Politics Today: Response to Furor over Wall St. Pay
Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:
**Obama Meets with U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan
**Pay cuts coming for some bailed out financial execs
**Medicare payment increase fails in Senate
**Obama campaigns for Corzine in New Jersey
TODAY: Among the notable items on President Obama's agenda today: he will meet with Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, via videoconference in the Situation Room. Later, he'll hold separate meetings with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
This afternoon, the president will sign the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which, according to the White House "guarantees a timely and predictable flow of funding for Department of Veterans Affairs medical care."
"The plan, for the 25 top earners at seven companies that received exceptional help, will on average cut total compensation this year by about 50 percent. The companies are Citigroup, Bank of America, American International Group, General Motors, Chrysler and the financing arms of the two automakers.
Some executives, like the top traders at A.I.G., will face tight limits on their pay. In addition, the top-paid employees at all the affected companies will face new limits on their perks."
Wall Street Journal's Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam, "Wall Street Steps Up Political Donations, Lobbying": "Some of the biggest Wall Street firms are back in the political-spending game after hunkering down while they were getting government bailout funds.
"Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley and other large financial-services firms stepped up their political donations in September to members of Congress, for many the first time this year they have joined the fray. ...
"The increase in spending by the big Wall Street firms comes amid an aggressive push by financial-services lobbyists on Capitol Hill to stop Mr. Obama's regulatory legislation as it winds its way through Congress."
HEALTH CARE: "The Senate on Wednesday voted down a measure that would have permanently prevented Medicare payment cuts to doctors, with a split in the Democratic vote showing there remains room for disagreement on the health-care front within the party," report the Wall Street Journal's Janet Adamy and Greg Hitt.
"Meanwhile, congressional Democrats moved to stiffen antitrust laws on insurance companies. The two actions could influence whether the broader health-overhaul legislation Democrats are pushing in Congress wins support from doctors and insurers.
"Thirteen Democrats joined all 40 Republicans to vote 53-47 against a motion to proceed on the Medicare bill, which would have cost $247 billion over 10 years. Most of the Democratic defections were moderates who worried about the bill's impact on the federal budget deficit."
"To quell the concerns of moderates, meanwhile, Senate negotiators were leaning against imposing a mandate on employers to provide health-care coverage as they continued to piece together the bill they will bring to the floor," adds the Washington Post's Shailagh Murray. "But this could further anger liberals, who consider the mandate a primary pillar of reform -- and who are already upset that a government-run insurance option may not be part of the package.
"The employer mandate is among a handful of major differences between two Senate bills being melded into single vehicle by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), two of his senior colleagues and White House aides. Those talks could wrap up as early as Friday, participants said. The House also is nearing completion of its final bill."
"An aide to the House Democratic leadership said Ms. Pelosi had told the caucus that she had 200 votes, 'or a little over 200,' for this option, which would use Medicare rates as a basis for paying hospitals and doctors. Under another option, the government plan would negotiate rates with providers, as private insurers do.
"Ms. Pelosi said the first alternative saved more money and would give the House leverage in negotiations with the Senate. But Representative Earl Pomeroy, Democrat of North Dakota, said he could not vote for this proposal because it would be damaging to his district and was likely to be dropped in negotiations with the Senate."
"But after she voted with Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, the what-will-Olympia-do buzz subsided, and now the junior senator from Maine is the fence-sitting Republican in President Obama's sights.
"Wherever Sen. Susan Collins goes these days, people crowd around, trying to divine which way she is leaning."
"'Everybody has an interest in making sure that there are as few problems in this runoff election as possible, in terms of providing legitimacy for the winning candidate,' Gates told a news conference. The Nov. 7 runoff will take place between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his chief challenger, Abdullah Abdullah."
"One day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai reluctantly agreed to a runoff election, his top rival followed suit Wednesday, paving the way for a rematch between the embattled incumbent and his polished former foreign minister," write the Washington Post's Pamela Constable and Joshua Partlow.
"But even as this country appeared to avert a constitutional crisis, political aides and electoral experts acknowledged that daunting obstacles remain in preparing for the Nov. 7 vote -- including the possibility of Taliban intimidation or violence and the challenge of finding sufficient numbers of poll monitors untainted by the fraud allegations in the original vote.
"'Voters are taking a risk in some parts of the country, and they should be confident that risk is worthwhile,' Karzai's challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, said at a news conference Wednesday, adding that he was preparing a list of 'recommendations and conditions' for election organizers. 'My whole desire is that the second round will take place on time, under good circumstances,' he said."
