Daily Democratic Wire 3-18-2010

George Wenschhof

Today, President Obama will sign the 17.6 billion Jobs bill into law - in a ceremony at the White House. The bill largely provides a $1,000 tax credit for employers who hire the unemployed and also allows the employer to pay social security for the employee for the remainder of this year. In addition, funds for highway construction are included in the bill. the Washington Post has more here.

Vice President Biden will be in Durham, North Carolina today to promote the Stimulus bill while visiting a company that makes light producing semi-conductor chips.

Last night, President held his own in spite of an attack style interview by Fox's Bret Baier who consistently interrupted the president as he was answering a question. A less than professional job by Baier, which once again shows why it has been said that Fox News is a wing of the Republican Party. President Obama deserves credit for appearing on Fox News and making his case for health care reform, realizing few Fox News viewers opinions would be swayed.



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Health Care reform passage got a boost yesterday - in addition, to Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh.), five other "no" or "on the fence" House Democrats signaled they were going to support passage of the bill. RollCall.com has more here.

House Republican Leaders have indicated they have 200 solid "no" votes and are currently 16 votes short stopping the bill. House Democratic Leaders have been more coy, merely saying they feel confident they will pass the bill. In all likelihood, the final vote will be similar to what transpired in the House some time ago when they passed their version of health care reform by a 220-215 vote.

However, I am one Democrat who is opposed to using the "deem and pass" rule in the House. By using this procedure, the House would only vote once on the House amendments to the bill and deem passage of the Senate bill. This "dance" being considered because of House Democrats wary of Senate Democrats. The fear being the Senate would not pass the amendments plus they don't want to face attack this Fall by Republicans who will surely say, "you voted for it, before you voted against it" pertaining to the current senate version of the bill which contains all the silly concessions made to various Senators to secure their vote for passage of the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sent a letter to the House Democrats assuring them there were 51 Democratic senators on board for the amendments. That should be enough for the House Democratic caucus and I would hope there be two votes taken; one for passage of the current senate health care bill and the second for amendments to the bill.

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Senate Republicans hone up on procedural rules as health care passage in the House nears - While Republicans have been criticizing Democrats on their use of procedural rules to pass health care reform, they have been busy planning on using procedural rules in the senate to dilute or doom passage of the health care bill.

They intend to give a workout to the senate parliamentarian once the amendments reach the senate under the use of "budget reconciliation". They intend to challenge every amendment, thus slowing the process down and hopefully striking many of the proposed amendments by the House. Such is the state of politics today. Politico.com has more here.

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Congressional Budget Office releases projected health bill costs - finally, the independent CBO released the figures which show a projected cost of 940 billion over the next decade and a 130 billion reduction in the deficit.

The current passed Senate bill had a 875 billion cost over the next decade and a 118 billion reduction in the deficit.

This now sets the 72 hour notice in motion. So, expect a vote Sunday morning in the House. TheHill.com has more here.

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For those of you who are caught up in "March Madness", President Obama makes his "Final Four" picks.



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Daily Democratic Wire 3-12-2010

George Wenschhof

President Obama donates the 1.4 million received with the Nobel Prize to Charities - wow! I was one who did not realize there was a monetary award that came with receiving the Nobel Peace prize.

The president donated to ten charities with the Clinton-Bush Haiti relief fund receiving $200,000 and Fisher House receiving $250,000. Fisher House provides housing to families of military patients receiving care from VA hospitals, TheHill.com has more here.

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Health Care Reform Update:

House Democrats meet to discuss final push for Health Care Reform - expect the vote to come as early as next week in the House. All indications are the vote will be close, but I would not bet against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) getting the number of votes needed to pass the Senate bill. Time.com has more here.

Whipping the votes in the House is coming along - in Maryland, 6 of the 7 Democratic Representatives will vote for the Senate Health Care bill. Only first term Frank Kratovil from the first district will vote no and that may not be enough to help him be reelected from one of only two red districts in Maryland. Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R) from Maryland's 6th district is also expected to vote no.

