Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. It was another one of those busy Thursdays on Capital Hill, so let's get right to it.
THE HOUSE: We start today in the House, where members voted on a $15 billion jobs measure. Contrary to what we reported last night, the House did not agree to the Senate bill verbatim. Instead, the House sent the bill back to the Senate with a couple of minor changes. To appease liberals who said that the bill didn't go far enough, the leadership added money for a summer youth employment program. This was a small, but significant, provision won by progressives. Right-wing Blue Dog Democrats didn't like that the bill wasn't paid for. To appease them, Democratic leaders made some tweaks to existing corporate tax laws that, as a result, will make the jobs bill budget neutral.
I think the House is wasting its time, quite frankly. This was supposed to be a small, limited bill that was to get the ball rolling on a more robust jobs agenda. The bill somehow passed the Senate with large bipartisan support. The House should have rushed this bill to the President's desk as quickly as possible. Now, the Senate will have to approve the House changes. This, of course, could take up to a week considering that Senate Republicans will relish a new opportunity to obstruct Democratic progress.
Despite the changes to the bill, the House only passed the jobs measure by a close vote of 217-201. 6 Republicans supported the bill: Camp (MI), Cao (LA), Duncan (TN), Ehlers (MI), T. Murphy (PA), and Young (AK). 35 Democrats voted no. I've divided them into those that opposed the bill from the left, and those who opposed it from the right, and those who are just contrarians for the heck of it.
From the Left: Brown (FL), Clarke (NY), Clay (MO), Cleaver (MO), Conyers (MI), Davis (IL), Doggett (TX), Edwards (MD), Fudge (OH), A. Green (TX), Grijalva (AZ), Hastings (FL), Jackson (IL), Jackson Lee (TX), Johnson (GA), E.B. Johnson (TX), Kilpatrick (MI), Lee (CA), Moore (WI), Pastor (AZ), Payne (NJ), Polis (CO), Richardson (CA), Rush (IL), Thompson (MS), Towns (NY), Waters (CA) and Watt (NC)
From the Right: Driehaus (OH), Kirkpatrick (AZ), Mitchell (AZ) and Perriello (VA).
Just Because: Baird (WA), Schrader (OR), and Visclosky (IN).
THE SENATE: Not to be outdone, the Senate spent the day working on a jobs package of their own. The Senate bill would extend expiring tax breaks, unemployment beneifts and COBRA through the end of the year. It would also give aid to cash-strapped states to cover Medicaid costs. This may be the most stimulative bill that the Democrats have considered since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed last year. By extending the social safety net, and providing critical money to state governments, Congress will help keep money in consumer's pockets. That is, if the bill can survive a continuing onslaught of amendments.
The Senate voted on three critical amendments this afternoon, and each of them failed to get the 60 votes needed to super cede budget rules.
The first amendment, offered by new Massachusetts Senate Scott Brown, would redirect stimulus money towards payroll tax cuts for the middle-class. I would be supportive of this amendment if the it wasn't using stimulus money. But there's no reason to take money away from stimulative projects like infrastructure spending and gear it towards tax cuts (which are not as stimulating). The Brown amendment failed by a vote of 44-56. All Republicans voted yes, but only Democrats Kerry (MA) and Lincoln (AR) joined them. I guess Kerry is trying hard to make friends with his fellow MA Senator.
The next amendment, from Senator Burr (NC) would have the federal government reimburse state and local governments for a sales tax holiday. This would be a pretty regressive tax break, because it would unduly reward those who are already able to spend more. It also would add tremendously to the federal deficit. I'm all for supporting deficit spending during a recession, but Burr should never be allowed to complain about deficits again. The amendment failed 22-78. Only Republicans voted yes.
