Thanks for joining us this Wednesday for the Daily Strike. Another busy day in Washington, so there is a lot to cover.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Today, President Obama achieved two major policy accomplishments. The first was setting a cap of $500,000 in salary for employees of companies who have received TARP (bailout) money. This is a shrewd move politically, as it capitalizes on populist outrage that has grown since extravagant banker bonuses were discovered last week. (See the Big Picture's post). The second major accomplishment was the signing of the State Children's Health Insurance Program Expansion. The President signed the bill this afternoon surrounded by key lawmakers, including Republican Senators Lugar and Snowe (trying to gain some support for the stimulus?). The bill expands a popular state health insurance program by assuring the coverage of 7 million Americans, and adding 4 million children to the rolls. President Bush twice vetoed identical bills. Today, therefore, we get another lesson in why elections matter. The parents 4 million children who had no health care yesterday can sleep a little easier. The bill was fresh from the House of Representatives, which approved the final version (with Senate amendments) by a vote of 290-135. 40 Republicans joined all but 2 Democrats in voting for the bill. The children-hating Democrats: Bright of Alabama and Marshall of Georgia. Republican "Aye" votes included a good deal of freshman members who could see the popularity of this bill from miles away, and the last remaining moderates in the GOP conference (Reps. Castle of Delaware and Buchanan of Florida, for example).
Please see our new tab on the right side of the screen documenting the President's accomplishments.
The good news in all of this for Obama is that the Daschle-talk from yesterday seemed to subside a bit. But more importantly, Obama will have some serious accomplishments under his belt to report to the American people when he speaks in front of a joint session of Congress on February 24th.
STIMULUS IN THE SENATE: The Senate today slogged over countless amendments as it considers its version of the economic stimulus package. The Democrats had a caucus retreat today, meaning that votes had to be lumped together and postponed until this evening. They are still voting as we speak, but here's a summary of what's gone on so far. One note, we got some clarification on what it means to waive the Congressional Budget Act. All amendments that spend more money than has been authorized by appropriations committee are in violation of budget rules. These rules can be temporarily waived with 60 votes. Thanks to Kagro X from CongressMatters for the explanation!! Therefore, most amendments under consideration essentially require 60 votes to pass. Here we go:
-The first vote was on the Vitter (LA) amendment, which would have erased about $35 billion worth of spending in the bill across the board. The amendment failed 65-32. All Democrats opposed the amendment, as did Republicans Collins (ME), Hutchison (TX), Lugar (IN), Murkowski (AK), Shelby (AL), Snowe (ME), Specter (PA) and Voinovich (OH).
-The next two amendments were approved by voice vote. The first was offered by Senator Isakson, a Republican from Georgia, and it increased a tax credit for home ownership by $15 billion. The second was an amendment from Senator Cardin, a Democrat of Maryland which increased funding for bonds to help small businesses.
-The third amendment, in my view, was the most important vote of the night. The amendment was to waive the budget act requirements for the DeMint (SC) amendment, which would have replaced the entire bill with an extension of the Bush tax cuts and additional cuts in corporate tax cuts. The vote failed 61-36. To me, this seems like a good bellwether of final passage, because the matter in question was whether to strip all spending in favor of tax relief. All Democrats voted against the amendment, as did the usual Republican suspects: Collins, Snowe, Specter and Voinovich.
-The next amendment was offered by Senator Thune of South Dakota, a Republican. This bizarre amendment would have prohibited the bill from spending money on programs not previously authorized by Congress as of February 1st of this year. This, of course, makes little sense, since many of the bill's programs are new and have not yet been authorized by Congress. The amendment failed 62-35. All Democrats voted no, as did Republicans Collins, Lugar (IN), Martinez (FL), Snowe and Specter.
-Next up was an amendment by good old John McCain. This was an interesting one. It would have required that after two consecutive months of economic growth, the government set budget limits with the goal of eliminating the deficit by 2015. The idea of the amendment was basically to limit spending in the bill to the immediate future when the economy is in recession. The amendment failed to get the 60 required votes to waive the budget act and failed by a vote of 53-44. All Republicans voted for the bill, as did Democrats Bayh (IN) Lieberman (sympathy for his best friend?), McCaskill and Nelson of Nebraska.
-The last amendment as of this posting was accepted by voice vote. It was an amendment offered by Senator Bond of Missouri that increased funding for low income housing and had broad bipartisan support.
There will be 3 or 4 more votes to cover tonight, and I will later this evening in our second "Late Night Strike." Stay tuned.
There is an interesting dynamic for Republicans right now. So far, they've offered sweeping amendments that either drastically reduce spending in the bill, or change the bill entirely. These amendments have little chance of passing. The amendments that do pass are often incremental spending cuts or the addition of additional tax cuts. If I were a Republican, I would stop offering sweeping, broad cuts that have no chance of passing, and try chipping away at unpopular spending items line by line. The Democrats are also in a bit of a quandray, as I talked about yesterday. They of course will reject the more egregious Republican amendments. But they also know that the current bill may not get the 60 votes required to pass under an agreement reached by Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell. They need the bill to change somewhat. The easy political solution for both sides, would seem to me to be a pending amendment from Democratic Senator Nelson of Nebraska and Collins of Maine which would strike a small amount of funding from the bill. This would ensure a couple of Republican votes, and thus final passage.
Of course, what I'd REALLY want, is the Democrats to not accept any of these changes, and realize that people are hurting economically and there is strong political will to get a big bill passed. Why is Reid coming up with these 60 vote agreements with McConnell? Let the Republicans stand on the floor and filibuster so the American people can physically see them obstructing their dreams.
I just heard Senator Reid speak on the future of the bill. He says that he wants to finish votes on amendments and final passage by tomorrow. He then wants the bill to go into conference to reconcile the House and Senate versions. Republicans are continuing to offer amendments, and their leader Mitch McConnell did not commit to finishing the bill tomorrow. If Reid gets tired of Republican amendments, he can file cloture to cut off debate which would require 60 votes. He would prefer to let the Republicans let their amendments fail, so that he doesn't have to field complaints about limiting debate.
