In an appearance on ABC's This Week, presidential adviser David Axelrod would not rule out taxing health insurance benefits as a means to pay for the administration's healthcare reform proposal. Axelrod said, "The President had said in the past he doesn't believe taxing healthcare benefits at any level, is necessarily the best way to go here. He still believes that. But there's a number of formulations. And we'll wait and see." The Washington Post notes this morning that "under repeated questioning...Axelrod said the White House is open to 'a lot of different formulations' for paying for healthcare reform." The Washington Times reports that "during the presidential campaign, Mr. Obama called [Sen. John] McCain's insurance-tax proposal 'the largest middle-class tax increase in history." The AP also reports that "if...Obama compromises on that point, it would reverse a campaign tax promise."
Sebelius Discusses Administration's Priorities Fox News Sunday's Bret Baier interviewed HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who said that President Obama believes the public option is the "best strategy and the best way forward," but he "is eager to work with members of the Senate and members of the House to get to the final goal of providing choice for consumers." To pay for healthcare reform, Sebelius notes that the President thinks savings and capping the itemized deduction are "preferable to ideas discussed about taxing employee benefit."
Grassley Sees Potential In Co-Op Plan Asked on ABC's This Week if there was "any kind of public health insurance option you can accept," Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) answered, "A Democratic senator has come forth with a co-op plan, that, if it's along the lines of what we have known co-ops in this country for 150 years, and that would definitely bring additional competition into the insurance industry, I think that, if it's structured along those lines, that we could have, yet, a different option than what we presently have. And we're looking at that and we're trying to get a bipartisan agreement on that."
In a White House roundtable discussion with reporters yesterday, President Obama praised the climate change bill passed by the House on Friday. A number of news outlets, however, focus their reports on the President's comments on a tariff provision contained in the bill. The New York Times titles its front-page story "Obama Warns Against Trade Penalties In Energy Bill," while the Wall Street Journal reports that while Obama called the legislation "an extraordinary first step," he "signaled strong concern about a proposal to impose tariffs on goods from countries that don't match US efforts to combat global warming."
The Los Angeles Times reports, also on the front page, that Obama "noted that the bill contains other provisions to defend US manufacturers and their employees from lower-cost foreign competition -- including free emissions permits for energy-intensive industries vulnerable to foreign trade, such as steel and aluminum." The Washington Post says the "climate-change legislation could face a stiffer challenge in the Senate, where without Republican support it would take the votes of all 58 Democrats and two independents to bring a bill to a vote."
The AP meanwhile, casts Friday's vote as a "major victory" for Obama, who "facing a rare defeat...put a big dose of political capital on the line." The AP adds that "in private telephone conversations and last-minute public appeals, Obama leaned heavily on House Democratic holdouts to support the first energy legislation ever designed to curb global warming. The measure ended up passing in dramatic fashion."
Axelrod: Tax Hike Charge "A Phony Issue" Responding to Republican criticism of the cap-and-trade bill and Warren Buffet's contention that it amounts to a "huge...regressive tax," senior White House advisor David Axelrod, ABC's This Week, said, "I think the Congressional Budget Office addressed this issue, and their conclusion was the way the bill was written, the impact on the average American will be negligible over time. ... And for lower income people, it actually will be a net gain because they'll get some help with their energy bills. So I think this is a phony issue."
Climate Bill, Obama Characterized As "Weak" In a column for the Financial Times, Clive Crook says, "Congress offers change without change -- a green economy built on cheap coal and petrol... -- because that is what voters want. Is it too much to ask that Mr. Obama should tell voters the truth? I think he could do it. He has everything it takes to be a strong president. He is choosing to be a weak one."
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Newsweek, in a brief item titled, "Why Obama Was Measured On Iran," says President Obama's "cautious response to election results in Iran may be partly explained by the fact that U.S. intelligence agencies were off the mark." Anonymous officials "familiar with intel reporting and analysis" say "most experts at the CIA and other intel agencies initially believed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won reelection solidly -- and that if there was fraud, it was at the margins."