The final amendment, offered by Senators Sessions (AL) and McCaskill (MO) would implement a freeze on discretionary spending. Anyone who has read this blog knows that I will never be a fan of this idea. The amendment failed by a vote of 59-41. Thus, it was one vote shy of getting the 60 needed for passage. All Republicans, as you would expect, voted for this amendment. Democrats Bayh (IN), Begich (AK), Bennet (CO), Cantwell (WA), Carper (DE), Hagan (NC), Klobuchar (MN), Lieberman (CT), Lincoln (AR), McCaskill (MO), Nelson (NE), Nelson (FL), Pryor (AR), Shaheen (NH), Tester (MT), Udall (CO), Warner (VA) and Webb (VA) all voted yes as well.
The Senate will resume consideration of this legislation next week.
Senators also voted 99-0 to confirm William Conley to be a District Judge in Wisconsin.
HEALTH CARE: There is not too much to update on the health care front today. Two separate groups of Democrats, one representing liberals and the other representing centrists, came to the White House today to meet with the President. After one of the sessions, Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowley insisted that the House will have the votes to pass the Senate health care bill and a package of changes via reconciliation.
Once again, abortion has emerged as a sticking point. Bart Stupak, who has proved to be a one man wrecking crew for health care reform, says that he can't accept the Senate's language on abortion. Changes to the bill relating to abortion can not be passed through reconciliation, since abortion is not directly related to the budget. Stupak and the 12 other Democrats he claims will vote against the health care bill solely because of abortion will have to strike a deal with the Democratic leadership.
That's it for today. Please leave some comments!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Daily Strike-3/3/10-The Good, the Ugly and the Very Ugly
Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. The best thing I can say to sum up the day is: thank God you are not a Democratic member of Congress from New York.
THE GOOD: President Obama today made official his plans to finish health reform in the next couple of weeks. Telling the nation that we've been through a year-long debate, and that it's time to get the job done, the President asked Congress to get a health care package to him by the Easter recess later this month. He made clear that he's not sure whether this will be politically beneficial to him or his party, but that it was the right thing to do. It was certainly the most direct he's been with the American public about the specific steps needed to get health reform done.
It will be a tall order to fulfill this goal, especially in the House. The House bill passed in November with 220 votes. Several of those "yes" votes will be "no" votes unless the abortion language in the bill mirrors the Stupak language in the original House bill. Furthermore, many House Democrats, including both those who voted yes and those who voted no, have become convinced that supporting a health care bill now would be politically perilous. As The Big Picture says, there would be nothing more insane than if "after Obama says he's not baking down, House Democrats think they're better off if he suffers a humiliating defeat, which would mean Democrats spent all their time with nothing to show for it. It would be just so stupid."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that the House will take up the Senate health bill as soon as his caucus gets assurances from 51 Senate Democrats that they will pass a series of fixes to the bill via reconciliation. This is creating a bit of a game of chicken between the House and the Senate. At this point though, because Democrats clearly have the 51 votes to proceed with reconciliation in the Senate, the real slog will be getting 216 Democrats on board in the House. Let the arm twisting begin.
THE UGLY: It was bound to happen sooner or later. After years of facing numerous ethics charges, New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel has given up his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee. The chairman of the tax-writing committee apparently had a lot of trouble filling out an honest tax return. His ethics violations are so numerous that I don't even know what the straw was that broke the camel's back. Either way, it was long past time for this corrupt lawmaker to get out of the way. Rangel will be replaced (temporarily, at least) by California Rep. Pete Stark, a hardcore liberal who has never been shy about attacking the Republican party. It is possible that I might try and watch every Ways and Means Committee hearing this year.
THE VERY UGLY: Freshman Democratic Rep. Eric Massa (NY) announced that he will not seek reelection today. Massa has had a recurrence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and appeared to indicate on a conference call today that his illness might become life-limiting. However, the real reason Massa is retiring might be that he has been accused of making unwanted sexual advances on a young male staffer. The House Ethics Committee is currently investigating the matter. Massa sort of denied these charges by saying that he was only guilty of using "salty language" in private. Massa's upstate New York seat is very competitive, and it might lean Republican in this cycle of the guy Massa beat, former Rep. Randy Kuhl, tries to get his old seat back.
