Media coverage of the healthcare issue last night and this morning tended to portray the White House and Congressional Democrats as struggling to cope with new CBO forecasts on the cost of their reform plans. The CBS Evening News was the only network broadcast to cover the story, reporting, "Today we learned more about the staggering sums involved. At least a trillion dollars over the next ten years according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office." Moreover, "there are growing concerns that President Obama lacks a realistic plan to pay for this sweeping reform."
The Washington Post says that Obama's "plan to expand health coverage to the uninsured is likely to dig the nation deeper into debt unless policymakers adopt politically painful controls on spending, such as sharp reductions in payments to doctors, hospitals and other providers, congressional budget analysts said yesterday." The AP says Senate Democrats were "jolted by cost estimates as high as $1.6 trillion," and adds that they have "agreed to scale back planned subsidies for the uninsured and sought concessions totaling hundreds of billions of dollars from private industry Tuesday to defray the cost of sweeping health care legislation." The Wall Street Journal similarly reports that the Senate Finance Committee "wrestled...to bring down the total cost of its health-care package."
Under the headline "Dems Reel On Healthcare," The Hill reports that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus "initially planned to release his bill Wednesday, but he has pushed back his timetable because of cost estimate concerns." And "perhaps more importantly, the unity that Democrats touted earlier this year has cracked." The New York Times says Finance Committee Democrats are "alarmed" by CBO cost estimates," and quotes Sen. Kent Conrad saying, "It's clear there have got to be changes made to make the whole package affordable." USA Today reports that in an interview conducted Monday, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf "said the cost to insure those people will continue to rise, and savings from efforts to curb health care spending may be elusive."
Sebelius Criticizes Insurance Industry The AP reports that in an interview, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "said the 'ballpark' cost for providing full coverage seems to be about $1 trillion," and that "the budget office estimates suggested the price tag could get even bigger." Sebelius also said that "the insurance lobby won't be able to block a public health plan because most Americans realize they would be better off if the industry had competition."
Bloomberg News reports that in an interview, President Obama said yesterday that "he wouldn't rule out a proposal in Congress to tax employer- provided health-insurance benefits as a way to pay for his health-care plan. " Obama told Bloomberg, "I don't want to predetermine the best way to do this. I've already put forward what I think is the best way."
During an interview with CNBC's John Harwood, meanwhile, the President said, "Let's just make sure that we're open-minded and if, for example, the cooperative idea that Kent Conrad has put forward, if that is a better way to reduce costs and help families and businesses with their health care, I'm more than happy to accept those good ideas." On MSNBC's The Ed Show, Ed Shutltz asked Harwood, "How adamant is the President on a public option in healthcare?" Harwood said President Obama "indicated some flexibility in that answer. And in fact, I think he was speaking out to you, Ed. Because he said, 'I know some liberals are upset with me, that I haven't proposed a single-payer.'"
"Centrist" House Members Secretly Crafting Plan The Hill reports, "Centrist House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are working together privately on healthcare reform," in talks "so secretive and politically sensitive that some members interviewed by The Hill refused to name other legislators involved in the bipartisan effort."
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Bloomberg News reports that President Obama told Bloomberg Television yesterday that "the US unemployment rate will reach 10 percent this year, even as the economy begins to emerge from the recession." Said Obama, "The economy is going to turn around, but as you know, jobs are a lagging indicator and we've got to produce 150,000 jobs every month just to keep pace, just to flatten this out." AFP notes that asked during the interview "whether the jobless rate, which surged to a 26-year high of 9.4 percent in May, would reach 10 percent, the president said: 'Yes.'"
Big Banks Expect Modest Third Quarter Growth The AP reports, "The nation's largest banks expect the economy to recover from its deep slump by late summer but remain weak until next year." The American Bankers Association's Economic Advisory Committee, "which includes economists from Wells Fargo & Co., PNC Financial Services Group, Morgan Stanley and others, expects gross domestic product to increase 0.5 percent in the July-September quarter."
The House on Tuesday passed the supplemental spending bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but a growing partisan divide increasing colored debate over the measure. The bill included several last minute additions at the request of the White House, which contributed to a decline in GOP support for the bill. The AP reports, "War-funding legislation survived a fierce partisan battle in the House on Tuesday, a major step in providing commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan the money they would need for military operations in the coming months." The "$106 billion measure" provides "about $80 billion for military operations," and funds "an array of other spending priorities, including $7.7 billion to respond to the flu pandemic and more than $10 billion in development and security aid for Pakistan and Iraq as well as countries such as Mexico and the nation of Georgia." The vote "was 226-202, with only five Republicans voting for the bill and 32 Democrats opposing it."
The Los Angeles Times similarly reports that the vote "posed the toughest test yet of President Obama's ability to rally his party's left wing, which views his foreign and military policies as too hawkish." McClatchy says "White House aides worked the halls during the hours before the vote, and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel called some lawmakers personally." The "lobbying worked -- and the bill now goes to a similarly split Senate."
The Wall Street Journal reports Republicans "decried" $5 billion in funds for the International Monetary Fund "as misspent, both because they said Americans are suffering at home and in need of assistance, and also because they said it could lead to the IMF lending money to enemies of the US."
