The White House drumbeat is unrelenting: President Obama wants comprehensive healthcare reform -- with a public option -- on his desk before Congress leaves town for its summer recess Aug. 7.
"Don't bet against us. We are going to make this thing happen," Obama said this week during a Rose Garden appearance with his new surgeon general, Dr. Regina Benjamin.
Just back from a weeklong trip to Russia, Italy and Africa, the president said he did not want Congress to think he'd forgotten the issue. "I just want to put everybody on notice, because there was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone," Obama said. "Inaction is not an option."
Republican critics have been quick to question why the rush, especially on a bill that could end up costing taxpayers $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. And one of the doubters is Maine Republican Olympia J. Snowe, a moderate invited to the White House today in hopes Obama can sway her to support the plan.
So why is the White House rushing? In part, it's a calculus that Obama's still-high approval ratings are likely to soften as his term lengthens. So, use your political chits while you have them.
But another compelling reason is that the 2010 elections loom. Already, Blue Dog Democrats -- those moderates from Southern and rural parts of the country -- are balking at supporting a bill they say costs too much and saves too little. As Democrats in other swing districts get closer to reelection campaigns, they too could have qualms about backing a bill that will mandate that every American get health insurance and will pay for it with sizable tax increases on the wealthiest of their constituents.
Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee set off a political bombshell this week. In a leaked letter, they disclosed that CIA Director Leon Panetta -- four months after taking office -- learned that his agency had misled Congress about a special project. He canceled the program and scheduled closed-door meetings with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees the next day to brief them.
Ever since, observers of the national security scene have been puzzling over the story. Aside from the disturbing -- but not particularly surprising news -- that someone at the CIA sat on this news for four months after getting a new boss, the question is: what classified program did Panetta close down?
Early speculation rested on waterboarding, a technique the Bush administration used in interrogating terrorists. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had earlier accused the CIA of misleading her on use of the controversial practice. But President Obama has already banned waterboarding, so it's not something Panetta would need to shut down.
Cheney makes a convenient target. He's already enraged Democrats for suggesting that Obama's policies are making the United States more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. In fact, Panetta accused Cheney of hoping America would be attacked again, just to prove his point. As a result, some Republicans argue that the Democrats are just floating the Cheney rumor to deflect attention away from Pelosi's credibility on the issue.
Others argue that there is less there than meets the eye. As one unnamed former intelligence official told the Washington Post, "This characterization of something that began in 2001 and continued uninterrupted for eight years is just wrong. Honest men would question that characterization. It was more off and on." If the nature of the program could be revealed, said the source, it would be seen as "no big deal."
Either way, look for the guessing game to continue.
These days, federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor is not in her New York chambers. She's not weighing cases or interrogating counsel or even writing opinions.
Instead, with hearings to start Monday in the historic, much-anticipated Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation process, Sotomayor is holed up in a small office in the Eisenhower Old Executive Office Building next to the White House.
A group of young aides and lawyers assigned by Team Obama poses mock questions based on research about each committee member's records. But mostly, reports CNN, Sotomayor is sitting quietly by herself, reading her back opinions, boning up on anything that might provoke a senator to raise a fuss.
"She's got to hit the books," said Thomas Goldstein, a D.C. appellate attorney. "They can ask you about any part of the law. And she's got to be ready for that."
In an earlier round of get-acquainted-sessions, Sotomayor met with 70 of the Senate's 100....
Well, this morning -- perhaps even as you read this -- Vice President Joe Biden is meeting at his secret observatory in Washington with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Of course, with President Obama out of the country as a decoy in Russia having breakfast with Prime Minster Vladimir Putin, the Biden-Clinton breakfast is, like all the vice president's many private meetings, closed to the media.
So we can only speculate on the agenda, most likely that the former first lady from Chicago/Chappaqua is giving the former senator from Delaware some good jokes for Biden's noon gig on Capitol Hill.
At that very special hour, according to Biden's White House schedule, the vice president will have the unique and special honor of swearing into senatorhood the new senator from Minnesota, likely the very first "Saturday Night Live" cast member to join that elite club of dark blue suits (and a couple of red ones).
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met with the 315-vote-margin senator-elect and was clearly blown away by the fellow who will be the Democrats' important 60th vote as long as the other 59 continue breathing.
In his most enthusiastic remarks, even for someone from somewhere as uptown as Searchlight, Reid announced that Franken's coming would not by itself solve all of the nation's problems. For Reid's full text click here.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is quite pleased with the arrival of his party's 60th vote that gives his party a filibuster-proof majority as long as nobody dies or Arlen Specter doesn't change his mind again this week.
