is little more than a month away from closing up shop for the year, it may be a tall order. The House is already weighing a number of options to stimulate the economy, including targeted tax cuts and extending government loans to small businesses, according to senior Democratic aides. Reid has not announced...

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More political fallout for Dems for health vote

The Cook Political Report has an interesting analysis of Saturday's House vote on a $1.2 trillion health care reform bill and its potential political fallout. House race editor Dave Wasserman calculates that out of 73 Democrats who represent seats more Republican than the national average, 38 voted for the bill, while 35 voted against it, and of those, 21 voted for the House energy and global warming bill this summer, which includes a cap and trade system. Wasserman said to expect these Democrats to be hit hard in ads next fall for voting for the measures. "It’s unlikely that health care will dominate the larger national debate next fall, but close votes on...

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Republicans grab their first lead in 2010 generic ballot

New poll numbers show Democrats could face trouble on the ballot in 2010, particularly among independents. A new Gallup survey reveals that for the first time since the 2008 election that more voters say they would pick a Republican candidate over a Democratic candidate. Republicans took 48 percent of voters to 44 percent for Democrats. Independent voters went for the GOP by a 22-point margin. The poll was conducted during the weekend debate and passage of the $1.2 trillion health care bill in the House and signals that the GOP may be able to capitalize on voter wariness of Democratic initiatives to win back seats it lost during the landslide Democratic victories of 2006 and...

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Clinton tells Democrats that passing health bill soon is more important than perfection

Former President Clinton told Senate Democrats on to get behind the health care reform bill even if it was not exactly what they wanted. Clinton's pep talk came as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters he planned to put the health care bill on the floor next week. Clinton told Democrats it was their responsibility as the majority party to get a bill passed and talked of "how important it was to move this year," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said. "It's not important to be perfect," Clinton said to reporters, recounting his half-hour speech to a closed-door caucus meeting. "The worst thing to do is nothing. That was my message...

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Bill Clinton to the rescue

Former President Bill Clinton will meet privately with Senate Democrats for a pep talk on health care reform today, according to a senior leadership aide. The Senate is on the verge of taking up a health care bill that will likely include a public health insurance option with an "opt out" provision for states who don't want to participate. No one has seen the language of the bill because the Congressional Budget Office is working on cost analyses of several proposals devised by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Clinton was the last president to attempt to pass health care. In the 2008 campaign, then-candidate Obama sduggested that the 42nd president's efforts failed...

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Employer taxes may spook Senate on health care

As the Senate prepares to vote on its version of health care legislation, one of the most contentious issues will be a provision requiring employers to provide insurance coverage. With the jobless rate at 10.2 percent and expected to climb, penalties for employers who don't offer insurance benefits will make it difficult for moderate Senate Democrats to support the plan. While most big companies provide workers with health insurance, many smaller employers do not, and they would end up having to come up with the money to either buy coverage or pay a penalty. "There is no question it will result in job loss and it will encourage employers not to hire employees," said John...

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Shell game on abortion language?

Liberal House Democrats are intent on stripping language from just-passed House health care legislation that would block most federal funding of abortion. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fa., told reporters on Monday that she will fight to make sure it is not included in a final compromise bill merged together by the House and Senate. "I would expect that the Senate bill would not include that language because of the dynamic in the Senate are quite a bit different," Wasserman Schultz said. "I intend to push very hard to ensure that the language is not included in the final product." House Republicans accused Democrats of playing a shell game by inserting the...

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A Senate squeeze play for Reid on health bill

Now that the House has passed major health-care legislation, the pressure is building on Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to pass a bill by President Obama's Christmas deadline. Reid has an even harder task in front of him than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did. She barely pushed her bill over the threshold late Saturday night by a vote of 220 to 215, despite holding an 81-vote majority. Pelosi lost almost 15 percent of her members. If Reid loses one member of his 60-vote majority, his bill might be doomed. But the White House is pushing hard for speedy passage of a robust plan to get President Obama's domestic agenda on track. Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel reportedly paid Reid a...

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Unemployment numbers sharpen the debate on health care

Republicans pounced on the latest unemployment report from the Department of Labor as evidence that Democrats' $787 billion stimulus plan was a waste of money and that the House health care bill set for a vote as early as Tuesday could kill an additional 5.5 million jobs. The Department of Labor Friday announced the jobless rate has climbed to 10.2 percent, the highest level in more than 25 years. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the news shows that more work needs to be done, but that Congress has taken steps "to protect the middle class and set the stage for economic growth." But House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio said the Democratic health care bill will...

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Obama, Pelosi dig for votes on health as vote looms

House Democratic leaders held last-minute negotiating sessions as they worked to round up enough support to pass a sweeping health care bill scheduled for a vote as early as Saturday. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he believes there are very close to the 218 Democratic backers needed to pass the $1.05 trillion bill, which mandates health insurance coverage and creates a government-run insurance program. But several outstanding issues remain and the outcome was still uncertain. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., when asked by reporters Thursday whether she has the votes to pass a preliminary measure called the "rule" that would allow the health care bill to...

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CBO: Republican health plan would reduce premiums, cut deficit

The Congressional Budget Office Wednesday night released its cost analysis of the Republican health care plan and found that it would reduce health care premiums and cut the deficit by $68 billion over ten years. The Republican plan does not call for a government insurance plan but rather attempts to reform the system by creating high-risk insurance pools, allowing people to purchase health insurance policies across state lines and instituting medical malpractice reforms. "Not only does the GOP plan lower health care costs, but it also increases access to quality care, including for those with pre-existing conditions, at a price our country can afford," House Minority Leader...

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After GOP gains, congressional Democrats debate how to confront 2010 problems

For the most vulnerable congressional Democrats, the results of Tuesday's elections signal that their 2010 re-election prospects may be even tougher than they thought. Victories by Republicans Bob McDonnell in Virginia and Christopher Christie in New Jersey were accompanied by exit poll results showing independent voters leaned heavily Republican. With independents becoming a larger part of the electorate, the news is bad for new incumbent Democrats like Tom Perriello of Virginia, who hail from Republican-leaning districts and won their seats in part by capturing the independent vote in 2008. "I think for that group of moderate Democratic members, and especially members sitting in...

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Some Democrats unhappy with pressure plays on global warming

As Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., pushes global warming legislation forward, some Democrats were showing a hint of frustration with their party's agenda. "I just don't think climate change is going to be on the floor this year," Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said. "Trying to restart our economic engine and trying to get this country back to work -- to me that is the most important issue." Republicans boycotted Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee hearings on the climate bill, authored by Boxer and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, was the lone Republican to show up at the Environment and Public Works Committee markup. He told Boxer that...

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Health care vote may slip until next year in Senate

With the clock ticking on a health care overhaul, Democrats in the House worked furiously to win the support of a faction of moderates in their party while Senate Democrats wondered whether they would simply run out of time this year and be forced to wait until 2010 to try to pass a bill. "We're not going to be bound by any time lines," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday. "We need to do the best job we can for the American people. We want quality legislation, and we're going to do that." Reid's remarks set of a fury of speculation that the Democratic leadership was throwing up the towel on a passing a health care bill this year. While Reid...

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Read along with the Republicans

House Republicans Tuesday launched a new Website - healthcaretruth.amplify.com - that breaks down the provisions in the Democratic health care reform bill with explainer notes from GOP members. Now, this is purely GOP perspective on the bill, but the site posts the actual language so the reader can also make an independent judgement. For example, the site includes actual bill language describing an excise tax on businesses that do not provide health care coverage to employees that would amount to 8 percent of the wages earned by each non-covered worker. But it also includes a description by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., who calls it "a job-killing, 8% tax on small businesses who...

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Leading anti-abortion Dem sidelined by death in family

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who has threatened to hold up the House health care bill over language he believes would permit taxpayer dollars to be spent on abortions, may not even vote on the bill if it comes to the floor for consideration this week. Stupak's mother-in-law, Elaine Olsen, died suddenly on Sunday and he is not expected to be in Washington D.C. this week. Stupak had been negotiating with Democratic leaders over adding language to the House health care bill that would require fencing off federal health care dollars so none are used to cover abortions. Stupak said he has the backing of 40 fellow House Democrats who would vote against the bill if stiffer language is not...

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House liberals' wish list for government health plan: no citizenship requirements, triggers or opt outs and more subsidies

The most liberal factions of the House sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, telling her that the House health care bill must strengthened to ensure the government-run insurance plan is not subjected to triggers or an "opt out" mechanism. The letter was signed by the chairs of the Progressive, Black, Hispanic, and Asian-Pacific Islander caucuses, whose combined membership is more than 100 members of the 256-member Democratic caucus. The group is also demanding language be added to the bill that would ensure subsidies are great enough to help those who can't afford insurance and they want a provision added to guarantee that no citizenship or residency verification is...

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Special: Stimulus boondoggle filled with fraud, abuse

Fraud and abuse weigh down stimulus package - After a flurry of stimulus spending, questionable projects pile up - Fraudsters made the most of homebuyer tax credits - Was the stimulus worth the cost? - White House moves to control waste and fraud As Congress and the White House weigh another...

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After a flurry of stimulus spending, questionable projects pile up

Fraud and abuse weigh down stimulus package - Was the stimulus worth the cost? - Fraudsters made the most of homebuyer tax credits - After a flurry of stimulus spending, questionable projects pile up - White House moves to control waste and fraud The $787 billion stimulus bill was passed in...

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Fraudsters made the most of homebuyer tax credits

The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit aimed at boosting home sales allows low- and middle-income earners to claim a credit of up to $8,000 for a first-time home purchase. The $13.8 billion plan was part of the stimulus package passed in February and so far the Internal Revenue Service has processed 1.5 million claims. Lawmakers are considering a plan to extend the program, set to expire at the end of the month, through March. An audit found widespread mistakes and outright fraud including: - The First-Time Homebuyer Credit IRS form did not verify eligibility and no documentation was required to substantiate home purchase; - $139 million in credits were awarded to people for more than...

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Was the stimulus worth the cost?

- The White House last week announced more than 640,000 jobs were created or saved by spending $159 billion in stimulus funds, but economists question the figure, saying it is impossible to calculate jobs that are saved. ABC News calculated each job cost taxpayers $160,000. - More than half the jobs were in education, not the private sector, as promised by the Obama administration. Just 80,000 jobs were in construction. - Nearly 690,000 cars were sold during Cash for Clunkers, but just 125,000 were purchased as a result of the program, leading analysts at Edmunds Auto Observer to calculate each car purchase cost taxpayers $24,000. - According to Brookings Institution, 85 percent of...

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Reid: It depends on what the meaning of "bill" is

Last week, the entire Senate Republican conference sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., asking to see the health care bill he submitted to the Congressional Budget Office for analysis. Reid responded Monday, sending a letter back that explained his proposal was actually more than one plan, and that a final bill would not be written until the CBO gives him a cost estimate for the multiple options he sent them. In other word, Reid said, "there is no bill to release publicly. It does not exist." Reid promised to make the bill available to the Republicans and the public "prior to its consideration" and said there would be ample time for everyone...

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GOP boycott could stall global warming bill

A group of Senate Republicans will "likely" boycott committee work on the chamber's global warming bill, which would block the legislation from clearing the panel. The GOP members of the Environment and Public Works Committee want to see a full economic analysis of the legislation's impact before officially drafting the bill in a markup. Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., had hoped to hole a vote next week on the bill, which calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020. "It is imperative the we know how much this bill will cost and how many jobs will be lost before Senators are asked to vote," said Matt Dempsey, spokesman for committee...

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When will Reid go public with his health bill?

Senate Republicans want to see the Democratic health care proposal written by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and sent to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring earlier this week. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and the rest of the GOP conference sent a letter to Reid, arguing that the contents of the bill should be immediately made available to them and the public, by posting the legislation on the Internet. "With an issue this large and complex, we need full transparency at every stage in the legislative process," the letter says. "President Obama was elected, in part, on his promise to bring greater transparency to the workings of the federal government." Not...

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One Blue Dog jumps away from Pelosi bill

Rep. Bobby Bright, D-Ala., has posted a statement on his website about the $1.05 trillion House Health Care Reform Bill, saying he can't back the legislation because it creates a government option and could hurt small businesses. In my story today, I pointed out that many Blue Dogs are undecided, and listed Bright. But Bright, a vulnerable freshman from a Republican-leaning district, has made up his mind. Here's Bright's statement: Where I Stand on Health Care Legislation: The health care bill released today does not make enough significant changes to earn my support. From the beginning of this debate, I have been opposed to the government option and any legislation that puts...

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Blue Dogs don't bite, but will they even bark?

For all the trouble it caused Democratic leaders over the health care reform bill, the House Democratic Blue Dog Coalition was surprisingly silent when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi finally dropped the 2,000-page, $1.05 trillion legislation. The 51 Blue Dog members sent a letter late Thursday to Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf, asking for him to say whether the bill would reduce the long-term costs of health care to the federal government. But the normally noisy group was hard to find after Pelosi's bill hit. The CBO estimates the cost of the legislation to be $1.05 trillion, up from the $894 billion price tag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had announced. The CBO...

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As if 435 weren't enough...

Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., has introduced a bill aimed at increasing the size of the House of Representatives, which has remained the same for the last century. Hastings wants to establish a commission that would examine whether there is an adequate number of members to meet the needs of the country, which he points out, has added four states since the the ranks of the House were increased. Interestingly, Hastings wants the commission "to explore alternatives to the current method of electing representatives," such a proportional representation or a regional primary system. This alone likely makes the bill dead on arrival, as members have been fiercely protective of the...

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Group claims Congress hid medical data damaging to donors

A watchdog group has released a report that accuses Congress of helping medical research groups conceal information after key lawmakers received big campaign donations. According to The Sunlight Foundation, Congress in 2007 voted to keep results from clinical trials for unapproved medical devices out of eyes of the public. The provision was inserted into Food and Drug Administration Amendment Act after lobbyists for medical research firms argued that making the results public would reveal proprietary information and potentially hurt business. The FDA posts information regarding ongoing trials at ClinicalTrials.gov. Using information compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics,...

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House leaders prepare to unveil final health bill

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is expected to reveal Thursday the final House version of sweeping health-care legislation that would create a government-run insurance plan. The bill emerges after a deal between moderate and liberal Democrats to create a government insurance benefit open to all Americans, as liberals want, but to be more generous in paying doctors and hospitals than liberals had intended. Instead of tying reimbursement rates under the public option to those of the senior citizens health program Medicare, medical service providers would be able to make their own deals with the government for payment. "It will likely be negotiated rates," a top Democratic aide said....

