Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security.
President Calls For Final Health Care Vote
Obama demands "up-or-down" vote on health in "a few weeks," with simple majority vote in Senate if necessary. The Hill: "... the president pointed to past examples of landmark and costly legislation that had been approved through the use of the rules, which prevent a filibuster from being used against budget-related measures in the Senate."
TNR's John Judis praises speech for drawing clear ideological lines: "'Republicans,' he said, 'believe the answer is to loosen regulations on the insurance industry ... I disagree with that approach. I'm concerned that this would only give the insurance industry even freer rein to raise premiums and deny care.' ... Obama said that that if Republicans 'truly believe that less regulation would lead to higher quality, more affordable health insurance, then they should vote against the proposal I’ve put forward.' Those are strong words. They make clear that Democrats and Republicans don’t share the same politics."
Sen. Tom Harkin says they are ready to proceed with simple majority vote plan. Politico: "The House, he said, will first pass the Senate bill after Senate leaders demonstrate to House leaders that they have the votes to pass reconciliation in the Senate .. It remains unclear what kind of guarantee the Senate can provide to the House..."
NYT says many obstacles to fast timetable remain: "...the final language must still be sent to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office for evaluation, a process that takes time. Many aspects of the legislation remain unresolved ... [Speaker Pelosi] faces complex negotiations with both the moderate and liberal wings of her party... "
Pelosi needs to convert previous "No" votes. W. Post: "Because Pelosi is likely to lose at least a handful of Democrats over the abortion issue, she must win conversions among the 39 Democratic lawmakers who voted against the House bill Nov. 7. One target is moderate Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), who said Wednesday that he was encouraged by the direction of the discussions."
WH persuading previous "Yes" votes not to flinch now. Politico: "...he White House is telling Democrats reconsidering their support for health care reform that they will pay the price for their original vote no matter what happens, so they should reap the political benefits of actually passing a law ... Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas said she doesn’t buy the argument ... 'I've been supportive of the Senate bill.' The reconciliation measure 'would be a whole other bill,' she said."
TNR's Neera Tanden makes the case to the Blue Dogs to back the bill, because they won the policy fights: "The Blue Dogs opposed the public plan ... Well, the Senate scrapped that ... Blue Dogs wanted more cost-containment policies ... [The Senate bill] features a robust Independent Payment Advisory Board with authority to lower Medicare payment rates. ... Some House moderates criticized the House bill for taxing the rich. Lucky for them, that’s barely in the Senate bill ..."
The Guardian's Michael Tomasky reminds Dems of the importance of winning: "Is it bad for the Democrats if reform passes under controversial circumstances? Sure. But it would be far, far worse for reform to fail under controversial circumstances. It's really not even close. Winning is winning and losing is losing."
E. J. Dionne blasts GOPers for lying about past use of Senate budget rules: "The underlying 'principle' here seems to be that it's fine to pass tax cuts for the wealthy on narrow votes but an outrage to use reconciliation to help middle-income and poor people get health insurance."
How did media cover GOP's 2003 use of reconciliation? They didn't reports Media Matters' Jamison Foser.
Sen. Sherrod Brown says he will push for the public option in a separate bill if necessary: "[He] told reporters that he hopes that Democratic leaders include a public plan in the current package but said that he would 'absolutely' try to cobble together a different proposal if it is not."
HCAN report suggests greed is the driving force behind the rising price of health insurance. AFL-CIO's James Parks: "...over the past eight years, premiums almost doubled, but medical inflation went up only 39 percent. Premiums rose two times faster than medical costs and more than three times faster than wages..."
Completely Opposite Reports on Dodd Deal
Dodd and GOP leaders getting closer to financial reform deal with Fed claiming consumer protection authority, according to Politico: "Several Republican senators involved in the talks have made a new offer to Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd on a proposal to house a new consumer protection division within the Federal Reserve ... Dodd delivered a counter-offer to the Republicans a few hours later, which [GOP Sen. Bob] Corker had in his hand while he talked to reporters at around 6:30 p.m. 'We’re real close. It’s going back and forth,' Corker said ... Corker specifically said the proposal would meet the four essential elements Dodd said any consumer division must have: a Senate-approved director appointed by the president, a dedicated funding source to shield it from congressional budget making, the authority to make rules, and the authority to enforce them."
WSJ echoes Politico, notes WH trying to reassure progressives. "Multiple Democrats have already said Mr. Dodd's plan moves too far away from an original White House proposal to create an independent, freestanding Consumer Financial Protection Agency. On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett met with consumer and public interest groups and said new consumer protection rules would be formidable."
But CQ says Fed proposal "fizzles": "...several sources familiar with the talks said the idea to vest consumer protection authority at the Fed was effectively off the table. 'Given the response, the proposal is dead,' an industry lobbyist said."
Ezra Klein says Fed proposal will silence CFPA: "...insofar as the CFPA is being placed inside the Federal Reserve and its directives are being carried out by Federal Reserve regulators, it's being put into a place where it can potentially be ignored. Priorities are set by the top, not by the middle."
WH sends Congress "Volcker rule" legislation blocking commercial banks from risky trading. AP: "The Treasury Department circulated proposed legislation that would prevent commercial banks from carrying out high-risk trades and that would restrict the size of financial firms to holdings no greater than 10 percent of the entire financial industry's liabilities ... Corker questioned the administration's timing. 'It is not helpful to the process for the administration to be putting out positions right now on financial regs...'"
