Susan Ferrechio

A big win for House Democrats. Now the Senate awaits.

By a vote of 220-215, the House moved to make sweeping and historic changes to the nation's health care system. Democratic leaders overcame near-universal opposition from Republicans and 39 moderates and vulnerable freshmen within their own party to eek out a victory that may be short-lived, as the Senate is likely to pass a far different health care bill in the coming weeks. The House bill would cost $1.2 trillion and would create a government-run public health insurance option. It includes new subsidies to help people pay for insurance coverage. It is funded through tax increases, cuts to Medicare and fines for those who do not obtain insurance or provide it for employees. The bill...

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House passes Pelosi health bill

The House has approved Speaker Nancy Pelosi's health-care bill by a vote of 220 to 215. A total of 39 Democrats opposed the measure. One Republican, Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted for the...

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Democrats down to a seven-vote margin on health vote

As the House nears a vote on health care reform, Republicans are busy tallying the Democratic "no" votes and there are 34 so far, according to their estimates. Those on the list are the most moderate and also the most vulnerable in the party, including Rep. Harry Teague, of New Mexico and Travis Childers of Mississippi. The list also includes members of the conservative House Blue Dog Coalition including Allen Boyd, D-Md., and Rick Boucher, D-Va. Boucher told The Examiner the pubic option would make health care in his district "unsustainable" because the reimbursement rates for doctors and hospitals would be too low. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., praised the...

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Watching Virginia's delegation on health care

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who represents Northern Virginia, announced he will vote for the health care bill. Connolly had been on the fence, in part because his district is a bit purple. It voted for Republican Bob McDonnell on Tuesday by a healthy margin after being solidly Democratic in recent cycles. But Connolly, president of the House freshman class, said Saturday that the bill was needed to protect families from bankruptcy caused by catastrophic illness and being denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Virginia's 11-member House delegation is getting lots of attention today as people watch for fallout from Tuesday's landslide win by McDonnell. All six Republicans...

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Health care vote set for tonight in House

It is still uncertain whether Democratic leaders will round up the 218 votes needed for passage. Many of the party's most vulnerable Democrats have already announced they will not vote for the bill, but with 258 votes, even a loss of 40 members ensures passage. House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., told reporters Saturday, "I'm not going to predict" the outcome. "I know that the most powerful arguments for this bill won't be spoken on this floor, they are being lived right now, in our country, in every one of our districts and towns," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said, opening remarks on general debate. "Their stories will be with me and I know...

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Health care bill vote update

As the House gets ready to take up the $1.2 trillion sweeping health-care proposal, Democratic leaders are struggling to round up the 218 needed for passage, with the party's most vulnerable Democrats most likely to vote against it and two other factions protesting language in the bill that addresses abortion and immigration. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said a final vote on the bill may not even happen on Saturday if the GOP, which is unified in opposition to the bill, employs time-consuming parliamentary tactics. But it may not be Republicans who hold up the bill if the leadership can't round up enough votes. Democrats began announcing their official opposition on Friday....

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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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Kerry and Graham whip up compromise on global warming

Even as a Senate global-warming bill remained in limbo with Democrats refusing to delay a committee vote until an economic analysis was completed, hopes rose for a potential bipartisan compromise. The Senate, meanwhile, appears to be moving away from the bill, authored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., which would require a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 and would have the government sell the right to emit carbon dioxide. Even as Boxer conducted an unusual one-sided hearing on her bill in the Environment and Public Works Committee, Kerry, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., held a news conference to announce they...

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Liberals offer guarded praise for Reid's opt-out compromise

The head of the biggest and most liberal faction in the House said health care reform in Congress has "a long way to go," from the proposal announced Monday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Reid has written legislation that would create a government-run health insurance option that would allow states to "opt out." The House bill includes the public option, but it is not optional. Rep. Lynn Woolsey. D-Calif., and the 80-plus members of the House Progressive Caucus that she leads prefer the House version. "If we vote out a strong public option in the House, one that saves money and covers most people and ads the best competition we can find, then I...

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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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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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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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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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Who's really reading the McChrystal report?

Forget about reading legislation, how about a top general's report on Afghanistan? Gen. Stanley McChrystal's classified report on the war in Afghanistan supposedly includes his determination that as many as a half-million U.S. troops will be needed to complete the mission there over a five year period. But most lawmakers probably haven't seen that startling figure, or the rest of the classified report for that matter, because few seem to lining up to read it -- despite the fact that it has been available for weeks. Senate and House aides have declined to disclose the list of which lawmakers have signed in to read McChrystal's assessment and they would not even provide a number. Because...

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Could Health Care Slip to Next Year?

That's what some of the key players think. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both moderate Maine Republicans, were asked if the health care reform bill might have to wait until 2010 for a floor vote, even though President Barack Obama wants it done this year. "Certainly, it could," Snowe said. "It wouldn't surprise me." Senate Democratic leaders have not yet hammered out the legislative details of their plan yet, and once they do, the Congressional Budget Office will need time to determine how much it will cost before it can come to the floor (although some senate leadership aides have suggested the debate could begin while CBO is working on the score). Snowe...

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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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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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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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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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Democrats find the insurance pool too shallow

Democrats have been trashing insurance industry analyses of their health care proposals. But in the hallways of the Capitol, lawmakers concede the truth of the report's main criticism: The cost of insurance could skyrocket because the framework of the plan would bring more sick people into the system but not force enough healthy people to buy insurance. Insurance companies refer to the problem as "adverse selection," and they say the bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee last week would create this troublesome situation by insuring just 93 percent of legal residents, leaving 17 million people out of the risk pool, many of them young and healthy. "Without more people in the...

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Congress swings back hard at insurance industry

The insurance companies attacked the Democratic health care reform plan this week with report saying it would raise premiums and an angry Congress is hitting back. A House committee next week will vote on a bill that would end the antitrust exemptions the health insurance industry has enjoyed since 1945. The bill aims to end price-fixing and market allocation conspiracies they say is practiced by the insurance industry. "These abuses are plainly illegal in other industries, and it does not make sense, when Congress is working so hard to bring meaningful reform to the market in health insurance, that health insurers should continue to be exempted from federal antitrust...

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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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McCain argues for 40,000-troop surge, says Palin would be a "great" potential candidate

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said a Minimum of 40,000 additional troops are needed in Afghanistan to succeed in winning the war against terrorism there. McCain, appearing on CNN's State of the Union, told host John King that the greatest danger for the war in Afghanistan is not a troop pullout, but rather "a half measure...to please all ends of the political spectrum." McCain was asked by King if he believed "the United States can win in Afghanistan with fewer than 40,000 more troops," to which he responded, "No, I do not." McCain made the remark as President Obama weighs another a troop increase request by the General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of...

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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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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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How about a little Inter-Party peace?

And now for some non-Nobel news. 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...

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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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GOP to push 72-hour cooling off period before Senate votes

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., on Wednesday will introduce a resolution that would institute a 72 hour waiting period before the Senate can vote on a bill. This is similar to a bipartisan effort in the House, but Bunning's resolution would require not only that the bill be posted online and be accessible to the public for three days prior to a vote, but that the legislation include a pricetag from the Congressional Budget Office. Bunning last week attempted to get the Senate Finance Committee to approve an amendment to the health care bill that would require it to be posted online with a cost assessment three days prior to a committee vote. But Democrats voted down the motion (Sen. Blanche...

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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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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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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 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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Obama says passing health care overhaul the key to reducing unemployment

Republicans used September's bleak employment numbers to attack Democratic efforts to expand the government and raise taxes. Rep. Candice Miller, R-MI., said in the GOP's weekly radio address that the 9.8 percent rate of unemployment announced Friday is evidence that the $787 billion stimulus passed by Democrats earlier this year has done little to help the economy. Miller, whose state suffers from a 15.2 percent unemployment rate, warned that Democrats could hurt the economy further if they pass a climate change bill that would raise electricity rates and health care reform legislation that would tax those without health insurance. "You know, Washington Democrats' job-killing...

