Popularity Swells For New Health Care Law
Ezra Klein notes polls suggest that health care is more popular after passage than before: "Voters like success, the media covers winners more positively than losers, and people take their cues from outcomes. The first poll taken entirely after the House vote bears that out: 50% were enthusiastic or pleased while 42% were angry or disappointed. Similarly, 49% thought this a good thing for the country while 40% thought it bad ... a sharp improvement over the pre-passage numbers."
NYT's David Leonhardt argue the health care law closes the book on the Reagan Era: "The bill that President Obama signed on Tuesday is the federal government’s biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago ... it is the centerpiece of his deliberate effort to end what historians have called the age of Reagan."
McClatchy reminds that the individual mandate was long advocated by Republicans: "'The truth is this is a Republican idea,' said Linda Quick, president of the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association. She said she first heard the concept .. in a Miami speech in the early 1990s by Sen. John McCain ... 'Some of my libertarian friends balk at what looks like an individual mandate,' Romney wrote in The Wall Street Journal in 2006. 'But remember, someone has to pay for the health care that must, by law, be provided: Either the individual pays or the taxpayers pay. A free ride on government is not libertarian.'"
"Republicans Split Over Repeal Strategy" reports Mother Jones' Suzy Khimm.
"Experts say states' health care lawsuits don't stand a chance" reports McClatchy.
The Republican hissy fit over health care may be winding down. Time's Jay Newton-Small: "Calls for total repeal have been tempered ... The new GOP catch phrase is 'repeal and replace.' The idea is to use amendments to strike the GOP's least favorite features of the package, such as tax increases, during reconciliation and beyond ... But some Republicans and Democrats are already looking to turn the page. 'People will go home for recess, they'll come back and they'll start thinking of other things,' says Senator Bob Corker..."
Insurance industry not on the repeal train either. Time: "The health-insurance industry [is] pivoting from opposition to making sure the new law succeeds beyond most expectations. America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the industry trade group, has agreed to sign on to a new, 50-state health care reform implementation effort, provisionally called Enroll America, which is being organized by Ron Pollack of the pro-reform group Families USA."
President Obama mocked conservative warnings that Armageddon would ensue. Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "[President Obama said,] 'I heard one of the Republican leaders say this was going to be "Armageddon." Well, two months from now, six months from now, you can check it out. We'll look around [Obama starts looking up and around] and we'll see ...' The audience at the Department of the Interior was amused, and with good reason — Republicans' policy arguments have become literally laughable."
Battles ahead on health care law implementation. W. Post: "Industry groups and labor unions will focus on attempting to steer implementation of the legislation to their advantage, including the writing of federal rules to govern insurance coverage, requirements for employers and the insurance exchanges created under the law."
GOPers try to drag out reconciliation process. The Hill: "The GOP lost the first two procedural votes of the week-long debate ... Republicans fought furiously, however — filing four motions that were still pending at evening’s close, as well as another 13 that could be taken up on Wednesday ... The amendments threaten Democratic leaders’ goal to wrap up the bill by the weekend."
Dems will oppose amendments, no matter how nice they sound. HuffPost: "Democrats in the Senate say they are so committed to passing the House's version of health care reconciliation fixes verbatim, that they are willing to vote against even the most alluring and unobjectionable of amendments -- from legislation banning Viagra for sex offenders to language adding the long-elusive public option."
Color of Change's James Rucker is demanding that the GOP stop inciting and supporting hate: "The hateful acts that occurred at the tea party rally in Washington this weekend were not isolated incidents — they are part of a growing pattern of violent rhetoric, racially charged imagery, and paranoid conspiracy theories emerging from the Republican party's grassroots supporters. Republicans officials have contributed to this atmosphere with fear-mongering and coded racism, and they have actively courted this element of their party."
E.J. Dionne calls for Tea-Party-intoxicated conservatives to return to their authentic selves: "...conservatism has taken on an angry crankiness ... what on Earth would Bill Buckley have made of 'death panels'?"
Lawyers, Guns & Money's Scott Lemieux takes The Atlantic's Megan McArdle to task for calling health care reform a "tyranny of the majority": "So, to review, a party won an election, including a convincing popular vote win by the president and solid majorities in both houses of the legislature. It attempted to pass a central plank of its platform .. the bill's opponents ... were able to further water down the bill ... And this is evidence of...tyranny of the majority?"
WH pledges to clarify questions about children with pre-existing conditions in regulations. AP: "Under the new law, insurance companies still would be able to refuse new coverage to children because of a pre-existing medical problem, said Karen Lightfoot, spokeswoman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee ... However, if a child is accepted for coverage, or is already covered, the insurer cannot exclude payment for treating a particular illness, as sometimes happens now ... The Obama administration interprets the law to mean that kids can't be denied coverage, as the president has said repeatedly. 'To ensure that there is no ambiguity on this point, the secretary of HHS is preparing to issue regulations next month making it clear that the term '"pre-existing exclusion" applies to both a child's access to a plan and his or her benefits once he or she is in the plan for all plans newly sold in this country six months from today," HHS spokesman Nick Papas said."
