Traps Ahead For Candidates On Capitol Hill

Politico: Votes On The Senate Designed For Political Impact With Three Presidential Candidates In Attendance

(The Politico)  This story was written by Martin Kady II.

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As John F. Kerry learned painfully in 2004, Senate votes matter when you’re running for president. You can’t always explain away the nuances of Senate procedure in a debate response or a 30-second TV spot, even if there is a perfectly rational basis for voting for war funding before voting against it.

With that in mind - and with three sitting senators in the run for the White House - there’s good reason this week to tune in to the usually mind-numbing congressional budget debate. The Senate floor provides a unique opportunity to watch the presidential candidates make decisive, money-where-their-mouths-are votes on every major policy subject from taxes to health care to earmarks to deficit spending.

There will be dozens of votes on amendments Thursday in the Senate, many of them written for maximum political impact with no compunction about whether they have any chance of passing.

Passing is not the point.

As the Brookings Institution’s Thomas Mann puts it, “The budget exercise this year ... will have little to do with substance and everything to do with posturing.”

Behind every vote, there’s a potential campaign ad. And with no primaries for six weeks after Tuesday’s Mississippi contest, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain really don’t have much of an excuse for failing to show up for each of them.

Here are five worth watching:

Bush Tax Cuts

The Republicans have made an extension of the 2001 income tax cuts the centerpiece of their economic platform this year, even though the tax breaks don’t expire until 2010.

Senate Republicans are planning a major tax amendment that would extend these tax cuts but also potentially cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent and extend other tax breaks.

This amendment is destined to fail. But if McCain votes for it and Obama and Clinton vote against it, there’s a ready-made campaign ad in which the GOP can claim that the Democratic presidential candidates voted “in favor of the largest tax increase in American history.”

Democratic senators counter that the Bush tax cuts heavily favored people making more than $200,000 a year and that the tax cuts should tilt more toward the middle class. And Democrats can also make a flip-flopper argument against McCain because he voted against the 2001 tax cuts but now believes they should be extended.

“They [Republicans] can be as folksy as they want to be [in promoting tax cuts], but at the end of the day, they’re still voting for tax cuts for Bill Gates and Exxon Mobil,” said one Senate Democratic aide.

Democratic Tax Cuts

If they’re voting against the Bush tax cuts, Democrats will want something to counter the claim that they’re raising taxes on every taxpayer, so they’ve agreed to have a vote on a package of middle-class tax cuts sponsored by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.). This amendment could help Obama and Clinton, in particular, bolster claims that, as president, they would push for a major middle-class tax cut.

The Baucus tax package would extend the $1,000-per-child tax cut, extend the $10,000 adoption tax credit, keep the marriage tax “penalty” at bay and continue tax cuts for lower income brackets.

Baucus says his amendment “is geared toward helping middle-class American families. … These are the right priorities, all paid for in the budget resolution.”

Border Security and Immigration

This Republican amendment, most likely offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), offers a chance for John McCain to mend fences - quite literally - with his party over immigration, while testing the Democratic candidates’ rhetoric on securing the border.

Sessions and other conservatives have been pushing an illegal immigration crackdown that would make border security a top priorty, above all other immigration proposals; potentially penalize states that give licenses to illegal immigrants; and withhold funding from so-called “sanctuary” cities that don’t prosecute illegal immigrants. Republicans are seriously discussing offering a border security amendment on the budget, according to Sessions’ office.

While such a vote might serve to pump up the GOP’s hard-line stance on immigration, it also provides yet another opportunity for Democrats to highlight how McCain diverged with conservatives on an issue so important to the base.

Earmark Moratorium

In 2006, then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi famously called earmarks “the currency of corruption” as Democrats sought to exploit Republican scandals over congressional earmarks.

Republicans are now trying to reclaim credibility on earmarks, and McCain has signed on as a co-sponsor to an earmark moratorium proposed by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a fiscal hawk who has ruffled the feathers of his party leaders in his crusade to get rid of all earmarks.

Obama, who has built his campaign on government integrity and transparency and does not want to give McCain a free pass to claim any moral authority on this topic, signed on to the moratorium Monday afternoon. Clinton quickly followed suit. Obama and Clinton have requested hundreds of millions in earmarks during their Senate tenure, and McCain does not ask for earmarks.

Outside of presidential politics, an earmark debate in the Senate will illustrate a deep divide between the old bulls who run the Senate and the new generation that believes earmarks - regardless of how legitimate they may be - have been tainted.

Appropriators such as Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) oppose DeMint’s earmark amendment, which has won some surprising support from freshman Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri.

Health Care

Universal health care is a centerpiece of both Obama’s and Clinton’s domestic agenda, so any debate over health care is a chance for Democrats to hammer Republicans, who remain focused mostly on tax credits for health care.

There may not be a separate health care amendment on the Senate floor, but the Democratic budget resolution contains a $50 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. That means the final vote on the budget resolution - likely to fall along party lines - will give the Democratic presidential candidates a chance to tout their support for health coverage while blasting McCain for voting against health care for uninsured children.