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Congressional Record Now Environmentally Friendly

Congress will begin printing the Congressional Record on recycled paper, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Friday. This will definitely save a few trees as the Government Printing Office churns out 4,130 copies of the record every day. Pelosi says the move will reduce landfill waste and cut out 1.4 million pounds of pollution annually. The record includes every single word spoken on the floor of the House and Senate the prior day. In making the announcement, Pelosi recalled how copies of the Congressional Record were stashed under her brothers' beds so her father, five-term Democratic congressman Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., could read them. " I had five older brothers and they used...

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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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Isakson says Dems are ignoring voters

Democrats are paying no attention to the public fear and resistance to their proposal to reform health care. At least that is what Republicans are saying in their weekly address. The GOP tapped Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., to continue the party's drumbeat of opposition to several massive health care proposals Democrats are trying to push through congress. "Their message has been loud, and it has been clear," Isakson said Saturday. "They don't like the direction of this health care debate is headed in." Isakson honed in on the provisions in the Democratic proposals that have most stirred up the public, planned cuts to Medicare and tax increases. "If you have...

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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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Public wants ACORN funding to end

Despite its own low poll numbers, Congress is, apparently, doing something right in the eyes of voters. The public agrees with a move by both the House and Senate to cut of federal funding for the scandal-ridden community activist group ACORN, a new poll has found. Rasmussen Reports conducted a national telephone survey that found 51 percent of U.S. voters believe Congress should end all federal funding while just 17 percent want taxpayers to continue to pay for the group. The survey found that ACORN is viewed unfavorably by 67 percent of those surveyed and is viewed somewhat favorably by just 15 percent. The House voted Thursday to end federal funding for ACORN. while the Senate...

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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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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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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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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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Democrats move ahead with Joe Wilson punishment

Democrats on Tuesday will introduce a resolution of disapproval against Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who last week shouted "You lie" to President Barack Obama during his health care speech to Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., initially told reporters she wanted to let the matter rest, but other Democrats in her caucus were intent on going after Wilson and after Monday night's closed-door meeting among Democratic leaders, she agreed to allow the resolution to go forward, despite the fact that it will no doubt sidetrack the House in a major way Tuesday. House rules prohibit members from making disparaging remarks against anyone while in the chamber but there isn't much...

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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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GOP praises Obama on Afghanistan, but pans health care

Republicans on Saturday praised President Barack Obama for how he has handled the war in Afghanistan but said he's only paid "lip service" to bipartisanship when it comes to health care and has ignored "the clear wishes of the American people." The weekly GOP address was delivered by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas that acknowledged the President's big health care speech Wednesday night but said the public remains wary of the Democratic proposals because they do not spell out how the government plans to lower costs without reducing benefits, prevent waste, fraud and abuse in a big government system and slash $500 million from Medicare without reducing services to senior...

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Jimmy T back in Congress?

Former Representative and ex-felon Jim Traficant may run for Congress. Traficant told Fox News he is being encouraged to run, just days after being released from prison after a seven year stint. Traficant was convicted of public corruption (taking kickbacks and bribes, ten counts) in 2002 and was expelled by the House, but not before he gave the chamber a stern, somewhat incomprehensible lecture in a white leisure suit and trademark toupee. Traficant later made an unsuccessful bid to run as an Independent from jail in 2002. It would be difficult, but not impossible, for Traficant to win a seat in Ohio. His old seat is held by popular Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, but Traficant could...

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Bayh: "Our challenge is to produce a bill as good as his speech."

A group of 17 moderate Democrats who met with President Barack Obama late Thursday to talk about health care reform said the talks were "constructive" and Obama pledged to "live up to the promises he made in his speech" on Wednesday. The meeting seems to have done little to move the ball forward on health care, however. As I reported in my article on the Senate "Mod Squad," most are waiting for the bipartisan "gang of six" in the Senate to complete a bipartisan bill that would create a health care cooperative, not the public option in two Democratic plans now circulating. "I told the President that the primary focus for moderates is getting...

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Pelosi, Reid will pow-wow at White House Tuesday

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will meet with President Obama on Tuesday to discuss health care, leadership aides said Friday. The two congressional leaders will no doubt want to find out exactly where Obama stands on health care reform, after days of reports that he may pitch a watered-down version of the Democratic proposal now circulating in Congress. House Democrats have not been pleased with the news that the White House is negotiating with Senate Republican moderate Olympia Snowe, of Maine, to produce a proposal that would require a public option if insurance companies fail to make health care more affordable and widely...

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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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Kennedy motorcade will pause at Capitol

Sen. Edward Kennedy's funeral procession will stop at the U.S. Capitol tomorrow around 4:30 p.m. and pause briefly in front of the Senate, his family announced Friday. Kennedy, D-Ma., served 47 years in the chamber and employed hundreds of staffers during that time. Members of his staff past and present have been invited to pay their respects to Kennedy from the Senate steps. According to an announcement made by the family, Kennedy's motorcade will "stop at the Senate steps for a brief prayer so that Senate staff and members of the broader Senate community with whom the Senator worked can bid a final farewell." The motorcade will then travel to Arlington National Cemetery,...

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Crist taps Senate placeholder for Martinez

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has tapped his former aide and former deputy state attorney general George LeMieux to fill out the term of retiring Sen. Mel Martinez. Martinez, a Republican, announced earlier this month that he planned to leave office early, which put Crist in an awkward situation since he is planning to run to replace Martinez in 2010. Crist, a Republican, needed a placeholder, and picked LeMieux from a list of party official and state lawmakers. LeMieux is the former chairman of the Broward County Republican Party and managed Crist's 2006 campaign for governor. Martinez congratulated LeMieux and called him "bright, capable and an accomplished...

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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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Rangel lowballed net worth by half

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., has amended his 2007 financial disclosure forms, adding hundreds of thousands of dollars in previously undisclosed assets. The news was first reported on the Website of Congressional Quarterly earlier today. The site reports that Rangel filed an amended financial disclosure statement earlier this month to include $250,000 in a Congressional Federal Credit Union, "land in southern New Jersey and stock in PepsiCo and fast food conglomerate Yum! Brands," CQ reports. The amended report doubles Rangel's net worth reported in the original form filed in 2008. Rangel holds the gavel of the House tax writing panel. He is...

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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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A freshman congressman faces sophomore slump

Democrat Tom Perriello finds that his constituents are irate over health care and government spending MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- In a small middle school library a man is shouting and wagging a finger at Rep. Tom Perriello. Perriello, a Democrat who represents Virginia's mostly rural 5th District extending from Charlottesville to the North Carolina border, has just embarked on his monthlong listening tour, and residents are unloading their anger about the Democratic agenda. They're mad about government spending, legislation aimed a curbing global warming and, most of all, plans to create a massive public health care system that would cover all of the nation's uninsured. "So you're...

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Looking for a winner among the wannabes

Republicans are intent on taking back the 5th Congressional District from freshman Democrat Tom Perriello, but first they have to find a candidate who has a shot at beating him. Despite losing by less than 1 percent of the vote in 2008, Republican Virgil Goode decided last month that he would not try to regain his old seat, opening up the GOP spot on the 2010 ballot to more than a dozen interested people, according to party officials. Some fear Goode's decision not to run has hurt the odds that Republicans can regain the seat. "This is a game-changer," said Hampden-Sydney College political science professor David Marion. "I think the Democrats now have a real chance of...

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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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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 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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Detroit police eye Rep. John Conyers' wife

The Detroit Police say they may investigate $21,300 in missing notebook computers, and other equipment from the office of former Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers, who is the wife of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich, but they called premature an earlier media report that they have begun such a probe. "Where we are right now is there has been no police complaint filed," said Second Deputy Chief John Roach told The Examiner. Roach said the police are examining a city council-ordered audit that revealed the missing items, but have begun no formal investigation. The audit was ordered when Conyers resigned her city council post on July 7 after she...

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Ted Kennedy's statement on sister Eunice's death

Sen. Edward Kennedy has put out a statement about the death of his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Shriver died Tuesday morning in Cape Cod. "Eunice is now with God in heaven. My sister Jean and I, and our entire family, will miss her with all our hearts. I know that our parents and brothers and sisters who have gone before are filled with joy to have her by their side again." Kennedy, who is 77, recalled his earliest memory of his sister as a young girl "with great humor, sharp wit, and a boundless passion to make a difference," and said her compassion for people with disabilities, inspired by her disabled sister Rosemary, was instrumental in the creation of the...

