Politics Today: The Health Care Bill's First Test in the Senate
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:
** Gearing up for a long health care Senate debate...
** Stimulus tracking comes under fire...
** Republican governors focus on economic issues...
"Senate Democratic leaders expect the first test vote on their new $848 billion, 2,074-page health care overhaul bill will come on Saturday evening. Although Democrats are likely to get the 60 votes they need to move forward with the debate, the outcome is uncertain.
"Should the measure pass that initial test, lawmakers made it clear Thursday that they're ready for weeks of political warfare.
"Democrats framed their mission in heroic terms.
"'This is about the woman with high cholesterol, or the man with heart disease, or the child with hay fever who can't get help,' said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. 'That's why we're stopping insurance companies from deciding they'd simply rather not give health care to the sick.'"
"The first test for the bill, which would extend coverage to 31 million more Americans while reducing federal deficits by $130 billion over the next decade, will come Saturday evening," write the Washington Post's Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray. "That is when Democratic leaders hope to keep together all 60 of their caucus members to turn back Republican procedural objections. Reid's efforts are focused on three moderate Democrats who oppose various provisions in the measure and have not declared whether they will support efforts to advance it.
"Republicans have charged that creating a government-run insurance program would amount to a federal takeover of the health-care system. But a new Congressional Budget Office analysis of the dramatically scaled-down public plan that Reid (D-Nev.) included in his $848 billion measure said it would have relatively little impact on the current system, would charge 'somewhat higher' premiums than its private competitors and would draw only about 4 million subscribers…
"Reid surprised many colleagues when he announced in late October that he would include a public option, a contentious provision favored by liberals but unpopular with some centrists. The decision was based on a simple calculation: It would be easier to negotiate with a handful of unhappy moderates than with a much larger faction of disgruntled liberals.
"But Reid's proposed compromise, a public option with an opt-out clause, has gained detractors in both camps."
Meantime, reports the New York Times' Robert Pear, "A big gulf separates the House and the Senate on the emotional issue of abortion.
"Over the objection of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the House adopted much stricter limits. Under the House bill, federal money could not be used 'to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion,' except in case of rape or incest or if the life of a pregnant woman was in danger. Thus, a plan that received federal subsidies for low- and moderate-income people could not offer abortion coverage.
"Under the Senate bill, insurers would not be required or forbidden to cover abortion. But, the measure says, in every part of the country, the government would have to ensure that there is at least one plan that covers abortion and at least one that does not."
Los Angeles Times' Janet Hook, "Democrats risk taxing the wealthy for healthcare": "The proposed tax increases offer a target for Republicans who say the healthcare overhaul burnishes Democrats' reputation as a party of tax-and-spend liberals."
NY Times' Carl Hulse, "Reid, as Legislative Tactician, Takes Ownership of Health Care Overhaul"
"Earl Devaney, chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, told a House oversight committee that the board is taking steps to correct the errors and prevent mistakes in future reports, which are filed by the recipients of stimulus money and posted on the board's website…
"The acting head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Gene Dodaro, told the committee his investigators found 3,978 reports where recipients reported creating a total of 58,386 jobs without spending any money. Another 9,247 reports covering $965 million in spending listed no jobs created or saved, Dodaro said."
"The scrutiny of the administration's jobs claims comes as Democrats are anxious to show, before next year's midterm election, that they are working to bring down unemployment," adds the Los Angeles Times' Richard Simon. "Republicans are eager to portray the $787-billion stimulus, which passed Congress with only three GOP votes, as a costly failure, evidenced by the rising unemployment rate.
"Government watchdogs said the stimulus was creating or saving jobs, even if the precise number was unclear because of fund recipients' reporting errors or because they hadn't provided the jobs information.
"'I have no doubt that there's a lot of jobs being created,' said Earl Devaney, chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which oversees stimulus spending.
"The administration said last month that stimulus spending was directly responsible for creating or saving 640,329 jobs. The number rose to 1 million jobs, the administration said, when indirect effects were considered, such as a newly hired worker spending money at a clothing store."
"President Obama may be personally well liked, the Republican Governors Association heard here in its private and public sessions, but concern over several of his policies -- large amounts of new federal spending, his health-care and climate-change initiatives -- has created an atmosphere that GOP leaders say could lead to significant gains in next year's midterm elections.
"What buoyed their spirits was the addition of two governors to their ranks -- Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia and Chris Christie of New Jersey, both elected this month. Other governors hailed those victories as the beginning of a turnaround for a party that suffered drubbings in 2006 and 2008.
"'Next year's going to be a good year for Republican governors . . . and I think next year's going to be a good year for Republicans in the Congress,' Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, the RGA chairman, said Thursday.
"After two bleak years, Republican governors gathered here on Thursday to assess their political future — and they liked what they saw," adds the New York Times' Adam Nagourney. "With 37 governors' seats open in 2010, the party is looking to topple some big-name Democrats.
"What was most striking about the Republican governors was not simply their sense of optimism — a sentiment that would draw no Democratic quarrel these days — but exactly how they saw their road back to power and unity. The talk here was of the health care plan being debated in Congress, increased spending under President Obama, the climbing deficit and concern among Americans about jobs and the education of their children.
"'The focus should be on bread-and-butter, kitchen-table, quality-of-life issues," said Robert F. McDonnell, the Republican who was this month elected governor of Virginia, a seat that had been held by a Democrat, and whose victory is being held up as a formula for Republican reconstruction. 'I think that really helped us. We ended up with a two-to-one margin with independent voters because of our focus on the economic problems.'