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No momentum in Senate for Reid's public option plan

A day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he will put forward a health care bill that includes a government-run insurance plan, Sen. Joe Lieberman threw up a roadblock, promising to stop the legislation with the help of what could be 10 or more Democrats. Lieberman told reporters on that he is opposed to the creation of a public option and will not back any bill that includes such a provision, even if it is created via a "trigger" or an "opt in" strategy. "I don't support a government-operated health insurance agency that will end up costing tax payers a lot of money," Lieberman said following a closed-door Democratic caucus meeting. Reid...

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House ethics: More oversight, less disclosure

The independent office of congressional ethics had concluded that at least one lawmaker, perhaps more, may have violated the House rules, and they believe an official investigation is warranted. If it sounds cryptic, that is because Congress wants it that way. This independent ethics board was established by House lawmakers to provide additional oversight of its members, who in recent years have been caught demanding bribes in hot tubs and stashing ill-gotten cash in frozen vegetable containers. This new ethics board, made up of non-members, puts out a quarterly report listing complaints filed against members, but it conceals just about every detail of every case. Lawmakers voted to...

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Senate to move ahead with public option health plan

The Senate will vote on a sweeping health care reform bill that includes a government-run insurance option, but in a nod to significant opposition among lawmakers in the Democratic party, states will have until 2014 to "opt out" of the public plan. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., gave few details about the proposal, which he has been crafting for two weeks behind closed doors with a handful of top Democrats and White House officials. The public option would be available among plans made available in health care exchanges that the government would operate. Doctors who participate in the government-run plan would have to abide by government regulations and rules...

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Poll questions public option support

While some Democrats are suggesting an increase in support for a health care reform bill that includes a public option, the most recent polling tells a different story. Rasmussen Reports put out a new survey today showing support for President Obama's health care proposal -- which includes a public plan -- from just 45 percent of voters polled and opposition from 51 percent of respondents. The poll also found that 57 percent of voters believe their medical costs will increase under a reform plan and 53 percent think the quality of their health care will diminish if it is enacted. "Perhaps the most stunning aspect of the numbers is how stable they have been through months of...

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Reid to announce public option stance

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is planning an afternoon press conference to reveal whether the Senate health care bill will include a public health insurance option. Reid has been working for days on how to combine a moderate version of health care reform proposed by the Senate Finance Committee with a much more liberal version put forward by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions panel. The Finance bill proposes privately run health insurance co-operatives while the Senate HELP bill calls for a robust public option. Democratic aides say Reid is likely to go for compromise that would allow the states to "opt out" of a public option. Stay...

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Democrats declare war on health insurers

Congressional Democrats have declared war on the nation's health insurers, drafting legislation to revoke the industry's 64-year-old antitrust exemption, part of what critics say is a White House effort to coerce and threaten their opponents. Democrats targeted the exemption just days after the insurance industry lobbed a bomb at their health care proposal, saying it would drive individual insurance premiums up by as much as $4,000 annually. The damning report from America's Health Insurance Plans, infuriated Democrats. Days after the report was issued, White House officials told lawmakers to fire back at the group with their biggest political weapon, legislation to revoke the antitrust...

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Paying for Medicare extension jeopardy

The defeat of a $247 billion provision to stave off steep cuts in doctor reimbursement rates under Medicare sent a strong signal to Democrats that their road to passing a sweeping health care bill this year will be more difficult than they anticipated. Not only did the 47-53 vote show Majority Leader Harry Reid that lawmakers in his party will not easily get in line behind his yet-to-be unveiled health care plan, the defeat may push its cost well beyond the $900 billion limit set by President Obama. "This is a budget buster," said Brian Darling, director of Senate relations at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "This is going to add to the problems they are having in...

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A word-cloud downpour of taxes.

Democrats are trying hard to keep the the revenue raisers in their health care reform bill from being labeled as tax increases, so this won't help their cause. Americans for Tax Reform, a group that advocates lower taxes, among other things, has done a word search of the 1,502 page Senate Finance Committee proposal and they found that tax" pops up 124 times and "taxable" is used 158 times. Among other findings in the word search: Excise Tax- 12 times Taxpayer - 79 times Penalty - 79 times Require - 88 Times Must - 40 times Shall - 2,585 times. The group contends that the excise tax is just one of several taxes in the legislation that violates a pledge made by Obama not...

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Concern over details complicates health effort in Senate

A half-dozen of the Senate's Democratic freshmen gave coordinated health care reform speeches on the Senate floor Wednesday, but only one lawmaker called for the creation of a government health insurance option. With Senate Democratic leaders in intense talks over how to craft a final reform bill, the lukewarm view of the public option by many in the caucus is but one of a slew of differences Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid must try to iron out if he is to win a filibuster-proof 60 votes. Aside from the public option, lawmakers are worried about the expansion of Medicaid coverage. The proposed expansion would add billions to already strapped state budgets and it has sent governors...

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Millions of federal employees might be exempt from health benefits tax

Democrats are looking for ways to exclude a bevy of big groups from their proposal to tax so-called Cadillac health insurance plans. So far the list of groups seeking exclusions include labor unions, firefighters, coal miners and other high risk occupations. At this point, is there anyone else left to tax who has one of those big insurance policies? Oh right. Federal employees. Well, now some members of Congress want to carve out an exclusion for them as well. Reps. Jerry Connolly and Jim Moran, two Democrats from the federal employee haven of Northern Virginia, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., expressing concern that the Senate health care proposal, which...

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Alexander Warns Obama Against "Enemies List"

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. took to the Senate floor Wednesday to warn President Barack Obama not to "create an enemies list." Alexander was a young aide to President Richard Nixon when Nixon staffer Chuck Colson created a list of "persons known to be active in their opposition to our Administration." The list included many members of the news media and preceded the Nixon Administration's "spiral downward," Alexander said. Alexander then drew a comparison to the Obama Administration and its latest war with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Fox News and the health insurance industry. "I have an uneasy feeling, only ten months into this new...

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Post poll does little to lift public option

Hoping for new momentum for a government-run insurance program after a poll showing increased public support, Senate Democrats instead found questions about the survey's accuracy and continuing doubts among moderate members. A Washington Post/ABC poll trumpeted "clear majority support" for a public option, but Senate Democrats, who met privately to discuss health care, were still struggling to define what a government-run plan would look like. "People here are still talking about what kind of public option," Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. said. "There are those who are going to be absolutely opposed to any plan that is just a precursor to a single-payer...

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Burris finally gets some respect with health care threat

For Democrats determined to get a health care bill, Sen. Roland Burris is like the house guest who couldn't be refused, won't soon be leaving and poses a plausible threat of ruining holiday dinner. Suddenly, he can no longer be ignored. The Illinois Democrat, appointed by disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, says he'll only vote for a bill to provide health care to millions more Americans as long as it allows the government to sell insurance in competition with private insurers. And he says he won't compromise. "I would not support a bill that does not have a public option," Burris, 72, said in a recent interview with the Associated Press. "That position will not...

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Reid's political box keeps shrinking on health care

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is caught between a divided Democratic caucus and swing voters in his home state of Nevada as he tries to balance the health care reform fight with his bid for a fifth term. So far, his political juggling act is not going well. Pollsters have moved Reid's Senate seat to the "toss up" column as he fends off attacks from the left and right. And political observers agree that if Reid is unable resolve the intraparty difference over the bill and shepherd through some kind of reform, his re-election prospects will likely be doomed. "At this point, it's about delivering," said political consultant Dan Gerstein, who helped Sen. Joe...

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Congress, Pelosi, not popular in Cali, says survey

A Field Research poll finds that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not very popular in California, but that her Democratic senate counterparts are faring a little better in the eyes of voters. The survey found that 44 percent of registered voters in the state do not approve of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's job performance, up from 35 percent in March. Pelosi is a Democrat who represents the San Francisco area. It's the most negative score the Field Research poll has given her since she took the leadership post. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, on the other hand, got a disapproval rating of just 35 percent from California voters, a slight increase from 32 percent she earned in March. Sen. Barbara...

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White House has bad news for unions, tough talk for insurance companies

Democrats were so angered by last week's attack on their health care proposals by the insurance industry they have hit back hard with a threat of revoking the industry's antitrust exemption. But, how serious are they? Obama's top advisor, David Axelrod, signaled on ABC's This Week that the president is not ready to take that dramatic step, which would likely eliminate any chance of the two sides working together on health care reform. Both the Senate and House have introduced bills to revoke the exemption and the House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., is set to vote on legislation in his panel this week. And Obama dangled the threat over the industry in his...

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Senate health plan funding in doubt

A health care funding mechanism favored by Democratic leaders in the Senate -- a tax on costly health-insurance plans -- seems to be in big trouble as members balk at the idea. But the tax pays for nearly a quarter of the $829 billion plan that provides the framework for the Democratic proposal and even a modest reduction would leave the plan billions of dollars short of being fully funded, which would be a deal breaker with moderate members. "It's a real problem, isn't it?" said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., a moderate who opposes the excise tax. The tax on "Cadillac plans" is by far one of the biggest revenue raisers in the Senate health care bill from the Finance...

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Doubts mount about the real price of health care bill

Democrats who are touting a deficit-reducing, $829 billion health care bill that won approval from a key committee are facing increasing criticism from Republicans and budget experts who say the true cost of the legislation is much higher and would in fact increase the deficit. “The reality is that entitlement spending always costs vastly more than is assumed when it is enacted and there is no reason to expect that this bill will be any different,” said Brian Riedl, senior federal budget analyst for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The legislation, written by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., was given a price tag by the Congressional Budget Office, an independent...

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Former CBO boss rips Larry Summers

In a letter to GOP leaders, former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin on Wednesday suggested White House advisor Larry Summers "should be back at Harvard," for sending a letter to Republicans that insists the $787 billion stimulus is creating jobs. Summers last week wrote to House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, in response to GOP suggestions for creating jobs that were sent to Obama. Summers' response letter to Republicans blamed the nation's economic problems on the Bush administration policies and credited Obama's stimulus plan for positive economic changes. But Holtz-Eakin said Federal Reserve Board action on monetary policies that began under...

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Senate faces tough task in melding two health bills

Even harder will be merging House, Senate versions Now that a Senate panel has won passage of a moderate health care reform bill, the real challenge lies with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who must weave it together with much more liberal legislation in a way that can win the support of at least 60 lawmakers. Given the divergent components of each bill, it promises to be a daunting if not impossible task. The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-9 on Tuesday to pass an $829 billion bill that expands health insurance coverage to 29 million people through billions of dollars in additional spending on Medicaid and subsidies. It requires millions of uninsured people to purchase...

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Senate Finance committee passes health care reform bill 14-9

A key Senate panel voted in favor of an $829 million health care proposal that would expand insurance coverage to an additional 29 million people and be paid for with taxes and cuts to Medicare. Much of the support from members was conditional, however, and passage by the full senate remains uncertain. The Senate Finance Committee voted 14 to 9 in favor of the bill and among those who supported it was Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, a moderate whose backing is considered somewhat of a victory for Democrats. But Snowe, along with many other members who voted for the package, said her future support will depend on how the legislation is melded with a much more liberal proposal, which...

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Snowe is a yes... but

Democrats have, for the first time, secured a Republican vote on their health care plan. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, announced Tuesday afternoon that she will vote in committee for a bill that would expand Medicaid coverage and provide subsidies for low-income earners to buy health insurance. The bill, which she helped draft, is set for a vote in a matter of hours and is expected to pass out of the Senate Finance Committee. Snowe, along with five other members of the panel, spent months drafting the bill, but her support was up in the air until now. She warned that it did not guarantee that she will back the final product, which will be a combination of the Finance Committee bill and a...

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Dems muster counter-offensive on skyrocketing premiums under health plan

Senate Democrats, knocked off their feet by a critical insurance-industry report about their health care reform plan, started fighting back late Monday, more than 12 hours after the report was put forward by the industry's top lobbyist, America's Health Insurance Plans. From Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev: "It is astounding that an industry which has made so many billions off the backs of hardworking American families would lecture anyone on health care costs. These insurers, and those who defend them, see the handwriting on the wall – Americans are serious about reforming health care and Congress, for the first time in 60 years, is primed to...

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Democrats face two bad options on health plan

Congress faces two politically unpalatable options on health care: Higher fines for working-class Americans who don't buy insurance or increases in spending and taxes after insurance providers predicted huge increases in premiums under the main Democratic plan. A report from America's Health Insurance Plans saying the cost of health coverage would be nearly 20 percent higher under a Senate Finance Committee plan -- $1,500 per year for an individual and $4,000 for a family -- has shaken things up in advance of a key vote scheduled for Tuesday. The report blames a "weak coverage requirement" that might encourage younger and healthier individuals to opt to pay a new federal fine...

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Summers to GOP on job creation plan: We'll get back to you on that

The House Republican leadership team sent a list of suggestions to the White House last week they said would help small businesses create jobs, such as implementing new tax breaks and allowing small businesses to pool together to purchase health insurance. On Monday, Obama advisor Larry Summers let Republicans know they have their own plans in place that they believe will one day produce jobs, including the $787 billion stimulus, which Summers said in his letter has brought "a substantial change in the trend of job loss." But Summers did promise to "continue to review" the Republican suggestions. Boehner's office responded Monday by sending out a transcript of...

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Reed warns against "simplistic" approach to Afghanistan

Senate Republicans will back a request for a surge of 40,000 troops in Afghanistan, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on Sunday. McConnell said on Face the Nation that despite strong evidence that Afghanistan is being run by a "flawed administration," the country is a haven for terrorists who threaten America. "This is about protecting the United States of America," McConnell said. McConnell said if Obama asks for the troops at the behest of the U.S. military commanders, "I think Republicans almost overwhelmingly will support the president if that is his request." Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who also appeared on the show, said a troop...

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Can the Peace Prize winner make nice with Republicans?

A new poll suggests President Obama needs to help produce a little more peace between the Republicans and the Democrats. According to Rasmussen Reports, just 30 percent of voters surveyed by telephone believe Obama is governing in a bipartisan fashion, down 12 points from January. The poll found that 52 percent of voters believe Obama is operating like a partisan Democrat. But Congressional Democrats earned "their best marks of the year so far in terms of bipartisanship," According to Rasmussen, which found that 24 percent say congressional Democrats are acting on bipartisan basis, up three points from last month. The survey found 24 percent of voters also believe Republicans...