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The 3-Minute Interview: Ris Lacoste

Ris Lacoste is a top D.C. chef and food writer who is building her own restaurant in downtown Washington. Lacoste trained at Anne Willan’s La Varenne — Ecole de Cuisine in Paris before starting her career in New England and then coming the Washington, where she helped open 21 Federal and Kinkead’s. Her most recent post was head chef at Georgetown’s 1789 restaurant. You were longtime friends with Julia Child. What do you think of the new movie about her life? The movie is great. Meryl Streep did an amazing job. Every now and then I had to remind myself it was actually Meryl Streep. What was your relationship like? I knew her very well, for 20 years. I saw...

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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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VIP loans broke no rules, ethics probe ends

The Senate ethics committee ruled Friday to drop its investigation into whether Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd and Kent Conrad violated the rules by receiving favorable interest rates from Countrywide Mortgage. In letters sent to both Senators, the committee, chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said it conducted an extensive, year-long probe and reviewed thousands of pages of documents to reach the conclusion that neither lawmaker broke an official rule of the Senate. But the panel chastised both men, writing to each that, "the committee does believe that you should have exercised more vigilance in your dealings with Countrywide in order to avoid the appearance that you...

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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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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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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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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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Liberals revolt after Blue Dog health deal

Just hours after House Democratic leaders announced a deal with their party's conservative Blue Dogs on a sweeping health care reform bill, their liberal wing is pushing back. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., postponed his panel's markup of the bill, which was to take place Wednesday afternoon, and rescheduled it for Thursday morning. The reason behind the cancellation is a lack of cooperation from the House Progressive Caucus, made up of more than 80 members. It is the most liberal faction in Congress. The group fears that the deal Democratic leaders struck with the Blue Dogs has weakened the public option too much and will water down the...

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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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Dems deny memo that says they're quitting health debate this week

Democrats do not plan to vote on health care reform legislation before the recess and the House will adjourn for the break on Friday, according to a memo obtained by the Examiner. "The content of the memo is accurate," a Republican leadership aide confirmed. Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said no official announcements have been made yet about the floor schedule and the memo was "not correct." It is possible the House will remain in session over the weekend in order to let the Energy and Commerce Committee continue its work on the bill. David Cavicke, the author of the above memo, is the GOP staff director on the committee. The panel has been gridlocked because...

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Hastert's in. So who's out? -- UPDATED with photos

The House on Tuesday will unveil the official portrait of former Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., in a ceremony in Statuary Hall. Hastert was speaker from 1999-2007 and held the job longer than any other Republican. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will be at the ceremony, along with Minority Leader John Boehner and former House Republican Leader Bob Michel, of Illinois. After the ceremony, Hastert's likeness will be moved to the Speakers Lobby just outside the House chamber, where reporters mill around, waiting to talk to lawmakers. The long, narrow hallway is lined with portraits of many of the 52 speakers that have held the gavel, including Thomas "Tip" O'Neill,...

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Post Office to get hit with “high risk” rating as business keeps falling

The United States Postal Service will get some bad but unsurprising news today. The Government Accountability Office is expected to add it to its list of "high risk" government operations. The GAO publishes a biennial list of high risk agencies, which they define as having "significant management challenges." It put out a list in January but is apparently updating it with the addition of the USPS in an effort to spur Congress to do something substantial to help keep it solvent. The GAO currently has a list of 30 high risk federal programs, policies and operations it says are "vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement or in need of sweeping...

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Little Suspense in Today's Sotomayor Vote

When the Senate Judiciary Committee considers the nomination today of Judge Sonya Sotomayor to be the next Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, expect a 13-6 vote, with every Democrat backing her nomination and all but one GOP lawmaker opposing it. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, announced Monday he will vote "no" on Sotomayor, joining GOP Sens. Orrin Hatch, of Utah, John Cornyn, of Texas, Jon Kyl, of Ariz. and panel ranking member Jeff Sessions, of Ala. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has not said how he will vote, but given his significant criticism of Sotomayor during her confirmation hearings earlier this month and the fact that he is very conservative it would be downright...

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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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Defense Appropriations Subcommittee cleans up on earmarks

Taxpayers for Common Sense has been hard at work sifting through the costly pet projects stuffed into the 2010 Defense appropriations bill, a notorious earmark magnet, and their research does not disappoint. They found that 4 percent of House members got close to a third of the $2.75 billion earmarks in the bill. That 4 percent, TCS's Steve Ellis said, "just happen to be the 18 members of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee." Ellis adds that since 2007, those same 18 members have taken in more than $800,000 in campaign contributions from people who benefitted from the earmarks. Of the 18 lawmakers who brought home the most bacon, 11 are Democrats and 7 are Republicans,...

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Sessions says no to Sotomayor

Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Monday he will vote against confirming Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor. joining fellow Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who also sit on the panel. Their opposition can't block Sotomayor's confirmation, as Republicans are outnumbered on the committee and Democrats control 60 votes, enough to make her the first Latina Supreme Court Justice when the full Senate votes next week. Sessions said in an opinion piece in USA Today that he had a difficult time believing that Sotomayor would not be an activist judge, despite testimony in which she pledged to be objective. "In the end, her...

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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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House Republicans' prediction for forced health vote: Epic fail

House Republicans Friday predicted that if the health care bill skips straight to the floor without a vote from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, it will fail. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the top Republican on the committee, said moderate Democratic Blue Dogs won't put up with such a maneuver, which Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is threatening. The bill is stalled in the committee because the Blue Dogs on the panel think it costs too much and punishes rural medical care. Waxman said he might pull the plug on committee action and send the bill straight to the floor. "I predict that if that happens, that the bill will fail on a rule vote," Barton said,...

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Freshman senators call for more health cost cuts

Nearly the entire freshman Democratic class in the Senate sent a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., telling him to keep cutting costs from his bipartisan health care plan. The letter sends a strong signal to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that any final senate bill will probably have to look a lot more like the yet-completed Baucus proposal, which is shrinking in cost, than the Kennedy bill, which has a $1 trillion price tag and calls for the creation of a massive government insurance option. The letter was initiated by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Michael Bennett, D-Colo. and included every freshman Democrat except for Al Franken,...

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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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Reid balks at Obama's health deadline

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he cannot meet President Barack Obama's August deadline for health care legislation, leaving open the prospect that an already embattled effort will die in the summer heat. Democrats, unable to muster enough support among lawmakers in their own party for sweeping health care reform legislation, pulled the plug on plans to vote on a health care reform bill in each chamber before all 535 lawmakers scatter for the monthlong August recess. It came just 15 hours after Obama reaffirmed his support for an August deadline. "It's better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than trying to ram something through,"...

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Day of the dueling patients on the Hill

It was a day of dueling health care patients as Democrats and Republicans tried to convince the public to see their side of the health care debate. On the Republican side, it was Shana Holmes, a Canadian woman who had to come to the United States to be treated for a brain tumor after she was told that she would have to wait months to see a neurologist in her own country. Holmes was the guest of Republican House leaders who held a news conference denouncing a Democratic proposal to create a massive government-run insurance option that might lead to Canadian-style care. "This is not what the American people want," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said. "We...

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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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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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CBO director's White House visit rankles GOP

Republicans are saying it was inappropriate for President Barack Obama to invite Congressional budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf to the White House on Tuesday. Elmendorf has vexed Democrats in recent weeks by pronouncing their health care plans to be massively expensive and incapable of lowering future health care costs. Republicans said Obama may have used the visit to pressure Elmendorf to change his stance. "The CBO is an independent, non-partisan budget analysis office for the legislative branch, not a body subject to White House supervision and intimidation," Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., said. The White House has said there was nothing wrong with the visit and that...

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Pelosi says she has the votes to pass health care

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday she has "no question" that she has enough votes to pass the $1 trillion health care reform bill in the House, suggesting that she has quelled opposition from conservative Democrats and freshmen over the cost and scope of the bill. Pelosi made the announcement as House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman D-Calif., suspended his panel's work on the bill while he tries to win the support of the centrists who he met with privately on Wednesday. Pelosi and Waxman have agreed to a plan to help cut the cost of the program by giving additional powers to an independent agency that sets Medicare payment rates. But...

