Politics

Politics Today: What's Next for Health Care?

By Steve Chaggaris

July 24, 2009 / 9:30 AM EDT / CBS News

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:

**Congress won't meet President Obama's August deadline for health care reform legislation...

**Mr. Obama shifts his focus to education reform today...

**Gates arrest turns into controversy for the president...

**Sarah Palin leaves governor's office on Sunday...

(AP)

HEALTH CARE: So much for President Obama's deadline for Congress to pass health care bills before their summer recess. A day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced the Senate would not be finishing their work before recess begins on Aug. 7, he and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, whose committee has yet to produce its version of the legislation, head to the White House today to meet with the president.

Mr. Obama "lost his bid to get both houses of Congress to pass legislation by next month overhauling U.S. health care, a setback that may give opponents time to galvanize public opinion against the effort," write Bloomberg News' James Rowley and Kristin Jensen.

"The Senate postponed a vote until September, while House Democratic leaders sought an agreement with members of their own party who are pressing for more cost savings before they will support a measure.

"Obama dispatched top officials including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to Capitol Hill yesterday and said the critical issue is for lawmakers to 'keep on working.'

"'I want to sign a bill, and I want it done by the end of this year,' Obama said yesterday at a town-hall meeting in Shaker Heights, Ohio. 'I want it done by the fall.'"

"The year-end deadline for a final bill passage has always been part of Mr. Obama's equation, but until recently, he was also citing an interim deadline of August for each chamber of Congress to pass its own bill," add the Wall Street Journal's Janet Adamy and Jonathan Weisman.

"That way, it would be harder for opponents to pick apart the legislation over the monthlong break, and the hard work of reconciling the two approaches could begin immediately upon their return. Now, the president and his allies hope he can use the bully pulpit to keep up momentum while Congress is out of town."

(AP)

Washington Post's Shailagh Murray, Paul Kane and Michael A. Fletcher write: "Republicans reveled in the chaos and reiterated their call for Democrats to scrap their efforts and start over in pursuit of legislation with a smaller scope, less government involvement and no tax increases.

"'I am very pleased my Democrat colleagues have now rejected the president's strategy to force through a bad bill before anyone has had a chance to even read it,' said Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.), who has emerged as one of Obama's chief Republican critics. Echoing Obama, DeMint urged voters to 'connect with their congressmen and senators and let them know that Washington shouldn't make their families' health-care decisions.'"

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

On the House side, "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dropped her position that the public wants lawmakers to work into the August recess to finish the bill, and brushed off the concerns of many Democrats that leaving town would give the bill's opponents more time to rally opposition," report The Hill's Mike Soraghan and Jared Allen. "'I'm not afraid of August,' Pelosi said. 'It's a month.'

"Pelosi's stance on adjournment is a reversal from Wednesday, when she said the public would want lawmakers to work into their recess to pass a bill. Her fellow liberals worry that failing to pass legislation before recess could make it harder to pass both healthcare reform and other agenda items later.

"House Democrats, in the faint hopes of getting a vote before August recess, indicated they are considering bypassing the Energy and Commerce Committee altogether, where the bill has stalled, and proceeding right to the floor."

Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown and Chris Frates, "Blown deadline, blown chance?"

Politics Daily's Jill Lawrence, "Obama, Democrats Shift Health Debate to Target Insurance Companies"

NY Times' Kevin Sack, "For Public, Obama Didn't Fill in Health Blanks"

Wall Street Journal's Laura Meckler, "Obama's Health Expert Gets Political"

Washington Post's David S. Hilzenrath, "Bush Official Sees Peril in Health Plan"

CBSNews.com's Stephanie Condon, "On Health Care, It's Hurry Up and Wait"

PRESIDENT OBAMA TODAY: After days of focusing on health care reform, Mr. Obama shifts his attention to education today.

(AP)

"President Obama is leaning hard on the nation's schools, using the promise of more than $4 billion in federal aid -- and the threat of withholding it -- to strong-arm the education establishment to accept more charter schools and performance pay for teachers," report the Washington Post's Michael D. Shear and Nick Anderson.

"The pressure campaign has been underway for months as Education Secretary Arne Duncan travels the country delivering a blunt message to state officials who have resisted change for decades: Embrace reform or risk being shut out. …

"On Friday, Obama will officially announce the 'Race to the Top,' a competition for $4.35 billion in grants. He wants states to use funds to ease limits on charter schools, tie teacher pay to student achievement and move for the first time toward common academic standards. It is part of a broader effort to improve school achievement with a $100 billion increase in education funding, more money for community colleges and an increase in Pell Grants for college students."

(AP Photo/Demotix Images, B. Carter)

HENRY LOUIS GATES ARREST: Mr. Obama's comments that the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" in the arrest of Harvard professor and prominent African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates not only stepped on his push for health care reform Thursday, it wound up creating a firestorm around the country.

"Obama's comments about Officer James Crowley, who arrested Obama friend and prominent black Harvard University scholar Henry Louis Gates for not producing identification after breaking into his own locked home, drew the ire of Republicans, a major police officers' union and the officer himself on Thursday," writes The Hill's Sam Youngman. "In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, Obama stood by his comments even though he said he understands Crowley is an 'outstanding police officer.'