THE HOUSE: The House passed a bill today that would prevent harmful restraint and seclusion of children in public schools. This bill, which would seem like a no-brainer to most of us, only passed by a vote of 262-153. 145 Republicans and 8 Democrats voted against this bill, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. I guess it's controversial these days for the Federal government to set out minimum standards that protect against school personnel keeping students under restraint.
The House agreed to a Flake (R-AZ) amendment to the bill that would ensure that any grants issued under the legislation were done so using competitive, merit-based procedures. Sounds fair enough to me.
The House tomorrow will take up the Senate-passed jobs measure after a week of delay. It appears that the Democrats will have enough votes to clear the $15 billion bill and send it to President Obama for his signature.
THE SENATE: The Senate was finally able to break Senator Bunning's (R-KY) filibuster of a bill to temporarily extend various expiring tax provisions, as well as unemployment and COBRA benefits. The Senate is now working on a bill that will extend these expiring provisions even further. The Senate voted on seven amendments to this bill, but has not yet voted on final passage. Your loyal blogger is too tired to run down these amendments tonight. If you want to see a list, you can click here. We'll cover a vote on final passage tomorrow night.
That's it for now. Leave comments!
THE GOOD: President Obama today made official his plans to finish health reform in the next couple of weeks. Telling the nation that we've been through a year-long debate, and that it's time to get the job done, the President asked Congress to get a health care package to him by the Easter recess later this month. He made clear that he's not sure whether this will be politically beneficial to him or his party, but that it was the right thing to do. It was certainly the most direct he's been with the American public about the specific steps needed to get health reform done.
It will be a tall order to fulfill this goal, especially in the House. The House bill passed in November with 220 votes. Several of those "yes" votes will be "no" votes unless the abortion language in the bill mirrors the Stupak language in the original House bill. Furthermore, many House Democrats, including both those who voted yes and those who voted no, have become convinced that supporting a health care bill now would be politically perilous. As The Big Picture says, there would be nothing more insane than if "after Obama says he's not baking down, House Democrats think they're better off if he suffers a humiliating defeat, which would mean Democrats spent all their time with nothing to show for it. It would be just so stupid."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that the House will take up the Senate health bill as soon as his caucus gets assurances from 51 Senate Democrats that they will pass a series of fixes to the bill via reconciliation. This is creating a bit of a game of chicken between the House and the Senate. At this point though, because Democrats clearly have the 51 votes to proceed with reconciliation in the Senate, the real slog will be getting 216 Democrats on board in the House. Let the arm twisting begin.
THE UGLY: It was bound to happen sooner or later. After years of facing numerous ethics charges, New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel has given up his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee. The chairman of the tax-writing committee apparently had a lot of trouble filling out an honest tax return. His ethics violations are so numerous that I don't even know what the straw was that broke the camel's back. Either way, it was long past time for this corrupt lawmaker to get out of the way. Rangel will be replaced (temporarily, at least) by California Rep. Pete Stark, a hardcore liberal who has never been shy about attacking the Republican party. It is possible that I might try and watch every Ways and Means Committee hearing this year.
THE VERY UGLY: Freshman Democratic Rep. Eric Massa (NY) announced that he will not seek reelection today. Massa has had a recurrence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and appeared to indicate on a conference call today that his illness might become life-limiting. However, the real reason Massa is retiring might be that he has been accused of making unwanted sexual advances on a young male staffer. The House Ethics Committee is currently investigating the matter. Massa sort of denied these charges by saying that he was only guilty of using "salty language" in private. Massa's upstate New York seat is very competitive, and it might lean Republican in this cycle of the guy Massa beat, former Rep. Randy Kuhl, tries to get his old seat back.
THE HOUSE: The House passed a bill today that would prevent harmful restraint and seclusion of children in public schools. This bill, which would seem like a no-brainer to most of us, only passed by a vote of 262-153. 145 Republicans and 8 Democrats voted against this bill, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. I guess it's controversial these days for the Federal government to set out minimum standards that protect against school personnel keeping students under restraint.