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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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Senate Democrats face standoff on gun vote

The Senate is headed for an interesting showdown Wednesday on a gun amendment vote. The provision, sponsored by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., would allow those with concealed weapons permits to carry their guns across state lines, which is now illegal. Liberal Democrats are vehemently opposed to the amendment and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., is working hard to find enough lawmakers to defeat it. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he will vote for the amendment. While Reid's support is not terribly surprising because Nevada is home to many gun owners and Reid is facing a potentially tough re-election fight this year, it pits the Democratic leaders against...

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House may halt health care until fall

While President Barack Obama declared today that he wants health care reform accomplished "now," House Democratic leaders say they may not vote on such a plan before the August recess, instead setting their sites on late September. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has scrapped Tuesdays' drafting session for the massive health care reform bill winding through the chamber. Instead, members of the panel will head to the White House to meet with President Obama, who is trying to convince moderate Democrats to back the measure. Fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dogs as well as swing state freshmen Democrats, are complaining that the bill is too expensive and increases...

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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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Chamber adds to TV onslaught on health

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce plans to join the onslaught of health care reform advertising this week. Officials from the chamber said they will unveil on Tuesday a multi-million dollar campaign "to promote health care reform that protects employer-sponsored health care, the bedrock of the nation's health care system for over 160 million Americans." The Chamber has registered opposition to the House bill over its plan to tax upper-income earners which it says will hurt small businesses. The Chamber is also opposed to the "pay or play" aspect of the bill, which would require businesses to provide employee health insurance or pay a tax. The Chamber sent a letter to...

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McConnell will vote 'no' on Sotomayor

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he will not not vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, even though he believes she is "an outstanding individual." McConnell said he can't back Sotomayor because of the things she has said repeatedly in speeches that suggest she relies on personal experiences and prejudices to govern her decisions. "Her personal views lead me to believe she lacks the objectivity you would prefer to have in the Supreme Court," McConnell said. McConnell said he is using the same argument made by then Sen. Barack Obama when he opposed the nominations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both appointed by President Bush....

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Three-minute interview - Steve Rothstein

Rothstein is president of the Perkins School for the Blind, which has just embarked on a partnership with Washington’s Martin Luther King Jr. Library that will enable the blind and disabled to borrow its Braille books. Last month, the Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library was named library of the year by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. What is the demand like for Braille literature? For somebody who is blind, Braille means literacy. For most people, it is a critical part of their lives. You can’t go to a bookstore to buy Braille books. Is it hard to learn to read Braille? Think of Braille as any language. It’s tactile, you are...

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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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Reid - no love for CBO director

The relationship between Congress and the independent Congressional Budget Office has always been tense at times, but it has really been coming to a boil over health care reform. The latest CBO analysis of the Democratic plan to overhaul health care is really causing the Democrats problems. According to the CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, the two versions winding through the House and Senate would actually cost money, not save it, after full implementation as Democrats have touted. His theory comes at a time when Democrats are struggling to get enough of their own members behind a plan that can pass both the House and Senate by August. Reid, when asked about Elmendorf's latest analysis,...

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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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Reid says DNC health ads "a waste of money"

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., seemed pretty miffed on Thursday when reporters asked him what he thinks of President Obama's grassroots organization targeting centrist Senate Democrats with televised advertisements aimed at pressuring them into supporting health care reform legislation. "I think it's a waste of money," Reid responded, arms crossed and face looking cross. Reporters pressed him further on the matter, and he said, "It's the Democrats spending money against the Democrats." Organizing for America was launched by the Obama administration shortly after Inauguration Day. It is run by the Democratic National Committee and its goal is to mobilize...

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Public health plan moves ahead in Senate with no GOP votes

After weeks of gridlock, the Democratic effort to move sweeping health care reform through Congress took a step forward after several pep talks from the Obama administration. With the hopes for a bipartisan plan fading, a Senate committee approved 13-10 along party lines a massive bill that would create a government-run health insurance option and force employers to provide coverage or pay a tax. The bill, which passed without one Republican vote, would cost more than $1 trillion to implement over the next decade and would provide coverage to millions of uninsured people. It would also shift several million people from private health care to the government-run health care wing,...

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Sotomayor dodges gun questions, cites pending cases

Republicans and some Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have been trying to pin down Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on where she stands regarding gun ownership rights, but her views remain mostly a mystery after two days of questioning. Sotomayor cited the fact that Second Amendment cases are likely to soon come before the Supreme Court and declined to answer many specific questions about whether she supported gun ownership as a fundamental right. But her past rulings have left gun rights advocates nervous. "My readers are not simply wary of this woman, they are furious, because she won't answer basic questions," said Gun Week editor Dave Workman. Legal...

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Specter dismisses Sotomayor's 'wise Latina' statement

One of the more anticipated moments in the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was when Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., got his chance to ask questions. Specter is not only a former Republican, he is the former GOP chairman of the committee, so there was some expectation that he might be a tough questioner among the Democrats on the panel, but that was not the case. Many of the Republicans in the past two days have relentlessly grilled Sotomayor on her past speeches and remarks in which she talked of using personal experiences and prejudices to make rulings and suggested the court should be setting new policy. Among her most controversial statements was one in which...

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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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CBO says House health plan will cost $1.04 trillion, squeeze private insurance

The Congressional Budget Office has put a $1.04 trillion pricetag on a House plan to overhaul health care that it says will provide insurance by 2019 for 37 million peole who currently have no coverage. Democrats introduced an incomplete version of the the House bill, which calls for creating a robust government-run insurance option and would require employers to either provide insurance or pay a new tax. The bill is supposed to be finalized in three committees in the coming weeks. The CBO estimate confirms some of the fears of critics of the bill who say a public option would have a massive advantage over the private insurance industry and would thus threaten its existence. According to...

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Sotomayor: "wise Latina" line was a "rhetorical flourish" that didn't reflect her real views

Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor told a panel of senators at her confirmation hearing that she may have chosen her words poorly when she delivered remarks over the years suggesting that impartiality may not be possible when judging cases. Responding to a barrage of questions from Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., about some of her speeches, Sotomayor for the first time seemed to back away from her own comments, which included the declaration that "a wise Latina woman" could reach a better conclusion in a case than a white man. Sotomayor said she made the statement in an effort to inspire young Hispanic and Latino students and lawyers, characterizing them as "a rhetorical...

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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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New ethics investigations against House members

An independent ethics board has begun investigations into eight new cases involving House members, according to the panel's quarterly report issued Monday and at least one subject of inquiry is refusing to cooperate. The Office of Congressional Ethics was created by the House last year to make recommendations to the House ethics committee, which is made up of lawmakers and is the only body empowered with meting out punishment. While the ethics committee can punish members with censure to expulsion for various misdeeds, they rarely do anything at all when it comes to disciplining its own members, which is what led to the outcry for the creation of the independent ethics board. Lawmakers...

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House to unveil incomplete health bill in effort to stay on schedule

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is forging ahead on passing a massive health care reform bill even though many in the Democratic caucus oppose what the leadership is putting forward. Pelosi told reporters on Monday that the bill will be introduced on Tuesday in an incomplete form and will be drafted in detail in three different committees beginning this week. "In order for us to be on schedule, we have to roll out our legislation this week," Pelosi said, referring to her goal of having the House vote on a health care bill before leaving for the August recess that begins in three weeks. The House delayed the introduction of the bill on Friday after centrist "Blue...

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Republicans throw "red flag" on Sotomayor

Senate Republicans used their opening statements in the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor to criticize and question her rulings and speeches, white Democrats promoted her as a remarkable woman with whose history as a judge is solidly mainstream. In a hearing twice interrupted by demonstrators, Republicans would not signal whether they intended to vote for or against Sotomayor, but showed skepticism about Sotomayor's statements in which she suggested it was appropriate for judges to set policy and to use personal experiences and prejudices to guide their rulings. "I will not vote for and no senator should vote for an individual nominated by any president...

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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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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 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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Global warming bill stalled in Senate

The chair of a Senate committee in charge of writing a global warming bill said there would be no effort to draft the legislation until September because the chamber is too busy grappling with how to write a massive health care reform bill. The move could hurt President Barack Obama's efforts at the climate change summit scheduled for December in Copenhagen, where he hopes to showcase an American climate change law to the international community. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who leads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said her panel would not take up the bill this month as she had planned. Instead, Boxer said, the work would begin in September, after the Senate returns...

