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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (61728)	8/31/2009 11:17:55 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

Wait til the Feds cash in their bank shares. They got shares at Citi, BAC etc at much lower levels. They stand to make a fortune. ;-)

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (61728)	8/31/2009 11:18:14 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 149317

Stronger Prospects for the President on a Health Care Bill By JOHN HARWOOD Published: August 30, 2009 If sentiment ever ruled the United States Senate, it does not now. Advocates of health care overhaul should not expect a big boost in memory of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Yet other factors suggest that President Obama still has stronger prospects for achieving his health policy goals than surface impressions of the Congressional recess indicate. He lags behind his own timetable for action, but remains ahead of presidential predecessors who pursued the same objective. When the president and Democratic leaders resume work next week, they face big challenges. On substance, the forcefulness of cost controls, the extent of subsidies for the more than 45 million uninsured to buy coverage and mechanisms for changing the insurance marketplace remain under negotiation. On strategy, Democrats face a parliamentary choice. Even without Mr. Kennedy, they retain a chance to clear the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold if just one or two Republicans break from their party. If they cannot clear the threshold, Democratic strategists believe that their House and Senate majorities can hold under special “reconciliation” rules barring Republican filibusters. In that attempt, Mr. Obama’s sagging poll numbers would hold less relevance than memories of Democrats’ landslide 1994 defeat after they let President Clinton’s health care initiative founder. “They’ll get something done,” predicted former Senator John B. Breaux of Louisiana, a Democrat who was relegated to the minority by that Republican Revolution. “It’ll be a major step.” A Slide During Recess The August recess has exacted a toll. The president’s job approval rating in a Gallup poll, 55 percent in early August, stands at 50 percent. Neither the administration nor Senate leaders see much remaining promise in bipartisan Finance Committee negotiations. Given recent gibes from Republican participants, the Sept. 15 deadline for results set by senior Democrats appears a formality. In the House, raucous constituent gatherings have disquieted conservative Democrats facing the most competitive 2010 re-election contests. House vote-counters estimate that they have expanded the roster of Democratic opponents to approximately 20, from around a dozen when lawmakers left Washington. The good news for Democrats is that the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, could suffer nearly twice that many defections and still pass health legislation on the House floor. That is how much of a cushion Mr. Obama’s party secured by winning 257 seats in 2008. The party’s Senate cushion also remains formidable, though the loss of Mr. Kennedy has for now deprived the majority leader, Harry Reid, of a potential 60th Democratic vote against a filibuster. But Democratic leaders believe Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, the strongest Republican supporter of comprehensive legislation, might provide that 60th vote. If Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, the strongest Democratic skeptic, defects on a filibuster, Democrats see one more potential ally in Maine’s other moderate Republican senator, Susan Collins. In any case, whether they overcome a filibuster or sidestep it through reconciliation, Democrats would then need to hold just 50 votes to prevail, with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. available to break a tie. Shaping a Deal Some elements of a deal appear set: an individual mandate requiring Americans to buy coverage; subsidies to help them, financed by taxpayers and employers; steps to overhaul the delivery of health services to reduce costly inefficiencies; new regulations allowing consumers to compare insurance plans, and requiring insurers to accept all customers regardless of pre-existing conditions. Others remain in flux: ¶Stimulating insurance competition. Some Senate centrists favor nonprofit cooperatives over the “public option” backed by Mr. Obama and House leaders. But Ms. Snowe, who prefers a public option fallback that would be “triggered” by failures in the marketplace, has increasing leverage to dictate that outcome if she chooses. ¶Financing expanded coverage. While the House aims to tax the highest incomes, a Senate plan to tax the highest-cost insurance plans has gained momentum because economists say it would also curb health inflation. But concerns by Democrats in high-cost states, like Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, may lead lawmakers to narrow the value of plans subject to taxation — thus reducing revenue for extending coverage as well as the impact on health costs. ¶The overall price tag. The Finance Committee is pursuing a plan costing roughly $900 billion over 10 years. Dropping that number much further, a potential consequence of deficit worries and the difficulty of enacting tax increases, would make it harder to provide even bare-bones coverage for the vast majority of the uninsured. Ultimately, however, elements still in dispute appear less likely to derail comprehensive legislation than to alter its precise effects and pace of implementation. For all the political risks of acting, “Everyone knows the alternative is worse,” said Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama’s chief of staff and a veteran of the Clinton White House. “Failure leads to failure.” nytimes.com

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (61728)	8/31/2009 11:21:28 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

TIME FOR THE NARRATIVE TO SWITCH BACK.... In June, health care reform was very likely to happen. It was one of those observations "everyone" knew to be true. In July, however, reform was in trouble, and "everyone" knew that, too. It's August, and now reform is practically dead. "Everyone" says so. Of course, August is almost over, and those observations about the reform effort failing have become stale and uninteresting. September starts tomorrow and it's time for a new narrative.Maybe now would be a good time for "everyone" to start talking about reform is going to pass after all. The NYT's John Harwood has a piece today on the "stronger prospects" for a health care reform bill this year. If sentiment ever ruled the United States Senate, it does not now. Advocates of health care overhaul should not expect a big boost in memory of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Yet other factors suggest that President Obama still has stronger prospects for achieving his health policy goals than surface impressions of the Congressional recess indicate. He lags behind his own timetable for action, but remains ahead of presidential predecessors who pursued the same objective. As Harwood sees it, there's already widespread agreement on several key elements of reform; reconciliation is still very much an option; the Gang of Six nonsense is nearly complete; and "Democratic leaders believe" they might be able to break a filibuster with Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-Maine) support. Former Sen. John Breaux (D) of Louisiana told Harwood, "They'll get something done. It'll be a major step." E.J. Dionne Jr. touched on a similar point in his column today: "Despite health care's summer of discontent, supporters of change are in better shape than the accounts of recent weeks would suggest." And Kevin Drum emphasized the fact that as August comes to a close, the Tea Baggers and their tantrums haven't fundamentally changed much of anything: "[T]he Fox/FreedomWorks crowd has created some great political theater, but underneath it all not a lot has changed. If Democrats can just take a deep breath after the trauma of being yelled at all summer, they'll realize that the loons at their townhalls represented about one percent of their constituency; that the public still wants reform and will reward success; that the plans currently on the table are already pretty modest affairs; and then they'll stick together as a caucus and vote for them. And that will be that." Health care reform could be the phoenix, rising from the ashes, if Democrats show some spine and roll up their sleeves. The elements are already in place, and the media narrative is ready to shift. It's not rocket science.