Democrats

Judy Baker, who narrowly lost a race for Congress in mid-Missouri last year, is Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' pick for regional HHS director.

Baker's Region VII includes Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.

"Judy Baker brings an extensive, working-level knowledge of our department’s most important issues, as well as a knowledge of the people and institutions in Region VII," Sebelius said.

As an HHS regional director, Baker will serve as a key representative of Sebelius in working with federal, state, local and tribal officials on a range of health and social service issues.

The former Louisiana congressman who famously hid $90,000 cash in his freezer and was later convicted of federal bribery charges will soon learn his punishment.

William Jefferson, a Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday afternoon in Virginia.

Jefferson was convicted on charges including bribery and racketeering. Prosecutors said he took in nearly half a million dollars in exchange for using his influence to broker business deals in Africa.

Prosecutors want the 62-year-old Jefferson to serve at least 27 years in prison, which would be the longest term ever imposed on a congressman convicted of bribery. The defense wants less than 10 years and hopes Jefferson can remain free on bond while he appeals his conviction.

from washingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON - President Obama retreated briefly to the serenity of Camp David this weekend, leaving behind seven days that showcased both the promise and the limits of his presidency.

The respite lasted fewer than 24 hours, and his return to the White House was marked by a victory for the ambitious agenda he has embraced. His allies in Congress had secured — if only by a hair — a historic milestone on the march toward comprehensive health-care reform.

"Moments like this are why they sent us here," Obama said, back in the Rose Garden Sunday afternoon. "To finally meet the challenges that Washington has put off for decades."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Delay is rarely good for politicians trying to pass legislation. The possibility that Congress might not complete action on a major health care bill this year is another frustration for President Barack Obama and his allies.

 Even if it doesn’t sink the health care effort, a delay would raise new uncertainties and push other domestic priorities further back. It also would give opponents a chance to pick off nervous Democratic lawmakers eyeing their November 2010 re-election campaigns.

 Even some House Democrats with safe seats don’t like the idea of voting on a contentious bill until it’s clear that the Senate will follow suit.

nyt analysis

WASHINGTON - The Republican victories in the races for New Jersey and Virginia governors put the party in a stronger position to turn back the political wave President Obama unleashed last year, setting the stage for Republicans to raise money, recruit candidates and ride the excitement of an energized base as the party heads into next year’s midterm elections.

But a Democratic victory in an upstate New York Congressional district — after an ideologically pitched battle between moderates and conservatives over how best to lead Republicans back to power — signaled that the Republican Party faces continued upheaval. The Democratic victory came over a conservative candidate who, with the enthusiastic backing of national conservative leaders and well-financed grass-roots organizations, had forced out a Republican candidate who supported abortion rights and gay rights.

from washingtonpost.com

While House leaders are moving toward a vote on health-care legislation by the end of the week, enough Democrats are threatening to oppose the measure over the issue of abortion to create a question about its passage.

House leaders were still negotiating Monday with the bloc of Democrats concerned about abortion provisions in the legislation, saying that they could lead to public funding of the procedure. After an evening meeting of top House Democrats, Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (Md.) said, "We are making progress," but added that they had not reached an agreement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The typical family would be spared higher taxes from the House Democratic plan to overhaul health care, and their low-income neighbors could come out ahead.

 Their wealthy counterparts, however, face big tax increases that could eventually hit future generations of taxpayers who are less wealthy.

 The bill is funded largely from a 5.4 percent tax on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and couples making more than $1 million, starting in 2011. The tax increase would hit only 0.3 percent of tax filers, raising $460.5 billion over the next 10 years, according to congressional estimates.

from msnbc

WASHINGTON - After months of struggle, House Democrats unveiled sweeping legislation Thursday to extend health care coverage to millions who lack it and create a new option of government-run insurance. A vote is likely next week on the plan patterned closely on President Barack Obama's own.

Speaking on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress was "on the cusp of delivering on the promise of making affordable, quality health insurance available to every American — and laying the foundation for a brighter future for generations to come."