The House agreed to a Flake (R-AZ) amendment to the bill that would ensure that any grants issued under the legislation were done so using competitive, merit-based procedures. Sounds fair enough to me.
The House tomorrow will take up the Senate-passed jobs measure after a week of delay. It appears that the Democrats will have enough votes to clear the $15 billion bill and send it to President Obama for his signature.
THE SENATE: The Senate was finally able to break Senator Bunning's (R-KY) filibuster of a bill to temporarily extend various expiring tax provisions, as well as unemployment and COBRA benefits. The Senate is now working on a bill that will extend these expiring provisions even further. The Senate voted on seven amendments to this bill, but has not yet voted on final passage. Your loyal blogger is too tired to run down these amendments tonight. If you want to see a list, you can click here. We'll cover a vote on final passage tomorrow night.
That's it for now. Leave comments!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Daily Strike-3/2/10-Take Their Ideas and Move On
Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. It is possible, not likely, but possible, that we're beginning to see the Democrats have a little fight in them.
(LATE UPDATE: It looks like Bunning has given up his one man filibuster. He has agreed to let the Senate vote on a temporary extension of unemployment benefits this evening. We'll have more on this tomorrow).
HEALTH CARE: So it looks like President Obama has sent his clearest signal yet as to how he plans to end the health reform fight. The President sent a letter to Congressional leaders today that contained a list of Republican ideas he wants included in the final bill. Below these suggestions was the demand that Congress pass a bill as soon as possible. Among the Republican ideas Obama was to accept:
1. A program by Senator Coburn (R-OK) to route out waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare. This would include super-sneaky undercover investigations of health providers.
2. More funding to states for demonstration projects to crack down on malpractice abuse.
3. Increased funding to states to fund a Medicaid expansion (not sure this is really a GOP idea).
4. Expansion of health savings accounts.
I don't have any real objection to including these ideas in the final version of health reform. These concessions will not gain any Republican votes. Again, it's all about showing the American electorate that we TRIED to include Republicans in the process. This could give vulnerable Democrats some political cover to vote for the bill, I suppose.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has hinted on a timeline for a health care endgame. The CBO would grade the President's revised proposal by next week. The House would then vote for a reconciliation package consisting of the President's changes to the Senate bill. That package will go to the Senate, where it could pass with a simple majority (the GOP will try any delay tactic in the book to make that process more difficult). Next, the House would approve the original Senate package and send both bills to President Obama. The idea would be to get all of this done by the Easter Congressional recess, which is the last week in March. This plan might be wise because the House would only accept the flawed Senate bill when they have been absolutely sure that the package of changes have been approved.
BUNNING: The showdown with chief Republican obstructionist Jim Bunning continues. Democrats have repeatedly asked unanimous consent today to move a package of tax extenders that includes an extension of unemployment and COBRA insurance. Bunning repeatedly objected, as he has been doing for the past week or so. Democrats are sensing that they can make some political hay out of this obstructionism. There are reports tonight that the Democrats might actually make Bunning physically filibuster all night. Bunning is in his late-70's. Eventually he'll have to make a run for the rest room. Democrats will be there to ask unanimous consent to the pass the bill. If Bunning wants his filibuster to succeed, he'll have to bring another Republican colleague to the floor to object. This, I think, would make some good political theater.
Of course, the American people don't want political theater. They want their unemployment benefits. Democrats could have filed cloture on this bill and gotten it passed by now. At a certain point, they should be more focused on doing the people's business than exploiting Republican obstructionism. Of course, I'd be happy if they could do both.
The Senate did find time today to approve the nomination of Barbara Keenan to be a Circut Court Judge by a vote of 99-0. Despite the unanimous vote, Republicans still filibustered her nomination just to stall time. They forced Democrats to hold two 99-0 votes, one to cut off debate on the nomination, and one on the nomination itself.
The only person not voting was Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is home campaigning in today's primary election for Texas Governor. It looks likely that her only chance of winning that race will be if she can force incumbent Governor Rick Perry into a runoff.
