Political Bulletin

WASHINGTON NEWS

Obama Encounters Mixed Response For Doctor's Groups

President Obama yesterday outlined his healthcare reform plans in a speech to the AMA in Chicago. While giving the President credit for opening a dialogue with the AMA, stories last night and this morning tended to cast a skeptical eye on the President's plans for funding his reforms. Moreover, some media accounts particularly on network television described the AMA crowd's reaction to the President's speech as negative, and concluded that doctors' opposition to the so-called "public option" underscores the potential difficulties ahead for Obama's reform efforts. NBC Nightly News reported that "there were doctors at today's American Medical Association gathering who booed the President." The AP reports, "For all the young president's popularity, the response he got Monday from doctors at an American Medical Association meeting was a sign his road is only going to get rockier as he tries to sell his plan to overhaul the nation's health care system." The CBS Evening News said that Obama "made his case for change in front of a tough audience," and later added that he "found himself on the defensive."

ABC World News noted doctors "fear that not for profit public plan will drive private insurers out of business, swamping enrollments for the public plan and forcing the government to slash doctor's rates." On cable, as well as some newspaper analyses, the AMA's reaction to the speech was described in more positive terms. CNN's The Situation Room said the AMA "was really expected to be a tough crowd but they quickly melted. This is the beginning of an essential courtship for...Obama, who desperately needs this group to pass his health care reform." Fox News' Special Report also reported that the President "could be winning some support by focusing on medical malpractice." The Chicago Sun-Times says "Obama got nine standing ovations and just one 'boo' from the crowd," and adds "the doctors praised Obama for showing up and speaking to them in plain language about wanting to let them return to treating patients." The Washington Post similarly reports that the speech "marked what White House senior adviser David Axelrod described as a higher level of engagement by the president on his top domestic priority."

Obama Booed Over Malpractice Caps The CBS Evening News noted that "the President got a standing ovation when he said he might be open to some kind of relief for doctors from malpractice lawsuits, but he then got a smattering of boos when he says he still opposes caps on jury awards." The Politico calls Obama's comments on liability reform "a sweetener," but adds that "in reality" he "didn't offer anything new or at least nothing beyond what he has advocated as a senator." The AP, meanwhile, reports that "former Sen. Tom Daschle says controlling the cost of malpractice insurance will have to be a part of the Obama administration's overhaul of the health care system."

Republicans Blast Obama Proposals McClatchy reports that "Republican response to Obama's speech was lukewarm at best." AFP notes that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "Americans don't want a government-run system that puts bureaucrats between patients and doctors." The AP reports that "Republicans are honing an attack line against...Obama in an attempt to play on Americans' fears of government overreach and economic uncertainties, suggesting he is nationalizing American industry and socializing medicine."

Kennedy Plan Would Cost At Least $1 Trillion

The AP reports a "leading health care bill under consideration in Congress would cost the government an estimated $1 trillion over the next decade and reduce the ranks of the uninsured by about one-third, or 16 million individuals, congressional budget officials said Monday in a preliminary estimate." In a letter to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas W. Elmendorf "said the estimate was based on major provisions contained in an incomplete draft of the bill" sponsored by the Massachusetts senator.

The New York Times, meanwhile, says the CBO "concluded that...even if the bill became law, the budget office said, 36 million people would remain uninsured in 2017." ABC World News said last night that Republicans "are already weighing in on" the CBO "report. They're doing some back of the envelope" estimating, noting, "It's going to be $62,500 for every new person covered."

The Politico reports that the White House "weighed in late Monday, issuing a statement from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs distancing the administration from the Kennedy proposal." Said Gibbs, "his is not the Administration's bill, and it's not even the final Senate Committee bill."

Under the headline "White House Wary Of CBO Blockades In Healthcare Battle," the Financial Times reports that "the last time a Democratic administration tried to push through universal healthcare coverage in 1993, the CBO played the role of "skunk at the party" when it vigorously disputed the White House's estimates of how much it would all cost. 'Hillarycare' disintegrated shortly after that."