As to Representative Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and his objection to abortion language in the bill - his ten minutes of claim to fame is coming to an end. He began his objections with saying he had 20+ House Democrats who would vote against the Senate bill, then it was 12 and now it seems it may be around 5 including himself.

A small monkey wrench was thrown into the mix yesterday - when senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin ruled President Obama must sign into law the Senate bill when passed by the House prior to amendments being passed by the House and sent to the Senate where reconciliation and a simple majority would be used for final passage. Seems some House Democrats are wary of Senate Democrats voting as they promise.

Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) informing him of his intention to use the "budget reconciliation" process to amend the Health Care Reform bill. In the letter, Reid also spelled out the many Republican amendments which had been included in the bill.

Last night, Reid's wife and daughter were involved in a serious car wreck which has left his wife in the hospital with a broken back and neck. Let's all hope for her speedy recovery.

President Obama has decided to postpone his planned trip to Asia - he was coming under fire from fellow Democrats for pushing for a vote next week and then leaving on Friday to visit Asia and Australia. The president did the right thing in postponing the trip. he needs to be here to lead the final push for health care reform. The Caucus Blog has more here.

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Immigration Reform talks begin - yesterday, Senators Charles Shumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) met with President Obama to discuss immigration reform. A much needed discussion and a much needed reform for the country. The president expressed his desire, once again, for Republican support. Graham threatened that if reconciliation is used to pass health care reform, then there will be no Republican support.

More of the same from the obstructionist Republicans and the "Party of No". The NY Times has more here.

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Cuomo appoints independent counsel to oversee state investigation of NY Governor David Paterson - Attorney General is expected to announce he is running for Governor so this is a smart move. Retired Court of Appeals Chief Justice Judith Kaye will head the investigation of any abuse of power by Governor Paterson. Politico.com has more here.

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Obama expected to nominate Janet Yellen as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve - subject to Senate confirmation, she would replace Donal Kohn who resigned last week after serving 40 years. Yellen is currently President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. There are still two other vacancies on the seven member board. Bloomberg.com has more here.

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Daily Democratic Wire 6-17-2009

George Wenschhof

Unrest continues in Iran after disputed election - defeated challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi called for a day of mourning and peaceful protests after reports of at least seven deaths of those protesting the results. Media has been restricted access to events and interestingly it has been Twitter and Facebook which has been used to provide details of what is happening inside Iran. Reuters.com has more here.

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Today, in a statement from the White House, President Barack Obama will extend federal benefits to Gay Partners - he will provide details of those benefits in his speech today. The NY Times has more here. This announcement comes after the White House legal counsel provided legal filings in regard to the defense of marriage act which offended many gay and lesbians.

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Obama to reveal financial system reforms - the president is expected to outline his proposed changes to the financial system designed to help ensure there will not be another financial meltdown as we have been experiencing. Transparency and openness are key goals along with the creation of a federal agency to provide protection to consumers. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

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Health care bills expected out this week - Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) expects to release his bill by the end of the week. As has been the case in recent attempts in health care reform, consensus has been difficult to achieve on Capitol Hill. In addition the recent CBO estimate of the 1 Trillion plus cost for reform has slowed momentum. In spite of the many differing opinions on many aspects of reform Democratic Leaders in both the Senate and the House hope to have their bills passed by the end of July. President Obama hopes to sign a bill by October 15. TheHill.com has more here.

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106 Billion War Supplemental bill expected to pass the Senate today - yesterday, the bill narrowly passed the House with a vote of 226-202. The opposition were Republicans angry with the inclusion of 5 Billion for IMF aid to poorer countries hit by the bad economy and anti-war Democrats; an unlikely coalition. It is expected to pass the Senate today. MSNBC.com has more here.

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U.S. Middle East Envoy George Mitchell to meet with Israel Prime Minister - Mitchell plans to travel to Paris to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu who recently gave a speech in which he indicated Israel would accept Palestinian statehood under certain conditions. It is hoped Israel-Palestinian peace talks will resume within a few weeks. ABC News has more here.

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