So the bottom line is, the bill needs 60 votes to pass. Will the amendments adopted in the next day be enough to sway a couple of Republicans and moderate Democrats to support the bill?
Much more on the Senate's consideration of the bill throughout the week.
THE HOUSE: The House today, as I mentioned, approved the SCHIP bill and then moved on to a bill postponing the Digital TV Switch until June. The bill passed by a vote of 264-158 and will go to President Obama for his expected signature. The Republicans made a big fuss about the legislative process, complaining about how the bill didn't have proper hearings (they do this all the time; do they realize that no one cares about process outside a 5-mile radius of DC?). 10 Democrats voted against the bill, and 34 Republicans supported it.
The House is out the rest of the week for the Democratic policy retreat. They will return next week to consider a bill to fund the government through September (this was pushed back a week), as well as a bill full of measures previously blocked by Senator Coburn of Oklahoma which passed the upper chamber in January.
See you later tonight for the Late Night Strike.
Showing posts with label SCHIP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCHIP. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Weekly Strike-2/1-2/8
Welcome to the Weekly Strike! Here's what's on deck this week in Washington:
CONGRESS: This is another huge week in Congress. The Senate starts debating the stimulus bill today, but will take a break to vote on the nomination of Eric Holder to be Attorney General. I predict that he passes with about 70 votes. He was passed out of committee 17-2, with the support of ranking Republican Arlen Specter, who had been one of his biggest critics. Part of the reason Holder will pass pretty easily is that Republicans now have bigger fish to fry. The new controversial nominee is Tom Daschle, who failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars of income, including a limo and limo driver. Holder may have created controversy in the past by agreeing to President Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, but his hearing went quite well, and Republicans may want to pick their battles on nomination fights.
The Senate will resume debate on the stimulus tomorrow, and most likely won't finish the bill until Friday. I predict maybe 15 or so amendments will be voted on before final passage, most of them Republican efforts to add more tax cuts, and remove certain spending provisions. The House may not even recognize the bill when it returns to them next week. As Amendments are introduced and voted upon, I'll keep you posted. The final vote will depend on how many amendments are agreed to, and how much of the more "controversial" spending measures are removed from the bill. If the bill goes largely unchanged, it will pass with almost exactly 60 votes. If not, it could garner another 10 or so votes. I don't see the stimulus, in any form, getting more than 70 votes, because in that case, the Democrats would be sacrificing too much of the bill's content. If the Senate passes the bill, it will go into what is expected to be a difficult conference with House negotiators to work out differences in the two bills.
The House has a busy week as well, returning tomorrow for some votes on non-controversial measures under suspension of the rules. One bill that failed to garner the two-thirds vote necessary to suspend the rules was the Digital Transition Delay bill. The House will consider the bill under regular order Wednesday morning, and it will likely pass and be sent to Obama for his signature.
Apparently, the House leadership has accepted the Senate's changes to the State Children's Health Insurance Bill, and will vote on final passage Wednesday afternoon. I expect it to pass with about 280 votes, (about as many as the original bill got a couple of weeks ago) and sent to President Obama, who will sign it promptly. This is a very important bill that was twice vetoed by President Bush, and was a big part of Obama's plan to insure every child in this country. After he signs the bill this week, he'll be about 5 million children short of his goal. (side note, if you had a few votes to spare in each House, which they did, why didn't they expand the bill to cover ALL uninsured children??).
Finally, the House will vote on an omnibus bill finalizing the budget for the rest of Fiscal Year 2009, which ends September 30th. The debate on this bill should be contentious, since the money will most likely be redirected to Democratic spending priorities. I expect the budget to pass along strict party lines, and to move to the Senate for a vote next week. The House will be in recess Thursday and Friday for the Democrats' policy retreat.
HAPPENING AT THE WHITE HOUSE: Obama today meets with Democratic leaders in Congress to shore up support for the stimulus. You can bet he talks about the Daschle nomination as well. Daschle wrote a letter to his former colleagues today apologizing for his tax difficulties. I expect a rocky road in the next few days as he appears before the Senate Finance Committee. Ultimately, Daschle has built strong enough relationships in the Senate, that his nomination will ultimately be confirmed.
The other big news out of the White House is the expected nomination of Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, to be Commerce Secretary. Apparently, New Hampshire's Democratic governor John Lynch as agreed to appoint a Republican to replace Gregg. The move could have benefits for Democrats though. According to Chuck Todd of MSNBC, the leading candidate appears to be Bonnie Newman, a moderate former Gregg staffer. If Lynch picks her, she has to be more moderate than Gregg, right? Also, Gregg's presence in the cabinet may help delegate negotiations with Congressional Republicans on sensitive items like additional Wall Street bailouts.
On Obama's schedule today is a meeting with Vermont's Republican governor Jim Douglas. I bet that they won't be discussing the Super Bowl, since Obama needs the governor to help shore up support for the stimulus package.
NOMINATION UPDATE: We've already talked about Daschle, Holder and Gregg, who else is left? Only two nominees: Hilda Solis at Labor, Ron Kirk to be Trade Representative. Solis is being held up because some Republicans feel that she's been less than forthright on her views on controversial items such as pending card check legislation. Who knows what's happening with Kirk, although after Geithner and Daschle, I'm suspicious that maybe he has a hidden tax problem.
THE STRIKE'S FAVORITE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Finally, an update from the 20th Congressional District of New York, where Kirsten Gillibrand recently resigned to become the Empire State's Junior Senator. The two nominees for the upcoming special election have been picked by the respective parties, and the Republicans have a decided advantage. The GOP selected James Tedisco, a popular assemblyman who has been the GOP Minority leader since 2005. I've met this guy, and he charmed even a liberal like myself. He has high name recognition, and fits the conservative lean of the district. The Democrats have countered with Scott Murphy, a local unknown venture capitalist. No chance, in my view, that the Democrats win this race. Assuming Solis is confirmed and replaced by a Democrat, and a Democrat wins the open seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel, Tedisco will probably make the final house numbers 256-179 in favor of the Democrats.
Have a good week!