Banks Appear To Lose One More Dem On Student Loan Reform
Students rally for loan reform, part of the reconciliation bill. W. Post: "College students swarmed Capitol Hill on Tuesday to plead for more financial aid as private lenders made a last push to preserve their endangered role in making federal student loans ... The United States Student Association rallied hundreds of members on Capitol Hill for the bill. They waved signs -- 'Students NOT Banks!' and '$ Now!'"
Sen. Bill Nelson, who had expressed concerned about student loan reform, now appears ready to vote for it. W. Post. "One potential swing Democrat on student-loan issues is Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.), who signed a letter recently urging the Senate to consider alternatives that would not cut into industry jobs. But Dan McLaughlin, a Nelson spokesman, wrote in an e-mail: 'Sen. Nelson likes the education and student loan reforms. He doesn't like the jobs it could cost in north Florida. But at this point, it looks like it's in the health-care and education legislation to stay.'"
Next Steps On Financial Reform Unclear
After party-line banking committee vote, next steps on financial reform compromise unclear. Politico: "...the Banking Committee has been searching for bipartisanship on this subject for more than a year, and Democrats still aren’t convinced they can find it ... The two key Republican negotiators gave mixed signals on the prospects for a bipartisan way forward ... 'The fight is going to be on the floor,' said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). 'The Republicans ... do they want to be seen as tethered to Wall Street and fronting for the big banks? ... We’ll see what they do.'"
Sen. Sherrod Brown proposes amendment to implement Volcker Rule. Baseline Scenario's Simon Johnson: "...there is a strong provision for requiring prompt corrective action if any bank exceeds this hard size cap. Naturally, the Federal Reserve is pushing back."
Sen. Bob Corker breaks with his party on Dodd "too-big-to-fail" approach. Wonk Room's Pat Garofalo: "..many of the amendments that the GOP proposed aimed to weaken Dodd’s attempt to rein in banks that are 'too big to fail.' ... But protecting the biggest banks from more stringent regulation isn’t the easiest position to sell, so Republicans are publicly insisting that Dodd’s bill doesn’t do an adequate job ending 'too big to fail.' ... [GOP Sens.] Shelby, Vitter, and Gregg might want to check in with Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)..."
President meeting with Sen. Dodd and Rep. Frank on financial reform today reports WSJ.
Treasury takes go-slow approach to Fannie/Freddie reform at House hearing. NYT: "the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, said the administration would 'take a fresh, cold, hard look at the core problems' in housing finance and deliver a 'comprehensive set of reforms' to Congress, but declined to specify a timetable ... 'There is a quite strong economic case, a quite strong public policy case, for preserving and designing, some form of guarantee by the government to help facilitate a stable housing finance market. But it can’t be the one we have today'"
TARP watchdog questions success of mortgage relief program. W. Post: "The Treasury Department initially said the program, known as Making Home Affordable, would reach as many as 4 million struggling borrowers. But Neil Barofsky ... said in a report issued Tuesday that Treasury now expects only 1.5 million to 2 million homeowners to get mortgage relief ... [In response,] Treasury said the program's success should not be measured solely by how many borrowers receive loan modifications."
Exec salaries at bailed out firms slashed by WH "special master for executive compensation." LAT: "Kenneth R. Feinberg cut annual compensation an average of 15% for top executives at American International Group Inc., General Motors Co., Chrysler and two other firms that have yet to repay their loans."
Can't Stop On Jobs
Possible May vote in Senate on curtailing China currency manipulation: "Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday he would seek a vote by May ... [Schumer and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)] said during a press call on Tuesday that they hoped their legislation would lead the Treasury Department to find that China manipulates its currency. Treasury is set to issue a report by April 15..."
"Find Out How Many Jobs Have Been Lost To China Where You Live blogs OurFuture.org's Dave Johnson about new report from Economic Policy Institute.
W. Post's Harold Meyerson urges Dems to build on the health care success and be a "governing party.": "They need to establish a powerful consumer [financial] protection agency ... They need more job legislation, beginning with California Rep. George Miller's bill to save the teaching and public safety jobs on numerous states' chopping blocks, and with Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro's bill to establish an infrastructure bank to revive our construction sector."
Another Senate fight brewing over unemployment insurance. The Hill: "Congress’s last extension ... expires on April 5 ... Senate Democrats will bring up a temporary extension of jobless benefits after they finish work this week on the healthcare reconciliation bill ... Democrats are ready to pounce again on any Republican moves that slow down the jobless aid in the Senate."
Fiibustered labor board nominee Craig Becker will get temporary appointment when congress is in recess, says Sen. Tom Harkin. CQ: "'It’s going to happen,' said Tom Harkin ... The two-week congressional recess begins March 26."
Climate Talks Quietly Continue
Little news out of climate meeting with Senate Majority Leader. The Hill: "The Senate trio – John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – trying to salvage a big climate change and energy bill this year treated 19 colleagues to a PowerPoint presentation about their upcoming plan Tuesday afternoon. Kerry later met privately with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Kerry, who is usually talkative about the climate effort, said rather little after that session but proclaimed Reid backs their effort."
