Avoiding Stimulus II
By: MARTIN KADY II on July 7, 2009 @ 7:26 AM
Health care reform is at a critical juncture, climate change is rearing its head in the Senate and the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings kick off in just six days.
So why not fire up another stimulus package? Republicans certainly hope Democrats pursue a “stimulus II” because it plays right into their hands, allowing the GOP to focus on deficits, overspending and jobs.
Which is exactly why a fresh stimulus is unlikely to happen – despite all the chatter, mostly from Republicans.
Good Tuesday morning and welcome to The Huddle, where Al Franken will finally be sworn in and continue to not be funny in the Senate chamber, Republicans continue to roll out attack ads 16 months before the election and John Murtha is defending yet another curious earmark.
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DRIVING THE DAY: Another major health care industry player is getting behind reform. From David Herszenhorn of The New York Times: “The Obama administration and major hospital associations on Monday evening were nearing a deal for about $150 billion in cost savings to help pay for an overhaul of the nation’s health care system, with an announcement expected at the White House as early as Wednesday, officials said.
“If an agreement is finalized, it would be the latest step in an on-going effort by the White House to win concessions from major health industry groups to help pay for legislation aimed at providing health insurance to all Americans. Democrats are hoping to keep the cost of the overhaul at about $1 trillion over 10 years.”
AD WARS: The National Republican Senatorial Committee will release an ad later today titled “60” that’s designed to scare people into voting a few Republicans back into the Senate. The partial text, provided to The Huddle: “It’s finally here. With 60 senators
The Democrats have total control. No checks. No balances. Higher energy taxes?
No debate. …” You get the point – the ad ends by saying vote for more Republicans.
AD WAR II: And the liberal group Americans United for Change is fighting on another front, airing “thank you” notes on radio and TV for a dozen vulnerable Democrats for their “yes” vote on climate change. The ad buy -- $150,000 – targets Democrats from fairly moderate districts who took a risk with the vote, like Rep. Tom Perriello of Virginia, Dan Maffai of upstate New York and Ben Chandler from Lexington, Ky.
POOR DHS: The Department of Homeland Security can’t catch a break from Congress. As David Rogers explains in POLITICO: “Try as it might, the Department of Homeland Security can’t get no respect on the floor of the House. In the parlance of Vietnam, it’s a “kill zone” for management.
“Impatient with the agency’s decision process, lawmakers have grabbed power for themselves by earmarking 25 percent of new pre-disaster funds to speed along the grant process. But when the department dared this spring to beef up its management budget, the House turned around and cut 32 percent from President Barack Obama’s request, leaving major administrative offices with fewer dollars than they got last year. … But DHS is the poster child for an increasingly common phenomenon for Congress: cutting agency management budgets and then bellyaching that government isn’t being effectively managed.”
CLIMATE CHANGE IN SENATE: We all know it will be harder than the House, but will it be so compromised that it will defeat the purpose of slowing global warming? From Paul Kane of The Washington Post: “President Obama's climate-change legislation begins a daunting march through the Senate this week, with supporters acknowledging they are as many as 15 votes shy of victory and well aware that deals to attract more votes could erode the bill's environment-friendly objectives.
Politico |