CONGRESS: This is another huge week in Congress. The Senate starts debating the stimulus bill today, but will take a break to vote on the nomination of Eric Holder to be Attorney General. I predict that he passes with about 70 votes. He was passed out of committee 17-2, with the support of ranking Republican Arlen Specter, who had been one of his biggest critics. Part of the reason Holder will pass pretty easily is that Republicans now have bigger fish to fry. The new controversial nominee is Tom Daschle, who failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars of income, including a limo and limo driver. Holder may have created controversy in the past by agreeing to President Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, but his hearing went quite well, and Republicans may want to pick their battles on nomination fights.
The Senate will resume debate on the stimulus tomorrow, and most likely won't finish the bill until Friday. I predict maybe 15 or so amendments will be voted on before final passage, most of them Republican efforts to add more tax cuts, and remove certain spending provisions. The House may not even recognize the bill when it returns to them next week. As Amendments are introduced and voted upon, I'll keep you posted. The final vote will depend on how many amendments are agreed to, and how much of the more "controversial" spending measures are removed from the bill. If the bill goes largely unchanged, it will pass with almost exactly 60 votes. If not, it could garner another 10 or so votes. I don't see the stimulus, in any form, getting more than 70 votes, because in that case, the Democrats would be sacrificing too much of the bill's content. If the Senate passes the bill, it will go into what is expected to be a difficult conference with House negotiators to work out differences in the two bills.
The House has a busy week as well, returning tomorrow for some votes on non-controversial measures under suspension of the rules. One bill that failed to garner the two-thirds vote necessary to suspend the rules was the Digital Transition Delay bill. The House will consider the bill under regular order Wednesday morning, and it will likely pass and be sent to Obama for his signature.
Apparently, the House leadership has accepted the Senate's changes to the State Children's Health Insurance Bill, and will vote on final passage Wednesday afternoon. I expect it to pass with about 280 votes, (about as many as the original bill got a couple of weeks ago) and sent to President Obama, who will sign it promptly. This is a very important bill that was twice vetoed by President Bush, and was a big part of Obama's plan to insure every child in this country. After he signs the bill this week, he'll be about 5 million children short of his goal. (side note, if you had a few votes to spare in each House, which they did, why didn't they expand the bill to cover ALL uninsured children??).
Finally, the House will vote on an omnibus bill finalizing the budget for the rest of Fiscal Year 2009, which ends September 30th. The debate on this bill should be contentious, since the money will most likely be redirected to Democratic spending priorities. I expect the budget to pass along strict party lines, and to move to the Senate for a vote next week. The House will be in recess Thursday and Friday for the Democrats' policy retreat.
HAPPENING AT THE WHITE HOUSE: Obama today meets with Democratic leaders in Congress to shore up support for the stimulus. You can bet he talks about the Daschle nomination as well. Daschle wrote a letter to his former colleagues today apologizing for his tax difficulties. I expect a rocky road in the next few days as he appears before the Senate Finance Committee. Ultimately, Daschle has built strong enough relationships in the Senate, that his nomination will ultimately be confirmed.
The other big news out of the White House is the expected nomination of Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, to be Commerce Secretary. Apparently, New Hampshire's Democratic governor John Lynch as agreed to appoint a Republican to replace Gregg. The move could have benefits for Democrats though. According to Chuck Todd of MSNBC, the leading candidate appears to be Bonnie Newman, a moderate former Gregg staffer. If Lynch picks her, she has to be more moderate than Gregg, right? Also, Gregg's presence in the cabinet may help delegate negotiations with Congressional Republicans on sensitive items like additional Wall Street bailouts.
On Obama's schedule today is a meeting with Vermont's Republican governor Jim Douglas. I bet that they won't be discussing the Super Bowl, since Obama needs the governor to help shore up support for the stimulus package.
NOMINATION UPDATE: We've already talked about Daschle, Holder and Gregg, who else is left? Only two nominees: Hilda Solis at Labor, Ron Kirk to be Trade Representative. Solis is being held up because some Republicans feel that she's been less than forthright on her views on controversial items such as pending card check legislation. Who knows what's happening with Kirk, although after Geithner and Daschle, I'm suspicious that maybe he has a hidden tax problem.
THE STRIKE'S FAVORITE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Finally, an update from the 20th Congressional District of New York, where Kirsten Gillibrand recently resigned to become the Empire State's Junior Senator. The two nominees for the upcoming special election have been picked by the respective parties, and the Republicans have a decided advantage. The GOP selected James Tedisco, a popular assemblyman who has been the GOP Minority leader since 2005. I've met this guy, and he charmed even a liberal like myself. He has high name recognition, and fits the conservative lean of the district. The Democrats have countered with Scott Murphy, a local unknown venture capitalist. No chance, in my view, that the Democrats win this race. Assuming Solis is confirmed and replaced by a Democrat, and a Democrat wins the open seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel, Tedisco will probably make the final house numbers 256-179 in favor of the Democrats.
Have a good week!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Daily Strike-1/29/09-Republican Amendments Fall Like Dominoes
Good Thursday evening. A busy day in the Senate with the State Children's Health Insurance Bill, mostly in the mode of failed Republican Amendments.
SCHIP PASSED: In a huge legislative victory for the Democrats, a strong bipartisan majority in the Senate passed the SCHIP bill 66-32. All Democrats voted for the bill, along with the following Republicans:
Alexander (TN) I'm pretty shocked about this, but he has a bit of a moderate streak
Collins (ME)
Corker (TN) There must be a lot of poor children in Tennessee who need health care.
Hutchison (TX) This is another yes vote for Hutchison, who also voted for final passage of the Ledbetter bill. She's positioning herself to run for Governor of Texas, and may want to moderate her views somewhat for an electorate that actually still is majority Democratic.
Lugar (IN)
Martinez (FL) He's retiring, so he probably feels like there's no point in listening to his leadership.
Murkowski (AK)
Snowe (ME)
Specter (PA)
Looks like there are still Republicans in the Senate who are willing to break ranks. This may not be as controversial as say, the union card check legislation, but Obama and the Democrats should be encouraged that they got this many GOP votes, considering what happened yesterday in the House.