Orszag, writing in the Financial Times this morning, says that "there has been much discussion about how to pay for" healthcare reform, and notes that "coinciding with this debate are vocal concerns about the country's underlying fiscal position --- which some have suggested as a reason to delay healthcare reform." But "what this argument ignores is that healthcare is central to the long-term fiscal and economic prospects of the US."

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Cheney Hopes Panetta Was "Misquoted"

For the second day in a row, media coverage of CIA director Leon Panetta's comments about former Vice President Cheney was markedly muted, with reports on major outlets merely relaying who said what, while offering little or no analysis. NBC Nightly News was the only network newscast to mention the story, reporting, "Something of a war of words broke out today between" Panetta and Cheney, who "has been a frequent critic, as you may know, of the current Obama Administration's national security policy. And in an interview in the current 'New Yorker' magazine, Panetta hit back saying, quote, 'It's almost as if he,' Cheney's, 'wishing, that this country would be attacked again in order to make his point.'" Cheney "put out a statement that said, in part, 'I hope my old friend Leon was misquoted.'" Cheney's statement, incidentally, was released to Fox News.

AFP notes that "Cheney last month blasted the new president's ban on rough interrogations as 'recklessness cloaked as righteousness' and called his reversal of Bush-era anti-terror efforts 'unwise in the extreme.'" The Hill reports that "the Democratic National Committee has sought to elevate Cheney to the top of the Republican Party." The Politico, meanwhile, reports that "asked if President Barack Obama agreed with Panetta's statement, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday that he was 'not going to get into motivations.'"

On MCNBC, Panetta's comments found some defenders. At the opening of MSNBC's The Ed Show, Ed Schultz noted that on April 21, he had said, "I think that Dick Cheney wants this country to get hit again for political gain. ... I think Cheney is that mean." Newsweek's Michael Isikoff, also on MSNBC's Hardball, said, "What's significant here is that Panetta, despite this kind of swipe, actually if you look at what he's doing at the CIA, he is supporting a lot more vigorously than anybody would have expected agency policies that were born during the Bush-Cheney era. ... So while he takes this rhetorical shot at Cheney, the real focus should be on what Panetta is doing at the CIA because he's been the outlier here from where a lot of people expected Obama's policies to be."

McCain: Panetta Should "Retract" Statement Sen. John McCain, on Fox News' Fox And Friends, said, "Leon Panetta knows Dick Cheney, and he knows better. I disagreed with the Cheney policy on interrogation techniques, but never did it cross my mind that Dick Cheney would ever want an attack on the United States of America, and it's unfair, and I think that Mr. Panetta should retract and retract immediately." Isikoff, on MSNBC's Hardball, said, "It was a little surprising to see McCain joining with Cheney on this since they were so famously at odds on this very issue of interrogation policies during the last administration, but they do smell blood in the water on the larger issue of national security, of policies relating to interrogations and all. So they're attacking."

Gay Group Criticizes Obama

The Wall Street Journal reports a "prominent gay-rights organization, long supportive of President Barack Obama, sent him a scathing letter Monday to protest the administration's recent legal backing of the Defense of Marriage Act." The frustration, "expressed in an emotional letter by the president of the Human Rights Campaign, also stems from Mr. Obama's reluctance to move on other issues on its agenda, such as allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military."

Rachel Maddow, on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, said, that Obama "supported repealing the Defense of Marriage Act when he took office," yet now "he's defending it, defending it using the same arguments as the Bush Administration, contending it's not discrimination, that it is constitutional, all the while using arguments that equate same-sex marriage with pedophilia and incest."

In an editorial titled "A Bad Call On Gay Rights," the New York Times calls DOJ's "brief in support" of the Defense of Marriage Act "disturbing," and adds that "the administration needs a new direction on gay rights." Adds the Times, "The best approach of all would have been to make clear, even as it defends the law in court, that it is fighting for gay rights."