"'I know these are challenging times and Jon knows these are challenging times,' Obama told an excited audience at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Hackensack. 'I also know this: For the past four years, you've had an honorable man at the helm of this state during one of the most difficult periods in its history.'
"Obama described Corzine as 'a leader who's fought for what matters most to the people of New Jersey ... That's why New Jersey needs to give Jon Corzine another four years.'
"One of Obama's earliest supporters when the president first emerged on the national stage in 2004, Corzine is locked in a bitter neck-and-neck race against Republican Chris Christie. Now, as the campaign races toward the Nov. 3 election, both sides are pulling out the stops to rally their bases while trying to lure the ever-critical independents to their cause."
"'Air Force One is leaving tonight,' he said in a television appearance on Wednesday. 'If they vote for Jon Corzine, President Obama isn't moving in to run the state.'
"Mr. Corzine's political fortunes have improved considerably since Mr. Obama's first campaign appearance on his behalf in June. For much of the spring and summer, Mr. Christie held a double-digit lead in the polls, and some Democrats openly wondered whether the governor should be replaced at the top of the state party's ticket.
"But Mr. Corzine has used his financial advantage to close the gap in recent weeks, and one key factor in the Nov. 3 election will be his ability to motivate the 600,000 first-time voters who cast ballots for Mr. Obama last year."
"The independent candidate for New Jersey governor is primed to play spoiler in the Nov. 3 election. The question is which candidate he will hurt most," writes the Wall Street Journal's Susan Sataline.
"Voters' mood this year is more anti-Corzine than it is pro-Christie, and most observers believe Mr. Daggett is siphoning anti-incumbent votes from the challenger. In a poll last week, Quinnipiac University asked Daggett supporters who their second choice would be. Forty percent said Mr. Christie and 33% said Mr. Corzine.
"Turnout is typically low in New Jersey's odd-year gubernatorial election, and with the better-organized Democrats behind the incumbent, a key will be those who say they are supporting Mr. Daggett."
In Virginia, "Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, trailing in the polls, is getting a late push from President Barack Obama, with a new TV ad, an email plea and an appearance in Hampton Roads slated for a week before Election Day," reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Andrew Cain.
"Deeds, a state senator from Bath County and the Democratic nominee for governor, hopes the infusion will reignite voters who helped Obama become the first Democratic presidential candidate in 44 years to carry Virginia.
"The flurry of activity came as a new poll showed Republicans leading by double digits in all three statewide races. ...
"The Deeds campaign hopes the president's visit to Hampton Roads -- which Obama carried by 79,000 votes last year -- will energize voters along the Richmond-Norfolk corridor, including black voters and young voters who were key parts of Obama's Virginia coalition."
President Obama travels to Massachusetts and Connecticut for fund-raisers for Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., tomorrow. On Monday, he heads to Florida for several fund-raisers and it looks like a one-time Republican ally will be keeping his distance.
"Obama's last trip -- to Fort Myers on Feb. 10 -- came as he was pitching his economic stimulus plan. At the time, the Republican governor's embrace of the $787 billion spending plan earned him the wrath of fiscal conservatives.
"Earlier this week, Crist defended his appearance with Obama, saying he was 'our president.'' On Tuesday, though, Crist said he won't join the president on this trip.
"'I don't even know what day he's coming. Do you?' Crist asked a reporter."
The moderate Crist's avoidance of Mr. Obama next week is emblematic of an issue moderate Republicans across the country are having: appearing too moderate is bad for their political health, at least during a primary election.
The Week's David Frum writes, "Prelude to Republican fratricide: GOP candidates in New York and New Jersey should be cruising to victory this November. But angry conservatives would rather hand power to Democrats than help moderate Republicans win."
Meantime, write Politico's Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen, "Many top Republicans are growing worried that the party's chances for reversing its electoral routs of 2006 and 2008 are being wounded by the flamboyant rhetoric and angry tone of conservative activists and media personalities, according to interviews with GOP officials and operatives.
"Congressional leaders talk in private of being boxed in by commentators such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh — figures who are wildly popular with the conservative base but wildly controversial among other parts of the electorate, and who have proven records of making life miserable for senators and House members critical of their views or influence.
"Some of the leading 2012 candidates are described by operatives as grappling with the same tension. The challenge is to tap into the richest source of energy in the party — the disgust of grass-roots conservative activists with President Barack Obama and their hunger for a full-throated attack on his agenda — without coming off to the broader public as cranky and extreme."
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