THE HOUSE: The House today voted on a few suspension bills. They'll get into serious legislative business tomorrow and Thursday, including a bill on child safety and possible consideration (hopefully) of a Senate-passed jobs measure.
That's it for now. See you tomorrow evening! Leave comments!
(LATE UPDATE: It looks like Bunning has given up his one man filibuster. He has agreed to let the Senate vote on a temporary extension of unemployment benefits this evening. We'll have more on this tomorrow).
HEALTH CARE: So it looks like President Obama has sent his clearest signal yet as to how he plans to end the health reform fight. The President sent a letter to Congressional leaders today that contained a list of Republican ideas he wants included in the final bill. Below these suggestions was the demand that Congress pass a bill as soon as possible. Among the Republican ideas Obama was to accept:
1. A program by Senator Coburn (R-OK) to route out waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare. This would include super-sneaky undercover investigations of health providers.
2. More funding to states for demonstration projects to crack down on malpractice abuse.
3. Increased funding to states to fund a Medicaid expansion (not sure this is really a GOP idea).
4. Expansion of health savings accounts.
I don't have any real objection to including these ideas in the final version of health reform. These concessions will not gain any Republican votes. Again, it's all about showing the American electorate that we TRIED to include Republicans in the process. This could give vulnerable Democrats some political cover to vote for the bill, I suppose.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has hinted on a timeline for a health care endgame. The CBO would grade the President's revised proposal by next week. The House would then vote for a reconciliation package consisting of the President's changes to the Senate bill. That package will go to the Senate, where it could pass with a simple majority (the GOP will try any delay tactic in the book to make that process more difficult). Next, the House would approve the original Senate package and send both bills to President Obama. The idea would be to get all of this done by the Easter Congressional recess, which is the last week in March. This plan might be wise because the House would only accept the flawed Senate bill when they have been absolutely sure that the package of changes have been approved.
BUNNING: The showdown with chief Republican obstructionist Jim Bunning continues. Democrats have repeatedly asked unanimous consent today to move a package of tax extenders that includes an extension of unemployment and COBRA insurance. Bunning repeatedly objected, as he has been doing for the past week or so. Democrats are sensing that they can make some political hay out of this obstructionism. There are reports tonight that the Democrats might actually make Bunning physically filibuster all night. Bunning is in his late-70's. Eventually he'll have to make a run for the rest room. Democrats will be there to ask unanimous consent to the pass the bill. If Bunning wants his filibuster to succeed, he'll have to bring another Republican colleague to the floor to object. This, I think, would make some good political theater.
Of course, the American people don't want political theater. They want their unemployment benefits. Democrats could have filed cloture on this bill and gotten it passed by now. At a certain point, they should be more focused on doing the people's business than exploiting Republican obstructionism. Of course, I'd be happy if they could do both.
The Senate did find time today to approve the nomination of Barbara Keenan to be a Circut Court Judge by a vote of 99-0. Despite the unanimous vote, Republicans still filibustered her nomination just to stall time. They forced Democrats to hold two 99-0 votes, one to cut off debate on the nomination, and one on the nomination itself.
The only person not voting was Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is home campaigning in today's primary election for Texas Governor. It looks likely that her only chance of winning that race will be if she can force incumbent Governor Rick Perry into a runoff.
THE HOUSE: The House today voted on a few suspension bills. They'll get into serious legislative business tomorrow and Thursday, including a bill on child safety and possible consideration (hopefully) of a Senate-passed jobs measure.
That's it for now. See you tomorrow evening! Leave comments!
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Daily Strike-3/1/10-The Bunning Blockade
Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. Before you continue, make sure you catch up on the week in politics in the Weekly Strike.
BUNNING: Senator Bunning (R-KY) is holding millions of Americans hostage. Bunning, with tacit support from the Republican leadership, has objected to numerous requests to pass a bill that extends unemployment and COBRA benefits, along with other expiring programs. Today, because Bunning has blocked transportation funding, 2,000 workers began furloughs.