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Pelosi tells Michael Jackson resolution to beat it

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House will not take up a resolution honoring the Michael Jackson because doing so would open up the floor to a potential barrage of criticism about the late pop star and the controversies that plagued his life. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas., announced at the Jackson memorial service that she was drafting a resolution that would recognize his humanitarian efforts. Instead, Pelosi said, those who want to praise Jackson can do so during designated times for floor speeches that usually occur at the beginning and end of the legislative day. "A resolution, I think, would open up to contrary views that are not necessary at this time to...

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Accusations pile up over Panetta CIA briefing

The ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, Republican Peter Hoekstra, of Michigan, said he does not believe Central Intelligence Director Leon Panetta admitted to the panel that the spy agency had been lying to Congress, as Democrats are now claiming. Hoekstra said he was in the room when Panetta briefed the members of the committee. "I don't think Leon came in and said that," Hoekstra said. The so-called admission, Hoekstra said, was actually a disclosure of programs the CIA was planning but never put into action. "This was planning, nothing was ever implemented," Hoekstra said. "Leon said we hadn't been briefed on it." Democrats are...

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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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Gun rights a growing issue for Sotomayor hearings

The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee said he plans to question Judge Sonya Sotomayor about her position on the Second Amendment and that the issue could become a focal point in the nomination hearings slated to begin on July 13. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told me: "It is a matter of great constitutional importance and it is a major issue to discuss" The National Rifle Association sent a letter to Sessions and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Leahy, D-Vt., stating they have "very serious concerns" about Sotomayor's nomination. Sotomayor ruled last year, as one of three members of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, that states can ban weapons...

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Report warns health plan would push millions out of private insurance

The Congressional Budget Office Tuesday told the Senate health committee that the latest version of the panel's Democratic health care reform bill would push millions of people out of their work-sponsored health insurance plans because it would give employers a cheaper option. Phil Ellis, a senior analyst with the CBO, said a provision known as "pay or play" might backfire, because employers would have the choice of providing health care insurance or the potentially cheaper option of paying the government about $750 per full time worker, annually. "For smaller firms, with lower wage workers . . . they might well decide that they're better off paying the penalty and not...

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Boehner: Biden stimulus talk is the "greatest fabrication"

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, accused Vice President Joe Biden of being less than truthful when he said on Sunday that the Obama Administration underestimated the economic crisis. "Now this is the greatest fabrication I've seen since I've been in Congress," Boehner said after meeting with Republicans. "I sat through those meetings at the White House with the President and the Vice President. Trust me, there's not one person that sat in those rooms that didn't know how serious our economic crisis was." Republicans have been attacking the $787 billion stimulus this week, criticizing it for not producing jobs or spurring economic recovery. Democrats have...

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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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McConnell to Senate Democrats: Own It.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hinted that the Democrats should not hold their breath waiting for help from Republicans to pass the energy and health care bills they are writing with little to no GOP input, especially now that they technically have a filibuster-proof majority with the addition of Minnesota Democrat Al Franken. "Well, I would say our Democratic friends now have their long-sought 60 votes," McConnell said. "The American people will fully understand that they own the government, the executive branch, the House, and the Senate. And they're waiting to see the results of their...

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Obama warns Senate away from compromise health plan

As the Senate debates two separate health care proposals, President Barack Obama is making it known from overseas that he wants the one that creates a massive government run health care option, not the co-operative system some Democrats are considering. Obama sent out a statement letting senators know he is "pleased" with the progress but believes "as I've said before, that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices, and assure quality is a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest." He added, "I look forward to a final product that achieves these very important goals." The Senate Finance...

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McConnell, Leahy bracket Sotomayor

As the the July 13 confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor draws closer, Republicans are sharpening their knives while Democrats are trying to burnish her credentials. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., announced that Sotomayor had received the American Bar Association's highest rating. "The ABA's rating, an evaluation of integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament ‚ should eliminate the doubts of naysayers who have questioned Judge Sotomayor's disposition on the bench," Leahy gushed. But Republicans are trying to build opposition to Sotomayor based on her past rulings, most notably Ricci v. DeStefano, in which she upheld tossing out...

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Man wrapped towel around woman in abduction

A 39-year-old Woodbridge man was charged in an abduction of a woman in South Arlington. The assailant followed a young woman into an apartment building on the 4200 block of South 31th Street around 3 a.m. Thursday and got into the elevator with her. As the woman got off the elevator, the man wrapped a towel around the woman's head and forced her into a nearby stairwell. The woman's boyfriend heard the struggle, chased the attacker and then was assaulted himself. Leon Lamont Lynch, 39, was charged with abduction with the intent to defile and was being held without bail. - Scott...

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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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Cantor says Biden misread stimulus, not economy

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., Monday declared the $787 billion stimulus bill to be an ineffective waste of money and said if President Obama is weighing another round of federal help, it should be focused on small businesses and working families. Cantor said he will request a meeting with Obama about "redirecting" some of the stimulus funds "that haven't worked' in helping the economy and using that money for some kind of second stimulus. "Congress, the administration, did make a mistake in passing what they hoped would be a stimulus bill," Cantor said. "It has not produced the jobs we had hoped, it has not produced the economic stimulus we had...

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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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Sessions rebukes White House on Sotomayor documents

The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is calling "absurd" an assertion by the Obama administration that some of the documents Republicans have requested relating to Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor are not relevant to her upcoming hearings. Sen. Jeff Sessions, of Alabama, and other Republicans have accused Democrats of rushing the hearings, slated to begin July 13 in the Judiciary Committee. Republicans want more time to acquire and review documents related to Sotomayor's dozen years at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF). The group delivered 300 pages of requested material in recent days and the papers, said Sessions, "may...

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Dodd details cost-savings proposals for public-option health plan

In response to staggering cost estimates for their health care overhaul proposals, Democratic Senators have whittled down the price tag of a bill introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy, leaving intact the provision creating a government-run health insurance option and calling for an employee mandate or "play-or-pay" requirement for any business that employes 25 or more people. Those companies would have to pay the government $750 per full-time employee or $375 for each person working part time if they opted out of providing health insurance. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who has taken charge of the bill for the ailing Kennedy, D-Mass., said Friday his committee aims to finish...

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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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Marshals vow to catch illegal immigrant suspected of rape

U.S. marshals want to send a message to fugitives like Jose Orlando Torres, an illegal immigrant wanted on rape and weapons charges. "We will never stop looking for you," said Matt Burke, supervisory inspector with the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. "You may have hid and run for a few months or a few years, but we will be there one day, sooner or later, to bring you in." Torres is a member of The Examiner's Top 10 Most Wanted criminals in the capital region. Examiner readers have helped marshals catch violent sex offenders, con artists and kidnappers who have been on the run for years. Burke is asking for the public's help again, and he wants the victims...

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Women made vulnerable by embassy treatment

Diplomats from Middle Eastern countries serving in Washington made their household servants vulnerable to enslavement by Soripada Lubis when they slashed their workers' salaries and treated them poorly, human trafficking authorities said. According to court documents, the women enticed into Lubis' network came to the United States as domestic servants for diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen and other countries. Mark Lagon, director of the Polaris Project and former head of the State Department's human trafficking office, said the women were particularly vulnerable because of their status in the diplomats' homes. "These women came into the United States legally and they...

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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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Now comes the hard part for cap and trade

Now that the House has narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey energy and global warming bill, it is up to Senate Democrats to either take up the bill or pass their own legislation. They are more likely to do the latter. While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Friday praised the House-passed bill as "a courageous step toward a safer and cleaner energy future," in the next sentence he noted that the bill is "not perfect." When asked about the House bill, Reid said he was "extremely concerned" the legislation did not include a provision to create an electricity "smart grid" which would help deliver power throughout the country from renewable sources...