The Politico notes "what GOP lawmakers said when a Republican president was in the White House, and it was Democrats who were trying to put on the brakes on a war supplemental bill." They said that "to hold up a war-funding bill would be 'the equivalent of waving a white flag to al Qaeda.'" Roll Call, meanwhile, also notes "Republicans voted en masse against the $787 billion stimulus package," and says that while "it took Democrats nearly a decade after losing the House to achieve that level of discipline...Republicans say they know the value of sticking together."
The Politico reports, "The Afghanistan and Pakistan funds reflect a major expansion of the US commitment to that region." Included in the bill "are funds for a greatly expanded US role in training and equipping Pakistani troops, who will be asked to carry out more counterinsurgency operations against Taliban forces operating in their country and along the border with Afghanistan."
The Politico reports President Obama's Administration "is adhering, at least for now, to a Bush administration policy that White House visitor logs are presidential records that the public has no right to see." A "liberal government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, filed suit Tuesday after the group's request for information on White House visits by coal industry executives was refused by the Secret Service."
The Washington Post reports the Secret Service "has rejected requests from two organizations for the logs, which document the West Wing meetings that have helped shape Obama's policies on banking regulation, economic recovery, foreign policy and the auto industry." The Hill reports White House spokesman Robert Gibbs "said Tuesday that the White House counsel's office and 'some other people' are reviewing the Bush-era lawsuit over the logs, looking at a number of issues, including whether the new administration is bound by precedent."
On MSNBC's Countdown, Keith Olbermann noted, "Even though a Federal judge has twice ruled that visitor logs must be released, which makes President Obama, on this point, perfectly consistent with President Bush -- so-called transparency be damned."
The New York Times reports Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor "expressed skepticism in March 2003 about the expanded government surveillance powers in the USA Patriot Act, citing what she referred to as its broader authority 'to impose nationwide wiretaps with little judicial supervision' and to monitor Internet use in search of terrorists." Sotomayor's "remarks on legal issues arising from the Bush administration's response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, represent the most detailed indication to surface so far of her approach to executive power and counterterrorism, a high-profile area that has sharply divided the Supreme Court in recent terms."
Conservative Judges Back Sotomayor On Gun Rights The New York Times reports many conservatives "opposed to Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court have argued that she is opposed to gun rights, a view based largely on a New York case in which she took part this year." But in an opinion "a few weeks ago, in a Chicago gun-control case, a panel of conservative appellate judges said Judge Sotomayor and her colleagues on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had gotten it right."
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The AP reports that in "a confession that jarred his scandal-weary state as well as his party," "conservative" Nevada Sen. John Ensign (R) announced yesterday he had an affair with a woman on his campaign staff last year. The New York Times adds that Ensign "led the Republicans' campaign efforts in 2008 and had recently visited Iowa, apparently contemplating a run for president in 2012." The Politico reports that Ensign's revelation "stunned his colleagues, hurt his chances for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and called into question his future as a leader of the Senate GOP." The Hill says the announcement has thrown a "wrench" into his "promising political career." Meanwhile, "multiple reports indicated Ensign made the announcement because he was being threatened with extortion."
The Politico reports that Sarah Palin "has accepted David Letterman's apology on making a bad joke about her 14-year-old daughter," saying in a statement he "certainly has the right to joke about whatever he wants to, and thankfully we have the right to express our reaction." The New York Daily News reports that despite Letterman's apology and Palin's acceptance of it, a group of some 50 protestors outside the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Letterman tapes his program, "demanded the late night host's dismissal" chanting "Fire Dave! Fire Dave!" The Los Angeles Times says that "even as protesters chanted outside," Letterman started his show "with a Top 10 list making light of his current predicament." Letterman "seemed determined to return to his usual brand of comedy. A taping for the Tuesday program included a bit entitled 'Top 10 things overheard at the 'Fire David Letterman' rally.'" E! Online adds that Letterman would do well to "work more Sarah Palin jokes into the act," since "the more he apologizes, the better his Late Show numbers get" as he competes for viewers with Conan O'Brien.
The Hill reports that President Obama is scheduled to hold a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, and is expected to raise $3 million for the groups. "The $3 million figure is approximately what the president raised for the Democratic National Committee at his first fundraiser, an event held at a downtown theater. But it is significantly less than the amount President Bush would routinely raise for the two Republican campaign committees."
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David Letterman: "Thank you very much. Welcome to the 'Late Show', ladies and gentlemen. Now, when I call your name, please come forward and pick up your apology."
David Letterman: "But let's focus on the good news. And the good news is that Sarah Palin has accepted my apology. ... And she also accepted a $500 gift certificate from LensCrafters. I thought that was a nice touch."
Jimmy Kimmel: "Hi, everyone. I'm Jimmy, I'm the host of the show. Before we go any further, I want to just take a minute to apologize for some jokes I'm planning to make about the Palin family tonight. They are in extremely poor taste and I know that I will regret saying them."
Jimmy Fallon: "John McCain said on his Twitter feed, on Monday, that he's buying a brand new Ford Fusion Hybrid. A year ago, McCain didn't use a computer. Now he's on Twitter and buying a hybrid. What's going on? I think he's like Benjamin Button. He'll be a cute little baby."
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