DC Officials Reject Referendum The Washington Times reports, "DC elections officials Monday rejected a request to put the issue of same-sex marriage before voters, creating a clearer path for city lawmakers to allow gay couples to be married in the nation's capital." The Washington Post says yesterday's ruling "by DC elections officials suggests that only Congress or the courts can thwart the gathering momentum to legalize same-sex marriage in the District." The decision "reaffirms the rights of gays and lesbians under the city's civil rights law," and with it "the Board of Elections and Ethics blocked a proposal to let voters decide whether to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions."

White House Showing "Deference" To NYTimes?

The Politico reports that at one time, the New York Times "loomed like Olympus over elite journalism," and "the mind-set is enjoying a revival in the Age of Obama. Where George W. Bush's team made a show of not caring about the Times, aides in this White House treat the paper with...deference." For all "its new media airs, the new White House team remains in the thrall of perhaps the most emblematic old media institution of all," and "for all the proliferation of news outlets, Obama aides believe the paper still has an outsize ability to shape perceptions among political elites and other journalists."

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CAMPAIGN NEWS

Brownback Wrapping Up KS Governorship 17 Months Out?

The AP reports Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh (R) yesterday pulled out of the Kansas gubernatorial race, and with "no other Republican or major Democrat now in the contest," Sen. Sam Brownback (R) "could be on the glide-path to the governor's mansion." The Kansas City Star says the Democrats are "still shopping around" for a serious challenger, while Kansas City Star columnist Barb Shelly says, "Get used to the sound of it. Governor Sam Brownback."

Letterman Apologizes To Palin

The Washington Post reports, "Facing enormous criticism for his Palin-daughter joke," David Letterman "on his show last night apologized" Sarah Palin's family, saying his joke "could not 'be defended.'" The AP adds Letterman said "his joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter was a lousy joke, no matter how you cut it, and he's sorry. But the late-night host insists that what's got people outraged is the misunderstanding over which Palin daughter the joke was about." The Politico reports Letterman "said he was unaware that 14-year old Willow Palin was even on the trip."

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reports a Website "called FireDavidLetterman.com is organizing a rally outside Letterman's show at the Ed Sullivan theater" today at 4:30 pm. Sponsored "by New York State Assemblyman Brian Kolb, along with an attorney and radio host John Ziegler, the site also provides contacts - including major advertisers and CBS bigwigs - to whom people can complain about what many felt was a tasteless and potentially harmful quip by the late night talk leader."

Conservatives Still Outnumber Liberals 2-1

The Washington Times reports that new polling data released by Gallup on Monday "found that, even in the Age of Obama, there has been a 'slight increase' in the number of Americans who call themselves conservatives, outnumbering self-described liberals by a 2-to-1 margin." The Gallup Poll survey shows "40 percent of Americans interviewed in 10 surveys from January to May described themselves as conservative, 35 percent as moderate and 21 percent as liberal - a finding that could have a significant influence on the way President Obama's agenda is perceived in the months to come."

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POLITICAL HUMOR

The Latest From Late Night Comedians

Conan O'Brien: "Joe Biden said something interesting in an interview, just this weekend. Vice President Joe Biden said he still has his eye on the presidency," which "is weird since the question was, 'How do you take your coffee?'"

David Letterman: "How many of you folks are following the elections in Iran? Hard not to. It's compelling. Well, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected...and won by a landslide, ladies and gentlemen. And I, you know, I guess the voters couldn't resist his good looks and charisma."

Craig Ferguson: "Election returns...are kind of hard to believe. According to the numbers, both opposition candidates lost to Ahma-Dinna-Jacket in their hometowns. That's like Barack Obama losing in the city of Chicago. I'm not, in any way, suggesting Iranian politics are as corrupt as Chicago, but even...Blagojevich is like, 'Oh, they're good.'"

Jimmy Fallon: "Well, the results from Iran's presidential elections are in. And Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared victory. But his opponent, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, is claiming ballot fraud and wants an investigation. If that doesn't work, he's planning on making a documentary about global warming."

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