Bunning says that he wants to offset the bill with spending cuts. Democrats obviously disagreed with him, but offered to let Bunning offer his cuts as an amendment. Bunning declined. Democratic leaders now have to go through many procedural hurdles to pass these extensions. This process could take several days.
And now we are learning that he's not acting alone. Republican Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) now says that we shouldn't be extending unemployment benefits because it is a "disincentive" to work. The Democrats NEED to exploit the Republicans on this one. Republicans and their tea party allies can talk all they want about "limited government" and "cutting government spending." They rally their base by saying that they have to stop runaway spending. Bunning's hold is the manifestation of these views. No unemployment or COBRA benefits for you or your family is the consequence of the conservative ideology. I think pointing these facts out to the American public would be very useful.
ELECTION NEWS: We just learned tonight that former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford (D) will not challenge incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the New York Senate Primary. Ford's campaign has been a complete joke. He said that he had been in every New York borough only "by helicopter." He completely changed policy positions from his days as a member of The House. He even positioned himself as a defender of Wall Street. Gillibrand has been a very effective Senator mainly because she was positioning herself against a potential liberal primary challenge. I hope now that Gillibrand's path to the Democratic nomination is clear, she still maintains her liberal voting record.
THE WHITE HOUSE: Today, President Obama announced $900 million in grants to low-performing schools to help improve drop-out rates. The move was announced at the education foundation started by Colin and Alma Powell. I'm glad the President is embarking on this initiative, though $900 million is very little money in the grand scheme of things. It seems that, so far at least, the President has been more content to pursue a piecemeal education agenda.
That's it for tonight. See you tomorrow!
BUNNING: Senator Bunning (R-KY) is holding millions of Americans hostage. Bunning, with tacit support from the Republican leadership, has objected to numerous requests to pass a bill that extends unemployment and COBRA benefits, along with other expiring programs. Today, because Bunning has blocked transportation funding, 2,000 workers began furloughs.
Bunning says that he wants to offset the bill with spending cuts. Democrats obviously disagreed with him, but offered to let Bunning offer his cuts as an amendment. Bunning declined. Democratic leaders now have to go through many procedural hurdles to pass these extensions. This process could take several days.
And now we are learning that he's not acting alone. Republican Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) now says that we shouldn't be extending unemployment benefits because it is a "disincentive" to work. The Democrats NEED to exploit the Republicans on this one. Republicans and their tea party allies can talk all they want about "limited government" and "cutting government spending." They rally their base by saying that they have to stop runaway spending. Bunning's hold is the manifestation of these views. No unemployment or COBRA benefits for you or your family is the consequence of the conservative ideology. I think pointing these facts out to the American public would be very useful.
ELECTION NEWS: We just learned tonight that former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford (D) will not challenge incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the New York Senate Primary. Ford's campaign has been a complete joke. He said that he had been in every New York borough only "by helicopter." He completely changed policy positions from his days as a member of The House. He even positioned himself as a defender of Wall Street. Gillibrand has been a very effective Senator mainly because she was positioning herself against a potential liberal primary challenge. I hope now that Gillibrand's path to the Democratic nomination is clear, she still maintains her liberal voting record.
THE WHITE HOUSE: Today, President Obama announced $900 million in grants to low-performing schools to help improve drop-out rates. The move was announced at the education foundation started by Colin and Alma Powell. I'm glad the President is embarking on this initiative, though $900 million is very little money in the grand scheme of things. It seems that, so far at least, the President has been more content to pursue a piecemeal education agenda.
That's it for tonight. See you tomorrow!
The Weekly Strike-3/1-3/7
Good morning and welcome to the Weekly Strike. Please excuse my negligence on Friday night. I had just ended a long car trip. What did I miss?
-The Senate is being held hostage by a one Jim Bunning (R-KY). Democrats tried to pass an extension of unemployment and COBRA benefits by unanimous consent, but Bunning repeatedly objected. Inexplicably, Democrats basically gave up their fight midday, and thus, unemployment benefits will expire for millions of Americans this morning. Democrats will be forced to go through the arduous process of breaking cloture and scheduling a vote on the bill, which will hopefully happen by the end of the week.