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Dems dig up bipartisan support in effort to attack GOP mainstream

The Democratic National Committee today plans to launch a new television ad promoting the "growing list of prominent Republicans" who they say support President Barack Obama's health care plan. Their list includes former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, of Tennessee, former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But Republicans point out that, with the exception of Schwarzenegger, none of the Republicans on the list are major players in politics these days, and Frist has walked back his support of an $829 billion health care bill sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.,...

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Newest GOP senator denounces Democratic health reform rush

Sen. George LeMieux, the Florida Republican who was just tapped to fill the vacancy left by Mel Martinez, gave the GOP weekly address Saturday, continuing what has become the GOP's weekly theme of attacking the Democratic plan to reform health care. This week, LeMieux acknowledged that health care needs to be reformed, but said the the Democratic plan costs too much, would raise taxes and cut Medicare. "We in the Congress have a duty to tackle this problem, but the solution we settle upon should not be rushed, and the solution should not be worse than the problem we are trying to solve," LeMieux said. LeMieux said Republicans want to take a slower, targeted approach to making...

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Health care tab to be paid by taxpayers, businesses, seniors

A Senate plan to expand health insurance coverage to an additional 29 million people would not come cheap, with taxpayers, businesses and the elderly poised to foot most of the bill. The legislation by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., which is scheduled for a committee vote Tuesday, would cost $829 billion over the next 10 years. Yet in spite of that staggering price tag, it would slash the federal deficit by $81 billion, according to an analysis by the independent Congressional Budget Office. That's $910 billion the government would have to raise over the next decade. The bill calls for getting half of that money through various taxes and the other half by...

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Baucus health plan would save money but squeeze private insurance

A Democratic health care proposal in the Senate would trim the deficit and cost less than $900 billion, but it would result in as many as 8 million people being pushed out of private insurance. The new price tag, produced by the independent Congressional Budget Office, is good news for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., author of the bill and head of the Senate Finance Committee. Baucus put off a committee vote on his plan at the behest of lawmakers who wanted to make sure the legislation was "deficit-neutral" before deciding whether to vote for it. The Baucus plan, which would require all Americans who could afford it to carry insurance or pay a fine, would cut the number of uninsured...

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Dems warn Pelosi on insurance excise tax

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hunts around for ways to raise enough revenue to fund the Democratic plan to reform health care, her caucus is warning her against an excise tax on luxury insurance plans. Half the Democratic caucus signed a letter sent to Pelosi Wednesday urging her to reject a plan similar to the one proposed in the latest Senate health care reform bill that would tax high-cost insurance proposals by as much as 40 percent. "Such a tax could impact regions with high health care costs in the short-term and, in the long-term, inevitably extend to more middle-income Americans across the country," wrote Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn. The letter was signed by 157...

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Democrats will move to block GOP motion to oust Rangel

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., just announced that he will move to table a forthcoming GOP resolution that would strip Rep. Charles Rangel of his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee. Republicans want Rangel to give up the gavel of the powerful tax writing panel while the House ethics committee sorts out whether he violated any rules when he failed to disclose nearly a million dollars in taxes. The ethics committee is also examining whether Rangel engaged in "pay for play" tactics involving donations to a school named after him. Republicans have tried unsuccessfully to unseat Rangel in the past, but Wednesday's resolution forces Democrats to take a...

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New plan might allow Dems to slip public option through Senate

Senate Democrats desperate to find a way to pass a health care bill that includes a federal insurance plan may have come up with a way to do it without putting moderate members who oppose it in political jeopardy. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is weighing a plan to bring the final health care bill to the floor without a public option -- making it much easier to get the 60 votes needed to prevent a Republican filibuster -- and then adding the provision later as an amendment. The public option amendment would be there waiting, but the 60-vote test would technically be on a bill without the government plan. Then moderate Democrats could drop out for the vote on the public option,...

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Bill posting promises differ from bill posting rules

In my story on congressional leaders resisting a formal rule requiring bills to be posted online for 72 hours, I left out a pledge by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to implement a three day waiting period before the House votes on health care reform legislation. My story was about the rules, not individual promises, like Pelosi's or one made by members of the Senate Finance Committee, which aren't binding. Senate leaders have no plans to wait 72 hours before voting on their health care bill, though one senior aide said it would probably be made available for "more than 24 hours but less than 72 hours." And it is not clear at all whether the legislation will be available...

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Health-care bill schedule gets murkier in Senate

Senate Democratic leaders had hoped to begin debating a health care reform bill by next week, but that may slip to the following week because one version of the bill is still stuck in the Finance Committee. The panel had planned to vote on a bill by Tuesday, but it is awaiting cost estimates for the legislation from the Congressional Budget Office. Some Democrats on the committee say their vote may depend on the final cost of the bill, which had earlier been estimated at about $850 billion by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is already working behind the scenes with the White House on merging the Finance Committee bill, which calls for...

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Congress has time for Dalai Lama when Obama doesn't

While President Obama may be strategically avoiding the Dalai Lama while he is in town this week, Congress has cleared it's schedule for the Tibetan spiritual leader. The Dalai Lama will be in the Capitol this morning, picking up an award named after the late Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will give His Holiness the Lantos Human Rights Prize, which awards those who fight human rights violations. Lantos, a human rights proponent, was the only member of Congress to survive the Holocaust. He died of throat cancer last year. The exiled Dalai Lama has spent his life fighting for human rights and world peace and won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. Obama will be the first...

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Congressional leaders fight against posting bills online

As Congress lurches closer to a decision on an enormous overhaul of the American health care system, pressure is mounting on legislative leaders to make the final bill available online for citizens to read before a vote. Lawmakers were given just hours to examine the $789 billion stimulus plan, sweeping climate-change legislation and a $700 billion bailout package before final votes. While most Americans normally ignore parliamentary detail, with health care looming, voters are suddenly paying attention. The Senate is expected to vote on a health bill in the weeks to come, representing months of work and stretching to hundreds of pages. And as of now, there is no assurance that members...

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Senate looks to redefine "public option" to ease passage

Senate Democrats say they are convinced they can get enough support among lawmakers in their own party to pass a health care bill with a public option, but not the kind that liberal Democrats are envisioning. The Senate's most conservative Democrats, including Sens. Ben Nelson, of Nebraska, and Blanche Lincoln, of Arkansas, are still opposed to a pure, government-run insurance program open to all Americans, despite personal pleas from President Obama. Those moderate members are far more likely to back one of a handful of ideas now being circulated, such a a trigger-induced public option, or a system of state-run health insurance plans, but even that's not guaranteed. "I think...

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Senate will hold hearing to probe Obama czars

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Tuesday will scrutinize the "czar" system used by President Obama and previous administrations. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who heads the Senate Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee, said he wants to explore whether the dozens of czars appointed by the Obama administration constitute "an end run around the advice and consent process." Feingold said his probe does not involve Senate-confirmed czars such as the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair. "I am most interested in those advisors who have been given important portfolios without undergoing Senate scrutiny," Feingold said. The witness list includes Matthew...

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Carbon regulation threat from EPA doesn't stir Congress

A move by the Obama administration to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions was intended to get Congress moving on global warming legislation, but the message was largely lost on lawmakers mired in the health care debate. Their response to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson: Climate change will take a back seat to health care. "If health care doesn't get off this table, we are never going to move on to anything else," said Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., a supporter of the House climate change bill passed last summer. Jackson announced late Wednesday a proposal to mandate new electricity plants, oil refineries and factories to acquire permits to...

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Senate blocks move to bring McChrystal to Hill

The Senate defeated on a party-line vote a move by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz to set a Nov. 15 deadline for the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and other military brass to testify before the Senate about the need for additional troops and resources to fight the war. McCain's provision, an effort to put pressure on Obama to quickly decide on a troop increase, failed 40-59, and came after the Senate approved an amendment by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., by a 60-39 vote, to postpone such a hearing until Obama has finished a planned review of the Afghanistan war strategy. "This is an issue that the U.S. Senate should have a role in at least being informed," McCain argued before the...

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GOP accuses Dems of trying to buy votes on global warming

Senate Democrats appear ready to follow the House playbook for passing contentious global warming legislation by trading pollution allowances for votes. But even with the aide of this tactic, the bill is unlikely to pass this year. The draft legislation circulated by Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and John Kerry, D-Mass., includes a requirement for steep emissions cuts, but does not stipulate how emission allowances will be allocated. Instead, those details will be filled in as Democratic Senate leaders work to strike deals with their moderate faction, many of whom are reluctant to support a "cap and trade" system, particularly while the jobless rate continues to climb. House...

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Rocky keeps jabbing at insurance companies

Sen. Jay Rockerfeller, D-W.Va., lost an effort Tuesday to insert a public insurance option into the Democratic health care bill, but he plans to keep fighting for a way to give the government some control over how health insurance dollars are spent. Rockerfeller made the argument to his Senate Finance Committee colleagues that his amendment would have provided much-needed competition for private insurers, who he believes are going to keep raising premiums even if the government kicks in nearly $500 billion in federal subsidies for the uninsured to get coverage, as is stipulated in the Democratic bill. In an effort to stave of price increases, Rockerfeller said he plans to introduce an...

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Reid keeps Senate at work over Columbus Day

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., just called off the weeklong Columbus Day recess Senators were planning to take to visit family and hold meetings with constituents. Reid made the announcement on the Senate floor, saying "with all the things going on here, it just would not be right for us to take that week off." Of course, Reid is referring to health care reform, and he hopes to bring a bill to the Senate floor by the end of October, perhaps even during the week of the now-cancelled recess. The Senate schedule will also be packed with votes on spending bills. But there is probably a much bigger reason Reid called off the break and his decision was politically...

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Public option fails in key committee health vote

The Senate Finance Committee gaveled a nail in the coffin of government-run health insurance, with moderate Senate Democrats casting the deciding votes to reject the proposal and sending a strong signal to Democratic leaders that the "public option" will not have enough support to clear the full Senate. The Finance Committee, which is currently drafting a bill, rejected two amendments that would have created a government-run plan, one tying doctor reimbursement rates to Medicare, the other making those reimbursement rates negotiable. The latter amendment, by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., considered more moderate because of the negotiable reimbursement rates, was an important...

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Second public option amendment defeated on more narrow vote

The Senate Finance Committee has rejected a second attempt to insert a public option into a sweeping health care reform bill the panel is drafting. The 10-13 vote was on a provision sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., which would have created a public health insurance option that allowed doctors to negotiate reimbursement rates. The vote was closer than an earlier try by Sen. Jay Rockerfeller, D-W.Va., whose provision tied reimbursement rates for doctors to Medicare. That effort failed 8-15. On both attempts, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., voted no because he said he did not believe a health care bill with a public option can pass the full Senate with the...

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First public option amendment defeated in Senate Finance Committee

The Senate Finance Committee just defeated by a vote of 8-15 an amendment that would have inserted a government-run health insurance option into a Senate health care reform bill that is now being drafted in the Finance Committee. Every Republican voted against the provision, sponsored by Sen. Jay Rockerfeller, D-W.Va., as did five Democrats. The committee is now debating another public option amendment, offered by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., that is similar to Rockerfeller's idea but would not tie reimbursement rates for doctors to Medicare rates. Instead, those rates would be...

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GOP turning up the heat on Obama for Afghan decision

Congressional Republicans are stepping up pressure on the White House to make a decision about whether send more troops to fight the war in Afghanistan. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called on President Obama, who is reviewing the strategy in Afghanistan, to make up his mind about the matter. "The President's pick to lead our efforts in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has made clear that more forces are necessary to accomplish the mission," McConnell said in a Senate floor speech. "And while the administration hasn't yet reacted to General McChrystal's report, in my view, the President must soon explain to the American people his reasons either...

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Democrats unable to quell health care revolt among seniors

Senior citizens are putting the Democratic Party's 2010 election prospects and their health care reform proposals on a collision course. Outraged over Democratic plans to cut between $400 billion and $500 billion from Medicare in the next decade, voters over the age of 65 are poised to make the party suffer even steeper losses at the polls than have already been predicted for the midterm election. "Seniors bear the brunt of these bills as they are currently funded," said Betsey McCaughey, a former Republican lieutenant governor of New York and conservative health care policy expert. "It's a medical assault on seniors." Democrats argue that Medicare is going...

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Gates wavers on troop surge for Afghanistan

Defense Secretary Robert Gates signaled that President Obama may not be ready to send tens of thousands of additional troops to fight the war in Afghanistan, as the top military commander there has requested. Instead, Gates told ABC's "This Week," Obama will decide, within weeks, "whether or not to make adjustments in the strategy" in the wake of the country's recent election, as well as a dire new assessment of the war by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan. "And that includes the question of, is McChrystal's approach, in the view of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Central Command commander, the right approach?" Gates...

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Gates hints at more Iran nuke sites

Defense Secretary Robert Gates strongly hinted on Sunday that Iran may be concealing other nuclear facilities in the country, beyond the uranium enrichment facility disclosed Friday by President Barack Obama and other leaders at the G-20 Summit. This Week host George Stephanopoulos asked Gates if the newly discovered site is "the only secret site that we know of." After a pause, Gates said, "I'm not going to get into that. I would just say that we are watching closely." Gates told Stephanopoulos there is "not a chance" the United States will heed the request of Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and apologize for accusing the country of trying to build a...

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As White House predicts swift passage of health bill, Congress bogs down

While White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel declared that health care reform would clear Congress in the next two months, lawmakers in the House and Senate remained in gridlock over how to move legislation out of either chamber. Emanuel told PBS's Charlie Rose that a health care bill "will be passed before the members go home for Thanksgiving," and it will meld aspects of both the House and Senate proposals that are miles apart philosophically. Even as Emanuel predicted timely cooperation, congressional Democrats closed doors leading to compromise and remained vague about when they would actually vote on a bill. Asked on when the House would have a bill ready for a vote,...

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Porky defense bill headed for Senate vote

The Congressional agenda is packed with health care, energy and financial regulatory reform issues, but lawmakers have found plenty of time to stuff earmarks into the defense spending bill, according to the number crunchers at Taxpayers for Common Sense. The watchdog group analyzed the 2010 defense appropriations bill that will soon make an appearance on the Senate floor (as early as Thursday) and found 778 earmarks totaling $2.65 billion, with many of the big-ticket items credited to members of the appropriations committee, which is typical. Among the more costly earmarks - $20 million for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, sponsored by Sen. John Kerry, D-Ma....