The final vote followed the rejection of several more Republican amendments, all of which followed yesterday's pattern of trying to scale down the program and narrow its scope to the poorest children. The failed amendments:
-A Coburn (OK) amendment to encourage parents not to take their children off of private insurance. It failed 62-36.
-A Bunning amendment that would have barred the states of New Jersey and New York from receiving federal matching funding because they have opted to cover children up to 300 percent of the national poverty line. (This of course, is highly misleading, because New York and New Jersey's poverty line is much higher than the national average, and even the Bush administration allowed them to cover children of higher income parents). Failed 54-44. Some surprising "Yes" votes from Democrats: Carper of Delaware (has some moderate tendencies now and then), Kohl of Wisconsin (ditto) and Nelson of Nebraska (not surprising in his case). All Republicans voted Yes.
-A Hatch amendment that was an abortion question in disguise. It would have said that unborn children deserve the same health assistance as born children. Thankfully for pro-choice advocates, the amendment failed 59-39. All Democrats voted No besides Nelson of Nebraska and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who is strictly pro-life (oddly enough he is 100% liberal on everything else). Pro-choice Republicans Collins, Murkowski, Specter and Snowe voted no.
-A DeMint amendment that would have provided a tax credit to certain children equal in amount to money provided for children of legal immigrants. This failed 58-40 with Bayh (IN), Nelson (NE) and Jim Webb of Virginia voting with the Republicans. (in the past, all of these Senators have been against immigration reform, is there a connection here?)
-A Coburn alternative which would have shut down the SCHIP program overtime and replaced it with a private insurance program. Thankfully, considering the current state of the private market, this amendment failed 62-36.
-A Bingaman (finally a Democrat!!!) amendment seeking to auto-enroll children who are eligible for SCHIP, but never signed up. This passed 55-43 with surprise no votes from Boxer and Feinstein of California, and Webb and Warner of Virginia. I wonder if there's something about those states in relation to this amendment that we don't know about.
-A Hutchison amendment to provide assistance to states that have trouble enrolling people in the SCHIP program. This failed badly 81-17.
So basically, the Republicans held up Senate business for two days to offer a myriad of amendments which all failed by sizable margins. Not exactly the pathway back to the majority, in my view. The bill will now go into conference so that the House and Senate can reconcile their versions of the bill. Expect SCHIP and the Stimulus to emerge from Congress by the February break. These are big, big changes to policy in this country, and it could all come in the first month of Obama's presidency!
LEDBETTER SIGNING: The President signed his first bill today, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which extends the statute of limitations on worker discrimination suits. He was surrounded by mostly female legislators including Speaker Pelosi, and Republican Senators Snowe and Collins from Maine. Ledbetter herself was in attendance, as was the First Lady. Michelle Obama made a speech AFTER the President had already left to get an economic briefing.
UNION DUES: The President tomorrow is expected to overturn Bush administration directives on labor relations. The only one known so far will be reversing a decision that forces unionized businesses to has a sign that says "You don't have to join a union." Obama will also announce the establishment of a task force on middle class issues led by Joe Biden (a good token role for the Vice President.)
It was a good day for labor though, as Obama blasted corporations for issuing huge bonuses to CEO's, calling them "outrageous."
GREGG???: There was a rumor going around that Obama may pick New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, a pretty conservative Republican, to be Secretary of Commerce. The pick would be advantageous to Democrats, because Gregg's vacancy would allow the Democratic Governor, John Lynch, to make an appointment. With the expected victory of Al Franken, this would give the Democrats their coveted 60 filibuster-proof votes in the Senate. Two questions: would Gregg give up the Senate seat knowing that it would cost his party power to do anything in the Senate? Would Obama really pick someone this fiscally conservative as Secretary of Commerce? TBD.
BLAGO OUT: It happened today, Blago was convicted by the Illinois State Senate and thrown out of office. Does anyone else suddenly have some sympathy for Blagojevich? He's insane, but part of me has a soft spot for him. Anyway, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn takes over.
LIBERAL PRESSURE: The liberals are stepping up the pressure on GOP lawmakers, especially moderate Senators from blue states. A variety of interest groups are beginning to run ads urging passage of the Obama plan. One group, Americans United for Change, is running ads asking "which side are you on? Obama's or Limbaugh's?" That seems like a good way of framing things for Democrats. I think these ads could be helpful in starting to put pressure of GOP members in more liberal areas. My thought though, is that Obama himself is enormously popular, far more so than any liberal interest group. Why should he have them do the dirty work? He should do it himself!
GOP CHAIR VOTE: Stay tuned for tomorrow's vote on the next chairman of the Republican National Committee. The candidates:
-Saul Anuzis (an RNC member from Michigan who has emphasized the need for Republicans to appeal to moderates in the midwest)
-Kenneth Blackwell (the African American former Secretary of State of Ohio, beloved by social conservatives)
-Mike Duncan (the incumbent)
-Michael Steele (the former Lt. Governor of Maryland, also an African American)
-Katon Dawson (the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party)
I'd say the state of the race is a tossup. My guess is that members deem Steele "too moderate" for not opposing abortion in cases of rape (yeah, I think it's true) and vote for either Duncan, Dawson or Anuzis. The missing candidate? Chip Saltsman of Tennessee, the guy who sent the GOP the parody song "Barack the Magic Negro." He dropped out of the race today.
SCHIP PASSED: In a huge legislative victory for the Democrats, a strong bipartisan majority in the Senate passed the SCHIP bill 66-32. All Democrats voted for the bill, along with the following Republicans:
Alexander (TN) I'm pretty shocked about this, but he has a bit of a moderate streak
Collins (ME)
Corker (TN) There must be a lot of poor children in Tennessee who need health care.
Hutchison (TX) This is another yes vote for Hutchison, who also voted for final passage of the Ledbetter bill. She's positioning herself to run for Governor of Texas, and may want to moderate her views somewhat for an electorate that actually still is majority Democratic.
Lugar (IN)
Martinez (FL) He's retiring, so he probably feels like there's no point in listening to his leadership.