The Democratic budget resolution also would make room for another $35 billion in economic stimulus, with the funds potentially going to unemployment insurance, food stamps and infrastructure spending.

[mudrose-2009]

I''M LOVING THIS.

[mudrose-2009]

Posted by trapbreak

SOMEBODY SHOULD POKE A STICK RIGHT UP YOUR NOSE.

[mike71067]

This is why I hate politics. It''s such B.S. Votes designed to force politicians to make "statements" that may or may not mean anything.

I don''t know why Obama, McCain, or Clinton would want to subject themselves to this. Well, I can understand Clinton - she''s a power hungry witch, and will achieve it no matter what. But the other two, I don;''t understand.

[jack3213]

For those who think pulling out of Iraq is to save face of a Dem or Gop party, or using the argument that many have died for this country so we must run away, you are wrong in your perception and your fear or how you percieve terrorists. The terrosists are evil, but you know this, right? How well do you understand how impportant it is to save this country from them?

[antoniof123]

I love this it is going to get really dirty. This will continue until the people of the world realize that there are 1,064 Billion airs in the world.

Now think about this if just all of them only had 1 Billion dollars that would still be 1,000,000,000,000 in the hands of just 1,064 people.

But the fact is that the amount of wealth is really 3,000,000,000,000 dollars in the hands of just 1,064 people. Now once you start to think about it there are over 6,000,000,000 people on earth. See where this is going.

We have seen this in the past yet no one learns from history. I guess we are doomed to relive history.

[wardoglrs]

These three the MSM picked for you. Cant you see this?. Wakeup for gods sake people. Think about your country whats the one guy for the job. Vote Ron Paul.

[hissteps4u]

WarDog

Get over it Ron Paul dropped out he is no longer running Move on.

[tibu987]

Well, I would say that much is "known" about the Clinton twins and little of it is good.

Here is something, a "known", taken from the New York Times, 03/09/08 that says a lot about Obama and, I like what it says.

%u201CI think it%u2019s very possible to have a Senate career here that is not particularly useful,%u201D he said in an interview, reflecting on his first year. And it would be better for his political prospects not to become a Senate insider, which could saddle him with the kind of voting record that has tripped up so many senators who would be president.

%u201CIt%u2019s sort of logic turned on its head, but it really is true,%u201D said Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the former senator and Democratic leader who has been a close adviser to Mr. Obama.

%u201CTwo things develop the more time you spend here,%u201D Mr. Daschle said. %u201COne is a mind-set that we did it this way before, we should do it this way again, and I think that%u2019s a real burden. More importantly %u2014 and Hillary and McCain are the perfect examples of this %u2014 the longer you are here, you take on enemies. And these enemies don%u2019t forget.%u201D
Go get ''em Obama.

[tibu987]

Whoever is elected will do exactly what all past presidents have done and this is to surround themselves with the best financial, diplomatic, military, and homeland security people. No one person can make all their promises come true. But, their promises do tell us a lot about the candidates and their ideas and plans.
I will continue to support Obama as his idealistic outlook sounds good to me.
I am a 72 year old white male, veteran, and I hope, like Obama, that we can somehow leave this world a better place for our young people.

[shutupnvote]

Not for Obama he does it the new way not like old smelly McCain and Clinton


1.) Also give an opposing speech you can later reference,

2.) Claim you really pushed the wrong button and intended to vote the other way when caught

3.) Miss the vote by accident and blame your staff but swear had you voted it would have been A and or then B but different

4.) Vote Present instead of Yeah or Nay say it was because of a clerical error

Or

5.) Claim you passed the legislation when you really did not

And as a general rule rail against whatever is unpopular with hopeful words and at the same time send out emissaries to the special interest groups to personally convey the nod and wink.


If anyone calls you on the rope a dope claim their racist%u2026.and should be dismissed as old


The new way of doing politics Obama%u2019s Hopeful Way

[shutupnvote]

Not for Obama he does it the new way not like old smelly McCain and Clinton


1.) Also give an opposing speech you can later reference,

2.) Claim you really pushed the wrong button and intended to vote the other way when caught

3.) Miss the vote by accident and blame your staff but swear had you voted it would have been A and or then B but different

4.) Vote Present instead of Yeah or Nay say it was because of a clerical error

Or

5.) Claim you passed the legislation when you really did not

And as a general rule rail against whatever is unpopular with hopeful words and at the same time send out emissaries to the special interest groups to personally convey the nod and wink.


If anyone calls you on the rope a dope claim their racist%u2026.and should be dismissed as old

[rowdytexan2]

How well do you understand how impportant it is to save this country from them?


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Posted by Jack3213 at 11:18 AM : Mar 13, 2008

Frankly, it is more important right now for us to get rid of our own terrorists first. Once they are eliminated, I suspect the terrorists all over the world are going to have a love-in.