Lawmakers wary of Iran deal, spar over future of Obamacare
(CBS News) -- Despite heathcare.gov’s troubled rollout, Democrats will be a “great position” to tout Obamacare in 2014, argued Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Sunday on “Face the Nation.”
"I think that senators are going to be a in a great position to say, 'Look, we are doing dramatic changes that help you be able to meet the challenges for your family of health care and eliminate some of the greatest evils that existed under the previous system,'" Menendez said.
Sen. Menendez’s view that the President’s signature healthcare law will help, not hurt Senate Democrats in the 2014 elections made headlines at The Huffington Post, The Hill, The Washington Post and Real Clear Politics.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., appearing with Sen. Menendez Sunday, criticized Obamacare, saying the law “was just an amalgamation of legislation without a central focus.”
"I don't know how you fix it,” Corker said. “I don't know how you fix a program that was put together this manner, with one side of the aisle."
But Menendez disagreed, saying that the glitches with the website shouldn’t detract from the substance of the law.
"I think what we've lost sight of is that the underlying program itself, the product of the health insurance that Americans will be able to access, is critically important."
You can read more about the Senators take on Obamacare at The Washington Post, Newsmax and Politico. The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein has his own take on what the Senators comments mean for the fight over Obamacare moving forward.
While Corker and Menendez spared over the Affordable Care Act, the two were on the same page when it came to criticizing the nuclear deal with Iran forged last week in Geneva. The top two Senators on the foreign relations committee said the new plan doesn’t go far enough.
"I'm very discouraged," Corker said. "I hope we're able to have a better end game than it looks like we'll have now. I think Congress can help us get there.”
Corker and Menendez hope to move forward with a legislative package of increased sanctions as “insurance” in case the current plan fails to secure a long-term accord.
“I hope the deal can be successful,” Menendez said Sunday, “but we need to be ready to move forward.”
You can read more about our conversation with Sens. Corker and Menendez at The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Newsmax, United Press International, Los Angeles Times, and Politico.
Turning to domestic issues, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, appearing later in the program, offered his thoughts about a more “optimistic” Republican message moving forward.
“Austerity is not the answer; reform is. In our case, I think there is a much more market-driven solution, whether it comes to health care, entitlement reform, or other areas, we just have to have the courage to do it.”
Asked whether he was planning to run for President in 2016, all Walker would say is that he plans to announce that he’s running for reelection in 2014.
“We'll see what happens after that. Ultimately, my decision will be made not just by myself and my family. But I've got to look at my state. My state's gone through a lot the last couple years. And there's a part of me that would just like to stay focused on helping the state move forward. So we'll see what the future holds. But for now, I'm focused on being governor.”
Our conversation with Walker got picked up by Politico, Real Clear Politics, the National Review Sunday.