US News Weekly's Kenneth T. Walsh writes, "In the most serious foreign crisis of his young presidency, the violent crackdown on protesters after the disputed presidential election in Iran has made Obama seem off balance. At his news conference Tuesday, he finally got tough with his rhetoric. But his critics argue that his response has been weak and that his newfound toughness comes too late to do much good in helping the Iranian reformers who are battling the government."
Meanwhile, Newsweek reports that "as the White House navigated its response to the Iran crisis, national-security adviser Gen. James Jones "was nowhere to be seen," which "led to additional speculation about his clout. ... While Condi Rice and Sandy Berger were highly interactive with the press and enjoyed close relationships with their bosses, Jones has ceded that ground largely to deputies Mark Lippert and Denis McDonough," who are described as "campaign veterans...tight with Obama."
Newsweek reports Vice President Biden's "official portfolio is expanding." President Obama "has asked Biden to take the lead role on Iraq. ... Biden's role will be something of an unofficial envoy to Iraq, though he won't handle day-to-day dealings with officials on the ground."
Violence Spikes Ahead Of US Withdrawal US News Weekly, in an article titled, "Violence Spikes as Troops Depart," reports, "Militants in Iraq staged a series of bomb and machine gun attacks in the past week that left more than 160 dead and the country on edge. The spasm of violence comes on the eve of two pivotal events, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from urban centers and the distribution of major oil contracts, both of which are due to be completed next week."
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On the Sunday TV news talk shows, potential 2012 GOP hopefuls Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) weighed in on the damage done to their party by the infidelity scandals involving South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) and Nevada Sen. John Ensign (R). Pawlenty, appearing on CNN's State of the Union, was asked "how much damage has been done nationally by the actions of" Sanford and Ensign, and replied, "It's hard to quantify that, but, clearly, there's been damage." Barbour, appearing on CBS's Face The Nation, said, "For us as Republicans, the biggest issue about this or about spending or about other policy issues is Republicans need to do what they say they're going to do." The AP reports Mitt Romney, appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, said "that everyone makes mistakes but asserted that people in public life ought to be held to a higher standard. 'Not all mistakes are the same. And not everybody is a governor or a senator or a president. And we expect people to live by a higher standard because what they do is going to be magnified."
Meanwhile, the AP reports that Sanford (R) "considered resigning after admitting to an extramarital affair," he "revealed Sunday in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press," but ultimately decided not to. ABC World News adds that Sanford said "resigning would be the easiest thing to do."
USA Today reports Barack Obama's "historical win" in November "also made history at the world's biggest ad competition where his election campaign won one of the most coveted Cannes awards. Obama for America unanimously won two Grand Prix awards - one Titanium and one Integrated in the finales Saturday." The wins mark the first time a political campaign has ever taken home a Grand Prix award.
The AP reports that North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven (R), "who has avoided questions about whether he will challenge" Sen. Byron Dorgan (D), "says he is likely to decide by early September whether he will make the race." North Dakota GOP Chief Gary Emineth "said he hoped to recruit Republicans to challenge Dorgan and" ND Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D) "by Labor Day, Sept. 7. ... Hoeven, in an interview, said Emineth's goal is reasonable and said his own decision will be made at about that time."
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Conan O'Brien: "Obviously, ladies and gentlemen, a lot of very sad news in the last 24 hours, but it is our job, you know, here at 'The Tonight Show,' to keep things light to try to entertain you, which is why I'm particularly thrilled that Governor Sanford of South Carolina is keeping up his end of the bargain."
David Letterman: "Okay, coming up, a big holiday, Fourth of July. ... The big concern, of course, illegal fireworks. Illegal fireworks. But enough about North Korea."
Jimmy Fallon: '"Transformers 2' has already made more than $145 million worldwide, putting it on track to have the biggest box office opening of all time. Incredible, somebody finally found a way to make money using American cars."
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