-The House passed a bill authorizing intelligence programs by a vote of 235-168. Democrats tried to sneak in a provision that would allow for the prosecution of torture, but they were forced to remove it when confronted by lawmakers of both parties, and unfortunately, the White House. 9 liberal Democrats voted against the bill, along with all but one House Republican. Apparently, there wasn't enough pro-torture stuff in there.
Now, we return to the present.
THE WHITE HOUSE: The President's week begins this morning with a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Conference about education. The speech relates to the " America's Promise Alliance" founded by Colin and Alma Powell. The President spends the rest of the day meeting with various cabinet secretaries.
On Wednesday, the President will announce his proposed way forward on health care reform. If I were a betting man, I would guess that he would endorse the idea of the House passing the Senate bill, followed by a package of fixes to be passed via reconciliation. Democrats face challenges mustering up votes for this proposal in both chambers, though for once the effort in the House seems a bit tougher. In the Senate, since the package of fixes will be a reconciliation bill, Democrats can afford to lose 9 of their own members if Vice President Biden breaks a tie. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has to cope with a large portion of her caucus that is nervous about reelection prospects, and that for some reason thinks voting against health care will save their political careers. The original House bill passed 220-215. Since that time, three House members have retired (2 Democrats and 1 Republican, which we'll discuss below), and John Murtha passed away. Therefore, Pelosi needs 216 votes to round up a majority. We'll be closely following the Speaker's efforts to whip her members.
THE HOUSE: Speaking of the House, they have a pretty busy week on tap. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will vote on a series of suspension bills. On Thursday, the House will consider a bill to "prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools, and for other purposes." The bill would impose minimum federal standards to protect public school children from being physically restrained or put in seclusion by school personnel. Sounds like a good idea to me. There is an exception written into the bill if there is a situation that presents an imminent danger. I imagine this would be a Columbine-like incident that would necessitate students being quarantined in classrooms.
The House is also likely to pass the Senate's modest $15 billion jobs bill. Liberal Democrats have threatened to withhold their support because they don't think the bill is big enough. I agree that the bill isn't big enough, but they must pass this bill to get the jobs agenda rolling. The bill passed the Senate last week with strong bipartisan support.
THE SENATE: The Senate will begin consideration of a package of tax-break extenders that will include the aforementioned extensions of unemployment and COBRA benefits. No votes are scheduled on the bill, but I expect something to be passed by midweek. The House would probably approve these extensions late Thursday and send the bill to the President.
The Senate does have a vote scheduled tomorrow on the nomination of Barbara Keenan to be a U.S. Circuit Court Judge. I don't know anything about her, which leads me to believe that her nomination shouldn't be terribly controversial.
ELECTION UPDATES: As we hinted above, another member of Congress is stepping down in the middle of his term. Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) is retiring this week to focus on his run for Governor. Democratic Reps. Abercrombie (HI) and Wexler (FL) have already stepped down to pursue other ventures. With John Murtha's death, that leaves four vacancies in the House that must be filled through a special election. I expect the only competitive race would be for Murtha's seat, a swing district in Pennsylvania.
Also over the weekend, another Republican announced his retirement. This time, it was John Linder (GA). Overall, 20 Republicans are retiring, as opposed to just 15 Democrats. This seems pretty counter-intuitive given the dire predictions for Democrats this fall.
On the Senate side, this morning Arkansas Lt. Governor Bill Halter announced that he will challenge incumbent Blanche Lincoln in the primary. This is great news for Washington Democrats. So far, Lincoln has only been challenged on the far-right. She has been forced to take more conservative positions on issues. Now she'll be getting pressure from both the left and the right. I currently rate Lincoln's prospects for reelection very low. (See rankings on the right side of your screen).
That's it for this morning. Please leave us some comments!
