Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus may as well have won the lottery yesterday when his committee voted 14-9 to pass their version of a health care bill that has taken center stage of what has been an agonizing months long debate.
His bill does everything that President Obama outlined in his address to congress last month: it expands coverage, lowers costs, comes in under $900 Billion, reduces the deficit over 10 years, and even has a small amount of bipartisan cred with moderate Republican Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine giving it her aye vote. Still, as Winston Churchill once said: "This isn't the end, nor is it the beginning of the end, rather this is the end of the beginning."
Senate Democrats are far from united, and Snowe's lone Republican vote can't be taken for granted, (she said herself "my vote today may not be my vote tomorrow.") With such a widely diverse caucus, finding a final bill that pleases everyone seems to be a nearly impossible task with both liberal and moderate Democrats both saying they're unsatisfied with what may be the final result. This will be the true test of Obama's legislative leadership, and also of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's ability to do the real backroom dealmaking that delivers votes.
Liberal Senator Jay Rokefeller of West Virginia, a member of the finance committee, who has made clear his die-hard support for a governemnt sponsored public option that was absent in negotiations, had his own Snowe-esque statement regarding the bill: “...Let me be crystal clear – this yes vote is not an endorsement of this bill as it stands today. My vote is a pledge to continue on the Senate Floor and in Conference the fight for policies that work and represent the real needs of West Virginia families.”
And Joe Liberman, the moderate Independent who's chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee was saved by President Obama early this year from vengeful Democrats angry at his campaigning for John McCain, poked more holes in Reid's plans to get an all-hands-on-deck 60 vote majority with statements this morning on a radio show where he said he didn't support the bill the way it is now and that he was afraid that "the Bacus bill was going to raise health insurance prices for most of the people in the country."
Democratic leaders must now channel their inner LBJ and do whatever it takes to get votes and play virtual whack-a-mole with dissenting members who think they can have more leverage in the debate by holding out their vote and keeping their cards close to their chest. In the House, which has been quiet on health care in the face of the senate vote is trying to corral their own much more liberal caucus, while at the same time not endangering their more moderate members whos seats are already being salivated over by Republicans. A not-as-dead-as-you-thought party anxious to take advantage of the souring public mood and the lack of results of many of the Democrats' initiatives on the economy. They are hoping that the House bill tacks to the left so that they can pound those vulnerable Democrats for being out of touch with their constituents, and in the permanent Washington campaign, every vote is an advertisement or a fundraising tool for the other side.
If Americans are already tired of the health care debate after more than 5 months of congressional sausage making, then they're in for a rude awakening, because this thing hasn't even gotten off the ground yet.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Committee announced today that they were awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama, only 9 months into his term. While the award was given in honor of Obama's efforts to bring people together from around the world in the past year, Obama has been facing substantial criticism in the U.S. in the past several weeks for failing to accomplish any of the major points he laid out in his ambitious agenda.
While the W.H. claims that they had no idea that Obama had even been nominated, Obama will have to balance looking grateful for the prize even in the face of the many Americans complaining that he doesn't deserve it. Just this week Obama was criticized on the right for being a narcissist and too much of an international celebrity, and the Peace Prize is likely to serve as more kindling for that fire.
While the W.H. claims that they had no idea that Obama had even been nominated, Obama will have to balance looking grateful for the prize even in the face of the many Americans complaining that he doesn't deserve it. Just this week Obama was criticized on the right for being a narcissist and too much of an international celebrity, and the Peace Prize is likely to serve as more kindling for that fire.
Monday, October 5, 2009
What about Afghanistan?
As the dust has begun to settle on President Obama's new administration, nothing stands to tarnish his long term legacy or unravel his presidency more than the war in Afghanistan.