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Health plan would push millions out of Medicare program

President Obama's repeated pledge that senior citizens would not lose benefits under his proposed cuts to Medicare has been officially contradicted by an independent congressional analyst whose dire prediction could put the latest Senate health proposal in jeopardy. The $856 billion health care reform bill now being drafted in the Senate Finance Committee would be paid for in part by slashing $125 billion from the Medicare Advantage program, which is used by about 9 million people, or nearly 20 percent of all Medicare recipients. The cuts would come from the additional benefits Medicare Advantage enrollees receive, Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf told the committee,...

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Dems on the defensive after report on Medicare cuts

Republicans have been busy using the Congressional Budget Office for harvesting ammunition against the Democratic health care reform plan, but so far it's not having much of an impact as Democrats try to push through their latest plan in the Senate Finance Committee. The GOP Wednesday touted the revelation made by CBO Director Doug Elmendorf that cuts to Medicare Advantage would reduce benefits, despite promises to the contrary by the Obama Administration. Later in the day, Republicans dug into a letter sent by the CBO to Democrats letting them know that the taxes they plan to impose on the insurance companies will, in fact, be passed along to policy holders to the tune of about 1...

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Bipartisan group wants mandatory waiting period to read bills

Lawmakers frequently use the excuse that they don't have enough time to read some of the massive bills put before them for a vote in Congress. Now a bipartisan group of House members is trying to force the Democratic leadership to change the rules so that any bill must be made public for 72 hours before members vote on it. Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Brian Baird, D-Wash., are collecting the signatures of House members and if they get 218, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will have to schedule an up or down vote on implementing the three-day rule. "At my public meetings and events, people always want to know: Have you read these bills? Why don't they give you time to read...

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Senate considers aiming low on health care

As a deadline to pass a health care bill gets closer with no end in sight to the discord in Congress, some lawmakers want to scrap the proposals that are now on the table and try to pass a much smaller bill. "People feel that it may be very hard to get such a large bill done this year," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., after a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats. Lieberman said many Democrats appear "open" to the idea of trying to pass a far less ambitious legislation than the $900 billion plan on the table in the Senate Finance Committee, where lawmakers have lined up more than 500 amendments in an attempt to reshape the bill. "We've never adopted a...

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DeMint wants a smelt showdown

Sen. Jim DeMint said he wants to end the drought in California's Central Valley by blocking government funds that have been used to divert water from the area to protect a 3-inch fish called the delta smelt. The South Carolina Republican will introduce an amendment to a Department of the Interior spending bill that would place a one-year ban on the federal government using money to stem the flow of water from the regions farms. For months, water that is normally pumped into the area has been diverted into the ocean, causing a severe drought that has devastated the area's farming economy and caused a steep rise in unemployment (40 percent in some areas). The government began diverting...

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Pelosi and Hoyer split on Afghanistan?

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he wants Gen. Stanley McChrystal to brief Congress about the need for more troops in Afghanistan, leaving open the possibility that he might support an increase. "I think it would be very useful at some point in the future for Gen. McChrystal to share with Congress his views, his proposals and his sense of the success the changed strategy would bring," Hoyer said on Tuesday. McChrystal, who is the top commander in Afghanistan for both the United States and NATO, warned Obama in a confidential memo that without more troops in the next year, the effort there will be a failure. Hoyer is taking a different stance on the matter than...

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Middle-class taxes deal breakers on health plan

After an uproar over the projected costs and increased deficits from health care legislation, Democrats are considering taxing middle-class Americans who don't have health insurance and taxing some health coverage to pay for a plan. But while more fiscally responsible, the ideas are proving no more popular. The disagreement could come to a head this week, when the Senate Finance Committee begins drafting the bill under the leadership of it's author, panel Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Baucus announced he would cut some of the taxes in his bill and increase subsidies using about $28 billion in savings the Congressional Budget Office estimates his bill would save. It may take much more...

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Obama on the defensive during Sunday talk show blitz

President Obama, who saturated the airwaves to push his health care plan, found himself playing defense not only on his proposals to cut Medicare spending and make those without health insurance pay fines, but on the Afghan war, the community organizing group ACORN and a decision to prosecute CIA agents. The health care message Obama hoped to deliver by giving interviews on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Spanish-language network Univision on the same day was most diluted by the president’s hesitancy to back an increase of troops in Afghanistan that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is said to be seeking. “Until I’m satisfied that we’ve...

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White House dismisses Fox News as ‘ideological outlet,’ renewing feud

President Obama’s Sunday media blitz of five networks deliberately left out Fox News, with the administration calling it an “ideological outlet.” But by passing over “Fox News Sunday” with host Chris Wallace, Obama skipped over an audience of up to 3 million viewers who tune in regularly to watch the show and its reruns. Some political strategists are calling the move a mistake. “Cutting this network out actually sends a larger message of just how sensitive and petty the West Wing has become,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, who was a top aide to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. The White House indeed took aim at Fox, with a...

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Big changes await compromise health plan

Instead of rallying behind a compromise health care bill introduced by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., senators on both sides of the aisle were preparing significant changes for the bill. “I’m sure there will be a lot of changes we’ll be making to this initial building block,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., after leaving a closed-door meeting about the bill with Senate Democrats. That may be an understatement. With so many senators at odds with central parts of the Baucus plan, such as fines for Americans who don’t buy insurance coverage, which Republicans oppose, and the creation of an insurance exchange instead of the public option liberals want, the...

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Senate lets Murtha keep his pork project

More proof today that lawmakers are loath to tamper with the longstanding earmarking process that many of them utilize in Congress to bring home the bacon. By a vote of 43-53, the Senate defeated a measure that would have stripped federal funding from a barely-used airport named after Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa. The provision was introduced by Senate anti-earmark crusader Jim DeMint, R-S.C., whose office provided "fun facts" about the alleged uselessness of the airport. "More people fly out of an airport near the north pole than do out of the John Murtha airport (last year the Murtha airport handed 6,700 passengers, compared to 37,000 at the airport in Barrow,...

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Long-awaited compromise health bill produces more discord

The Senate Finance Committee has raised the curtain on what was supposed to be bipartisan health care legislation. But rather than bridging the growing divide in Congress, the new proposal has increased discord. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., unveiled the "America's Healthy Future Act," which he said would cost $856 billion over 10 years. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the cost would be $774 billion. The $82 billion discrepancy between the estimates comes from using different calculations, including the depth of cuts to existing programs and revenue the government would take in under Baucus' proposal. Senate finance bill by the numbers...

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CBO smiles on Baucus health bill

Criticism from the left and the right was heaped upon the latest Senate health care proposal much of Wednesday, but a rainbow emerged from the clouds at the end of the day in the form of a Congressional Budget Office report that found the bill would cost just $774 billion over the next decade, $82 billion less than projected by the bill's authors. The CBO offered even more good news, finding that the bill would reduce the nation's staggering debt by a $16 billion in 2019. "After that, the added revenues and cost savings are projected to grow more rapidly than the cost of the coverage expansion," wrote CBO director Doug Elmendorf. Elmendorf also found that the bill would...

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House Democrats mark official disapproval of 'You lie!' outburst

House Democrats formally condemned Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., for pointing his finger and shouting "You lie!" to President Obama during his health care speech to Congress. The House voted 240 to 179, mostly along party lines, to disapprove of Wilson's actions following an hourlong debate led by former civil rights activist House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C. "This resolution addresses an issue of great importance to current and former members of this august body, the proper conduct of its members," Clyburn said. "This is not about partisan politics or inappropriate comments, to the contrary this is about the rules of the House and reprehensible...

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White House looks to calm anxious Democrats in Congress

Top White House adviser David Axelrod hit Capitol Hill in yet another effort to keep Democrats together on health care, but many lawmakers said they are waiting to see the bipartisan proposal under construction in the Senate Finance Committee, which is due either late Tuesday night or Wednesday. In the House, Axelrod talked with Democrats about Obama's support of the public option. But in the Senate meeting, the public option, "didn't come up," according to an attendee. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said his bill would largely mirror what President Obama outlined in his speech before Congress next week and said when it its "fully explained,"...

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Boehner says Dems hiding behind "You lie!" outrage

House Republicans are accusing Democrats of creating a brouhaha over Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie" comment in order to distract the public from their foundering health care proposals. The House GOP leadership on Tuesday took aim at a move by Democrats to rebuke Wilson over the words, which he let fly when President Obama, appearing before Congress, said that his health care reform bill would not cover illegal immigrants. The House Tuesday afternoon will take up a resolution disapproving of Wilson's outcry. "Our economy is struggling, families are hurting, and yet, this Congress is poised to demand an apology from a man who has already apologized," Republican Conference...

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Health care reform faces inconvenient questions

Now that President Obama has outlined his goals for an overhaul of the American health care system, Democrats are trying to fashion new legislation that will include all of Obama's aims. The president wants a new government-run insurance program, additional regulations for the insurance industry and rules requiring all Americans to buy insurance if they can afford it or be given coverage if they can't. Obama's plan draws elements from the multiple bills in Congress. But in trying to merge the ideas into a compromise bill, Democratic leaders face a series of inconvenient questions: 1. Who would foot the bill for extending health insurance to 30 million more Americans? Obama's plan draws...

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Bipartisan concerns dog financial reform

Lawmakers from both parties are apprehensive about the financial regulatory reform plan being pushed by President Obama as a cure for meltdowns like the one that sent markets plunging last year. Obama told a Wall Street audience on Monday that he was "confident" Congress would pass a series of financial regulatory reforms that he proposed more than three months ago. But many of the president's ideas are struggling to become legislation that can pass either the House or Senate. And neither chamber has introduced bills that fully incorporate the Obama proposals. "From what we have seen over the last 45 days, I think there are members on both sides of the aisle who have...

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One of a dozen inconvenient questions on health care

In researching the story I've written for tomorrow's paper on the dozen tough-to-answer questions about the health care proposals in Congress, I was reminded that both President Obama and Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton both made efforts to cut government spending, and while their plans yielded savings, they are no where near the $500 billion Democrats hope to save on Medicare over the next decade by cutting waste, fraud and abuse in the health care industry. Obama's efforts will ultimately save about $267 million, an impressive figure but just a tiny fraction of the Medicare savings that are hoped for under the Democratic health care proposals in the House and Senate. During...

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CBO says expanding Medicaid would increase the national debt by another $1 trillion

The Congressional Budget Office on Thursday has come out with some additional analysis of the Democratic health care reform bill in the Senate and it found that expanding Medicaid to include anyone earning below 150 percent of the poverty level would increase the national debt by more than $1 trillion in the next decade. In a letter that responds to a series of questions from Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., who is the top Republican on the Senate panel that wrote the bill, CBO director Douglas Elmendorf said the bill would end up hurting worker wages and employment." CBO believes that firms that are subject to the penalty but opt not to offer health insurance would pass that cost on to...

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No plans to punish Wilson for outburst

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday she has no plans to use the House rules to punish Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., for exclaiming, "You lie," during President Obama's speech Wednesday night. Wilson's made the remark, pointing his finger at the podium, when Obama told Congress his health care reform bill would not cover illegal immigrants. Obama Thursday accepted Wilson's apology, but it still left open the fact that it is against House rules to make defamatory remarks in the chamber. "Yes, there is a procedure that could have been implemented," Pelosi told reporters who pressed her on the matter. "I think that the president did the right thing, just...

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Moderate Senate Dems still not convinced on health care

While President Obama has been talking a lot about Republican opposition to his health care plan, his biggest obstacle is more than a dozen moderate Senate Democrats who oppose much of his proposal, including mandates for insurance coverage and the creation of a government plan. A day after an address to Congress, Obama sought to rally 17 Senate moderates at a White House meeting, but these lawmakers say they won't make up their minds until they see a bipartisan Senate proposal that is still in the works. Among those who remain undecided is Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., a fiscal conservative and head of the Democratic moderate group who has questions about the size and cost of reform...

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Obama's $900B health plan: Mandatory insurance, public option

President Obama proposed a health insurance plan that would require individuals to carry insurance, mandate large employers to provide it and subsidize coverage for those who could not afford it. Facing public confusion about his plans after months of a general sales pitch, Obama laid out his agenda before a rare joint session of Congress. Obama still spoke in unspecific terms, but he broadly sketched a plan for universal coverage based on mandatory insurance and a new government-run plan. But even as he denounced the "partisan spectacle" over health care, the House chamber seemed at times like one of the rowdy town hall meetings of the summer. When the president said his...

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Key terms in the health-care debate

Health Insurance Mandate -- Under President Obama's plan, individuals would be required to enroll in a health insurance plan or pay a government fine and certain employers would be required to provide it to employees or pay a tax. Supporters of the mandate say it would reduce the cost of health care by providing coverage for everyone, rather than shifting the cost of paying for those without insurance onto those who have it. But many oppose the idea of mandatory insurance as unconstitutional. Others believe that the costs of providing subsidies or full coverage for those who can't afford private insurance could do further damage to the already enormous national debt. Public Option -- The...

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What will Obama say about malpractice reform?

Republicans in the House and Senate have been telling their Democratic counterparts that they would be open to supporting a health care reform bill if it includes, among other things, medical malpractice reform. It now appears that option could be on the table. While no one knows what Obama will talk about in his speech before Congress tonight, the lead negotiator on a Senate bipartisan health care reform plan signaled that President Obama could be open to provisions aimed at reducing the number of junk lawsuits that have played a big role in driving up the cost of health care. Here's what White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had to say today on CNN: John Roberts - Is the...

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Republicans advise Obama to announce health care reform do-over

House and Senate Republican leaders have some words of advice for President Obama tonight when it comes to his big speech on health care. "I would hope he would come to the House tonight and hit the reset button," House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters. But Boehner said early reports of what Obama will say tonight leave little hope for a do-over. "It appears the president is going to double down tonight, put lipstick on this pig, and call it something else." Boehner, along with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, D-Ky., said Democrats should scrap their plan and begin anew, not with a big, comprehensive proposal, but rather through a...

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Health care bills may drop more Medicaid mandates onto states

While there are vast differences among the health care proposals circulating in Congress, every one would greatly increase the number of people who would be eligible for Medicaid, a move that would almost certainly put a massive financial burden on states. State leaders, who have for months been slashing services in order to cope with budget deficits, are watching the health care debate nervously in fear of a colossal unfunded mandate. "We just went through another round of budget cuts," said Shaun Adamec, spokesman for Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. "If revenues continue to decline, then we will have to take a look at the budget again, and those Medicaid payments,...

