All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday continued to press against President Obama's plans to fight terrorism both domestically and abroad.

Appearing on Fox News, Cheney said the administration's decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other men allegedly behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a civilian federal court was a "huge mistake."

The trial would allow Mohammed an opportunity to "generate a whole new generation of terrorists,'' he said, and make him "a hero in certain circles, especially in the radical regions of Islam around the world."

As for the president's decision to escalate the level of troops in Afghanistan and to potentially begin withdrawal in 2011, Cheney said the plan was "better than withdrawal now" but still vindicates Al Qaeda strategy that "if you kill enough Americans, you can change American policy." Senior Obama administration officials have repeatedly insisted the 2011 goal is not a deadline for the war and that the U.S. wants to start transferring responsibilities to Afghan forces at that time.

The former vice president also repeated his previous assertion that he thinks Mr. Obama is a "more radical'' Democrat than he first appeared to be. Cheney gave similar criticisms of the president during an interview with Politico as well as in earlier interviews.

Republicans in Congress came out swinging today against President Obama's new new multibillion-dollar stimulus and jobs proposals, calling for completely different measures to revive the economy.

"Clearly, the president is trying, yet again, to get Americans back to work... he essentially announced a 'stimulus II' program," House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) said at a press conference today, CBS News Capitol Hill Producer Jill Jackson reports. However, he added, "I absolutely disagree that we can spend the way out of recession."

Cantor was joined by freshman Republican members of the House today to criticize Mr. Obama's plan. They said it would be more effective to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, permanently eliminate the death tax, pass free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, and to reduce the deficit.

The president's proposals today included new spending for infrastructure projects like highways, deeper tax breaks for small businesses and tax incentives for energy-efficient home improvements.

"Instead of passing another big spending bill, we should keep government out of business, keep taxes low and expand trade," said Rep. Lynn Jenkins (Kansas). "It's time to empower entrepreneurs and small businesses instead of the federal government."

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Democrats in the Senate are on the verge of agreeing to a plan that would essentially extend federal employee health insurance options to the rest of the country. But just as the federal health insurance network could become the national model, labor unions are warning it could also be unreasonably taxed under the Senate plan.

A group of unions released a report (PDF) today showing that the so-called "Cadillac" tax on higher-cost health insurance plans would, after three years, begin to hit the most popular health care plan within the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) -- ultimately impacting 48 percent of all federal employees and nearly 3.8 million people.

"I never really thought that our Chevy of a plan for federal employee health benefits would be a Cadillac plan," John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said on a conference call today.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said the health benefits tax goes back on President Obama's promise not to tax the middle class.

"The Senate has gone into territory that most certainly will affect the middle class," he said.

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Public support for the war in Afghanistan jumped nine points in the past three weeks, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, showing an increase of support following President Obama's nationally broadcast address laying out his new war strategy.

Mr. Obama plans to address his Afghanistan strategy in Olso this week, when he accepts his Nobel Peace Prize -- a prize most voters say the president does not deserve, according to the Quinnipiac poll.

Fifty-seven percent of American voters said fighting the war in Afghanistan is the right thing to do, while 35 percent said it is not the right thing to do, according to the poll, conducted Dec. 1 through Dec. 6. By contrast, a Nov. 18 Quinnipiac poll showed only 48 percent of Americans said fighting in Afghanistan is the right thing to do. Mr. Obama delivered his address outlining his new strategy on Dec. 1.

The new poll also shows Americans are now split over their approval of Mr. Obama's handling of the war, with 45 percent approving and 45 percent disapproving. His approval rating for the war has increased seven points from the Nov. 18 poll.

Taking The Measure of Stanley McChrystal
McChrystal: Mission "Undeniably Difficult"
Special Report: Afghanistan

"President Barack Obama's nationally televised speech explaining his policy and troop buildup has worked, at least in the short term, in bolstering support for the war effort and his decisions," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement.

Sixty percent of voters said they approve of the president's plan to begin withdrawing troops in July 2011, but 45 percent said they do not believe he will be able to keep that promise.

Meanwhile, 66 percent of voters said Mr. Obama does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, which he will receive on Thursday. In fact, the president said himself he did not feel he deserved it.

Federal prosecutors plan to revise their indictment against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Chicago Tribune reports, now that the Supreme Court is reviewing one of the laws used to press charges against the allegedly corrupt governor.

Blagojevich is scheduled to stand trial in June 2010 on federal corruption charges for allegedly planning to sell or trade President Obama's former U.S. Senate seat. He has pleaded not guilty.

However, prosecutors reportedly announced in a Monday court filing that they are revising the charges, so that the case will not be complicated by a Supreme Court decision regarding the "honest services" fraud law. The high court is scheduled to hear three challenges to the law, which criminalizes activity that deprives the public or the government of the right to have public officials perform their duties honestly.

The "honest services" law was used to bring a number of charges against Blagojevich, and it has been central to a number of public corruption cases. It was used, for instance, to prosecute former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former Illinois governor George Ryan and some Enron executives.

Prosecutors reportedly said that the allegations against Blagojevich would essentially remain the same in the revised indictment.