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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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Boehner lights up Dems in mini-filibuster

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio is on the House floor offering the equivalent of a filibuster, by reading parts of the thousand-plus-page energy reform bill Democrats are trying to pass before leaving for a week-long recess. Republicans are gathered in the chamber to watch the spectacle, which is allowed under a House rule permitting the speaker, minority leader and majority leader the ability to speak for unlimited periods of time. Members are periodically laughing and clapping at his performance, which is aimed a ridiculing the bill. Boehner is emphasizing the size and reach of the bill, including amendments to amend various housing acts in an effort to construct greener...

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Dems put Congressional Black Caucus member in charge of Congressional Black Caucus investigation

The House ethics committee is investigating a Caribbean trip taken last year by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, but they put a fellow CBC member in charge of the probe. Among those on the trip was House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who is already the subject of an ethics probe over nonpayment of taxes and other issues. The group of members, all Democrats, said their trip was sponsored by a non-profit group, but the conservative National Legal and Policy Center, claims for-profit companies paid for the trip, which is a violation of House rules because it would give lobbyists for those companies access to members. The ethics committee has formed a...

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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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Democrats fear getting "BTU'd" on energy again

Democrats seem to have struck a deal on a massive energy and global warming bill, but some in the party are worried their politically risky vote in favor of the measure will be for nothing because once it hits the Senate, where opposition from every Republican and many centrist Democrats make passage, or even consideration, unlikely. For some House Democrats, the situation is reminiscent of at 1993, when Democrats passed a bill, pushed by then-Vice President Al Gore, that would have taxed the amount of energy used by measuring British Thermal Units, or BTUs. Many House Democrats at the time went out on a political limb to support the bill, which was pushed by then-Vice President Al...

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Bad timing on Sanford affair for congressional Republicans

For the second time in two weeks, Congressional Republicans watched a GOP sex scandal take over the news cycle. Just as Republicans were trying to put behind them Sen. John Ensign's affair with a married staffer and get the public to focus on the pitfalls of the Democratic health care plan and its sweeping global warming bill, South Carolina Republican Governor, Mark Sanford's took to the podium for a rambling televised admission of a marital affair in Argentina. Word of the scandal quickly spread on the House floor, where lawmakers were in the process of voting during Sanford's news conference.. Sanford was a member of the House from 1994 to 2000. No one from the South Carolina...

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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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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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Steny Hoyer to 'wait and see' before launching Metro investigation

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he wants to wait and see whether yesterday's deadly Metro train collision will require any congressional intervention. Hoyer said if investigators determine that a lack of funding resulted in equipment failure or breakdown that contributed to the accident, Congress would get involved. Investigators said the trains in the crash were older and less able to sustain a significant impact, which may be resulted in more deaths. "Clearly to the extent that it contributed to the injury and loss of life then we need to look at that and that will be the impetus for making those cars safer," Hoyer said. He added the the Congressional...

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Dodd and McCain trade shots on health care

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee reconvened Monday afternoon to try to hammer out the language of a health care reform bill, but like last week, it got off to a rocky start, with Republicans repeating their criticism that the bill lacks key specifics, including cost. Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., who last week labeled the bill "a joke" attacked it again, telling Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who is leading the negotiations, that it will be impossible for the committee to complete work on the bill with so many missing details. "You are not addressing the essential important elements of health care reform in America, so let's not tell the American...

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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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Three-minute interview - John Hanson

John Hanson is the communications director for the United Service Organizations. He travels around the world with the likes of Lance Armstrong, Scarlett Johannson and Kid Rock, bringing them to do shows for U.S. troops stationed overseas, including in the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. What does the USO do? It is an organization whose mission is to take care of American troops, U.S. military members and families around the world. We lift the spirits of the American military better than anybody else. How do you do that? We have 138 USO centers in military bases, three in Kuwait, three in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. They are places for for members of the military to get away from the...

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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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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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McConnell says Democrats offer turtle tunnels, not real reform

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in the GOP's weekly address that Democrats are trying to rush through a health care plan that will drive up costs and force the rationing of medical services. “Throughout this debate, the administration’s central argument has been that America needs health care reform for the sake of the economy," McConnell said. "Yet according to independent estimates, every health care proposal Democrats on Capitol Hill have offered would only hurt the economy." The Congressional Budget Office has provided cost estimates for two Democratic proposals of $1 billion and $1.6 billion. Democrats are trying to find cuts and say they can...

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Pelosi hopeful about health care reform

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday said the House health care bill will include a strong public option, despite opposition from Republicans and some moderate Democrats that threatens the bill's survival in the Senate. "We will have a public option in the House that will be real," Pelosi said. "If it's not real, it's no use doing. And if we don't do a public option, I'm not sure that we have as effective a public health care reform as we wish." Pelosi said she was not worried about the disagreements over the bill. "The give and take, the back and forth of different ideas, you may call them snags, we call them the legislative process," Pelosi...

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Senate Dems put aspects of health care bill at risk

With a White House-imposed deadline looming for Congress to pass health care reform and no sign of a deal, Republicans could significantly weaken a final bill by using a decades-old rule written by the chamber’s most senior Democrat. Democrats have considered using a procedural option reserved for simple budgetary legislation to pass health care legislation with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes typically required. But if they use that option, known as budget reconciliation, the chamber’s 41 Republicans may still be able to block crucial components. “There is a concern that a lot of the parts of the bill will fall by the wayside if we have to move it by...

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Senate sorry for slavery

The Senate may be unable to come to a consensus on a health care reform bill, but they were able Thursday to agree on a resolution offering a formal apology for slavery and the Jim Crow segregation laws that followed. The non-binding move rankled some black lawmakers because it was worded to exclude support for reparations for slavery that some in Congress have been seeking, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich. But the Senate's lone black lawmaker, the embattled Roland Burris, D-Ill., took to the floor to praise the bill. "Some in the black community will dismiss this resolution and some will say that words don't matter and the actions of our...

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Nick Jonas burnin' up the Hill

Is that Aaron Schock? (Ap Photo) There could be a mob of screaming teenage girls descending on the Capitol next week, and they won't be clamoring for health care reform. Nick Jonas, one of the three heartthrob brothers who make up Jonas Brothers, is coming to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to talk about juvenile diabetes, an affliction he was diagnosed with at age 13. Jonas, who is now 16, will testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on June 24 to ask for more federal funding for diabetes research "and to remind Congress about the urgent need for a cure for a disease he lives with every day," a senate aide said. Fellow diabetes sufferers...

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Health bill draws jeers in Senate

The Senate on Wednesday got off to a shaky start on negotiating a massive health care reform bill as Republicans ripped holes in a yet-to-be completed Democratic plan that so far comes with a staggering $1 trillion price tag that is expected to get much more expensive. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., set the mood among Republicans at the start of the talks, interrupting an opening statement by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and calling the bill “a joke” because it lacked many of the details of its major components, such as the plan for a government-run insurance option that would compete with private insurers and a requirement that employers provide health insurance to employees or pay...

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Senate slowing down health care reform

The Senate is putting the breaks on an effort to pass sweeping health care reform. As a result, negotiators say a bill may not be finished by the August recess as Democrats had planned.

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Ensign Resigns Leadership Post

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., has resigned his post as the number-four Republican leader a day after admitting he had an affair with a campaign staffer, possibly marking an end to the advancement of his once-promising political career. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., confirmed it Wednesday afternoon. "He's accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to his family and constituents," McConnell said in a statement. "He offered, and I accepted, his resignation as chairman of the Policy Committee." Ensign is likely to be succeeded by the number-five Republican leader, John Thune, R-S.D., a relative Senate newcomer who currently serves as the GOP...

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Insurance co-op idea gains appeal

The idea of establishing a health insurance cooperative appears to be gaining popularity in the Senate, as Democrats grapple with the staggering cost and mounting opposition to the creation of a government-run health insurance provider. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was “very impressed” after talking about such a plan with Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who represents one of a half-dozen states that offer a health care cooperatives. The cooperative idea — championed by Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., — would have the government establish, but not run, an insurance company that operates as a nonprofit for its members’ benefit....

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Bipartisan coalition cites danger to small firms in health proposal

A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is warning Democratic leaders that a proposed plan to require employers to provide health insurance could devastate small businesses. Rep. Glenn Nye, D-Va., sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, asking them to ensure that any health care reform proposal “be affordable for both small business owners and their employees.” Nye wrote that “any proposal that simply replaces one crippling expense with another is not reform at all, and is something we cannot support.” A Senate bill proposed by Sen. Edward Kennedy includes an employer mandate that excludes certain small...