Murkowski (AK)
Snowe (ME)
Specter (PA)
Looks like there are still Republicans in the Senate who are willing to break ranks. This may not be as controversial as say, the union card check legislation, but Obama and the Democrats should be encouraged that they got this many GOP votes, considering what happened yesterday in the House.
The final vote followed the rejection of several more Republican amendments, all of which followed yesterday's pattern of trying to scale down the program and narrow its scope to the poorest children. The failed amendments:
-A Coburn (OK) amendment to encourage parents not to take their children off of private insurance. It failed 62-36.
-A Bunning amendment that would have barred the states of New Jersey and New York from receiving federal matching funding because they have opted to cover children up to 300 percent of the national poverty line. (This of course, is highly misleading, because New York and New Jersey's poverty line is much higher than the national average, and even the Bush administration allowed them to cover children of higher income parents). Failed 54-44. Some surprising "Yes" votes from Democrats: Carper of Delaware (has some moderate tendencies now and then), Kohl of Wisconsin (ditto) and Nelson of Nebraska (not surprising in his case). All Republicans voted Yes.
-A Hatch amendment that was an abortion question in disguise. It would have said that unborn children deserve the same health assistance as born children. Thankfully for pro-choice advocates, the amendment failed 59-39. All Democrats voted No besides Nelson of Nebraska and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who is strictly pro-life (oddly enough he is 100% liberal on everything else). Pro-choice Republicans Collins, Murkowski, Specter and Snowe voted no.
-A DeMint amendment that would have provided a tax credit to certain children equal in amount to money provided for children of legal immigrants. This failed 58-40 with Bayh (IN), Nelson (NE) and Jim Webb of Virginia voting with the Republicans. (in the past, all of these Senators have been against immigration reform, is there a connection here?)
-A Coburn alternative which would have shut down the SCHIP program overtime and replaced it with a private insurance program. Thankfully, considering the current state of the private market, this amendment failed 62-36.
-A Bingaman (finally a Democrat!!!) amendment seeking to auto-enroll children who are eligible for SCHIP, but never signed up. This passed 55-43 with surprise no votes from Boxer and Feinstein of California, and Webb and Warner of Virginia. I wonder if there's something about those states in relation to this amendment that we don't know about.
-A Hutchison amendment to provide assistance to states that have trouble enrolling people in the SCHIP program. This failed badly 81-17.
So basically, the Republicans held up Senate business for two days to offer a myriad of amendments which all failed by sizable margins. Not exactly the pathway back to the majority, in my view. The bill will now go into conference so that the House and Senate can reconcile their versions of the bill. Expect SCHIP and the Stimulus to emerge from Congress by the February break. These are big, big changes to policy in this country, and it could all come in the first month of Obama's presidency!
LEDBETTER SIGNING: The President signed his first bill today, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which extends the statute of limitations on worker discrimination suits. He was surrounded by mostly female legislators including Speaker Pelosi, and Republican Senators Snowe and Collins from Maine. Ledbetter herself was in attendance, as was the First Lady. Michelle Obama made a speech AFTER the President had already left to get an economic briefing.
UNION DUES: The President tomorrow is expected to overturn Bush administration directives on labor relations. The only one known so far will be reversing a decision that forces unionized businesses to has a sign that says "You don't have to join a union." Obama will also announce the establishment of a task force on middle class issues led by Joe Biden (a good token role for the Vice President.)
It was a good day for labor though, as Obama blasted corporations for issuing huge bonuses to CEO's, calling them "outrageous."
GREGG???: There was a rumor going around that Obama may pick New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, a pretty conservative Republican, to be Secretary of Commerce. The pick would be advantageous to Democrats, because Gregg's vacancy would allow the Democratic Governor, John Lynch, to make an appointment. With the expected victory of Al Franken, this would give the Democrats their coveted 60 filibuster-proof votes in the Senate. Two questions: would Gregg give up the Senate seat knowing that it would cost his party power to do anything in the Senate? Would Obama really pick someone this fiscally conservative as Secretary of Commerce? TBD.
BLAGO OUT: It happened today, Blago was convicted by the Illinois State Senate and thrown out of office. Does anyone else suddenly have some sympathy for Blagojevich? He's insane, but part of me has a soft spot for him. Anyway, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn takes over.
LIBERAL PRESSURE: The liberals are stepping up the pressure on GOP lawmakers, especially moderate Senators from blue states. A variety of interest groups are beginning to run ads urging passage of the Obama plan. One group, Americans United for Change, is running ads asking "which side are you on? Obama's or Limbaugh's?" That seems like a good way of framing things for Democrats. I think these ads could be helpful in starting to put pressure of GOP members in more liberal areas. My thought though, is that Obama himself is enormously popular, far more so than any liberal interest group. Why should he have them do the dirty work? He should do it himself!
GOP CHAIR VOTE: Stay tuned for tomorrow's vote on the next chairman of the Republican National Committee. The candidates:
-Saul Anuzis (an RNC member from Michigan who has emphasized the need for Republicans to appeal to moderates in the midwest)
-Kenneth Blackwell (the African American former Secretary of State of Ohio, beloved by social conservatives)
-Mike Duncan (the incumbent)
-Michael Steele (the former Lt. Governor of Maryland, also an African American)
-Katon Dawson (the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party)
I'd say the state of the race is a tossup. My guess is that members deem Steele "too moderate" for not opposing abortion in cases of rape (yeah, I think it's true) and vote for either Duncan, Dawson or Anuzis. The missing candidate? Chip Saltsman of Tennessee, the guy who sent the GOP the parody song "Barack the Magic Negro." He dropped out of the race today.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Daily Strike-1/28/09-A Stimulating (and LONG) Day
Happy Wednesday, a day full of action in Congress. This will be one of the longer entries, so let's get to it!!