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Updated at 5:30 p.m. ET with GOP reaction.

While members of his own party have yet to reach a consensus on certain elements of health care reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today called the united GOP opposition to the bill akin to opposition against women's suffrage and the emancipation of slaves.

"Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all Republicans have come up with is this 'slow down, stop everything, let's start over,'" Reid said on the Senate floor today, CBS News Capitol Hill Producer John Nolen reports. "You think you've heard these same excuses before? You're right."

"In this country, there were those who dug in their heels and said, 'Slow down, it's too early. Let's wait. Things aren't bad enough,' about slavery," he continued. "When women [wanted] to vote-- 'Slow down, there will be a better day to do that.'... When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone, regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today."

The senator went on to ask when Congress should reform health care, if not now.

"There are now those who don't think it is the right time to reform health care," he said. For those who feel that way, he added, "it will never, never be a good time to reform health care."

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Senate Democrats are on the verge of abandoning the "public option" in their health care bill because a few members of their caucus, among them Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), will not agree to it. Now progressives in Lieberman's state are letting him know they are not too happy about his opposition.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a liberal advocacy group that has targeted moderate Democrats who do not support the public option, is up with a new ad blasting Lieberman for opposing the plan, which is popular with his constituents. The ad features John Mertens, the chairman of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party, which was originally founded to support Lieberman's 2006 bid to run for re-election as an independent after losing in the Democratic primary. In the wake of Lieberman's election, however, the party was taken over by his critics.

In the PCCC ad, Mertens cites a Research 2000 poll which found Connecticut voters support the public option by three to one. "But Joe never forgets who he ran to represent," Mertens says. "Himself."

Lieberman is staunchly opposed to the public option, claiming he will join a Republican filibuster of any bill that includes the proposal.

Mertens has launched his own Senate bid to unseat Chris Dodd in 2010. Dodd led much of the summer's health care debate in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The PCCC ad will reportedly air in both Washington and Connecticut.

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Rep. Joe Sestak, the Pennsylvania Democrat hoping to unseat Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.), received the endorsement of Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Monday.

Upon announcing in August his bid to unseat Pennsylvania's senior senator, Sestak appeared to face an uphill battle: President Obama and Democratic leaders had already sided with Specter, who switched from the Republican to the Democratic party after it became clear he would not survive a Republican primary challenge.

Specter helped the Democrats secure their 60-seat majority in the Senate, and he has made clear efforts in recent months to prove his loyalty to the party. He declared his support for a pro-union bill he earlier opposed, and he continues to speak out in favor of the public option, or government-run health insurance plan, currently in the Senate health care bill.

Yet at a news conference at Philadelphia today, Frank suggested Specter's allegiance was disingenuous.

"Joe Sestak is a true Democrat who cares about the working families that have been hit hardest by the failed economic policies of the Bush Administration," Frank said. "He'll be a reliable vote for Pennsylvania's next generation instead of having the same loyal Bush Republican we've seen over the past generation. I have to say I don't think it did our profession any good for someone to announce that he switched parties purely so he could survive."

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The Senate could be on the verge of abandoning the "public option," as originally envisioned, but are senators any closer to a compromise?

As reported in CBSNews.com's Health Care Progress Report this morning, a group of liberal and moderate senators discussed over the weekend a new plan that could potentially replace Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's proposal to establish a government-run health insurance option for a limited number of people.

This group of 10 Democrats is considering a plan to establish national health insurance options, which would be administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) but operated by private, nonprofit insurers. In essence, this plan would expand the options now given to federal employees to the rest of the country, since the OPM already runs the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP).

The new proposal is billed as a "public option" compromise, but it would, in fact, take the "public" out of the public option. That could appeal to the most conservative Democrats, like Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).

"Seems to me it would be in lieu of the public option," Nelson said of the plan, according to Politico. He reportedly said Majority Leader Harry Reid's version of the public option, which would allow states to opt out of the national, government plan, "is no longer being talked about."

Nelson reportedly took part in the weekend discussions about the new plan, along with moderate Democrats Mary Landrieu (La.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Tom Carper (Del.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.). The liberal senators in attendance were Russ Feingold (Wisc.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and John Rockefeller (W.V.).

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After meeting with leaders from India, China and elsewhere, President Obama has decided to change the timing of his appearance at the United Nations climate conference to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark later this month.

The president was scheduled to appear at the climate change summit on Dec. 9, ahead of his trip to Oslo, Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. The summit takes place from Dec. 7 through Dec. 18. Mr. Obama will now attend the end of the conference.

"Based on his conversations with other leaders and the progress that has already been made to give momentum to negotiations, the President believes that continued U.S. leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18th rather than on December 9th," the White House said in a statement. "There are still outstanding issues that must be negotiated for an agreement to be reached, but this decision reflects the President's commitment to doing all that he can to pursue a positive outcome."

The United States will have representation in Copenhagen throughout the negotiating process by State Department negotiators and Cabinet officials, the White House said. The officials will highlight ways the U.S. has moved toward a clean energy economy. The House of Representatives passed a climate bill in the summer, but the legislation has stalled in the Senate.

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