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on the long state recount, giving the Democrat a victory margin of 315 votes out of 2.9 million over incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.
But as great as the newly elected former Saturday Night Live comedian is already, the Nevada Democrat says the nation's plethora of problems cannot be solved by Al Franken alone. "We will need more than just his presence to effectively address all of our nation's challenges," Reid said Monday. (If you don't believe it, see full text below.)
-- Andrew Malcolm
Statement by Sen. Harry Reid upon the arrival of Al Franken in the United States Senate on the 6th day of the seventh month in the Year of our Nationhood 233
I am pleased to welcome Senator-elect Al Franken to the United States Senate. Senator-elect Franken ran a hard-fought, issues-based campaign and I know he will work hard for the people of Minnesota. But don't take my word for it. This is what former Republican Congressman Vin Weber had to say about our newest senator: "When people find out he's a smart guy who is serious about issues and a hard worker, they will be very pleasantly surprised."
Much has been made of the expectations of Al Franken joining the United States. I expect Al to work hard for the people of Minnesota, who have gone far too long without full representation. I expect him to help deliver the change this country demands as we work to strengthen our economy, ensure all Americans can access and afford quality healthcare, and make our country more energy independent.
I am confident Senator-elect Franken will make a difference, but we will need more than just his presence to effectively address all of our nations challenges.
The challenges we face are not Democratic or Republican in nature. They are America's challenges and they are too great to be solved by partisanship. Moving America forward will still require the cooperation and collaboration of Democrats and Republicans alike. The last eight years have shown us that the American people want us to work together. Democrats aren't looking at Senator Franken's election as an opportunity to ram legislation through the Senate.
In turn Senate Republicans must understand that Senator-elect Franken's election does not abdicate them from the responsibility of governing. That is why we have and will continue to offer Senate Republicans a seat at the table. It is up to them to decide whether they will sit down and work for the common good or continue to be the Party of No.
ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos: Vice President Joe Biden.
CBS’ Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria: David Miliband, British foreign minister; author Dambisa Moyo; author Jacqueline Novogratz.
CNN’s State of the Union with John King: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Mullen; Queen Noor of Jordan.
Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace: Mullen; Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and John Boehner (R-Ohio).
NBC’s Meet the Press: Pre-empted by coverage of Wimbledon tennis.
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), who was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday after fainting in his Los Angeles office, is being discharged from the hospital today and is expected to be back at work next week, a spokeswoman for the 69-year-old congressman said. She would not say what is ailing Waxman.
The 18-term congressman was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday and was kept there for evaluations and what was called “routine testing."
Phil Schiliro, Waxman's former chief of staff (and the current White House liaison to Congress), said on Thursday that Waxman is "feeling fine and is in good spirits." Schiliro said he did not know what was wrong with Waxman but noted that "he takes great care of himself."
Waxman wields a great deal of power in Washington these days because he is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the energy and healthcare legislation crucial to President Obama's agenda. Waxman co-wrote an ambitious energy and climate-change bill that passed the House, 219 to 212, on June 26. And he is expected to help craft the chamber's healthcare legislation.
We will keep you informed of updates on Waxman's health, when we hear them. In the meantime, check out the L.A. Times review of the congressman's recent book, "The Waxman Report: How Congress Really Works." The very complimentary review is written by the always erudite Times critic Tim Rutten (who rarely lavishes praise so freely).
-- Kate Linthicum
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Photo: Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) with members of his House Energy and Commerce Committee in May. Credit: Matthew Cavanaugh / European Pressphoto Agency
The rest of us seem to be tightening our belts in the face of the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Auto giants GM and Chrysler have declared bankruptcy, small businesses are hurting or going under, and just this morning the Labor Department released numbers showing that Americans lost jobs at a faster pace in June than in the prior month, and the unemployment rate ticked higher to 9.5%, the highest in 26 years.
But in Congress, where the only limit on spending is the (apparently not very effective) stigma on spending taxpayer funds, expensive travel to far-off places is booming.
According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of 60,000 congressional travel records, hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million -- not counting airfare, since the U.S. Air Force maintains a fleet of 16 planes for congressional travel. And that, says the Journal, represents a 50% jump since the Democrats took control of Congress two years ago.
Interestingly, the appetite for overseas travel is one area where Congress seems to have reached bipartisan harmony -- both Democrats and Republicans have the bug.
Hawaii's Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Democrat, led a group of senators and spouses on a four-day trip to France for the Paris Air Show, staying at the Intercontinental. One Republican on the trip, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, used the occasion to take a cruise on the River Seine with Defense industry executives and elected officials from Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.