"‘Volcker Rule’ Draft Signals Obama Wants to Ease Market Impact," headlines Bloomberg: "The rule ... exempts mergers that exceed the market-share limit in cases when a firm acquires a failing bank with regulators’ approval. Also left out are trading in Treasury and agency securities, including debt issued by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
The Atlantic's Daniel Indiviglio doesn't see Volcker rule going anywhere: "Lawmakers, however, will probably mostly ignore the proposal. ... The possibility that Banking Committee members would derail the progress they've made by adding in these very controversial changes is pretty unlikely. Of course, anything as contentious as the Volcker Rule will have a much better chance of becoming law if wrapped up in a big bill, so the likelihood of its passing separately after broader legislation is adopted seems even minuter."
Next Senate Jobs Bill Moves Forward
CQ reports Senate appears to have 60 votes for long-term jobless aid and additional aid to states: "...the Senate voted 60-37 to waive a point of order that would have stripped the emergency designations ... the Democratic caucus [was] joined by Susan Collins, R- Maine ... The vote endorsed the principle that extensions of safety-net programs should not be offset [with anti-stimulative spending cuts or tax hikes.]"
House nears majority to pass Senate jobs tax credit. Politico: "[Blue Dog] lawmakers said they expected at least some in their ranks to support the legislation even if the conservative Democratic group doesn’t cut a deal to offset the cost ... Congressional Black Caucus leaders said the legislation could attract support from their ranks — even if the bill fails to include their priorities..."
Anti-immigration conservatives are holding up needed jobs legislation, reports Alternet's Anna Maria Kelley: "This group of senators wants to pile on current restrictions banning employers from hiring undocumented immigrants by adding more burdensome and faulty employment verification systems. That would make it harder for employers to grow jobs without adding any value whatsoever."
Major transportation bill inches forward in Senate. Streetsblog: "...environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) [vowed] to take up a successor to the 2005 infrastructure law before 2011 and [indicated] she would use the House's already-introduced version as a framework ... [But] though the biggest stumbling block facing the next federal transport bill -- namely, the lack of sufficient gas tax revenue to pay for it -- was lamented widely, few offered concrete solutions that would help Congress move forward more quickly."
Government change to poverty stats shows even higher poverty rate. Washington Independent's Megan Carpentier: "On Tuesday, America’s poverty rate jumped from 13.2 percent to 15.8 percent — or from 39.8 million to 47.4 million of 308 million Americans — as the government finally acknowledged that the way it calculated the poverty rate was designed to artificially deflate the statistics. The previous poverty rate was based on what an emergency food diet cost in 1955 and didn’t take into account government transfer payments, let alone differential living expenses and health care costs ... What the government will not do is allow the more realistic poverty calculations help determine which Americans qualify [for assistance.]"
Dems stepping up attacks on stimulus hypocrites. WSJ: "The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ... wants Republican members of Congress to publish the requests they have made to federal agencies for stimulus funds."
Capital Gains and Games' Bruce Bartlett mocks House GOP proposal for constitutional amendment capping spending levels: "The Constitution has never in our history been used to enshrine a particular economic policy and it would be unwise to start now." TNR's Jonathan Chait on what it says about GOP ideas: "...the quality of thought about public policy in the Republican Party right now is extremely low."
Dem Senators Push Energy Dept. To Keep Stim Dollars in US
Dem Senators accuse WH of sending wind power fund overseas. W. Post: "A group of Democratic senators called Wednesday for the government to halt a federal stimulus program aimed at building wind farms and other clean-energy projects, arguing that too much of the money spent so far has gone to create jobs overseas ... Joined by Sens. Robert P. Casey Jr. (Pa.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Jon Tester (Mont.), Schumer said at a news conference that the Obama administration has ignored concerns ... The senators' efforts garnered praise from several union leaders ... The senators' efforts garnered praise from several union leaders ... But Obama administration officials and wind-energy industry representatives said that the complaints are misguided and based on faulty information..."
Dean Baker knocks W. Post for scant information: "... it did not provide readers any basis to assess the key questions: how many jobs are being created here? what share of the wind turbines are constructed in the U.S?"
Energy Sec. Chu to testify to Senate today reports CQ.
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski floats including ANWR drilling in climate bill. The Hill quotes: "To secure my vote on a climate bill, we have to develop a good policy. In my mind that good policy would include ANWR as part of a domestic production title."
Obama May Appoint Craig Becker TO NLRB
Labor Sec. Hilda Solis raises hopes of union leaders that Craig Becker will get "recess appointment." WSJ: "'I feel very confident,' Solis said Wednesday when asked by reporters about Becker’s chances of making it onto the board. She then referred to the recent Senate vote where Republicans blocked his nomination. 'The vote was already taken. How do you change the … numbers that came down when they took the vote? I’m just saying that I think people will be very pleased.' A day earlier while addressing a room full of AFL-CIO officials, Biden referred to Becker’s nomination and said, 'We’ll get it done.' Several union officials appeared to indicate that an April recess appointment is in the works."
Workplace Prof Blog cautions WH to follow through: "... but unless Solis was trying to tick off unions even more, it sounds like the Administration is going for it..."
RNC Caught Mocking Donors
Politico's Ben Smith uncovers RNC fundraising strategy doc, which amounts to scaring small-dollar donors and mocking major donors: "The Republican National Committee plans to raise money this election cycle through an aggressive campaign capitalizing on 'fear' of President Barack Obama and a promise to 'save the country from trending toward socialism.' The strategy was detailed in a confidential party fundraising presentation, obtained by POLITICO, which also outlines how 'ego-driven' wealthy donors can be tapped with offers of access and 'tchochkes.' ... The RNC reacted with alarm to a question about it Wednesday, emailing major donors to warn them of a reporter's question, and distancing Steele from its contents."