STIMULUS PASSES: The House of Representatives gave President Obama a big victory this evening in approving his stimulus package by a vote of 244-188. The bill received exactly zero Republican votes. My guess is that the leadership decided it was more politically advantageous to oppose the bill for a number of reasons, and figured that it would send the biggest message to have full party unity. This is dangerous for House Republicans. They have no power to actually stop the bill from passing, but they run the risk of being labeled as the "just say no" crowd, especially since a) Obama has explicitly reached out to them, b) the Democrats offered significant concessions, c) they have gotten killed in two straight elections and d) they're up against a popular President in a time of economic peril.. It also doesn't help that the face of their party this week has been Rush Limbaugh. When Phil Gingrey, a Representative from Georgia, criticized Rush for questioning the Republican leadership in Congress, he was forced to call in to Limbaugh's show to apologize. Eric Cantor, the Republican whip and architect of the Republican alternative, was engaging in some group-think with Limbaugh today, and the two of them agreed that the bill should be called the "pork-ulus." The House has lost most of its moderate Republicans, and I suspect it will lose more if it continues to act with such ideological rigidity.
But enough about them. Who were the 11 Democrats who bucked their party? Some familiar conservative Democrats:
-Boyd (FL)
-Bright (AL)
-Cooper (TN)
-Ellsworth (IN)
-Griffith (AL)
-Kanjorski (PA) (this one is more interesting. Kanjorski thinks there wasn't enough spending on transportation. He almost lost reelection last year even though he's held the seat for 24 years.)
-Kratovil (MD) (he's from a VERY Republican district in Maryland)
-Minnick (ID)
-Peterson (MN)
-Shuler (NC) (insert football joke)
-Taylor (MS)
The vote on final passage followed several procedural votes. The Republicans offered two alternatives. The first was a substitute amendment that would have made the bill almost entirely tax cuts instead of spending. It also had some other proposals, such as increased corporate tax cuts, some relief for home foreclosure and other measures. The bill failed by a vote of 266-170, largely along party lines. The other alternative would have stripped the bill of about 160 billion worth of spending, and replaced it with 30 billion more in infrastructure spending. This lost badly, partially because 30 House Republicans thought that even THIS alternative had too much spending. Final score? 270-159. Previously, the House had rejected some silly amendments, one from Rep. Neugebauer of Texas that would have stripped the bill of ALL spending, and the other from Rep. Flake of Arizona, whose pet cause seems to be eliminating funding for Amtrak. Several other amendments were agreed to on voice vote (no one requested a recorded vote).
The bill now moves on the Senate. The Senate version may actually be bigger than the House version, which would seem to not bode well for passage. However, the bill has added some Republican measures, like another temporary fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax (a tax that originally was intended for millionaires, but now hits middle-income people because it was never adjusted for inflation). The bill got some bipartisan support in Senate committees, so expect at least a few Republican votes in the Senate to assure passage. I expect that votes on amendments and final passage will be next week. Once it passes the Senate, the two Houses will have to work out differences in a conference committee to make the bills identical.
THE SENATE: Not to be outdone, the Senate had a busy day rejecting numerous Republican amendments on the State Children's Health Insurance Bill. What did the Senate reject?
-A Republican Substitute that would have cut the bill's size from 30 million to 10 million and would have mandated that only children under 200% of the poverty line would receive SCHIP care. The bill was defeated 65-32.
-An amendment by Sen. Martinez of Florida that would have overturned Obama's decision to allow government funding to overseas family planning services. (what does that have to do with anything?) It lost 60-37.
-An amendment by Sen. Cornyn of Texas that would have required money to be redirected toward coverage, outreach and enrollment of low income children instead of covering higher income children. Rejected 64-33.
-An amendment by Senator Roberts of Kansas that sought to prohibit SCHIP payments to states in which the income eligibility for Medicaid is greater than the income eligibility of SCHIP. Lost 60-36.
-An amendment by Sen. Kyl to prevent crowding out of private insurance programs. Lost 56-42.
-An amendment by Sen. Murkowski of Alaska to establish Best Practices. (this has to do with what I do for a living, but I still don't really understand it).
The common thread of all of these failed amendments is to limit coverage to poor children. The strategy here is to "means-test" the program so that only poorer kids are eligible. If middle-class families are eligible, Republicans worry, they will opt for the public program, and the slippery slope to single-payer health care will ensue. Once middle-class families take the public insurance, they will give political support to the program and ensure its viability. That's why I'm always in favor of entitlements instead of means-tested programs, because it gives more people a stake in government programs, which helps to ensure accountability and effectiveness.
NOTES ON THE VOTES: There were a handful of Republicans who voted against most of these amendments, and thus, would appear likely to support the underlying bill. These include: Senators Bond, Collins, Snowe, Specter and Murkowski (although she voted for her own amendment). Only the Kyl and Murkowski amendments got unanimous Republican support. Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a Democrat, voted FOR all of the amendments except the Republican alternative. The Murkowski amendment was the closest of all the votes, and included the support of some liberal Democrats, like Sens. Bingaman of NM and Klobuchar of MN.
One funny note, I think that Senator Vitter pulled a Hutchison by voting YES on a motion to kill the Cornyn amendment. I think he probably thought he was voting FOR the amendment itself. Seems like something the former customer of the DC Madam would do.
Tomorrow, the House is out for the Republican retreat. The Senate will finish the SCHIP bill, and we'll break down the final vote. Also, President Obama will sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (see yesterday's strike) and will presumably continue his stimulus push.
See you tomorrow night!
STIMULUS PASSES: The House of Representatives gave President Obama a big victory this evening in approving his stimulus package by a vote of 244-188. The bill received exactly zero Republican votes. My guess is that the leadership decided it was more politically advantageous to oppose the bill for a number of reasons, and figured that it would send the biggest message to have full party unity. This is dangerous for House Republicans. They have no power to actually stop the bill from passing, but they run the risk of being labeled as the "just say no" crowd, especially since a) Obama has explicitly reached out to them, b) the Democrats offered significant concessions, c) they have gotten killed in two straight elections and d) they're up against a popular President in a time of economic peril.. It also doesn't help that the face of their party this week has been Rush Limbaugh. When Phil Gingrey, a Representative from Georgia, criticized Rush for questioning the Republican leadership in Congress, he was forced to call in to Limbaugh's show to apologize. Eric Cantor, the Republican whip and architect of the Republican alternative, was engaging in some group-think with Limbaugh today, and the two of them agreed that the bill should be called the "pork-ulus." The House has lost most of its moderate Republicans, and I suspect it will lose more if it continues to act with such ideological rigidity.