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Congressional leaders leave wiggle room on public option

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., emerged from a White House meeting proclaiming their commitment to and President Obama's support for a new government-run insurance program, but they seemed to leave some wiggle room for more moderate reform options that are gaining popularity. "I personally am in favor of the public option," Reid said after leaving the White House. "I can't speak for the House caucus, but if I were betting, I think the majority of them also believe in a public option. And we're going to do our very best to have a public option or something like a public option before we finish this work." Pelosi...

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Blue Dog Ross a firm "no" on the public option

A key member of the conservative Democratic House Blue Dog Coalition said he will vote against a heath care bill that would create a government-run health insurance plan. Rep. Mike Ross, of Arkansas, made the announcement in a newsletter to constituents sent out Tuesday. He said he made the decision after listening to an "overwhelming number" of his constituents tell him in August they oppose such a plan. Ross had for months been a skeptic of the House Democratic proposal as he headed the Blue Dogs' health care task force, but his decision to jump off the fence into the "no" column is yet another big blow to what appears to be withering support for the public option....

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Congress looks to avoid overload as new session begins

When Congress gavels back in session Tuesday, lawmakers will be focused mainly on the effort to pass a major health care reform bill by the end of the year. But other big issues await the House and the Senate, including an unemployment rate that has grown from 9.4 percent to 9.7 percent since they left for the summer recess and new estimates that show the national debt will grow by $9 trillion in the next decade. And the congressional schedule could get even more complicated if President Obama opts to ask for more money to fund a major troop increase in Afghanistan that the military has signaled it wants. The jobless numbers alone will greatly complicate efforts in Congress to pass a...

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How far left will Obama have to go?

The advice from Howard Dean and other liberal leaders on today's talk shows was that in his speech on Wednesday, the president has to strongly and clearly restate his vision for overall health care reform -- including a new government-run insurance program. Others suggest that the time has come for the president to take what he can get and move on. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich recalled his advice to Hillary Clinton in 1993 that she pass eight bills in eight years as opposed to trying something comprehensive. But key administration figures like White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who hit the airwaves today in advance of the president's...

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Trigger option might be enough to bring moderates back on board with health care

The conept of a public option that would only be triggered by stagnant privte insurance prices may be the one option that will bring in enough Democratic moderates and at least one Republican needed to pass a health care bill in the Senate with 60 votes. On CNN"s State of The Union, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska, told host John King he might accept such provision. "I think Obama has to say if there's going to be a public option, it has to be subject to a trigger," Nelson said. "In other words, if somehow the private market doesn't respond the way that it's supposed to, then it would trigger a public option or a government-run option, but only as a fail safe, backstop...

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Snowe feels the heat for influential role on health care

The decision by the Obama administration to try to broker a deal on health care with Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe is causing anger in both parties. Despite months of committee hearings, closed-door huddles and bipartisan talks on what should be included in a health care reform package, the final product may be most influenced by Snowe, of Maine, and a handful of other moderates in both parties. "It's actually the smart thing to do right now and I understand it would infuriate a lot of people who are in the majority and they are thinking huge changes are going to occur because of one person," said political scholar Norman Ornstein, of the American Enterprise Institute....

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Pelosi: Government health plan a must for House Dems

President Obama may be considering a health care bill without a public option, but it will not be acceptable in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced late Thursday. "A bill without a strong public option will not pass the House," Pelosi said in a statement. "Any real change requires the inclusion of a strong public option to promote competition and bring down costs. If a vigorous public option is not included, it would be a major victory for the health insurance industry. Pelosi said the month of August has brought distortions and distractions from those who oppose health insurance reform "to try to kill this historic legislation. According to media reports,...

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House Democrats face tough prospects in 2010

A new analysis is out today that predicts House Democrats could lose up to 25 seats in the 2010 midterm elections. According to the non-partisan Cook Political Report, which has been scrutinizing campaign races since 1984, Democrats have two major factors working against them in the coming months as they fight to retain control of the House. First, according to Cook's David Wasserman, the midterm elections tend to favor older white voters. In the 2008 presidential election, just 45 percent of voters aged 65 and older backed President Barack Obama. And Second, Wasserman said, House Democrats have slid in generic ballot tests, mostly due to the unpopularity of their sweeping health care...

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Specter up, Obama and Rendell down in Pa.

A Pennsylvania poll shows Sen. Arlen Specter's re-election prospects have improved. According to Franklin and Marshall College, which conducted interviews from Aug. 25 to Aug. 31, Specter, who switched from the Republican to the Democratic party in April, trounces primary opponent Joe Sestak 37 percent to 11 percent among Democrats who were polled. In a matchup against Republican Pat Toomey, Specter prevails 37 percent to 29 percent, according to a survey of registered Republicans. Specter's lead over Toomey has increased to eight percentage points, up from just a three point lead in June. His advantage over Sestak has widened to 26 points, up from 20 points in June. But the poll found...

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Abandoning public option may not lift health care

President Barack Obama’s signal that he will not insist his health care reform plan includes a government-run insurance option may ultimately do little to help Congress find enough consensus to pass legislation this year. White House officials told reporters they were weighing a new plan to try to sell health care reform to a skeptical American public in the face of waning support and fears about the sweeping, $1 trillion Democratic proposal. But the divisions in Congress may be impossible to overcome, particularly those within the Democratic Party. While Obama may not insist on including a public options, more than 80 House Democrats will not vote for a bill that does not...

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Liberals warn Obama over dropping public plan

House Progressive Caucus Co-chairwoman Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., said it would be a "grave error" for Congress to draft a health care reform bill that did not include a government-run health insurance option and she believes there are enough liberal lawmakers to block its passage. Woolsey said she was setting up a meeting with President Barack Obama, whose administration has signaled that a public option won't be necessary for a health care reform bill. Obama will likely announce a shift in policy Wednesday, when he is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on the topic of health insurance reform. A public option, Woolsey told The Examiner, "isn't just what I...

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House liberals warn Obama on public option

House Progressive Caucus co-chair Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., said it will be a "grave error" for Congress to draft a health care reform bill that does not include a government run health insurance option and she believes there are enough liberal lawmakers to block its passage. Woolsey said she is setting up a meeting with President Barack Obama, who this week signaled that he would not insist that a public option be a component of the health care reform bill that is to be the crowning achievement of his first term in office. A public option, Woolsey told the Examiner, "isn't just what I want, it is what the American people want and not including the public option will be a...

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Poll finds Congress in the dumps. Again.

"Americans are extremely displeased with Congress." That's the opening line in a new poll conducted by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. The poll, released Wednesday, found that 37 percent of voters hold a favorable opinion of Congress, while 52 percent hold an unfavorable view, a 13 point decline since April. According to Pew, Congressional approval ratings are at "one of their lowest points in two decades," of their polling. What does this mean for Democrats, who lead both the House and Senate? Potentially tough midterm elections, according to Pew. Among those whose feelings have shifted the most are independent voters. Pew found that independent...

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Reid says his aren't the only low poll numbers

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., recently gave an interesting interview to the Reno Gazette-Journal. Reid talked about the prospects for health care reform, saying the death last week of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., will help the party pass a bill in part because his legacy will serve as an inspiration. But even more interesting were Reid's comments about his own poll numbers, which have been weak, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a paper he staunchly opposes. Reid declined to reveal to the Gazette-Journal the results of his internal polling, but said he was not the only Senate Democrat suffering. "I received information this week that my colleagues around the country, their...

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Moderates adopt 'supercautious' approach to health care

The moderate Democrats who hold the key to salvaging health care legislation in the Senate were hard to read even before the raucous town halls and sinking presidential approval ratings of August. Now, they are almost inscrutable. While these swing-state centrists managed to make it through the summer without committing to the major elements of the Democratic plan, including the creation of a public health insurance option, the vocal opposition from the public may have had a chilling effect that will make it even harder for Congress to pass a bill this year. Among those who have not committed to the Democratic plan is Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who said she has received 14,000...

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Senate Democrats likely to go it alone on health plan

Faced with hardening Republican opposition to health care reform, Democrats will likely try to ram through a health care bill with just 51 votes, instead of the usual 60, when the Senate reconvenes next week. Such a move, which could be achieved through a parliamentary move called reconciliation, would spare Democrats from having to water down the $1 trillion bill in order to appease moderates in the party who oppose the bill's cost and who question its centerpiece provision, the "public option." Using reconciliation, however, would result in a weaker bill because of special rules put in place by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., that would allow the chamber's 41 Republicans to block...

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Senate delays global warming bill again

The Senate is delaying work on a global warming bill for the second time this summer. The authors of a bill aimed at addressing climate change announced Monday they would not introduce their legislation until the end of the month, instead of the Sept. 8 date they scheduled before the August recess. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass. and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said their bill is "moving along well" but they needed "additional time to work on the final details" in part because of the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Kerry's recent hip surgery. The two said they also needed additional time to "reach out to colleagues and important stakeholders." Boxer and...

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Reid Wants his local paper to fold

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., could be facing one of the toughest re-election battles of his career and while he has pronounced himself ready and eager for the fight, there is evidence the pressure might be getting to him. Reid last week fully antagonized the Las Vegas Review-Journal Newspaper, which has been critical of him, by reportedly telling its advertising director "I hope you go out of business" while the two shook hands at a Chamber of Commerce event. Reid then delivered a speech to the Chamber in which he joked that he hopes the Review-Journal can continue to sell advertising because the paper also provides delivery of the Las Vegas Sun, which is more...

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Bipartisan support for Kennedy's widow to assume seat

While Ted Kennedy's widow, Vicki Kennedy, has indicated she is not interested in assuming her husband's Senate seat, there is bipartisan support for her to take the job, if only temporarily. The Massachusetts state legislature is getting ready to debate a bill that would give Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick the authority to appoint an interim senator to fill the seat until a special election is held and some are suggesting the 55-year-old lawyer would be perfect for the job. "I think Vicki ought to be considered," said Orrin Hatch on CNN's "State of the Union." Hatch called Vicki Kennedy " a very brilliant lawyer" and "solid individual." Vicki...

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Hoyer hits the road to help embattled House members

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., has been on the road this summer trying to help take some of the pressure off new House members struggling to deal with outrage over Democratic health care proposals. Hoyer this week accompanied a first-term congressman to an editorial board meeting at a California newspaper, saying the health care discontent is a result of the struggling economy and public sentiment that "their country is not running the way it ought to run. I think what happened with health care is it has become the forum for the expression of this anger and fear." Support for their health care proposal has slipped significantly in many surveys, and opposition has...

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Dodd hopes Kennedy death will quell health care reform discontent

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said he hopes Sen. Ted Kennedy's death will "remind people to calm down," about health care reform, referring to the town hall meetings on the Democratic plan to reform health care that have drawn angry crowds. Dodd spoke to reporters Wednesday about the death of Kennedy, 77, who he referred to as his best friend in the Senate. Dodd recalled many visits to his home Kennedy and long sailing trips together, during which Kennedy would lecture Dodd about the need for health care reform. He was asked by one reporter what he believed would be the impact of Kennedy's death. "You know, I hope it would remind people to calm down," Dodd said....

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Kennedy's death may weaken Dems' health plan

The death of Sen. Edward Kennedy strips the Democrats of the 60-vote supermajority they enjoyed for a mere 51 days. But the liberal icon's demise may help pass a watered-down version of his health legislation. The loss of Kennedy leaves Senate Democrats with 59 votes, one short of the 60 they need to block a certain filibuster from Republicans. With the future of Kennedy's vacant seat up in the air, Democratic leaders will now have justification for passing health care reform in the Senate with just 51 votes through the use of a parliamentary maneuver called reconciliation. Such a move would force the Democrats to break the bill up into separate, smaller bills, rather than the sweeping...

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Hill Dems mollified by Holder's moves on CIA

The decision by Attorney General Eric Holder to start an investigation into the interrogation tactics of the CIA seems to have at least temporarily cooled the passion of Democrats in Congress for their own probes. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., once demanded Congress convene a "truth and reconciliation commission" to examine whether Bush administration officials broke the law in their approach to getting information from terrorism suspects. In the House, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., introduced legislation to create a similar panel and talked of criminal prosecutions for panel targets. But the two chairman softened their demands...

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Enzi Wants Obama to Withdraw Labor Pick

Sen. Mike Enzi wants the Obama administration to withdraw its nominee for Solicitor of the Department of Labor. Enzi sent a letter to President Obama accusing nominee Patricia Smith of giving "inconsistent statement and testimony" to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Enzi, of Wyoming, is the top Republican on the panel. Smith currently serves as commissioner for the New York Department of Labor and started a program in the city called "Wage Watch," which utilizes community groups to "participate in a range of activities aimed at improving labor law compliance, including holding know-your-rights training, providing employers with information...

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Reid faces political squeeze between fellow Dems and Nevada voters

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is walking a political tightrope in his home state as he tries to convince his conservative-minded constituents that he best represents their needs while at the same time promoting government-run health care and other Democratic priorities that many Nevada voters oppose. But Reid also faces pressure within his own party as his ambitious conference chairman, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., pushes for the Senate to jam the Democratic health care bill through without Republican, input in a move that could further hurt Reid politically. The weekend brought bad news for Reid as he faces a potentially tough fight for a fifth term in 2010. A Mason-Dixon...

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Former CBO director doubts new deficit numbers

Former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin says the Obama administration's claim that the Obama's updated figures on the deficit that will be released Tuesday are "spin and nothing more." Holtz-Eakin, who was a top advisor to the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sent a memo Monday to House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, accusing Obama of manipulating the numbers about future bailout costs in making the claim that the deficit will shrink by more than $260 billion from what was predicted three months ago. "Bottom line, the budget outlook is worse, and dangerous," Holtz-Eakin writes to Boehner. The White House and the CBO...

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Reid wants quicker payments on Cash for Clunkers

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urging him to speed up to five business days the reimbursement wait-time for car dealers who have given millions of dollars in rebates to consumers as part of the administration's "Cash for Clunkers' program. Dealers have been complaining that the government has yet to make good on its promise to repay the $4,500-per-clunker voucher that dealers have given away for the past few weeks and some are refusing to participate in the program because they have no more money to hand out. LaHood has assured dealers that they will eventually get their money and President Barack Obama has indicated...

