Morning Jolt
. . . with Jim Geraghty
January 4, 2011
In This Issue . . .
1. Extra, Extra, Read All About It! You Won't Believe the Daley News!
2. Somehow, I Doubt Boehner Cares Much about Harry Reid's Advice.
3. Don't Go Away Mad, Alan Grayson. Just Go Away.
4. Addenda
Enjoy today's Jolt!
Jim
1. Extra, Extra, Read All About It! You Won't Believe the Daley News!
It looks like Bloomberg had it first: "President Barack Obama is considering naming William Daley, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive and former U.S. Commerce secretary, to a high-level White House post, possibly as his chief of staff, people familiar with the matter said. Such a move, which is still under discussion and which White House officials wouldn't confirm, would bring a Washingtonveteran -- and someone with strong business ties -- into the administration as Obama enters the second half of his term. The president is faced with a Republican majority in the House of Representatives and is trying to accelerate the U.S. economic recovery while addressing the budget deficit. Daley, 62, who typically responds to questions, didn't return two messages seeking comment left on his cell phone yesterday or a phone call to his office and an e-mail sent to him today. White House officials declined to discuss the matter."
David Frum was among the first to do the math: "Do I have this straight: a Daley resigns to make room for Rahm, Rahm resigns to make room for another Daley, and nobody thinks this fishy?"
Moe Lane is willing to give Team Obama a smidgen of credit, saluting what he calls the Chicago Way: "OK, let me see if I have this straight: Rahm Emanuel quits being White House Chief of Staff and runs for mayor of Chicago. The retiring mayor of Chicago is Richard Daley, whose brother William Daley is reportedly being considered for the position of. . . . White House Chief of Staff. Presumably this would be followed with Richard Daley endorsing Emanuel. (pause) Brilliant -- in its way. But why the [expletive deleted] couldn't they have shown this kind of ingenuity when it came to fixing the unemployment rate?"
Writing at RightPundits, Warner Todd Huston sees trouble ahead on Obama's left flank: "If Daley takes his place as Obama's Chief of Staff, this could figure troublesome to Obama's union supporters since Daley was one of the biggest supporters of the North American FreetradeAgreement passed in 1993. Unions have always opposed this bill and may feel that Obama is putting someone close to him that is anti-union (just as they complained about Rahm Emanuel, also a NAFTA supporter)."
At Politico, Ben Smith suspects the lefties may go bonkers -- well, more bonkers than usual, in our view: "If the party's liberal base didn't like Rahm Emanuel, it willhateDaley. Back in 2009, he was among the first prominent Democrats to call on Obama and his party to tack to the center, in a Washington Post op-ed that infuriated the left: 'The Democratic Party -- my lifelong political home -- has a critical decision to make: Either we plot a more moderate, centrist course or risk electoral disaster not just in the upcoming midterms but in many elections to come.' A Daley appointment would be an early signal of Obama's confidence that the party's left will ultimately have no choice but to show up and vote for him in 2012."
Good call, Obama. Because liberal activists never lash out in anger and make decisions that hurt them in the long term in order to get a short-lived emotional thrill. Ask Ned Lamont. Ask Rob Miller and the $1 million he received in donations in a no-hope bid against Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina.
2. Somehow, I Doubt Boehner Cares Much about Harry Reid's Advice.
Looks like Senate Democrats are telling incoming House Speaker John Boehner that passing bills to repeal Obamacare is a futile gesture, that they'll never let those bills pass the Senate: "The 112th Congress doesn't begin until Wednesday, but Senate Democrats are already vowing to block any attempts by the new GOP-led House to repeal the healthcare reform law. The Senate's top Democrats, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), wrote incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Monday warning the new GOP House against advancing legislation that would undo the sweeping healthcare overhaul. . . . 'If House Republicans move forward with a repeal of the healthcare law that threatens consumer benefits like the 'donut hole' fix, we will block it in the Senate. This proposal deserves a chance to work. It is too important to be treated as collateral damage in a partisan mission to repeal health care,' wrote Reid, Majority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), Democratic Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Conference Secretary Patty Murray (Wash.) and Policy Committee Vice Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (Mich.)."
I love how the bill passes with no Republican support, but somehow repeal is deemed the "partisan mission."
Either way, Boehner apparently roots for the Cincinnati Bengals, so there's not much point in telling him the odds.
William Jacobson, writing at Legal Insurrection, wants Boehner and company to bring it on: "The Democratic leadership in the Senate has told Republicans in the House not to bother with repeal of Obamacare, any repeal bill will not get past the Senate. That's old news, and certainly no reason not to pass legislation in the House. There are several vulnerable Democratic Senators up for reelection in 2012. Make them vote on repeal of Obamacare as an entirety, and in pieces. And then run the advertisements early and often."
Sister Toldjah says the conservative base doesn't expect a Democrat-controlled Senate or President Obama to repeal Obamacare. But they want to see the GOP fight for its beliefs: "Most of the time I despise symbolic votes when one party knows the likelihood of them getting their way on a particular bill is slim to none, but this is one of those times where it's a good idea to have House Reps. and Senators of both parties to go on record as to where they stand on the issue of repeal or 'repair' of the ObamaCare monstrosity. Many parts of the bill remain deeply unpopular with the American people, and those in districts/states whose Representatives and Senators voted in favor of ObamaCare -- and who are still in office -- need to go on record a second time around just so their constituents can see if their minds have changed. Of course, in some districts and states, you'll find elements of ObamaCare popular enough that the House Rep. or Senator wouldn't change their vote come hell or high water. But there will be competitive House and Senate races in 2012, and just as it was last fall, health care 'reform' will be a major campaign issue for some Democrats in 2012."
Brian Faughnan sniffs out the strategy behind Reid's public cries now: "The Senate Democratic leadership has announced that regardless of the vote in the House,the bill will not be voted on in the Senate.This is consistent, at least: the bill was passed despite widespread public opposition and signed into law the same way. Backers of the bill have repeated ad nauseam that the American people will like the bill eventually, and they will stick by their unpopular position regardless of what the American people say. That said, it is clear that the repeal bill will be voted on, and will pass. The Senate can then choose to schedule it for a vote or not. The only reason to announce ahead of time that the bill will be ignored, is to try to reduce some of the pressure to act on the bill. Swing state Senators - like Ben Nelson (D-NE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Jim Webb (D-VA), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Jon Tester (D-MT), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Joe Manchin (D-WV) - may now attempt to deflect pressure to repeal the bill by stating that Majority Leader Reid will block any efforts. Opponents of Obamacare will have to work that much harder to put pressure on these Senators to . . . come out in favor of simple accountability -- putting the Senate on record on this deeply unpopular program."
3. Don't Go Away Mad, Alan Grayson. Just Go Away.
You know why this is a great week? Because at the end of it, Alan Grayson becomes a former congressman.
The New York Times gives him a ludicrously soft farewell profile, and the conservative blogosphere rolled their eyes so hard they dislodged some corneas.
"If readers can recall a similar eulogy for a departing righty I would be curious," sighs Tom Maguire at Just One Minute. "In any case, I deplore this call to violence by the famously outspoken Grayson: 'A Bronx native with a fondness for steel-toed cowboy boots (the better to kick Republicans with, he jokes) . . .' Ha hah! He was only joking! And since he is a lefty, he gets a pass. Well, I blame the left's hateful, eliminationist rhetoric."
Moe Lane recalls that Grayson won 38 percent of the vote and observes, "That doesn't look like you were quite . . . up . . . for kicking anybody last November."
4. Addenda
Patrick Ruffini observed, "On Wednesday Democrats will vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker so we can again run ads on this in 2012. Sweet!" |