But enough about them. Who were the 11 Democrats who bucked their party? Some familiar conservative Democrats:
-Boyd (FL)
-Bright (AL)
-Cooper (TN)
-Ellsworth (IN)
-Griffith (AL)
-Kanjorski (PA) (this one is more interesting. Kanjorski thinks there wasn't enough spending on transportation. He almost lost reelection last year even though he's held the seat for 24 years.)
-Kratovil (MD) (he's from a VERY Republican district in Maryland)
-Minnick (ID)
-Peterson (MN)
-Shuler (NC) (insert football joke)
-Taylor (MS)
The vote on final passage followed several procedural votes. The Republicans offered two alternatives. The first was a substitute amendment that would have made the bill almost entirely tax cuts instead of spending. It also had some other proposals, such as increased corporate tax cuts, some relief for home foreclosure and other measures. The bill failed by a vote of 266-170, largely along party lines. The other alternative would have stripped the bill of about 160 billion worth of spending, and replaced it with 30 billion more in infrastructure spending. This lost badly, partially because 30 House Republicans thought that even THIS alternative had too much spending. Final score? 270-159. Previously, the House had rejected some silly amendments, one from Rep. Neugebauer of Texas that would have stripped the bill of ALL spending, and the other from Rep. Flake of Arizona, whose pet cause seems to be eliminating funding for Amtrak. Several other amendments were agreed to on voice vote (no one requested a recorded vote).
The bill now moves on the Senate. The Senate version may actually be bigger than the House version, which would seem to not bode well for passage. However, the bill has added some Republican measures, like another temporary fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax (a tax that originally was intended for millionaires, but now hits middle-income people because it was never adjusted for inflation). The bill got some bipartisan support in Senate committees, so expect at least a few Republican votes in the Senate to assure passage. I expect that votes on amendments and final passage will be next week. Once it passes the Senate, the two Houses will have to work out differences in a conference committee to make the bills identical.
THE SENATE: Not to be outdone, the Senate had a busy day rejecting numerous Republican amendments on the State Children's Health Insurance Bill. What did the Senate reject?
-A Republican Substitute that would have cut the bill's size from 30 million to 10 million and would have mandated that only children under 200% of the poverty line would receive SCHIP care. The bill was defeated 65-32.
-An amendment by Sen. Martinez of Florida that would have overturned Obama's decision to allow government funding to overseas family planning services. (what does that have to do with anything?) It lost 60-37.
-An amendment by Sen. Cornyn of Texas that would have required money to be redirected toward coverage, outreach and enrollment of low income children instead of covering higher income children. Rejected 64-33.
-An amendment by Senator Roberts of Kansas that sought to prohibit SCHIP payments to states in which the income eligibility for Medicaid is greater than the income eligibility of SCHIP. Lost 60-36.
-An amendment by Sen. Kyl to prevent crowding out of private insurance programs. Lost 56-42.
-An amendment by Sen. Murkowski of Alaska to establish Best Practices. (this has to do with what I do for a living, but I still don't really understand it).
The common thread of all of these failed amendments is to limit coverage to poor children. The strategy here is to "means-test" the program so that only poorer kids are eligible. If middle-class families are eligible, Republicans worry, they will opt for the public program, and the slippery slope to single-payer health care will ensue. Once middle-class families take the public insurance, they will give political support to the program and ensure its viability. That's why I'm always in favor of entitlements instead of means-tested programs, because it gives more people a stake in government programs, which helps to ensure accountability and effectiveness.
NOTES ON THE VOTES: There were a handful of Republicans who voted against most of these amendments, and thus, would appear likely to support the underlying bill. These include: Senators Bond, Collins, Snowe, Specter and Murkowski (although she voted for her own amendment). Only the Kyl and Murkowski amendments got unanimous Republican support. Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a Democrat, voted FOR all of the amendments except the Republican alternative. The Murkowski amendment was the closest of all the votes, and included the support of some liberal Democrats, like Sens. Bingaman of NM and Klobuchar of MN.
One funny note, I think that Senator Vitter pulled a Hutchison by voting YES on a motion to kill the Cornyn amendment. I think he probably thought he was voting FOR the amendment itself. Seems like something the former customer of the DC Madam would do.
Tomorrow, the House is out for the Republican retreat. The Senate will finish the SCHIP bill, and we'll break down the final vote. Also, President Obama will sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (see yesterday's strike) and will presumably continue his stimulus push.
See you tomorrow night!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Daily Strike-1/27/09-Lilly, ARRA, Day on the Hill, Vocab III
Good Tuesday Evening and welcome to the Daily Strike!
CONGRESS: Today was a very busy day in Congress. This afternoon, President Obama met with the House Republicans. Their fearless leader, John Boehner of Ohio, set a "great" tone for the meeting by announcing to his members that they should oppose the bill. From inside accounts, the meeting was cordial. Obama told them that he would not compromise on the tax portion of the bill and even encouraged Republicans to "beat me over the head" with it.
The Republicans will largely oppose this bill, so these meetings are mostly for show. If Obama doesn't get Republican votes, he can at least say that he reached out.
The House of Representatives passed a final version of the Lilly Ledbetter Act by a vote of 250-177. 3 Republicans joined 245 Democrats in voting for the bill, and 5 Democrats joined the remaining Republicans in opposition. Who are the guilty Dems? Dan Boren of Oklahoma (he of "I won't vote for Obama" fame), Bobby Bright of Alabama, who seems like the second most conservative freshman Democrat, Parker Griffith of Alabama, Allen Boyd of Florida and Travis Childers of Mississippi. The bill now goes to President Obama for his first signature in office. Watch for a large signing ceremony with a lot of women present!