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Congresswoman injured on Gitmo visit jokes about "enhanced interrogation"

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., one of the strongest proponents of closing down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, came home after a visit there in arguably worse physical shape than the detainees. Schakowsky was seen limping down a basement hallway in the Capitol on Tuesday, using crutches and sporting a cast. She said she fell down in a briefing room Guantanamo and broke her left foot. Schakowsky has been a vocal opponent of the prison and has visited several times, reporting on "the harsh conditions detainees face there," as well as "horrific stories" told by detainees claiming to have been treated badly there. Last year she introduced legislation that would...

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Doctors unconvinced by Obama health care pitch

President Barack Obama made a mostly economic argument to the nation’s physicians for overhauling health care, but doctors said the pitch offered too little substance. In a speech before the American Medical Association in Chicago about his evolving health care proposal, Obama “did what he has done in the course of his presidency, which is go to people who do not necessarily agree with him 100 percent and say these are the things that are important and we can work things out,” said Julius Hobson, a former lobbyist for the American Medical Association who is now a senior policy adviser at Bryan Cave LLP. Obama told the country’s largest doctors organization that...

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First budget office estimate on health plan set at $1 trillion

The first draft of a health care plan in Congress would increase the national deficit by $1 trillion over 10 years, while only insuring 16 million of the estimated 45 billion who currently have no coverage, according to a new report. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the legislation, proposed by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would insure 39 million once fully implemented, but 23 million others would lose their employer-sponsored coverage or coverage from other private plans. Democrats have been bracing for the figures, as one of the major problems with moving a health care bill has been its staggering cost. Congressional leaders have tried to downplay the assessment...

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McCain tells Panetta to back off Cheney

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Monday said CIA Director Leon Panetta should "retract immediately" his statement that former Vice President Dick Cheney appeared to be wishing for another terrorist attack. "I disagreed with the Cheney policy on interrogation techniques, but never did it cross my mind that Dick Cheney would ever want an attack on the United States of America," McCain said on Monday on Fox News. " And it's unfair, and I think that Mr. Panetta should retract, and retract immediately." Panetta said in a New Yorker article that it appeared as though Cheney is "wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point"...

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The emerging divide on health care

President Barack Obama is headed to Chicago to address the American Medical Association — a powerful group wary of his idea to include a government-run option in a Democratic health care plan. Whether he succeeds in his push for a federal insurance provider and who the plan will require to have mandatory coverage are central issues in the reform debate. There once seemed to be enough Democratic votes to pass the plan with a big government component and mandatory insurance for all. But those issues, amid ballooning deficit spending, has some moderate Democrats looking for a way to make the Obama plan more politically palatable. Paying for the plan - The White House has...

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Obama punts on immigration summit again

For the second time, the Obama administration has put off an immigration reform summit. The event was scheduled for June 17 at the White House, but has now been scratched from the schedule without another date set. The meeting was to have included a bipartisan contingency from Congress as well as advocacy groups and other stakeholders. It was originally moved from June 8, due to a scheduling conflict, according to White House aides and was postponed again for the same reason, they said Friday. Obama and Congress are struggling to pass major health care reform legislation and the debate has been so consuming that even energy reform, Obama's second priority, has faded into the...

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Patrick Kennedy temporarily leaves Congress to enter treatment

Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., has entered a treatment facility and will temporarily step away from his job as a congressman. Kennedy, 41, has suffered from depression and addition throughout his life and said in a statement released Friday that he decided to enter treatment again after consulting with his doctor, "to ensure that I am being as vigilant as possible in my recovery." Kennedy, who is serving his eighth term, did not say what prompted him to seek treatment or where he would be going to receive it. In 2006, Kennedy left Congress for rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic after crashing his car on Capitol Hill while under the influence of prescription drugs. He has long been...

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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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Health insurance co-op gets another look

As Senate Democratic leaders grapple with the fact that there is no support for a public health care option among Senate Republicans and even some centrist Democrats, they have decided to take a closer look at a proposal by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., to create a publicly owned co-operative for providing health care. "It's a work in early progress," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a key negotiator and Senate leader. "It has to do all the things that many of us want a conventional public option to do, namely keep the insurance companies honest. Provide a different model." Conrad's plan for establishing a co-operative would require a public...

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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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Obama and Grassley smooth out Twitter flap

Things are smoothed over between President Barack Obama and Sen. Charles Grassley after the Iowa Republican's weekend Twitter post in which he told Obama he "got nerve" criticizing Congress for not completing a health care bill "while U sightseeing in Paris." Grassley and several other Senators huddled with Obama in the White House Wednesday to talk about health care reform, but Obama also joked with Grassley about the twitter comment. Obama was in Europe last weekend to mark the 65th anniversary of the allied invasion during World War II and his trip included sightseeing with wife Michelle and their two children. While there, Obama delivered his weekly radio and...

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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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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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Sotomayor tells senator she "never thought" about rights of the unborn

Judge Sonya Sotomayor got mixed reviews from GOP Senators today has she continued meeting and greeting with lawmakers. While retiring Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., praised Sotomayor and proclaimed her confirmation a done deal after meeting with her today, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., was less impressed, particularly with her views concerning the Second Amendment and abortion. DeMint said he asked if the unborn have any rights and Sotomayor responded that she had never thought about it. "This is not just a question about abortion, but about the respect due to human life at all stages, and I hope this is cleared up in her hearings," DeMint said after the meeting. As for the right to...

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Date set for Sotomayor hearings

Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy, D. Vt., has set the opening day for Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings for July 13. Leahy cited the need for Sotomayor to be able to defend against "attacks on her character" for setting the hearings so...

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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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Barney Frank gets "Car Czar" award

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., took to the Senate floor today to sarcastically issue a "car czar award" to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., for blocking an automotive warehouse from closing in in is district. Frank said he was just working on behalf of his constituents, as any representative would, according to the Wall Street Journal, but Frank is no ordinary lawmaker. He's chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which is playing a key role in the restructuring of the automotive industry. The Journal reports that Frank's efforts to keep the General Motors distribution center from closing at the end of the year were successful, and it saved 90 jobs. The Journal reports...

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Sessions: GOP will question Sotomayor on equal justice

Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he will focus on whether Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor would let her personal feelings and experiences govern how she rules from the bench, as speeches in which she talks about race-based jurisprudence keep piling up. Sotomayor said in a 2001 speech that a "wise Latina" may be better able to make a better decision than a man who lacked that experience. Sotomayor made similar remarks in 2002 and 2003 as well as 1994, according to a questionnaire she turned in to the Senate on Thursday. In 2002, Sotomayor gave a speech at the Princeton Club in New York City entitled "Reflections of a...

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Sotomayor files 172-page questionnaire for Senate

As senators pored over the 172-page biographical questionnaire completed by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, an older speech by the Supreme Court nominee cast new light on her now-famous remark that a “wise Latina” would be a better judge than a white male. Sotomayor took one week to complete the questionnaire, which is an abbreviated biography that will be used by senators to help in the confirmation process. It also lists her financial worth ($1.16 million in total assets) and debts ($15,800 in credit card bills) in addition to her legal opinions, public statements, interviews and speeches, among other information. The list included Sotomayor’s now-famous lecture in which she...

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Pelosi turns down volume on CIA flap while GOP cranks it up

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday signaled that she is ready to close the book on the flap surrounding her claim that the Central Intelligence Agency misled Congress about waterboarding in the months following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But Republicans aren't letting her off that easily. Pelosi quickly brushed aside attempts by reporters to try to get her to talk about the matter during her weekly press conference, which of late has been packed with media hoping for another show like her May 15 session, when the normally cool Pelosi seemed to get flustered and accused the CIA of lying after being pummeled with questions by reporters about what she knew about...

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Hoyer says health and energy both number one priorities

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House is two or three weeks away from releasing the text of a comprehensive health care reform bill and is aiming to pass the legislation before the August recess. Hoyer told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor that lawmakers are wrangling over how the government will come up with the hundreds of billions of dollars needed to pay for the proposal. He said House lawmakers are debating what kind of public health care option to include, noting that several are under consideration including a proposal by Sen Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that aims to preserve a level playing field between private insurance companies...