-The Senate is being held hostage by a one Jim Bunning (R-KY). Democrats tried to pass an extension of unemployment and COBRA benefits by unanimous consent, but Bunning repeatedly objected. Inexplicably, Democrats basically gave up their fight midday, and thus, unemployment benefits will expire for millions of Americans this morning. Democrats will be forced to go through the arduous process of breaking cloture and scheduling a vote on the bill, which will hopefully happen by the end of the week.
-The House passed a bill authorizing intelligence programs by a vote of 235-168. Democrats tried to sneak in a provision that would allow for the prosecution of torture, but they were forced to remove it when confronted by lawmakers of both parties, and unfortunately, the White House. 9 liberal Democrats voted against the bill, along with all but one House Republican. Apparently, there wasn't enough pro-torture stuff in there.
Now, we return to the present.
THE WHITE HOUSE: The President's week begins this morning with a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Conference about education. The speech relates to the " America's Promise Alliance" founded by Colin and Alma Powell. The President spends the rest of the day meeting with various cabinet secretaries.
On Wednesday, the President will announce his proposed way forward on health care reform. If I were a betting man, I would guess that he would endorse the idea of the House passing the Senate bill, followed by a package of fixes to be passed via reconciliation. Democrats face challenges mustering up votes for this proposal in both chambers, though for once the effort in the House seems a bit tougher. In the Senate, since the package of fixes will be a reconciliation bill, Democrats can afford to lose 9 of their own members if Vice President Biden breaks a tie. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has to cope with a large portion of her caucus that is nervous about reelection prospects, and that for some reason thinks voting against health care will save their political careers. The original House bill passed 220-215. Since that time, three House members have retired (2 Democrats and 1 Republican, which we'll discuss below), and John Murtha passed away. Therefore, Pelosi needs 216 votes to round up a majority. We'll be closely following the Speaker's efforts to whip her members.
THE HOUSE: Speaking of the House, they have a pretty busy week on tap. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will vote on a series of suspension bills. On Thursday, the House will consider a bill to "prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools, and for other purposes." The bill would impose minimum federal standards to protect public school children from being physically restrained or put in seclusion by school personnel. Sounds like a good idea to me. There is an exception written into the bill if there is a situation that presents an imminent danger. I imagine this would be a Columbine-like incident that would necessitate students being quarantined in classrooms.
The House is also likely to pass the Senate's modest $15 billion jobs bill. Liberal Democrats have threatened to withhold their support because they don't think the bill is big enough. I agree that the bill isn't big enough, but they must pass this bill to get the jobs agenda rolling. The bill passed the Senate last week with strong bipartisan support.
THE SENATE: The Senate will begin consideration of a package of tax-break extenders that will include the aforementioned extensions of unemployment and COBRA benefits. No votes are scheduled on the bill, but I expect something to be passed by midweek. The House would probably approve these extensions late Thursday and send the bill to the President.
The Senate does have a vote scheduled tomorrow on the nomination of Barbara Keenan to be a U.S. Circuit Court Judge. I don't know anything about her, which leads me to believe that her nomination shouldn't be terribly controversial.
ELECTION UPDATES: As we hinted above, another member of Congress is stepping down in the middle of his term. Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) is retiring this week to focus on his run for Governor. Democratic Reps. Abercrombie (HI) and Wexler (FL) have already stepped down to pursue other ventures. With John Murtha's death, that leaves four vacancies in the House that must be filled through a special election. I expect the only competitive race would be for Murtha's seat, a swing district in Pennsylvania.
Also over the weekend, another Republican announced his retirement. This time, it was John Linder (GA). Overall, 20 Republicans are retiring, as opposed to just 15 Democrats. This seems pretty counter-intuitive given the dire predictions for Democrats this fall.
On the Senate side, this morning Arkansas Lt. Governor Bill Halter announced that he will challenge incumbent Blanche Lincoln in the primary. This is great news for Washington Democrats. So far, Lincoln has only been challenged on the far-right. She has been forced to take more conservative positions on issues. Now she'll be getting pressure from both the left and the right. I currently rate Lincoln's prospects for reelection very low. (See rankings on the right side of your screen).
That's it for this morning. Please leave us some comments!
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