Numerous stories have been coming out talking about how, even though he dispatched 20,000 additional troops in March of this year and has pledged an unyiedling commitment of resources, the conflict is going badly as a tough and resilient foe is regrouping and emboldening their attacks; and the infrastructure of the country is failing. Obama also faces more problems as the results of the Afghan election continue to be disputed and reports of rampant government corruption hamper US efforts to try and duplicate the sort of democracy building that made their efforts in Iraq more successful. In a word, the situation is grim.
The top general in Afghanistan has made no secret about his desire for even more troops, but the administration has slowed down its decision making on the war to re-think a new strategy, holding high level meetings to discuss options. Extreme caution has been shown by the white house in releasing details on what the president's thoughts are, much to the chagrin of hawkish conservatives, who are anxious for Obama to keep his earlier promises of fully supporting and financing whatever is needed to win in Afghanistan and are howling that he isn't simply following the advice of his generals. He is also facing pressure from liberals on the left to wrap up the war and a growing skepticism from an American public that is weary of war and recession and longs for peace and prosperity.
Now that health care reform has new momentum in congress and it's passage seems more imminent now that it has come down to the grinding legislative process that needs less public help from his office, the president can now focus more time on the war. The decisions that he makes are likely to have lasting effects on his presidency and for his party, much in the same way that the war in Iraq had devastating consequences for former President Bush and the Republicans after 2006, but of course they know this and will continue to deliberate until their absolutely certain they have the right approach.
Most likely Obama will try and take a middle of the road approach and apply his signature pragmatism, but whatever he does, Americans have to see that he is leading, making tough decisions and isn't going to be too deferential to the progressives in his party especially since his only allies may be some of the same Republicans that have tripped up his domestic agenda at almost every opportunity. The White House may have to swallow the bitter pill and shore up as much GOP support as possible, but they'll also have to be cautious not to put itself in the middle of a partisan showdown in congress with the white house in the middle and infighting amongst their own party, esecially as next years congressional midterms loom and the rest of Obama's ambitious domestic agenda remains unmoved.
Numerous stories have been coming out talking about how, even though he dispatched 20,000 additional troops in March of this year and has pledged an unyiedling commitment of resources, the conflict is going badly as a tough and resilient foe is regrouping and emboldening their attacks; and the infrastructure of the country is failing. Obama also faces more problems as the results of the Afghan election continue to be disputed and reports of rampant government corruption hamper US efforts to try and duplicate the sort of democracy building that made their efforts in Iraq more successful. In a word, the situation is grim.
The top general in Afghanistan has made no secret about his desire for even more troops, but the administration has slowed down its decision making on the war to re-think a new strategy, holding high level meetings to discuss options. Extreme caution has been shown by the white house in releasing details on what the president's thoughts are, much to the chagrin of hawkish conservatives, who are anxious for Obama to keep his earlier promises of fully supporting and financing whatever is needed to win in Afghanistan and are howling that he isn't simply following the advice of his generals. He is also facing pressure from liberals on the left to wrap up the war and a growing skepticism from an American public that is weary of war and recession and longs for peace and prosperity.
Now that health care reform has new momentum in congress and it's passage seems more imminent now that it has come down to the grinding legislative process that needs less public help from his office, the president can now focus more time on the war. The decisions that he makes are likely to have lasting effects on his presidency and for his party, much in the same way that the war in Iraq had devastating consequences for former President Bush and the Republicans after 2006, but of course they know this and will continue to deliberate until their absolutely certain they have the right approach.
Most likely Obama will try and take a middle of the road approach and apply his signature pragmatism, but whatever he does, Americans have to see that he is leading, making tough decisions and isn't going to be too deferential to the progressives in his party especially since his only allies may be some of the same Republicans that have tripped up his domestic agenda at almost every opportunity. The White House may have to swallow the bitter pill and shore up as much GOP support as possible, but they'll also have to be cautious not to put itself in the middle of a partisan showdown in congress with the white house in the middle and infighting amongst their own party, esecially as next years congressional midterms loom and the rest of Obama's ambitious domestic agenda remains unmoved.
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