House members are regulars too.
Republican Bud Cramer, a lame-duck congressman from Alabama who was not running for re-election last year, took a two-week trip to Europe instead, running up a $5,700 bill for hotels, meals and other expenses.
And Democrat Brian Baird of Washington, a member of the House Science Committee, took a four-day trip to the Galápagos Islands with his wife, four other lawmakers (both Dems and GOPers) and their families to study climate change. The price tag was not priceless. It was $22,000. Questioned by a reporter, then-Congresswoman Darlene Hooley, an Oregon Democrat, explained that they were up at 6 a.m. every morning to meet with scientists, naturalists and preservationists. "If this was a luxury trip, I would eat my hat," she said.
To be fair, lots of codels (shorthand for congressional delegations) are to war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, where accommodations are not luxurious, expenses are low, and the upside -- gain in knowledge, time with U.S. troops -- are real. But the Journal says many lawmakers couple their war-zone trips with visits to more tranquil spots. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last year led a delegation of eight colleagues and a large entourage to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan -- after first spending nearly $60,000 on meals and hotels during an eight-day stay in Italy.
Maybe Wall Street executives -- regular targets of Washington's holier-than-thou flogging of excessive bonuses and salaries -- could use this the next time they testify on the Hill.
-- Johanna Neuman
Photo: A hawk perches on a tortoise in the Galápagos. Credit: Tui De Roy / Minden Pictures/Getty Images
President Obamacontinued a high-pressure, high-stakes sales drive for his healthcare reform program today with a combination live-online town hall in Virginia.
The massive and expensive program is a key showcase element of his first year's policy agenda. And it's one that polls show Americans becoming increasingly hesitant about. Some 70% like the healthcare program they currently have, and while they may feel sorry for the millions who don't have any, the idea of changing what they have seems riskier than just staying put. (See video below.)
The administration knows this from its own polling. A recent CNN poll showed a bare majority -- 51% -- support his reform plan. But fully 45% oppose it, fearing change and rising costs.
That's why you'll see/hear/read Obama and his surrogates saying that terrible change is coming regardless. He calls this a major turning point where we must be decisive. He says he does not want a government takeover of healthcare, that everyone can keep the plan they have if they like it. But he claims that we must fix everything now his way in order to avoid an undefined coming catastrophe involving higher costs, etc.
Congressional Republicans -- who've done their own polling, of course -- have detected that one very worrisome thing for Americans is: Fine, Obama doesn't want the feds to take over healthcare -- but by instituting a government healthcare plan, ostensibly to provide efficient, lower-cost competition to for-profit companies, the subsidized, lower-cost government plan will inevitably undercut private companies that must show a profit to survive and cause employers to simply walk away from those more expensive plans, forcing people to fall into the government plan they didn't choose to enter voluntarily.
You will hear this argument many times in coming months. Now that Democrat Al Franken has won the Minnesota Senate seat, providing his party with the 60 necessary votes to halt any Republican filibusters, one would think this pretty much guarantees passage.
But not all Democratic senators are on board. That's why with these appearances, the....
Well, it's finally over. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled 5-0 today that Democrat Al Franken won the more than 2.9-million vote Senate election there by a landslide 312 votes.
Hours later Republican incumbent Norm Coleman conceded defeat to the former comedian. Coleman said he "will abide by its results" and "now congratulate Al Franken and his victory in this election."
Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty has indicated he will sign the official election certificate according to the state's top court decision.
Now, Coleman, the former mayor of St. Paul, can decide on his rumored run to replace Pawlenty in the governor's office next year, while Pawlenty ponders a presidential run in 2012.
Besides bringing an often-blue sense of humor to one of the world's most exclusive clubs, Franken will be the 60th Democratic vote out of 100, preventing the possibility of any Republican filibuster if GOP members could ever agree on such a thing.
And providing that the recent Republican turncoat Arlen Spectervotes with his new-found Democratic BFFs, which he's warned he won't always do. Which explains Rep. Joe Sestak's developing primary challenge back home in Pennsylvania.
And providing that 91-year-old West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd keeps surviving his frequent hospitalizations. As reported by renowned Byrd expert Don Surber here, the longest-serving senator ever was released most recently today after recovering from a staph infection contracted while he was fighting a minor infection..
Texas Sen. John Cornyn,chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said: "I would like to commend both Norm Coleman and Al Franken on a hard-fought campaign. In particular, I would like to be among the first to welcome Al Franken to the United States Senate."
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Our Bloggers
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the Countdown to Crawford blog here at The Times.
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