Morning Must Reads — After the Lion

Ted Kennedy knew he was near the end and did everything he could to clear the way for the health legislation that bears his name. That included seeking to overturn the law passed by Massachusetts Democrats in 2004 to prevent then-Gov. Mitt Romney from appointing the successor to Sen. John Kerry if Kerry had won the presidency.

While Kennedy will be eulogized at length for the next week, the fate of the bill that was his obsession for the last six months of his life is the real issue.

President Obama owes Kennedy a huge debt. Without Kennedy’s February endorsement, Obama would have had much more trouble closing the deal with Democratic voters than he did. Obama will seek to repay that debt and get his presidency back on track by trying to make the passage of a health bill a monument to Kennedy.

That gives Obama a strong rallying cry for motivating liberal supporters and a chance to smooth over recent disputes about the influence of lobbyists and special interests on his health policy, but likely does not shift the balance in Congress – except to send Senate Democrats back to 59 after only six weeks at 60.

Not being able to get to 60 because of a death, though, does, however, bolster the arguments of those Democrats who favor following the so-called nuclear option on health care and forcing through legislation with 50 votes.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a political ally and fellow David Axelrod client of Obama’s, has been in political retreat for months and could be blown away for his 2010 reelection bid by any missteps here.

To honor Kennedy’s wish that his seat be given to a liberal Democrat rather than sit vacant until a special election can be held in 145-days the legislature would have to change the Romney law, which still might take a matter of weeks.

Kennedy’s letter requesting the change gives Patrick cover to start pushing to have the governor’s power to appoint restored immediately after the funeral, if not sooner.

Writer Dave Wedge handled the Herald’s obituary:

“Known fondly as the ‘liberal lion’ for his left-leaning politics and dedication to civil rights, he was a kingmaker in Democratic politics and is widely credited with giving a monumental boost to President Obama’s historic rise to power.

His death also opens up a Massachusetts senate seat for the first time since 1984 when then-Lt. Gov. John Kerry won a special election for the late Sen. Paul Tsongas’ seat. By law, a special election will be set for Kennedy’s vacant seat, which is expected to lure in a who’s who of heavily-funded Bay State politicians.

Born Feb. 22, 1932 in Dorchester, Kennedy was the youngest of nine children of storied American businessman and politician Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald. He was given his first communion by Pope Pius XII at the Vatican.”

New York Times — Bernanke’s Next Tasks Will Be Undoing His First
 

Writer Edmund Andrews does a nice job of explaining the real circumstances of Ben Bernanke’s second term: he will be living with the debris from his first term.

President Obama appointing anyone else to the job would have shaken markets that crave stability. Waiting to make the pick until closer to the end of Bernanke’s term in five months would have created uncertainty as well, especially with Larry Summers tromping around.
Making the Bernanke pick, then, was easy for Obama. The Fed chairman is a respected mind who also went along with extraordinary interventions into the national economy.

But if Bernanke goes from paymaster to taskmaster to prevent a disaster caused by preventing a disaster, Obama may wish he had picked Summers. Plus, he wouldn’t have to listen to him every morning at the “Daily Presidential Economic Briefing.”

“If the Fed shifts too quickly from the role of savior to that of strict disciplinarian, it risks aborting the recovery and tipping the nation back into a recession, essentially repeating mistakes made in 1937 after the economy had begun to rebound. If the Fed moves too slowly, it risks the kind of intractable inflation it experienced in the 1970s and fueling another bubble.

Compounding the problem is the government’s fiscal woes, made clear by an announcement on Tuesday that the budget deficit would be greater than previously projected.

For the first time in almost 20 years, the Fed may soon have to make unpopular decisions that raise the cost of borrowing even when the economy still feels weak. It has already decided it must tolerate high unemployment, which the Obama administration said Monday would exceed 10 percent, through at least the end of next year. It is already phasing out smaller programs to provide emergency credit, and will have to decide when to scale back bigger ones.”