Perhaps the most important vote of the day was on a procedural measure to begin debate on the stimulus. Voting for the measure meant voting to consider the bill despite the fact that it does not adhere to the House's Pay-as-you-go budgeting rules. The vote was very close, as 27 Democrats joined every Republican in voting against the motion. The final vote was 224-199. This is an important sign that even with significant opposition from the conservative Blue Dog Democrats, the House leadership can still largely exact its will with 10 to 15 votes to spare. This is the ULTIMATE test, because the signature issue of the Blue Dogs is Pay-as-you-go budgeting. Tomorrow, the House will vote on a Republican alternative and on final passage, which will be the biggest moment of Obama's young Presidency. The other day, I predicted passage with 240-260 votes, which now seems a bit high, seeing how Republicans are intent on not cooperating with the President. I'd say it will pass with 230-240 votes, with little to no Republican support, and some conservative Democratic opposition. We'll talk about the votes tomorrow.
The Senate began consideration of the State Children's Health Insurance Program today. The Republicans are expressing opposition to the bill for a whole host of reasons. The only vote today was to kill an amendment offered by the ultra-conservative South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint to make children of parents who make above 200% of the poverty line make co-pays for health insurance. It was killed, thankfully. The final vote was 60-37, largely along party lines. Republican crossvers: Collins (ME), Hutchison (TX) (did she realize what she was voting for? I think she may have thought she was voting FOR the amendment, and not to KILL the amendment), and Specter (PA). Claire McCaskill voted with the Republicans, but she may have made the same mistake as Hutchison. I can't explain why she would vote to allow that amendment. Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on more amendments, a Republican alternative, and possibly final passage of the bill. SCHIP will most likely return to the House before being signed by President Obama as a major accomplishment early in his Presidency.
The Senate Appropriations Committee also approved their portion of the stimulus bill by a vote of 21-9.
A cool link today from the great Nate Silver, who analyzes which Republicans have been voting with the new President in the Senate:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/01/fili-buster-watch.html
VOCAB III: Today's term is "The Committee of the Whole." When the House of Representatives is debating legislation it often resolves itself into the "committee of the whole." This means that the House is acting as if it is one large committee, for the purpose of expediting debate. When the House is in the Committee of the Whole, it can debate without some of the stricter rules that exist in the regular House of Representatives, such as requiring 218 members to establish a quorum. Debate on amendments is limited to five minutes per side. Amendments can be voted on in the Committee of the Whole. When the debate is over, the committee rises and becomes the full House of Representatives, which must approve the amendments passed in the committee of the whole (usually a formality). No votes on final passage can occur when the House is in the committee of the whole. Complicated? Yes. Pointless? Probably. Do I, a parliamentary nerd, understand it? Not really.
CONGRESS: Today was a very busy day in Congress. This afternoon, President Obama met with the House Republicans. Their fearless leader, John Boehner of Ohio, set a "great" tone for the meeting by announcing to his members that they should oppose the bill. From inside accounts, the meeting was cordial. Obama told them that he would not compromise on the tax portion of the bill and even encouraged Republicans to "beat me over the head" with it.
The Republicans will largely oppose this bill, so these meetings are mostly for show. If Obama doesn't get Republican votes, he can at least say that he reached out.
The House of Representatives passed a final version of the Lilly Ledbetter Act by a vote of 250-177. 3 Republicans joined 245 Democrats in voting for the bill, and 5 Democrats joined the remaining Republicans in opposition. Who are the guilty Dems? Dan Boren of Oklahoma (he of "I won't vote for Obama" fame), Bobby Bright of Alabama, who seems like the second most conservative freshman Democrat, Parker Griffith of Alabama, Allen Boyd of Florida and Travis Childers of Mississippi. The bill now goes to President Obama for his first signature in office. Watch for a large signing ceremony with a lot of women present!
Perhaps the most important vote of the day was on a procedural measure to begin debate on the stimulus. Voting for the measure meant voting to consider the bill despite the fact that it does not adhere to the House's Pay-as-you-go budgeting rules. The vote was very close, as 27 Democrats joined every Republican in voting against the motion. The final vote was 224-199. This is an important sign that even with significant opposition from the conservative Blue Dog Democrats, the House leadership can still largely exact its will with 10 to 15 votes to spare. This is the ULTIMATE test, because the signature issue of the Blue Dogs is Pay-as-you-go budgeting. Tomorrow, the House will vote on a Republican alternative and on final passage, which will be the biggest moment of Obama's young Presidency. The other day, I predicted passage with 240-260 votes, which now seems a bit high, seeing how Republicans are intent on not cooperating with the President. I'd say it will pass with 230-240 votes, with little to no Republican support, and some conservative Democratic opposition. We'll talk about the votes tomorrow.
The Senate began consideration of the State Children's Health Insurance Program today. The Republicans are expressing opposition to the bill for a whole host of reasons. The only vote today was to kill an amendment offered by the ultra-conservative South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint to make children of parents who make above 200% of the poverty line make co-pays for health insurance. It was killed, thankfully. The final vote was 60-37, largely along party lines. Republican crossvers: Collins (ME), Hutchison (TX) (did she realize what she was voting for? I think she may have thought she was voting FOR the amendment, and not to KILL the amendment), and Specter (PA). Claire McCaskill voted with the Republicans, but she may have made the same mistake as Hutchison. I can't explain why she would vote to allow that amendment. Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on more amendments, a Republican alternative, and possibly final passage of the bill. SCHIP will most likely return to the House before being signed by President Obama as a major accomplishment early in his Presidency.
The Senate Appropriations Committee also approved their portion of the stimulus bill by a vote of 21-9.
A cool link today from the great Nate Silver, who analyzes which Republicans have been voting with the new President in the Senate:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/01/fili-buster-watch.html
VOCAB III: Today's term is "The Committee of the Whole." When the House of Representatives is debating legislation it often resolves itself into the "committee of the whole." This means that the House is acting as if it is one large committee, for the purpose of expediting debate. When the House is in the Committee of the Whole, it can debate without some of the stricter rules that exist in the regular House of Representatives, such as requiring 218 members to establish a quorum. Debate on amendments is limited to five minutes per side. Amendments can be voted on in the Committee of the Whole. When the debate is over, the committee rises and becomes the full House of Representatives, which must approve the amendments passed in the committee of the whole (usually a formality). No votes on final passage can occur when the House is in the committee of the whole. Complicated? Yes. Pointless? Probably. Do I, a parliamentary nerd, understand it? Not really.
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