"Thus for all the discussion about what it would take to build on this month's victories of Mr. McDonnell in Virginia and another Republican, Christopher J. Christie, in the gubernatorial race in New Jersey, there was barely a whisper about abortion, gay marriage or gun control. The question of terrorism — Mr. Rove's defining theme for much of the Bush presidency — barely came up, even in the week when Republicans in other places were attacking Mr. Obama's Justice Department for deciding to hold the trial of four 9/11 suspects in a federal court in New York.
Wall Street Journal's Peter Wallsten, "'We need to be careful,' Mr. Barbour said. 'We need to treat the president respectfully....This is a guy that people like, but his policies are rightly dragging down their political capacity.'
"Mr. Barbour's comments underscored a challenge facing Republicans as conservative activists push the GOP to take a hard line in opposing the White House and, in some cases, Mr. Obama's personal background."
Politico's Jonathan Martin, "GOP governors eye big 2010 gains"
"So that was your inexperience that led to that exchange with Couric?" he asked.
"It was my inexperience in having to deal with a badgering, condescending line of questioning," Palin said. "It had no reflection at all on my inexperience in terms of administrative records or accomplishments.... you know what, so what?
"It hurt you, though," O'Reilly responded.
"So I wasn't doing the right thing to ingratiate myself with liberal media personalities to make them like me. So what?"
Meantime, on her Facebook page, Palin weighed in last night on the controversy over breast cancer screening guidelines.
"There are many questions unanswered for me, but one which immediately comes to mind is whether costs have anything to do with these recommendations. The current health care debate elicits great concern because of its introduction of socialized medicine in America and the inevitable rationed care. We need to carefully watch this debate as it coincides with Capitol Hill's debate and determine whether we are witnessing the early stages of that rationed care before the Senate bill is rushed through as well. ...
"The first thought that comes to mind when hearing of these new recommendations from bureaucratic panels is 'rationed care.' It's fair – and healthy – to ask if that's what Washington has in mind with a government-controlled takeover of a health care system."
Her book tour continues in Ohio today: "Signing her name on at least 1,000 copies of her new book is only part of what former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be doing in Cincinnati Friday," reports the Cincinnati Enquirer.
"Before the noon to 3 p.m. sold-out book-signing at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Norwood's Rookwood Pavilion, SarahPAC, the former Alaska governor's political action committee, is holding a private, invitation-only reception Friday morning with local GOP donors and party leaders at an undisclosed location.
"But the big event - the one that is likely to clog traffic in and around Rookwood Commons, especially with the nearby Nordstrom Rack store holding its grand opening at the same time - is the session where the former Alaska governor will sign copies of her new book, ''Going Rogue.'"
Her book signing in Fort Wayne, Ind., Thursday was packed, reports the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette's Benjamin Lanka.
"More than 1,000 people flocked ... to get a fleeting meeting with former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. ...
"Kristen Hendershot, 29, of Cincinnati, arrived at the store 17 hours before Palin was to begin giving autographs, but she wanted to make sure she had a good place in line. She said she couldn't make it to one of Palin's stops in her home state, so she made the effort to drive to the Summit City. 'I think she has a lot of common-sense solutions to the problems our nation is facing,' she said.
Hendershot, like most of the crowd, wants Palin to run for president in 2012, although Palin has been fairly mum on her future political aspirations. ...
"Julie and Doug Devine came to Fort Wayne from Jackson, Mich., after they were denied entry to Palin's Grand Rapids book signing Wednesday when they arrived too late. So the couple packed their three kids in the car and traveled to Fort Wayne, where they waited 14 1/2 hours in the store for less than a minute with Palin. But the effort was worth it to see someone they admired in politics."
Meantime, the press ban has been lifted for Palin's visit to Fort Bragg, N.C., on Monday, reports the Fayetteville Observer's Henry Cunningham.
"Fort Bragg [Thursday] changed its mind about banning the media from Sarah Palin's public book-signing Monday. The change was announced ... after protests by The Fayetteville Observer and The Associated Press. ...
"Fort Bragg had said the media would not be allowed to cover the event. Army officials cited concerns about appearing to provide a forum for criticism of President Obama. 'Our goal is to not have this turn from a book-signing into a political platform,' said Tom McCollum, a Fort Bragg spokesman."
"The base has asked Palin not to make a speech at a public book-signing at the base exchange; she also will not write personal notes, pose for photographs or sign anything besides her new memoir, 'Going Rogue: An American Life,'" adds the Raleigh News & Observer's Martha Quillen.
Re: the press ban, "[A]fter news outlets complained to the Pentagon, the base changed course, saying a limited number of reporters could cover the event if they shared their material with those kept out…
"Media lawyer Hugh Stevens, who has represented The News & Observer, said it will be a political event whether the media are there or not, and he questioned the wisdom of allowing it to happen on a military base when there are bookstores and other venues in nearby Fayetteville that would be more appropriate settings. 'This is innately, inherently and inevitably political,' Stevens said. 'If you're going to allow a politician and public figure who goes around clothed in this much controversy and notoriety to use your base as a platform, then you've got to let in the people they're not letting in to see what goes on there.'
"The Army has allowed other promotions to be held at the base exchange, where Palin is scheduled to appear. Most recently, actor Dan Aykroyd stopped there to hawk a brand of vodka."
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