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Liberal members of congress threaten health compromise blockade

The liberal wing of the House Democratic caucus is launching a counteroffensive to efforts by the White House and Senate Democrats to back away from a health care reform bill that includes a new government-run insurance plan. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., who heads the 84-member House Progressive Caucus, said she sent a letter to Heath and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius telling her that liberals would not support a bill that did not include a "robust" public option. If most of the Progressives stick with Woolsey on the threat, the House will be unable to pass a final health care reform bill without a public option, despite signals from the Obama administration that...

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Progressive, Black, Hispanic caucuses pledge more than 120 "no" votes on health co-op plan

The liberal wing of the House Democratic caucus is launching a counter-offensive to efforts by the White House and Senate Democrats to back away from a health care reform bill that includes a strong public option. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., who heads the 84-member House Progressive Caucus, said she sent a letter to Heath and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius telling her that her faction will not support a bill that does not include a "robust" government-run plan. If most of the Progressives stick with Woolsey on the threat, the House would be unable to pass a final health care reform bill without a public option, despite signals from the Obama administration that it...

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Pelosi digs in on public option

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she will forge ahead with a health insurance bill that includes a robust government-run insurance plan, despite signals from Senate negotiators that they may exclude a government plan from legislation it is drafting. "There is strong support in the House for a public option," Pelosi said on Monday, referring back to a statement President Barack Obama made in March in which he declared a public option will "give consumers more choices" and "keep the private sector honest." Pelosi pointed out that a public option is the main component of all three versions of health reform legislation that are circulating in the...

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Dodd to return "in a few weeks" after cancer surgery

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.,, was operated on today to treat his early-stage prostate cancer, his office announced. Dodd's staff said the surgery "was a success" and Dodd will remain in the hospital for a few days before returning home to recuperate. "He is looking forward to getting back to work later this month on behalf of the people of Connecticut," a statement from his office said. The operation took place at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. His doctor, Peter Scardino, who is chairman of the department of surgery, said the surgery was "successful" and that Dodd can return to "full activity within a few weeks." Dodd, who is chairman...

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Health bill proposal for 'home visitation' sparks Big Brother fears

A proposal for a government program that would send nurses into the homes of low-income women to counsel them about their pregnancies and parenting skills failed to gain support in Congress this year, but has been revived in the health care legislation. The language, buried deep in the 1,000-plus-page House health care reform bill, has bipartisan support, though it never had enough backing to pass the House or Senate on its own. On page 768 of the House bill, the language calls for "Optional Coverage of Nurse Home Visitation Services," which would aim to improve the health of pregnant women and their children under the age of 2 by "increasing birth intervals between...

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Health bill could allow government access to personal financial records

Privacy concerns are generating another round of complaints about health care legislation being considered in the House. The bill calls for the secretary of health and human services to be able to quickly determine a person's financial responsibility and eligibility for health care services, "which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card." The language has been long sought after by some health reform advocates who say it will enable more streamlined and effective medical care, but the words are chilling to privacy advocates who do not want the government tracking their medical history. "That provision is extremely...

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Dems get tough on health care protesters

Congressional Democrats were already struggling with health care reform before they departed for the August recess. Now a backlash against key components of the party's plan at town hall meetings could make it impossible to get legislation onto President Barack Obama's desk this year. "I think this is why the president wanted Congress to approve health care reform before the August recess because they knew there would be a lot of objection to what is in this legislation," said Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. "This really stunts their momentum." Democratic lawmakers are struggling to regain control of...

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Pelosi - Town Hall Protests Un-American

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., are decrying an "ugly campaign" by angry mobs who are disrupting town hall meetings to discuss health care reform. The two top House Democrats penned an op-ed piece in USA Today to promote the Health Care reform legislation that is now making its way through the Congress. The bill has a price tag of more than $1 trillion and would be funded by tax increases. It would create a massive government-run insurance plan and would cut back on Medicare expenditures. As lawmakers try to sell the plan at August town hall meetings in their districts, some have been met with angry crowds who are opposed to the...

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Controversies mount over health care proposals

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he believed the Democratic plan to overhaul the nation's health care system was "in serious trouble" and threw cold water on a bipartisan plan in the Senate to create a national insurance cooperative. McConnell, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," said he believed Americans were far too skeptical of the government running their health care and that a cooperative, while less radical than a government-run insurance program, would still go too far and would be "unacceptable" to most in the Senate GOP. "It would have government money in it, and it would be guaranteed by the government," McConnell said....

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Senate Putting a Chill on Health Care Reform? Pelosi thinks so

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinks so. Pelosi, speaking to a group of reporters in her office, was asked about the slow pace of the Senate Finance Committee, which has for weeks been trying to draft a bipartisan health care bill but won't be done until September at the earliest. The House, meanwhile, has passed its health care proposal out of three committees before it adjourned for August on Friday. Pelosi pointed to an historical term that describes the senate as a cooling saucer. According to political lore, George Washington told Thomas Jefferson that the framers had created the Senate to "cool" House legislation in the same manner a saucer cooled hot tea. "There is...

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Will Dems' attack on insurance companies be a wise policy?

With health care reform at a near standstill in the House and Senate, lawmakers in are planning to target the health insurance companies, painting then as "villains" that can be struck down by a government-run health insurance plan. But poll numbers suggest the public may not be easily persuaded by that argument as they remain focused on the implications of a several health care proposals Congress is weighing. When the House adjourned Friday for the month of August, lawmakers took home a kit from the leadership, laying out how they should make the argument for the House-proposed $1 trillion health care overhaul bill, which creates a public-run insurance option. The recess...

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Dodd has prostate cancer but will stay in office

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., announced he has early-state prostate cancer. Dodd has scheduled an afternoon briefing with Capitol Hill reporters to discuss the situation, but he told the Hartford Courant the cancer is not far along and he will have surgery to treat it during the August recess that begins at the end of next week. Dodd also told the Courant he plans to run for reelection in 2010. Dodd, chairman of the powerful Banking Committee, has struggled in Connecticut polls following bad publicity surrounding a favorable interest rate he received on a home loan and his role in allowing American International Group to hand out millions in bonuses after accepting accepting a hefty...

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Health-care delay -- Oh, so now it's our fault?

After weeks of saying they would attempt to pass by August a sweeping health care reform bill in committee if not in the full Senate, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., suggested those assertions were merely the figment of the wild imaginations of the congressional press corps. Speaking before a packed room full of reporters, with a group of doctors as his backdrop, Reid told the media that it was responsible for the intense pressure to finish a bill by next week that some Republicans and Democrats say is hindering the creation of a bipartisan agreement. "You folks have created a deadline, we haven't, Reid said. It's true that Reid has always hedged a little when asked whether the Senate...

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Compromises largely symbolic on health care

As House Democrats tout compromises on health care reform and a possible committee vote, the real hurdles to a deal will come in the fall, when the final version of the legislation will be assembled. A group of liberal and moderate House Democrats met privately in a small room off the chamber Thursday afternoon, trying to decide whether to support a health care reform bill under consideration in the Energy and Commerce Committee, or stop it in its tracks when a vote takes place as early as Friday. The bill was altered substantially on Wednesday in order to appease the members of the moderate Democratic Blue Dog Coalition who sit on the panel, angering liberals. But Democratic leaders...

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Opposition to House health plan stretched beyond the Blue Dogs

House Democratic leaders made big concessions to keep the members of the conservative Blue Dog Coalition from blocking a $1 trillion health care reform bill. But no sooner had the House Energy and Commerce Committee broken the Blue Dog blockade than the liberal wing of the House broke into revolt, forcing another halt to committee action. Whatever happens with the current standoff, the showdowns with the Progressive Caucus are likely only beginning. There are many moderates beyond the 52-member Blue Dog group who will have to be appeased before health legislation can pass. Among the most concerned are members of the freshman and sophomore classes. Many in this group were sent to...

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Hopes of Senate health deal dashed

A preliminary draft of a bipartisan health care plan under negotiation in the Senate would eventually decrease the deficit and substantially undercut the cost of other plans, according to an independent analysis. The news bolstered the spirits of the group of six Republican and Democratic Senate negotiators led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Baucus emerged from another day of closed-door talks with the five other lawmakers to announce that a preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office showed that not only would their bill avoid adding to the deficit, it would cut it by billions of dollars in its 10th year while providing coverage for 95 percent of...

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House stalls on health; Senate compromise moves forward

Senate support is coalescing around a compromise health care bill that strips out a public insurance option cherished by the president and liberal members of Congress. The bill may be the only one that can overcome objections from moderates who could block legislation in the Senate. But it would open a new fight in the more-liberal House, where a national health plan is front and center in the stalled legislation backed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. A bipartisan group of six senators on the Senate Finance Committee has been working for days behind closed doors in an effort to strike a deal that can attract some GOP lawmakers and shore up support from wavering moderate Democrats who worry...

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Pelosi’s new health care vote deadline: ‘Whenever’

For House Democrats, the prospects of passing a health bill before the August recess are fading fast. Leaders inched further away from their earlier commitment to pass a $1 trillion-plus health care reform bill by the end of this week, saying they are waiting for a key committee to strike an agreement on the legislation and for the Senate to finish work on a bipartisan proposal. “We are on schedule either to do it now or to do it whenever,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. In the coming days, Democratic leaders must work to persuade dozens of fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats and other centrists in their party to vote for the bill, which many oppose because...

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Pelosi vows to press on despite bad news on health bill

Even with the latest Democratic plan to control costs in a proposed expansion of health coverage getting low marks from independent analysts, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., still says she has the votes to pass a health bill. “When I take this bill to the floor, it will win,” Pelosi declared on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “This will happen.” Talks broke down Friday between the House Democratic leadership and the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog coalition over costs. With 52 members in the House, the Blue Dogs could easily prevent the Democrats from passing the bill because no Republicans support it. On Saturday, the Congressional...

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Grassley on Obama/cop flap: "too often we are trying to second-guess law enforcement"

In a news conference with Iowa reporters, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley suggested perhaps President Barack Obama should have held off declaring that the Cambridge, Mass., police acted "stupidly" when they arrested Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates after he had to wrangle with a stuck front door to get into his house. "I do think you have to have some deference to law enforcement until you know that they, in fact, have made what is termed a stupid mistake," Grassley said. Police arrested Gates for disorderly conduct, after Gates showed identification. The charges have been dropped, though the arresting officer insists he acted properly. Obama told reporters...

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Waxman threatens on health care

In a move that shouldn't surprise anyone on Capitol Hill, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said Friday that he'll move the massive health care reform bill straight to the floor if he can't get enough support to pass it out of his committee, where it is currently stalled. Time is running out for Democrats to pass a health care bill before the August recess. With the Senate deciding to punt the issue until fall, it is up to the House to keep the momentum going by passing their health care bill before members leave for a five-week recess. But they are meeting resistance from centrist Democrats who don't like the $1 trillion price tag and scope of the...

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Compromise would give board Medicare-cutting powers

House Democratic leaders have struck a tentative deal with their fiscally conservative members on health care reform, agreeing to a proposal that would vastly expand the powers of an independent agency to cut benefits for older Americans. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there was "no question" she now had the votes to pass a health care reform, although some Democratic moderates said there were still holdouts that could block passage. Pelosi, President Barack Obama and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., struck a deal with the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition to expand the powers of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or...

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As Dem bills founder, bipartisan health plan re-emerges

With Democratic health care plans in the House and Senate in disarray, senators struggling to build a bipartisan plan without a government-run option are coalescing behind a tax on employers who provide insurance policies worth more than $25,000 to their workers. The idea seems to have the crucial, though very tentative, support of key moderate Republicans and Democrats who blocked an earlier plan to tax employee health care benefits, and may deliver a compromise bill that some believe has the only real shot of making it to President Barack Obama's desk this year. "In a way, this could restrict many benefit packages from going through the roof," Senate Majority Whip Richard...

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Tax fight may doom summer hopes for health care

Even as President Barack Obama renews his demands for action on health care reform in Congress, conflict over tax increases continues to darken prospects for passage by the August recess. Just three weeks remain before the Senate goes home for a recess that will last until after Labor Day. The House recess begins in two weeks. While lawmakers initially planned to have passed legislation in both the House and Senate, mounting opposition by moderate Democrats may make that goal unreachable. "Anything is possible," one House Democratic leadership aide said on Monday, adding that fast action was needed because members could "lose focus," on the bill if it has to wait...

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Congress hopes 3rd time’s a charm on health care bill

Now that two liberal House and Senate health care proposals are proving to be too costly, lawmakers this week will focus on a third, unfinished, bipartisan bill. Democrats conceded this weekend that Congress must bring down the costs of its two existing proposals to expand coverage to the estimated 47 million uninsured, plans that the independent Congressional Budget Office said would add to the deficit if either was implemented without major changes. “I think we know now that more work has to be done,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on “Meet the Press,” in response to the latest CBO analysis. Sebelius then suggested a solution might...

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CBO blasts health plan as budget buster

The head of the Congressional Budget Office doused renewed Democratic hopes for a massive health care overhaul, telling the Senate Budget Committee that the plans endorsed by President Barack Obama and others could drive the national debt to unsustainable levels. Director Douglas Elmendorf said proposals in the House and Senate "would be much more likely to worsen the long-run budget outlook than to improve it." The analysis, delivered to Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., undercuts the argument from Obama that health care reform will save money by lowering costs. Democratic leaders in Congress, already struggling to come up with enough votes needed within their...

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Sotomayor claims ‘fidelity to the law,’ GOP still skeptical

Judge Sonia Sotomayor addressed her critics directly in the opening day of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which included statements from each senator on the panel, but no questions. “In the past month, many senators have asked me about my judicial philosophy,” Sotomayor said in her opening remarks. “Simple. Fidelity to the law. The task of a judge is not to make law. It is to apply the law.” Republicans and Democrats alike said they were impressed with her opening remarks. “It was from the heart and direct and it made some important points,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Judiciary...

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Sotomayor regrets 'wise Latina' speeches, but promises impartiality

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor spent much of the second day of her confirmation hearings backpedaling on speeches she made suggesting a judge should view the law through the filter of personal experiences and bias. Despite efforts by Democrats to define Sotomayor as someone who relies on the law to make decisions, Republicans repeated the most controversial snippets of her speeches, and sought explanation. More often than not, Sotomayor acknowledged using a poor choice of words or said her statements were misinterpreted and tried to convince the Senate Judiciary Committee and the television viewers that she would be an impartial justice, based on her rulings on the bench for the...

