Politics Today: Senate Still Working for 60 Health Care Votes
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:
** Senate health care bill pleases most Democrats...
** President Obama gives a stern message to North Korea and Iran...
** Sarah Palin hits the road...
"The proposal would expand coverage to most Americans and is predicted to cut the deficit by $127 billion over 10 years, a benefit Senate leaders hoped would help it attract fiscally conservative moderates who will decide the bill's fate. It also includes a so-called public option, a government-backed insurance plan in states that want one, a concession to liberals.
"With President Obama calling for a bill to be sent to his desk by the end of the year, Reid is hoping to bring the historic health care package up for a test vote on Saturday."
"Sixty votes are needed to begin debate on the measure, and Senate leaders said they're confident they'll get the votes to proceed after talking with three wavering moderates, Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln, Louisiana's Mary Landrieu and Nebraska's Ben Nelson," adds McClatchy Newspapers' David Lightman.
"Nelson said that while he remained undecided, the possible Saturday vote shouldn't be seen as a judgment on the bill's substance. 'It is a motion to start debate on a bill and to try to improve it,' he said.
Other moderates were also cautious. 'We'll wait and see,' Lincoln said. Added Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., 'I'm going to reserve judgment until I've had a chance to read it, but the numbers on deficit reduction are encouraging.'
The Los Angeles Times' Noam N. Levey and Janet Hook, "Reid's legislation would cost less than the healthcare bill passed by the House this month, according to senior Democratic aides, who cited a preliminary estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. It would commit the federal government to about $849 billion in new spending over the next decade to expand coverage, compared with $1.05 trillion in the House bill.
"Reid's bill would drive down federal deficits by an estimated $127 billion over the same period, relying on cuts in Medicare spending and on new taxes on healthcare industries, high-end 'Cadillac' health plans and wealthy Americans.
"The bill would cover an additional 31 million people over the next decade. That would boost the percentage of nonelderly Americans with medical insurance from 83% to 94% over the next decade -- slightly less than the 96% who would be covered by the House bill."
"Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff said Mr. Reid's bill was impressive," report the New York Times' Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn. "It 'meets the president's objectives, provides protection from insurance companies, contains true cost controls and extends coverage to working families,' Mr. Emanuel said."
"First, its government plan would permit states to 'opt out,' whereas the House doesn't, though the CBO preliminary analysis still figures 94 percent of eligible Americans would be covered, compared with the current 83 percent. The House bill would result in coverage for an estimated 96 percent.
"Second, the Senate measure would raise funds with a variety of taxes, notably a tax on more expensive insurance policies — $8,500 on policies for singles and $23,000 for families — and a 0.5 percentage point boost, to 1.95 percent, in the Medicare payroll tax for singles with adjusted gross incomes above $200,000, and families earning more than $250,000.
"Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the high-end insurance tax would raise $149.1 billion over 10 years, while the Medicare tax increase would raise $53.8 billion…
"Third, the Senate bill has less restrictive language than the House on abortion, which is sure to spark a fight."
"The issue sparked a major battle in the House, forcing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to agree to an amendment that would bar people who receive federal subsidies for insurance coverage from using that money to purchase policies that pay for abortion," write the Washington Post's Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery.
"Reid took a different approach that may or may not pass muster with abortion opponents, proposing to establish a 'firewall' that would segregate private premiums from federal funding if abortion coverage were offered in the public insurance plan."
Politico's Manu Raju, "Lieberman slams public option; taunts critics"
Bloomberg News' Greg Stohr, "Obama Health-Care Battle in Congress Portends Fight in Court": "Critics of the proposals, including Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, are already laying the groundwork for constitutional challenges. They say Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce and levy taxes doesn't extend to forcing individuals to get health insurance or face a penalty."
Wall Street Journal's Shirley S. Wang, "Breast Exam Guidelines Raise Furor"
CBSNews.com's Stephanie Condon, "GOP Rep. on Mammograms: 'This Is How Rationing Begins'"
Katie Couric's interview with HHS Secretary Sebelius on breast exam issue
"Appearing at a joint press conference with President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, Mr. Obama singled out Iran, where leaders have apparently rejected an offer from the West to take Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium to another country to turn it into fuel rods, which would buy time for diplomatic negotiations.