Wall Street Journal — Probe of CIA Imperils Interagency Trust

CIA agents are slipping out of the shadows to say that Attorney General Eric Holder cherry picked documents to release this week that would cast the agency in the worst light when it comes to the treatment of terrorists.

They claim that documents rebutting the inspector general’s report – particularly how agency safeguards stopped further violations of detainee policy – were kept secret while the report itself was released.

Writers Siobhan Gorman and Gary Fields check in with the intelligence community and find that Holder’s moves may undo what remains of the spirit of cooperation between the CIA and the FBI born of 9/11 and codified in the Patriot Act.

“The CIA officers who feel slighted believe they handled matters properly by reporting misconduct and allowing the agency to discipline officers for transgressions, a former official said.

This official said all the officers he knows who were involved with the interrogation program have retained lawyers, despite administration assurances that the government would cover legal costs for those who acted within legal guidance they were given.

‘Their view is, they policed themselves and they turned themselves in,’ he said. Now, ‘they have to fight al Qaeda and the U.S. government at the same time.’”

Washington Post — On Afghanistan, Political Test for Obama
 

As Examiner colleague Susan Ferrechio points out, the Obama administration’s moves to go after the CIA seems to have placated woolliest liberals on the Hill. That buys President Obama some time for his effort to escalate the conflict in Afghanistan that relies on indefinite detentions, security and intelligence contractors, and other things that were deemed abominations when ordered by a Republican president.

Writers Scott Wilson and Joshua Partlow talk to a top Obama official for a look at the looming conflict over the need for more troops to fight the new, broader war in central Asia that Obama envisions.

It seems that once again, the president may try to play the role of dealmaker instead of leader, trying to smooth out differences between Congress and the military. But this is his war and only he can make the case for it and explains why the costs – human and economic are worthwhile.

“The senior administration official said support for the Afghan and Iraq wars has often followed the public’s sense of the economy; when times are bad, concerns grow that too much money is being spent on foreign wars. As the economy begins to show signs of improvement, the administration thinks the case for remaining in Afghanistan may be easier to explain.

In addition, the official said, the administration is struggling to define the importance of the Afghan war after years of Bush administration preoccupation with the Iraq effort. If McChrystal requests more troops and Obama agrees to deploy them, the official said, the administration will have to explain to the American people ‘how this will accomplish our goals there faster.’

But Obama is also facing the political challenge of having stronger support for his Afghan policy from the opposition party than from his own. For years, Afghanistan has been perceived by the moderate left as the ‘good war” in contrast with the Iraq effort, which Obama himself has referred to as a war of choice. That appears to be changing. The Post-ABC News poll showed that fewer than 20 percent of Democrats support sending additional troops to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, a clear majority of Republicans said the war is worth fighting.”

Washington Post — Subprime Lenders Getting U.S. Subsidies, Report Says
 

Government efforts to prevent foreclosures by the current and previous administrations have been dismal failures.
In most cases, the programs prolong the foreclosure process but don’t prevent it.

Weriter Renae Merle explains that the biggest of the plans – President Obama’s $75 billion Making Home Affordable effort – has mostly been soaked up by the same subprime lenders who exploded the national economy in the first place.

It’s not surprising that bad lenders financing bad loans wouldn’t be able to get the job done on keeping people in their homes. Defaults were always part of their business model.

The administration’s solution is to pump up the program again.

“The report comes as the Obama administration is prodding lenders to do more to help borrowers. Less than 10 percent of delinquent borrowers eligible for assistance through Make Home Affordable have received help, according to Treasury Department estimates released this month. The administration is aiming to more than double the number of borrowers helped under the program to 500,000 by Nov. 1.

‘Mortgage lenders and servicers have been reluctant to participate in foreclosure prevention programs despite their role in creating the subprime debacle. Intense pressure from Congress and the White House hasn’t worked, either,’ the report said. ‘The stick has not been effective, so the Obama administration is offering a carrot — billions of dollars in incentive payments to lenders and loan servicers to encourage them to participate.’”

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