Summit Convenes Today
Six-hour health care summit begins at 10 AM ET. Successful bipartisan talks achieve consensus on shape of table. NYT: "...the White House at first proposed a U-shaped table with President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the center and Congressional leaders around the sides. But the table would not have been big enough to accommodate all the lawmakers, pushing some into the chairs reserved for staff members. Republicans balked, and the White House agreed to close the U, so the lawmakers will now be seated around a hollow O-shaped table. Republicans, remembering well how Mr. Obama addressed them from a lectern at the Baltimore event, said it was important for them to have a level playing field."
Dems prepared to move if GOP does not budge. W. Post: "Congressional Democrats are already looking beyond the White House health-care summit, reckoning that Thursday's session will amount to little more than political theater and focusing instead on a final round of intraparty negotiations..."
NYT chronicles GOP hypocrisy on use of Senate budget rules to pass reforms will simple majorities: "Sixteen of the 22 'reconciliation bills' that have made it through Congress were passed in the Senate when Republicans had majorities. Among them were the signature tax cuts of President George W. Bush, the 1996 overhaul of the welfare system, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicare Advantage insurance policies and the Cobra program ... (the “R” and “A” in Cobra stand for “reconciliation act”). 'Is there something wrong with ‘majority rules’?' Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, once said of the reconciliation process when his party controlled the Senate. 'I don’t think so.'"
HHS Sec. and top WH health care adviser stress GOP ideas in W. Post oped: "...we think Republicans should find a lot to like in the proposal President Obama released on Monday. It contains several ideas taken directly from Republican bills, such as letting people save on their premiums if they participate in proven employer wellness programs, a proposal supported by Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.). Or giving states grants to evaluate medical liability models that can improve patient safety, reduce medical errors and bring down liability premiums, similar to a proposal Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) has supported. We know Republicans will support the measures to prevent health-care fraud, such as new background checks for Medicare suppliers and real-time reviews of claims, because they're the ones who wrote them."
Right-leaning Dems generally like Obama's health care proposal. The Hill: "The centrists said they are feeling less pressure now that Obama has used the Senate bill as the foundation for his proposal and are happy with the president’s decision to hold Thursday’s bipartisan healthcare summit. Many are also pleased that Obama removed special deals from the final bill that became a target for Republicans."
Summit follows 1-million strong "Virtual March For Real Health Care Reform." HCAN's Jason Rosenbaum: "While we were marching, one million people were backing us up. Led by MoveOn.org, the virtual march on DC has succeeded in sending over 1 million messages to Congress since 8 am this morning, tying up phone lines and fax machines all over Capitol Hill. And the calls and faxes keep coming in! Today, the people marched. It's time for the leadership and Congress to deliver."
GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe declines WH invite. Politico: "Snowe declined because she wasn't invited by the Senate leadership, and thought it would be inappropriate."
Sen. Tom Harkin pessimistic on public option. Salon.com quotes: "I hate to say it, but I am not certain we're going to be able to get a public option in this bill ... That doesn't mean we stop trying... I keep reminding people that this bill is not written in stone, like the Ten Commandments, for ever and ever. This is a law, it's a bill, we change laws all the time around here -- that's what we do."
Massive bipartisan House vote for repealing health insurance antitrust exemption. CNN: "The vote was 406-19 to repeal the exemption ... The 19 who voted against the repeal are all Republicans. ... Advocates of an exemption repeal say that the exemption has allowed health insurance companies to essentially divide the country into geographic zones. They argue the companies benefit from what amounts to local monopolies. Industry defenders, in turn, point out that insurers are still subject to state regulations. They claim the impact of an exemption repeal is overblown."
WellPoint exec defends giant rate hike to Congress. NYT: "The increases in premiums are driven by prices charged by doctors, hospitals, drug companies and other suppliers, and by increases in the use of health care by an aging population, Ms. Braly said ... She criticized health care bills passed by the House and the Senate, with strong support from Mr. Obama."
House members accuse WellPoint of profiteering. LAT: "Lawmakers, citing internal documents from WellPoint Inc., said the company had sought to inflate individual policyholders' premiums to counteract anticipated concessions to state regulators."
Consumer Watchdog deems WellPoint's Braley as "Mistress of Evasion": "Her testimony in front of Congress today managed to turn denial of health care into 'efficiency' and put the blame for 39% yearly premium increases onto Blue Cross policyholders who dared to get sick."
WH Gives Ground on CFPA
WH open to compromising away independent consumer financial protection agency. W. Post: "The Obama administration is no longer insisting on the creation of a stand-alone consumer protection agency [and] is now open to housing the consumer regulator inside another agency, such as the Treasury Department [though] they are insisting on a regulator with political autonomy and real teeth ... On Wednesday night, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner huddled with Corker and Dodd ... Only Dodd would comment on their meeting, saying, 'There's no deal tonight,' but adding that he remained optimistic."