"'We've seen indications that for internal political reasons or perhaps because they are stuck in some of their own rhetoric, they are unable to get to 'yes,' ' Mr. Obama said. 'As a consequence, we have begun discussion with our international partners' on sanctions, he said.
"He said that over the next few weeks the United States would be developing a package of 'potential steps we can take that will indicate our seriousness.'..
"On the North, Mr. Obama said he was sending his North Korea envoy to Pyongyang next month for talks designed to try to get the nation back to the bargaining table. But he warned that even getting the North back to the table would not be enough."
"U.S. President Barack Obama pledged Thursday morning to ratify a free-trade agreement with South Korea that has been stuck for two years, challenging the U.S. Congress to separate South Korea from other Asian nations enjoying vast trade surpluses with the U.S," report the Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman and Evan Ramstad.
"He also said the U.S. and its allies will draft a package of sanctions 'over the next several weeks' to show an intransigent Iran 'the importance of having consequences.'
"Mr. Obama concluded a four-nation Asian trip with a morning of meetings here with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and a brief news conference. Both leaders said a free-trade accord could be reached that would deepen the nations' ties and boost jobs in the U.S."
Washington Post's Anne E. Kornblut, "Obama's story infused Asia tour": "The Seoul stop was the last on a trip that has notably lacked concrete achievements but has seen Obama's personal narrative on full display, as he reminisced about the ice cream he ate during a childhood visit to Japan, invoked his 'historic ties' to Indonesia and recalled his mother's work in the villages of Southeast Asia. After more than a week of using his biography to connect to audiences in Asia -- perhaps the last corner of the globe where he had yet to take his story -- Obama appeared as popular as ever among ordinary citizens in the region.
"But is his biography-as-diplomacy approach beginning to show its limits?
"Obama does not fly home with any big breakthroughs or any evidence that he has forged stronger personal ties with regional leaders. Even at the ground level, there was no Asian equivalent of the Cairo speech -- when he spoke to the Muslim world in the summer, invoking his father's Islamic heritage…
"At home, critics have accused him of being self-indulgent by viewing the world through such a personal lens. The question that may soon follow, however, is whether his 'only in America' tale will yield the cooperation he seeks from foreign leaders, rather than just popular goodwill and curiosity."
5695297AFGHANISTAN: "Tainted by a flawed election and allegations of high-level corruption in his regime, President Hamid Karzai was inaugurated Thursday for a second term, saying the Afghan Army should assume full control of the country's security within five years," report the New York Times' Alissa J. Rubin and Alan Cowell.
"'We will decrease the role of international forces,' Mr. Karzai said at a midday ceremony held at the presidential palace in Kabul. 'We want our security within five years to be entirely within the hands of the Afghan government and led by Afghans.'
"The ceremony was the culmination of a fraught and chaotic electoral process that began on Aug. 20 when Afghans went to the polls. Mr. Karzai was proclaimed the winner earlier this month when his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, withdrew from a run-off after a United Nations-sponsored inquiry found evidence of widespread electoral fraud."
Meantime, report the Times' Peter Baker and Mark Landler, " President Obama's top diplomat privately pressed Afghan President Hamid Karzai to deliver 'measurable results' on governance and corruption as the White House prepared specific new demands to accompany an American troop buildup.
"In an unannounced visit Wednesday to Kabul, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Mr. Karzai that future civilian aid would depend in part on how his government performed in areas like developing an effective army and curbing cronyism, according to an American official. Publicly, she told reporters that Mr. Karzai had begun to tackle corruption but 'not nearly enough.'
"The trip, coming on the eve of Mr. Karzai's inauguration for a second term after a chaotic election marred by charges of rampant fraud, represented part of a broader effort by the Obama administration to tie the pending troop increase in Afghanistan to more effective efforts by its partners in the region.
"The White House is developing 'clear targets' for both the Afghan and Pakistani governments, possibly with specific timelines, as a way to signal that the American military presence will not last indefinitely, American officials said. It is not yet clear what the administration is willing to do if the targets are not met."