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Obama outlines some health care ground rules in letter to Senators

President Barack Obama has listed his health care reform must-haves in a letter to the Senate Democrats negotiating the legislation, telling them he "strongly" believes it should include a public health insurance option at would operate alongside private plans. The two-page letter, addressed to Senate Health, Labor and Education Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., calls for a reform bill that does not increase the deficit yet provides access to health care for the millions of people who are uninsured. Obama called for the creation of a health insurance exchange, "a market where Americans can one-stop shop...

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Congress poised to pass bill to escalate tobacco regulation

Congress is poised to pass legislation that will give the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented powers to regulate tobacco products, forcing tobacco companies to disclose their ingredients and end “light” cigarette ads. Despite opposition from lawmakers representing tobacco states, the Senate on Wednesday was on its way to passing the bill, which would empower the FDA with regulatory authority over how cigarettes and tobacco products are made, including the ability to control nicotine levels and other ingredients. It would also allow the agency to control cigarette advertising and would ban it in magazines and newspapers. “If we are seriously considering the...

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House Passes Vague Resolution on PMA Scandal

House Democrats want an investigation into potential misconduct by its own members in connection with their dealings with the PMA Group. The now-closed lobbying firm is under investigation by the Department of Justice and was raided by the FBI in November. The House Wednesday voted 270-134 to direct its ethic committee to report back in 45 days "on the action the committee has taken" concerning potential misconduct by members in relation to PMA On Friday, federal law enforcement officials issued grand jury subpoenas to the congressional office, campaign committee and employees of Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., for information and documents relating to their dealings with PMA....

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Republicans call for investigation into political favoritism in auto restructuring

Two top House Republicans are calling for an investigation into the Obama administration's handling of the way Chrysler and General Motors filed for bankruptcy. Reps. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas and Spence Bachus, R-Ala., say some stakeholders were given preferential treatment by Obama's Auto Task Force in the restructuring of the two auto giants and they want the House Financial Services Committee to hold oversight hearings. Spencer is the top Republican on the panel and Hensarling is the ranking member on one of its subcommittees. Some small bondholders have been critical of the restructuring deal, saying the United Auto Workers union walked away with a much better deal after agreeing to...

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Pelosi nearly finds something nice to say about Ronald Reagan

(Photo by Ferrechio) House and Senate leaders of both parties were joined by former First Lady Nancy Reagan in the Capitol Rotunda for the unveiling of the statue of President Ronald Reagan. Democrats and Republicans put aside bipartisanship, or at least tried to disguise it, with House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, praising Reagan's tax cuts and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., lauding the passage of the stem cell research bill backed by Nancy Reagan. "Reagan's economic policies inspired the largest peacetime expansion in U.S. history," Boehner said "This growth was predicated on free trade, low taxes, deregulation, and curbing runaway...

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Pelosi calls for probe of nuclear site disclosure

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is calling for the Government Accountability Office to investigate how a secret list of nuclear sites in the United States was accidently released on the internet. "The disclosure of information related to nuclear facilities suggests that the current system does not provide adequate review and safeguards," Pelosi said in announcing the GAO probe. The information was posted May 22 on the Web site of the Government Printing Office and includes government and civilian nuclear facilities and the activities taking place at those sites. The 266-page report was marked "highly confidential." The National Nuclear Security Administration has...

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Pelosi faces off with Republicans over public-funded health care

While the White House was advertising the potential savings of reforming health care, the real battle being waged in Congress is whether or not to offer a government-run insurance plan and how it would operate. All signs point to the inclusion of some kind of public-run option in the final bill, likely a government-operated insurance plan to compete with private companies. The proposals put forward by the Senate health and Senate Finance committees include a public option, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has promised the House bill will too. Most Republicans are opposed to a government-run alternative, saying it will force private insurers out of business and lead to a...

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Dems try new approach on ‘Card Check’

The Senate is now working on a compromise version of the controversial “Card Check” bill that would allow employees to vote by mail on whether to unionize, rather than sign a petition in public. While union and business groups remain at odds over the new proposal, Democratic backers of the bill are meeting privately this week with moderate lawmakers who have so far been unwilling to back a labor reform bill. Those lawmakers, including Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark., will also meet with business groups who are descending on the Capitol this week in a coordinated effort to lobby against the latest proposal. Senators are not talking about details of the...

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Dr. Coburn is in

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., announced Monday he will run for reelection in 2010, ending months of speculation. The 61-year-old physician has earned a reputation as a maverick among Republicans in the Senate, most recently amending credit card reform legislation with a provision allowing guns in national parks. He has been a staunch opponent of earmark spending and has frequently stood in the way of legislation that he believes would waste taxpayer dollars. Coburn made the announcement to run again at the Tulsa Press Club, telling the audience "My decision to run again came down to a sober realization that our country's future is at stake," the Tulsa World reports. "The real...

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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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Rep. Visclosky subpoenaed in defense lobbying probe

Federal law enforcement officials have issued grand jury subpoenas to the congressional office, campaign committee and employees of Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., for information and documents relating to the PMA Group, a now-defunct defense lobbying firm the FBI raided in November. Visclosky is among a group of lawmakers including Reps. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Jim Moran, D-Va., who received hefty campaign contributions from PMA and its clients and who approved millions of dollars in earmarks for those companies. Several watchdog groups have called for the House ethics committee to investigate the three lawmakers to determine whether they were influenced by the campaign...

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One more for the Gipper

The top Democratic and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill will put aside their partisan bickering for a moment on Wednesday just long enough to unveil the new statue of former President Ronald Reagan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will be joined by House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. for the unveiling. Nancy Reagan will be at the event, along with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Reagan's former chief of staff, James A. Baker. Reagan's likeness will occupy prime real estate in the Capitol Rotunda, which also houses the statue of former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and...

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Proposals hammer domestic, offshore drilling

Domestic oil and gas companies are bracing for proposals by the Obama administration and some in Congress that would limit oil and gas production both on land and offshore while increasing taxation and regulation of the industry. The House Natural Resources Committee has released a draft bill that would raise by 50 percent royalty fees imposed on companies drilling on federal land and cut their 10-year leases in half. The proposal calls for a “zero-discharge” requirement to be imposed on all new offshore leasing areas and would end royalty relief programs aimed at promoting deepwater exploration and production of natural gas and crude oil. The American Petroleum Institute...

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Court pick seen as tied to immigration issue

Democrats on Capitol Hill know that passing an immigration reform bill this year is unlikely now that they are already bogged down with energy and health care reform, two of President Barack Obama’s top agenda items. But Obama may have thrown the Democratic leadership a lifeline to Hispanic voters with the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. The daughter of Puerto Ricans, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic on the bench if confirmed by the Senate, and some see her nomination as a strategic move by Obama to placate those who believed that immigration reform would happen this year. “It buys him some time,” said University of Maryland political...

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Dodd shows signs of life in Connecticut

A new poll shows that Sen. Chris Dodd is showing signs of life in his 2010 bid to win a blank term, but his Republican challenger is still ahead. The Quinnipiac University poll, conducted on 1,575 registered voters found that Dodd trails former GOP Rep. Rob Simmons 45-39 percent. That's somewhat of an improvement for Dodd, who in April lagged behind Simmons 50 - 34 percent. Simmons leads Dodd among critical Independent voters by 53 - 30 percent. Dodd, who is chairman of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, had been sinking in the polls for months after it was disclosed he received a favorable interest rate from a Countrywide Mortgage, a company that helped bring about the sub-prime...

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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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Pelosi takes softer stance on human rights in China, seeks cooperation on North Korea

Nancy Pelosi is taking a much more diplomatic approach to criticizing the Chinese now that she is House Speaker, and now that she and a congressional delegation are official guests of the nation. The last time she was in China, in 1991, Pelosi had to flee from the police after unfurling a banner in Tiananmen Square dedicated to the student protesters whose demonstration was violently crushed by the military two years earlier. Human rights in China have been a top issue since she was elected to Congress in 1987. Pelosi didn't bring any banners to the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, where she spoke Monday morning. Pelosi and several House Democrats and a House Republican are in...

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