"'I have to say I am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement because I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home,' the president said."

The Boston Herald's Laura Crimaldi and Marie Szanislo report, "Police nationwide are reeling from President Obama's televised reprimand of Cambridge cops for "acting stupidly" in the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.

"'My response is that this department is deeply pained,' said Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas yesterday. 'It deeply hurts the pride of this agency.'

"Local union officials representing Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley, 42, would not rule out taking their outrage over Obama's remarks to the picket line next month when the first family lands on Martha's Vineyard for a vacation."

Associated Press' Melissa Trujillo, "Obama remark on black scholar's arrest angers cops"

The Los Angeles Times' Peter Wallsten points out, "By inserting himself Wednesday night into the case of an arrested Harvard University professor, President Obama made the most overt step of his tenure into the nation's racial politics.

"The measured and cautious Obama that Americans have come to know might have demurred when, at the end of his prime-time press conference, he was asked about the arrest last week of Henry Louis Gates Jr., a prominent African American-studies scholar and friend of the president's.

"With his comments, the country's first black president all but ensured wider attention to the simmering racial dispute -- and also risked overshadowing the main purpose of his press conference, which was to drain controversy from his ambitious plans to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system."

(AP)

Meantime, the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet, the reporter who asked Mr. Obama the Gates question during Wednesday's press conference, explains the story behind her question.

"When President Obama called on me, he had no idea what I would be asking. I had not written or blogged about the Gates incident, so no one in the White House had any clue that I was particularly interested in Obama's reaction.

"I got a call from the White House press office about 6:30 p.m. confirming I was indeed going to show up at the 8 p.m. press conference. I was told I "may" get a question from the president. No one asked me -- directly or indirectly -- about what I may be asking. No one from the White House tried to plant any question."

CBS News' Bill Whitaker, "Emotions Run High Following Gates' Arrest"

5132045SARAH PALIN: Palin wraps up her stint as Alaska Governor 18 months early this Sunday, but not before a few days of picnics around the state. She'll meet with Alaskans today in Wasilla, tomorrow in Anchorage and on Sunday at 3 p.m. local time in Fairbanks, where she'll deliver her farewell speech and power will be transferred to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell.

As she embarks on her new life outside the governor's office, a new poll out shows her favorability rating sinking around the country.

"Last year's Republican vice presidential nominee remains a deeply polarizing figure, and there are warning signs for her as she emerges as a possible contender for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination," report the Washington Post's Jon Cohen and Philip Rucker.

"While she is still widely popular among those in her party, she has lost ground among Republicans generally and among the white evangelicals who are so critical in the early presidential primaries.

"Overall, the new poll found that 53 percent of Americans view Palin negatively and 40 percent see her in positive terms, her lowest level in Post-ABC polling since she first appeared on the national stage last summer as Sen. John McCain's running mate."

ALSO TODAY: President Obama will sign a proclamation celebrating the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Tonight, he and First Lady Michelle Obama will head to the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C. to watch the Marine Corps Evening Parade.

Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Clinton hold separate meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

FOREIGN POLICY

Washington Post's Glenn Kessler, "N. Korea Escalates War of Words, Calls Clinton Vulgar, Unintelligent"

Wall Street Journal's James Hookway, "Clinton Push Yields North Korean Scorn"

Washington Post's Philip P. Pan, "Biden Offers Georgia Solidarity"

ECONOMY

Washington Post's Neil Irwin, "Hope Builds for the Economy, and Stock Market Surges"

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Chicago Tribune's Monique Garcia, "Barack Obama raises $2 million, pushes health-care reform at 2 Chicago fundraisers"

NY Times' Peter Baker, "Obama Complains About the News Cycle but Manipulates It, Worrying Some"

NEW JERSEY CORRUPTION

Newark Star-Ledger's Ted Sherman and Joe Ryan, "Massive N.J. corruption probe targets mayors, legislators, rabbis"

NY Times' David M. Halbfinger, "In New Jersey Case, Nervous Jokes and a Cereal Box of Cash"

FUTURE RACES

2009 NY-23: Albany Times-Union's Irene Jay Liu, "Scozzafava tapped as GOP candidate"

2009 NY-23: The Hill's Aaron Blake, "Dems lose top contender for McHugh Seat"

2009 NJ Governor: Newark Star-Ledger's Claire Heininger and Josh Margolin, "N.J. corruption probe inevitably converges with gubernatorial politics"

2009 VA Governor: Virginian-Pilot's Julian Walker, "Obama to stump for Deeds in northern Virginia"

2009 VA Governor: Washington Post's Rosalind Helderman, "Deeds and McDonnell Prep for Saturday"

2009 VA Governor: Richmond Times-Dispatch's Tyler Whitley, "Deeds and McDonnell get backers"

2010 FL Senate: St. Petersburg Times' Adam Smith, "Staff shakeup on Marco Rubio campaign"

ETC.

Time Magazine's Massimo Calabresi and Michael Weisskopf, "Legacy Fight: Inside Bush and Cheney's Final Days"