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As Sotomayor hearings begin, Democrats predict easy confirmation

As the Senate begins questioning Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, she appears all but guaranteed confirmation, but not much support from Republicans who plan to grill her on gun ownership rights and her support for racial preferences. "There is a very good chance she will get more votes than [Chief Justice John] Roberts got, which was 78," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said on NBC's "Meet the Press," talking about Roberts' 2005 confirmation. "She is going to be approved by a large margin." But Republicans were far less enthusiastic about Sotomayor, who in many speeches suggested that she uses her history as a Latina and other personal experiences and...

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Senate health bill would mandate abortion coverage

Republicans say they are outraged by a provision added to a Senate health care reform bill that would require insurance companies to pay for abortion services. The amendment was added during the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee meeting on Thursday as the panel drafts a bill authored by Sen. Edward Kennedy that would expand health insurance to millions and create a public health insurance option. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., would require health insurance companies "to contract with organizations like Planned Parenthood," according to a spokesman for the top Republican on the panel. According to the amendment language, insurers...

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Pelosi says no to Michael Jackson memorial resolution

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House will not take up a resolution honoring Michael Jackson because doing so would invite a barrage of criticism about the late pop star and the controversies that plagued his life. "A resolution, I think, would open up to contrary views that are not necessary at this time to be expressed in association with a resolution whose purpose is quite different," Pelosi said. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas., announced at the Jackson memorial service that she had drafted House Resolution 600, to recognize him for his music and his humanitarian efforts. The resolution reads like a mini-biography of Jackson's life, starting with his...

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Waxman digs in against compromise health plan

While the Senate debates what kind of health care reform bill to write, lawmakers on the other side of the Capitol have put their foot down, saying the House of Representatives will not pass a bill without a strong government-run health insurance option. "I cannot see a bill passing without a public plan," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is a chief architect of the House health care reform bill that will be introduced Friday. House Democrats are in no mood to compromise on health care, having just taken lots of heat from the Left for passing an energy reform bill that gave away billions of dollars in free pollution...

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Senate health care deadlines in serious doubt

For Senate Democrats, the goal of a bipartisan health care reform bill is slipping away, leaving them with the seemingly impossible challenge of finding enough lawmakers within their own party to agree on legislation this summer. "The Senate is not going to pass a bill before the August recess," declared Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., a top Republican on the Senate health care committee. Democrats, under pressure from the Obama administration, are searching for any combination of Republicans and Democrats to "find a way to 60 votes," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., met privately with a handful of Republicans to insist that he wants a bipartisan...

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Public opinion may doom Dems' health benefits tax

Senate Democrats working on bipartisan health care reform legislation say they may kill a plan to tax employee health care benefits, after multiple internal polls taken last week showed significant public opposition to the idea. "When you go out and ask people across the country, they don't like it," said Kent Conrad, D-N.D. Instead, the Senate Finance Committee is weighing other ways to raise revenue beyond the confines of health care, Conrad said, including reducing tax deductions for charitable deductions, an idea President Barack Obama favors. Conrad and other members of the committee have been working for weeks to come up with a health care bill that might attract some...

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Evan Bayh, the Senate's man in the middle, gains more clout

As a leader of the Senate's Democratic centrists, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., has become a critical player in the effort to pass health care reform in Congress this year and political experts believe he will make his moves very carefully as he eyes he own political future. In March, Bayh began convening a group of more than a dozen centrist Democrats who meet regularly to try put their moderate stamp on major legislation. The group includes Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who heeded moderate calls to whittle down the cost of the fiscal 2010 budget. Aides say Bayh, 53, the fiscally conservative former Indiana governor, has not made up his mind on health care reform,...

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Congress returns to full calendar, fast pace

The clock will really start ticking on health care reform when Congress returns this week. While there are divergent views among Democrats over how to accomplish a sweeping overhaul bill, one thing the party seems to agree on is that if it is not done fast, it might never get done. The Democrats are using a similar, if not slightly slower approach, with an energy and climate change bill. Even as senators wrangle with health care in committees in the coming week, global warming will be debated in the halls and private offices of the Senate as lawmakers rush to complete a historically large to-do list before the August break. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., announced that the Senate was...

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Unions take a back seat

Despite a high-profile role in putting Democrats in control of the White House and Congress for unions, their priorities have taken a back seat in the Obama administration, causing tension between Democrats and organized labor that came to a head with a proposal to tax employee health care benefits. The Laborers International Union of North America on Tuesday began airing advertisements in Montana and North Dakota, targeting two top Democratic senators who are writing a massive health care overhaul bill. The union, made up of 500,000 workers and affiliated with the much larger AFL-CIO, is angry that Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., appear ready to write a bill that...

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Franken win puts moderate Senate Dems in driver's seat

Former Sen. Norm Coleman conceded defeat in his eight-month recount battle after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled former comedian Al Franken the winner of the state's contested Senate seat, giving Democrats a 60-vote majority supermajority that could make Senate Republicans largely irrelevant. While Franken's win will allow Democrats to push some legislation through without the worry of a Republican filibuster, the party will still have to grapple with defections from its many centrists who have the power to derail key legislation, including global warming fees that just passed the House. "It's not correct to think that the caucus will be unified," said Jake Thompson, an aide...

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Reversal of Sotomayor ruling against white firefighters stokes confirmation debate

The Supreme Court ruling overturning a decision by Judge Sonia Sotomayor in a racial discrimination case had Democrats scrambling to defend their nominee while it emboldened opponents to question her qualifications and potential bias. With the start of Sotomayor's confirmation hearings just two weeks away, critics of the first Latina Supreme Court nominee say Republicans were handed an opening when the Supreme Court threw out her ruling against a group of New Haven, Conn., firefighters whose promotion exams were junked because no blacks earned qualifying scores. "I think this is going to be front and center in the hearings," said Robert Alt, senior legal fellow at The Heritage...

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Hopes of a bipartisan health plan dim

When Congress returns from recess next week, the big debate will focus on how to create an alternative health care option that can attract at least a handful of Republicans without alienating centrist Democrats needed to pass a bill. Democratic leaders have announced that they are seriously weighing a proposal that would create health insurance cooperatives, a move that may help them reach that bipartisan goal. But an agreement may be harder to reach than initially believed. While both sides of the aisle have been willing to look at a cooperatives as an alternative to the public health care option that most in the GOP abhor, there are already big disagreements over how the nonprofit...

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Democrats swap favors in bid to revive cap and trade

With Democrats falling short of the 218 votes needed to pass a sweeping global warming bill this week, President Barack Obama was trying to persuade more than a dozen Democratic members to either change their planned “no” votes or get off the fence and back the legislation. Whether the president was successful will be known Friday, when the House plans to vote on the historic measure. The bill would charge energy companies fees for credits to produce carbon dioxide. The companies could then resell the fees at a profit to other polluters. The bill also would require power companies to use wind, solar and other renewable sources in an effort to reduce the emissions that many...

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Green Dems make more concessions to move global warming bill

House Democrats who were struggling to get consensus within their own party on a massive global warming bill, say they are so close to an agreement that a vote on the legislation may come as early as Friday. Democrats amended their proposal to quell opposition by centrist Democrats and Democrats from farming districts, but it is not clear whether the changes will be enough to sway the dozens of Democrats who may still be inclined to vote against it. No Republicans support the bill which means Democrats need at least 218 of their 256 members to pass it. “We are very close to an agreement and hopefully by [Wednesday] we will have an agreement,” said House Majority Leader Steny...

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Senate health care reform looks for GOP support

Senate Democrats said they were close to a deal on a sweeping health care reform bill, having tailored the measure to attract the most Republican support they can find — even if it is just a handful of GOP members. “We are not there yet, but we are very close,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the chief negotiator. At the heart of a deal is a proposal to create a health insurance cooperative to provide health care to most of the 46 million who are uninsured, an idea that could replace the government-run option that many Democrats prefer but which would likely guarantee a “no” vote from every Republican. The leading proposal for paying for the plan centers on...

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Union workers would be exempt from Dem health care tax

With cost estimates already as high as $1.6 trillion, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has proposed paying for the bill in part by taxing health care benefits for workers who earn more than $100,000, or $200,000 for married couples, according to those familiar with the discussions.

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Green shoots or false spring for GOP?

After a long, cold winter, it wasn’t such a bad spring for Republicans. Not only did the GOP hold its own in the campaign cash contest with Democrats, but there are promising new poll numbers and signs that the public may be getting nervous about Barack Obama’s policies. But is it enough to signal a comeback? “That depends if you think Republicans have hit rock bottom or not,” said Carl Forti, a strategist and former spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee. “There are a lot of factors that will go into that determination.” The Republican Party is still viewed poorly, but a recent Gallup survey found that more Americans identify...

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Salary regulation set to move ahead in House

As the Obama administration moves to regulate the pay of some executives, congressional Democrats want the government to go even further in controlling salaries and bonuses. Republicans, meanwhile, are calling for an end to government bailouts. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said at a hearing that a proposal by the Obama administration to strengthen corporate compensation committees and make them more independent did not go far enough. Instead, Frank wants legislation that would prevent compensation boards from approving pay that led employees to take excessive risks. “I do differ with the administration in that hope springs eternal and their...

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Republicans offer alternative energy plan

As the House prepares to vote on energy reform legislation that relies on capping carbon emissions, House Republicans on Wednesday put forward a plan that would instead increase domestic oil production and the use of nuclear power. Republicans unveiled their proposal Wednesday as an alternative to legislation written by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., that would require manufacturers, electric plants and other emitters of carbon dioxide to buy and trade pollution permits, which would increase the cost of energy and goods. The House is expected to vote on that bill in the coming weeks, but there is no Republican support and some Democrats are also...

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Dems cite Roberts in defense of schedule for Sotomayor

Senate Democrats will begin confirmation hearings next month for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor, and Republicans are complaining there will not be enough time to examine her record. But the GOP’s pleas for September hearings are falling on deaf ears as Democrats speed toward a likely confirmation for the New York appellate judge. The hearings are set to begin July 13 with Senate Democrats aiming for an Aug. 6 vote by the full Senate, which would fulfill President Barack Obama’s wish of seating Sotomayor by the October start of the Supreme Court term. “The earlier date is a small victory in the larger battle for the Obama administration,” said...

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Virginia general election will be national contest

Virginia Democrats went for a native son instead of a national name for their gubernatorial candidate, but now Creigh Deeds finds himself in America’s most-watched election of 2009. Both national parties are looking to the contest as a warm up for the 2010 midterm elections and for signs of how voters are responding to the policies of President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats. Republicans see Virginia as their chance at starting a comeback. The Old Dominion had been GOP territory in presidential elections for 40 years until President Barack Obama put it in the Democrats' column in 2008. Democrats, meanwhile, will be looking to show the Virginia as a blue state, not a...

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Senate braces for battle on health care plan without specifics

As President Barack Obama promotes health care reform with campaign-style events this week, he is making the case for a plan that does not exist. In the Senate, lawmakers have just begun jousting over health policy. And with the president’s August deadline for a workable plan fast approaching, Obama will soon have to take a position on an actual plan and not extoll a hypothetical one. Democrats are deeply at odds over two competing health care proposals in the Senate. One bill, the product of the Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, includes a expansive public health insurance program and has no GOP support. A Finance Committee plan calls for a more modest government...

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Sens. Dodd, Specter spend uneasy recess with re-election bids in doubt

Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut are the two of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats facing re-election in 2010 and spent last week’s Memorial Day recess trying to shore up support at home and courting celebrity donors in Beverly Hills. It highlights the challenge for Dodd and Specter, who return to Washington this week to face divisive issues such as labor, global warming, health care and a new Supreme Court nominee. It’s a high-wire act for two formerly entrenched members not used to having to hustle. Dodd is particularly vulnerable. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found Dodd trailing former GOP Rep. Rob Simmons 45 percent...

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Republicans may have to hold back on Sotomayor

President Barack Obama’s choice of the first Hispanic woman for the Supreme Court could make it hard for Republicans to vigorously contest her nomination, despite Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s liberal leanings. Republicans lawmakers were restrained in their reaction to the announcement of Sotomayor’s nomination, in which Obama noted her “extraordinary journey” that began in a Bronx housing project as the daughter of a factory worker who did not speak English. “Republicans are in a bit of a box,” said Pepperdine University political science professor Chris Soper. “It’s a compelling personal story.” Off Capitol Hill, conservatives...

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Obama pushes past Congress on environmental regs

President Barack Obama’s imposition of tougher auto emission rules and fuel economy standards sends a strong signal to Congress that he won’t wait for the legislative branch to finish quarreling over global warming fees. “He is using the [Environmental Protection Agency] regulations to force along Congress,” said Ben Lieberman, senior policy analyst on the energy and environment at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Obama’s crackdown on tailpipe emissions requires automakers’ fleets to have an average fuel efficiency of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. It’s the first federal regulation to control miles per gallon and...

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Pelosi got heads up from administration on CIA memo

The Central Intelligence Agency gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., advanced warning before CIA Chief Leon Panetta sent a memo to employees at the spy agency that countered Pelosi's claim that the agency lied to Congress about waterboarding. A CIA official, but not Panetta, made the call to Pelosi. "His office gave a heads up," a Democratic aide said Monday. The aide said Pelosi protested Panetta's memo on the call to no avail. Republicans continued leveling criticism at Pelosi Monday, four days after Pelosi accused the CIA of lying about waterboarding. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Pelosi needs to apologize to employees at the agency. But...

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Pelosi got warning from administration on CIA memo

The Central Intelligence Agency gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., advance warning before CIA chief Leon Panetta sent a memo to employees at the spy agency that countered Pelosi’s claim that the agency lied to Congress about waterboarding. A CIA official, but not Panetta, made the call to Pelosi. “His office gave a heads-up,” a Democratic aide said Monday. The aide said Pelosi protested Panetta’s memo on the call to no avail. Republicans continued leveling criticism at Pelosi on Monday, four days after Pelosi accused the CIA of lying about waterboarding. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Pelosi needed to apologize to employees at the...

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Obama backs away from reforming free trade deal

Congressional Democrats from economically struggling regions are getting frustrated as President Barack Obama backs away from campaign promises to renegotiate NAFTA. “I am greatly disappointed that the administration seems to have backpedaled on trade, specifically on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement,” said Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine., who says his state has lost thousands of jobs because of NAFTA. “President Obama campaigned on this issue, and I’m disappointed that he’s walking away from that commitment.” Just last month, Obama’s trade representative, Ron Kirk, backed off the much tougher stance on the 15-year-old...