"The former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate ended the first stop on her national book tour by stepping out of Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Woodland Mall with her youngest child, Trig, in her arms, helping him wave to a camera-toting crowd giving her one last cheer.
"Pulling away in a motorcoach emblazoned like the cover of her best-selling memoir 'Going Rogue: An American Life,' Palin capped a whirlwind tour-kickoff day that found about 1,000 people waiting hours to have their books signed. Nearly all arrived at the mall before the sun rose to obtain a wristband that entitled them stand on another hours-long line for a signature, a photo and a moment with a woman who stirs deep passions on both sides of the aisle.
"Whether it is devotion or derision, Palin draws attention. National news media from NBC News to 'Access Hollywood' spent the day quizzing people in line, with pundits even debating why a potential candidate for the 2012 nomination would roll out her book tour in a state she and GOP presidential running mate U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., lost handily last November.
"'I like Michigan and it worked out demographically,' Palin said during the signing. 'In a lot of ways, Grand Rapids is a microcosm of America.'"
"The temperature had dipped into the 30s, but the 500 or so people in line didn't mind, many of them having stood in the cold temperatures Tuesday night for a chance to get the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate to sign their copies," adds the Detroit Free Press' Kathleen Gray.
"'What she represents is what we're standing in line for,' said Robin Case, 44, of Traverse City, who had arrived at 9 p.m. Tuesday with a chair and sleeping bag to get her wrist bracelet into the Barnes & Noble at Woodland Mall. 'She's real, and she's standing up for what we believe in.'
"The themes among the Palin faithful were similar: She's a role model to young and old; she stands for what they love about America…
"Not everyone in line was a big Palin fan.
"Brandon Greer, 31, a teacher from Kentwood who voted for President Barack Obama and admits he doesn't really like Palin much, was there for his girlfriend, Kelli Waller. The Waterford Township nurse is a die-hard Republican, he said, and loves Palin. He got in line at 3:30 a.m. to save a spot for Waller."
"Palin's roadshow travels in a campaign-style bus painted to match the cover of her book, with a giant picture of Palin and Facebook and Twitter logos," writes Politico's Ben Smith. "She emerged with a wave for the adoring crowd, which had begun massing 24 hours earlier, and a few words for the television cameras.
"Her staff was made up of volunteers: Jason Recher, a campaign advance man whom she describes in glowing terms in her book, and John Roberts, a former White House staffer, who steered her through the media scrum after she handed off her son. Also on the bus was an aide to her Political Action Committee, former RNC Finance Director Tim Crawford...
"Palin's tour will take her through the battleground states where, she writes, she felt the McCain campaign made her pull her punches. There are stops in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Fairfax, Virginia, Florida's The Villages, and the Missouri Ozarks."
NY Times' Lauren Lipton, "Only Palin's Stylist Knows For Sure": "The most elusive fashion stylist in America does not have a reality show, nor does she dress starlets. She is virtually unknown. But she was in the right place at the right time, and now her work is history. Lisa A. Kline, 47, a Manhattan mother of three, is the wardrobe consultant who made an Alaska hockey mom-turned-governor named Sarah Palin into chic vice-presidential material for the Republican National Convention in September 2008, and in doing so inadvertently set off a furor.
"'Wardrobegate,' as Ms. Kline's $150,000-plus fashion transformation became known, undermined Ms. Palin's carefully crafted homespun image when the news broke two weeks before the election."
ALSO:
LA Times' Josh Meyer, "Obama and Holder defend plans to try Sept. 11 suspects"
Washington Post's Paul Kane, "Lawmakers seek more help from administration for Fort Hood investigations"
USA Today's Andrew M. Seaman, "Sen. Byrd becomes longest-serving member of Congress"
Watertown Daily Times' Jude Seymour, "Hoffman: ACORN, unions, Dems tampered with NY-23 election"
Politico's Jeanne Cummings, "Obama rewards big donors with jobs overseas"
NY Daily News' Jane Ridley and Corky Siemaszko, "Ten months after inauguration, stress is showing on President Obama's face"