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow unnerved at outlines of the deal: "Dual missions are a recipe for organizational disaster and an invitation for bureaucratic infighting. And when Main Street competes with Wall Street for resources, Main Street always seems to lose."
The American Prospect's Tim Fernholz tells Dodd he can pass the bill without compromising: "...there's every reason to believe a partisan bill in committee will become bipartisan on the floor -- especially because many on both sides of the aisle see agreement on several of the technocratic and institutional fixes in the bill."
House may include executive bonuses in Obama's bailout bank tax reports Bloomberg.
Morgan Stanley Chair John Mack frustrated at politics getting in way of reform. Reuters quotes: "Every decision can't be a political decision. Whatever happened to doing what's right? ... We will get some changes. People are smart enough to know we cannot go forward with the system the way it is ... but it is a slow go."
Mack also chastises industry for excessive compensation. Bloomberg: "Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack said investment bankers are overpaid and Wall Street compensation won’t decrease much because firms don’t want to lose their best performers ... Mack said he recently advised Obama that financial firms won’t cut pay on their own."
Bernanke offers concessions on transparency to head off full audit. Bloomberg: "The Fed will support legislation to let government auditors probe six temporary programs created to combat the financial crisis such as the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, Bernanke said yesterday in House testimony. While he would support the delayed release of names of firms getting aid from those programs, he said banks borrowing through the longstanding discount window must be allowed to remain anonymous ... Representative Ron Paul won House passage in December of broader audits than Bernanke advocates ... Vermont Independent Bernard Sanders, the measure’s main backer in the Senate, has 32 co-sponsors for a version of Paul’s audit provision..."
WSJ's Thomas Frank on why Democrats can't get out in front of the populist anger that conservatives readily exploit: "Democrats don't speak to angry, working-class people because a lot of them can't speak to angry, working-class people. They don't know how. Many of the party's resident geniuses gave up on that constituency long ago, preferring instead to remodel their organization as the vanguard of enlightened professionals and the shrine of purest globaloney."
Senate Jobs Tax Credit Passes, House Unimpressed
Jobs tax credit passes Senate on stronger than expected bipartisan vote. NYT: "The coalition that passed the relatively modest measure by 70 to 28 included 55 Democrats, 2 independents and 13 Republicans ... many lawmakers consider the Senate initiative too limited to do much to revive hiring in parts of the nation that have been hardest hit economically. But the leadership in both the House and Senate say they intend to pursue a number of jobs-related measures in the next month."
Politico reports House members won't vote for Senate jobs bill due to regional disparities in highway spending piece: "[Rep. James Oberstar] said that the Senate bill 'does violence' by giving four states – including California and Illinois – almost all the extra federal highway funds. He asserted that 20 states would get no money if the Senate bill passes ... A Senate aide involved in transportation issues challenged Oberstar's contention, and said that the Senate bill actually extends the transportation programs at the same level they were funded in the last highway bill." CQ reports 23 House Dems sign letter criticizing Senate highway formula.
Politico reports Black Caucus critical of narrow focus, quotes Chair Rep. Barbara Lee: "When presented with a powerful opportunity to create jobs and address the growing unemployment rates among the chronically unemployed, the Senate responded with a whimper. A ‘go slow’, piecemeal approach will do little to address our nation’s need for employment."
Extensions of unemployment insurance and COBRA up next. W. Post: "The two parties are negotiating the parameters of a second package that could reach the Senate floor next week. It would include year-long extensions of unemployment insurance, COBRA health benefits and a variety of expiring tax breaks, as well as a 'fix' to prevent a scheduled cut in physician payments under Medicare. Because some of those programs expire Sunday, the Senate was moving Wednesday toward approving one-month extensions of some items."
Washington Shakeup? Truthout's William Rivers Pitt sees the progress on Don't Ask Don't Tell, the jobs tax credit and health care as positive signs: "We have all been steeping like tea bags in frustration and inaction ... All that suddenly went sideways this week, however, when an outburst of forward motion from some very odd quarters threatens to shake up the ossified processes of this government."
Or Same Old Washington: NYT edit board wonders is this as good as it's gonna get: "After a year of partisan gridlock, it was heartening to see five Republican senators break ranks on Monday to advance a $15 billion jobs bill. The 62-to-30 vote clears the way for the bill’s final passage this week. The question now is whether that’s as good as it gets or whether Americans are seeing a new willingness to work together to truly confront joblessness. By itself, the bill is too small and narrow to make much of a difference. It must be followed up with other steps to create desperately needed jobs."
Senate Climate Bill Soon?
W. Post reports Sen. Reid wants a climate bill "ASAP": "Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has instructed Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to produce a revamped climate bill as soon as possible, according to sources, a task Kerry intends to accomplish within two weeks ... Michael G. Morris, chief executive of American Electric Power, had dinner with Obama and other business executives on Tuesday night. Morris said that Obama 'was encouraged by the Kerry, Lieberman and Graham endeavor.' Morris said that Obama indicated that 'if that came to pass he would try to put his touch on it' and sign it."