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Global warming bill to move ahead Monday

Democratic negotiators say they have worked out the major kinks in a global warming bill, but it is not certain to clear the House Energy and Commerce Committee by Memorial Day, as Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has vowed. Waxman, who will begin Monday the process of making final modifications to the bill before a committee vote, cut deals with members and lobbyists for electricity producers, manufacturers and refineries to give them billions of dollars in free pollution permits over the next decade in order to help ease their transition into a “cap and trade” system. Under the system, the government would put a limits on carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse...

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Pelosi accuses CIA of lying; Congress in uproar

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said officials from the CIA have continually lied to her and to Congress about the agency’s use of waterboarding on terror suspects since 2002. But Republicans say Pelosi’s argument is just an effort to stave off accusations that she was briefed by agents about the simulated drowning technique seven years ago and did nothing about it, which would undermine the Democrats’ probe into the Bush administration’s approval of waterboarding. The CIA’s version of events may come out soon. Republicans are clamoring for the CIA to release the classified memos about the briefings and Pelosi said she would not object to the...

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Pelosi lets aides defend her on waterboarding

While media reports indicate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., may have contradicted herself on when she learned about waterboarding of terror suspects, she has largely remained silent, letting her aides come to her defense. Democratic strategists say that may be a good thing, and predict she’ll ultimately be vindicated. “I don’t think it would be wise for her to respond to these various charges,” said Richard Goodstein, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton. “This would be like death from a thousand cuts if she did.” But Republicans Wednesday continued to hammer Pelosi on her statement that she was not aware that CIA operatives were...

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Pressure mounts for Pelosi waterboarding probe

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is sticking to her story that she did not know the CIA was using waterboarding on terror suspects even as key Republicans cast doubt on her claims and members of her own Democratic leadership are calling for a full airing of the intelligence briefings she received. The latest GOP attack came from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who said that Pelosi “should have acted” when she found out about waterboarding in 2003 from an aide who had been briefed on the tactic, rather than silently concur with the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jane Harman of California, who at the time sent a protest letter to the Bush...

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Waxman to push global warming bill without allowing subcommittee vote

House leaders struggling to pass a major energy bill appear ready to bypass the subcommittee system because powerful carbon state Democrats aren’t willing to go along with the proposal for hundreds of billions in new global warming fees. With little hope of passing the measure out of the global warming subcommittee, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., signaled he will move the bill to the full committee, where the legislation would likely pass. One top Democratic aide described the move as a way to “get the bill done.” Democrats want to move the energy bill quickly in order to get to President Barack Obama’s health care plan. Waxman...

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Specter to head Judiciary subpanel, after series of reversals

The skies have gotten a little sunnier for Sen. Arlen Specter, who defected to the Democratic Party last week only to watch his new colleagues strip him of the committee seniority essential to his re-election bid. Democrats on Thursday started to show Specter a little more love. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., announced that he was giving up his own Judiciary subcommittee gavel for Specter. Specter got some additional good news Thursday when former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, a popular Republican in the state, announced he would not jump into the Senate race, eliminating a potentially formidable challenger. Durbin’s move will give Specter a chairmanship, which will help him make...

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Health care plan will be Dems’ answer to jobless recovery

When President Barack Obama huddled at the White House with Democrats over a stalled energy reform bill, his message was clear — get the bill passed by Memorial Day so Congress could move on to an even more important target: health care reform. “He said if there is high unemployment by election time, we need to show we are dealing with health care,” said Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, who attended the meeting. Political experts agree that Obama needs to pass health care reform before the 2010 midterm elections or face disastrous losses suffered by his Democratic predecessors in the White House, including Bill Clinton. “It certainly isn’t going to help him to...

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Talks on emissions trading put energy bill in limbo

A House energy reform bill is in limbo as House Democrats negotiate with companies over allocations that will temporarily spare them from the costs of the bill’s carbon-emissions trading program. Manufacturers — particularly from the steel industry — along with operators of coal-fired power plants and oil refineries are in intense talks with Democratic members of Congress over who will get free credits to emit carbon dioxide while most companies are charged for the privilege. President Barack Obama is looking to charge companies $646 billion in carbon fees over the next decade. The total value of the credits to be given away are still being negotiated, so lawmakers...

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Sessions will grill Obama court picks — for now

With the hearings for President Barack Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee looming, Senate Republican leaders have tapped tried-and-true conservative Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., as the new ranking member on the Judiciary Committee — but only for two years. In a deal aimed at preserving the Senate’s long-used seniority system, Sessions will step aside in 2011 for Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who some conservatives say may not be tough enough on the liberal views of some judicial nominees. Republicans have been debating who should replace Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who was the panel’s ranking member but switched to the Democratic Party last week. Grassley is...

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Credit card reform adds protections, could raise rates

The House on Thursday passed sweeping credit card reform legislation that is aimed at protecting consumers but which some critics say could end up raising everyone’s interest rates and limiting overall credit availability. The bill, which passed 357-70, takes away many of the tools used by companies to regulate the credit they issue, but which have vexed many consumers over the years. Some of those tactics banned in the House bill include immediate interest rate increases based on a change in a cardholder’s overall credit profile and charging interest on more than one billing cycle. The bill also imposes stricter disclosure requirements by credit card companies and even...

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Religious groups, GOP balk at House hate crime bill

The House has approved a bill aimed at stemming crimes against homosexuals, but religious groups fear it will silence church pulpits and Republicans say it is unconstitutional. The bill, approved by a vote of 249-175 late Wednesday, would expand existing federal hate crime laws to include gender, gender identity, disability and sexual orientation of a victim, and it would elevate penalties for those convicted of such crimes. Democrats say the bill provides long-needed protection for gays and lesbians who have been attacked because of their sexual orientation, citing cases like that of Matthew Shepard, a college student killed a decade ago by two men who witnesses say targeted him...

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Budget gives Dems power in health care debate

The House Wednesday approved the fiscal 2010 budget, endorsing President Barack Obama’s agenda and locking in a provision granting Democrats extraordinary powers to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill by the end of the year. The House passed the $3.6 trillion, nonbinding measure 233-193. Not a single Republican voted for it. The Senate was expected to clear the budget resolution later Wednesday. Republicans criticized the bill for its high cost and attacked the health care provision, which would eliminate the Republicans’ ability to block a health care bill through the use of filibuster. The provision, known as reconciliation, would allow a health care bill to...

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Specter switch puts Dems closer to supermajority

Facing increasingly long odds of winning a Republican primary, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter announced Tuesday he was switching parties, giving congressional Democrats a much easier path to passing their agenda by shutting down Republican opposition. Democrats, including President Barack Obama, welcomed Specter into their party and pledged to help him win Senate re-election by raising money and campaigning on his behalf. “I have traveled the state and surveyed the sentiments of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania and public opinion polls and have found that the prospects for winning a Republican primary are bleak,” Specter told reporters Tuesday after announcing his...

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Specter switch changes landscape in Senate

Facing increasingly unlikely odds of winning a Republican primary, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter announced Tuesday he will run for re-election in 2010 in his state's Democratic primary. Specter's switch would give Democrats a much clearer path to passing their legislation out of Congress by potentially increasing their majority to 60 seats, the number of votes needed to prevent Republicans from blocking bills they oppose through the use of the filibuster. But the Democrats' 60-vote majority still hinges on if and when Minnesota officially declares Democrat Al Franken the winner of a contested Senate seat. Franken has been leading in a recount, but Republican incumbent Norm Coleman...

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GOP struggles to find effective response to Obama

Republicans last month gathered the press on Capitol Hill to release their counterproposal to the Democrats’ $3.6 trillion budget, in a chance to seize some initiative on economic issues. As anticipation built, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, stepped up to the podium to make the big announcement. But the document he thrust in front of the cameras was a vague, 19-page outline. The press, feeling duped, went on the attack, and Democrats had a field day ridiculing their opponents. It was a bad day for Republicans, one of many recently as the Grand Old Party has struggled to find effective responses to Barack Obama. But while the party has bickered over how to respond to...

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Chris Van Hollen sprints to the top

Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. was reading a memo in his office from Rep. Chris Van Hollen when he noticed the note’s letterhead. “It said ‘Assistant to the Speaker,’ ” said Miller, chuckling in amazement at Van Hollen’s improbable, lightning ascent from lowly state legislator to top congressional leader. “You know, he’s only been there a short time, but Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer recognize his leadership skills. The proof is in his rapid rise.” Van Hollen, a liberal Democrat who represents Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, has wasted no time muscling his way into a top position in the House of...

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Van Hollen’s task atop DCCC: Stave off the Republicans

Most experts believe the 2010 elections will mark the first time in three cycles that Democrats will not pick up more than a dozen House seats — a stratospheric political run. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who is in his second two-year stint leading the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is charged with making the fall to Earth as soft as possible. His job is to stave off the midterm election losses that historically have befallen majority parties with a first-term president of the same party. In 1994, the first midterm election after President Bill Clinton was elected, resulted in devastating losses that handed the House majority to the Republicans for the first time in four...

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To get votes, Waxman offers cap-and-trade breaks

In exchange for votes to pass a controversial global warming package, Democratic leaders are offering some lawmakers generous emission “allowances” to protect their districts from the economic pain of pollution restrictions. Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, represents a district with several oil refineries, a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions. He also serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which must approve the global warming plan backed by President Barack Obama. Green says Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who heads the panel, is trying to entice him into voting for the bill by giving some refineries favorable treatment in the administration’s “cap and...

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Some banks eager to return tax dollars, but Geithner says no

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner told a congressional panel Tuesday he was eager for companies to pay back the nearly $600 billion already loaned out under the Troubled Asset Relief Program implemented last fall, but was uncertain about what hurdles those banks would have to first clear. Banks that took the money are not only required to pay 5 percent interest, the are subjected to new regulations regarding disclosures and executive compensation. But they can’t simply say “no thanks” and write a check to the Treasury if they don’t need the money, Geithner said. “The basic objective that’s guiding what we do is to make sure the system is working...

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Fraud concerns overshadow Geithner’s TARP testimony

Amid dire warnings of “staggering” fraud and waste, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner told a congressional oversight panel that the Troubled Asset Relief Program aimed at rescuing the nation’s financial institutions has had “mixed” results and that he needed more power to keep the $3 trillion program on track. Geithner was grilled by the five-member TARP oversight panel, made up of lawmakers and outside experts charged with monitoring the massive bailout program being run by Geithner that has already handed out $590 billion. Geithner’s testimony came as TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky issued a scathing 250-page report on the program. The...

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Credit card bill may bog down again in the Senate

The White House has anointed a Democratic bill aimed regulating the credit card industry. And while the bill is popular in the House, even the blessing of President Barack Obama may not be enough to move it through the Senate. The House Financial Services Committee is expected on Wednesday to approve a bill sponsored by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., that aims to end — “deceptive and abusive” practices practiced by the credit card industry, such as arbitrary interest rate increases and enticing teenagers with easy credit. The bill passed the House last year with the support of nearly every Democrat and 84 Republicans. A similar outcome is expected in the coming weeks...

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EPA ruling makes environment Congress’ No. 1 focus

As Congress returns to work today after a two-week recess, energy and the environment have moved ahead of health care as the top priorities for lawmakers in the next three months. The change came after the Environmental Protection Agency ruling that carbon dioxide — the fourth-largest component of the atmosphere — is a hazard to human health because of global warming. Democratic leaders could use the decision, announced Friday, as a lever to move House and Senate Democrats who have been reluctant to support legislation that would charge fees for carbon emissions. If Congress refuses to act, the EPA will put its own regulations in place to curb carbon emissions. “The...

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Murtha investigation could hand GOP issue for 2010

With a federal corruption investigation circling around Rep. John P. Murtha’s ties to a Washington lobbying firm, Democrats risk being tarred with the same “culture of corruption” label that helped them retake Congress in 2006. The FBI is busy looking into Murtha’s earmarks to defense firms represented by the PMA Group. But inside the walls of the Capitol, there is no such scrutiny of the 18-term Pennsylvania lawmaker. Murtha’s seniority and status within his party may help to forestall a congressional probe. “It is true there is no one policing Congress,” said Melanie Sloan, who heads the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in...

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House GOP touts alternative to Democrats’ budget

Bucking the trend of criticizing the party in power’s budget without supplying an alternative, House Republicans Thursday released their blueprint, which they say would lower taxes and reduce the deficit. Republicans want to appear to be the party of solutions, not just criticism, but now that their proposal is in writing, Democrats are wasting no time trying to rip it apart. Criticism of the GOP plan began seconds after the 19-page document was released, with an anchor on MSNBC complaining on live television that the station broke away from its White House coverage only to find that the GOP announcement contained no specific budget figures, just a broad outline. Republicans...

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Obama Hill meeting cordial, but produces no budget accord

President Barack Obama told Democratic Senators he understands they need to carve up his budget proposal, but he wants them to do it without sacrificing the initiatives he and many in Congress promised to voters on the campaign trail last year -- including health care, education and global warming reform. "He said whatever this budget is, it has to reflect his core values," said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., after the meeting ended. Nelson noted Obama left out specific demands on how to accomplish those principals, which were outlined in his budget, and did not mention proposals for his carbon emissions fee, tax increases on the wealthy or his tax cuts for the middle...

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Obama fires up supporters to push Congress on budget

President Barack Obama is firing up his base to push Congress into passing a $3.6 trillion budget chock-full of provisions most Republicans and a significant number of Democrats say they can’t support. With opposition to the Obama budget building on Capitol Hill, the administration is pulling out its not-so-secret weapon: a database of 10 million e-mail addresses of Obama supporters from last year’s election, many of whom sweated to get him elected. Obama and the Democratic National Committee are also enlisting liberal groups to put up advertising, hold local events and lobby Congress on behalf of Obama’s proposal. The budget contains some of the most critical elements...

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Hill Republicans content without another DeLay or Gingrich

It’s been more than a decade since Newt Gingrich commanded the Republican revolution in Congress and nearly five years since Rep. Tom DeLay arm-twisted his way into the GOP history books. The Republican ranks in Congress are much quieter now, and their shrinking minority status is not all that’s to blame. The party these days lacks a galvanizing figure like Gingrich or an enforcer like DeLay in either the House or Senate. And Republicans seem to prefer it that way. “I don’t know if we need to have a person who epitomizes the Republican Party right now,” said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., who served under DeLay and Gingrich. “But the advantage is when...

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