Officials said the measure, once fully phased in over several years, would extend coverage to 96 percent of Americans. Its principal mechanism is creation of a new government-regulated insurance "exchange" where private companies could sell policies in competition with the government. Federal subsidies would be available to millions of lower-income individuals and families to help them afford the policies.

from ABC News 

A gauntlet of parliamentary and hurdles and differing opinions beset the road ahead for health reform.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid must navigate his health reform proposal through the Senate with 60 votes at three different points in order to produce a sweeping health reform bill this year.

The differing opinions among Democrats were on display as Senators entered their weekly lunchtime policy huddle in the Capitol Building.

Most definitive was Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Democrat who caucuses with Democrats. "I will not support cloture on a bill I don't support," he said.

But politicians have a lot of cover here. Lieberman said he may indeed vote for cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill, bringing it to the Senate floor. And that's where he will try to change the bill. He can then oppose cloture before a final vote. And he'll get an opportunity before voting on a conference report that would meld bills passed by the House and Senate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The focus of the health overhaul debate now shifts to whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can persuade a handful of moderate senators to get behind his new proposal for a government-sponsored insurance plan.

 That’s no sure bet. Even Reid, D-Nev., didn’t claim to have the 60 votes needed to pass his proposal when he ended weeks of speculation by announcing that the Senate version of sweeping health care legislation would include a provision for the government to sell health insurance in competition with private insurers.

 The issue has been the biggest flash point in the health care debate, and government-sponsored insurance had been seen as unlikely to be included in Senate legislation because of opposition from moderates. The House’s health care bill, expected to be released as early as this week, is certain to contain a strong provision for a so-called public insurance option, though details aren’t final.

 from the Post-Chronicle

The health reform bill making its way through the House of Representatives will include a public insurance option, but negotiations are continuing on the details of the plan, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

"At the end of the day we will have a public option" in the House bill, Pelosi told a news conference.

She noted it was possible the Senate might include a public insurance option in its final health reform bill. As a result, negotiations over the House bill were not just about the public option but are looking at the shape of a final bill that could be approved by both chambers, Pelosi said.

Both the Senate and the House have approved multiple health reform bills that must now be molded into a final bill that can be approved by each chamber. The two bills will then have to be reconciled for final adoption.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health care legislation taking shape in the House carries a price tag of at least $1 trillion over a decade, significantly higher than the target President Barack Obama has set, congressional officials said Friday as they struggled to finish work on the measure for a vote early next month.

 Democrats have touted an unreleased Congressional Budget Office estimate of $871 billion in recent days, a total that numerous officials acknowledge understates its true cost by $150 billion or more. That figure excludes several items designed to improve benefits for Medicare and Medicaid recipients and providers, as well as public health programs and more, they added.

from msnbc

WASHINGTON - The Senate has long been seen as opposed to the federal government selling health insurance in competition with private industry, but now senior Senate Democrats and White House officials are strongly considering including such a measure in health care overhaul legislation, officials say.

The provision would permit individual states to drop out of the system, a design that could make it more palatable to moderates who have opposed the "public option."

Liberals in Congress view a public option as an essential ingredient to overhaul the nation's health care system, and President Barack Obama has said frequently he favors it. But he has also made clear it is not essential to the legislation he seeks, a gesture to Democratic moderates who have opposed it.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A coalition of black, Latino and Asian lawmakers on Thursday expressed opposition to a proposal that would require next year’s census forms to ask about the status of a person’s citizenship.

 The House lawmakers criticized a proposal by Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Bob Bennett, R-Utah, as a political ploy designed to discourage immigrants from participating in the high-stakes count, which begins April 1.

 They also echoed warnings from the Census Bureau that making a last-minute change to the census would add burdensome costs to print new forms and prevent the head count from being completed on time, as legally required.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Senate Democrats intend to try to strip the health insurance industry of its exemption from federal antitrust laws, according to congressional officials. It’s the latest evidence of a deepening struggle over President Barack Obama’s effort to overhaul the health care industry.

 If enacted, the switch would mean greater federal regulation for an industry that recently has stepped up its criticism of portions of a health care bill moving toward the Senate floor.

 Congressional officials said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, arranged to make the announcement Wednesday, joined by Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York.

from the Post Chronicle 

Sen. Roland Burris, the controversial replacement for Barack Obama's abandoned Illinois Senate seat as placed there by ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has come down on the side of a public option in the proposed health care overhaul.

In fact, Burris is making waves in his own Democrat party in that he is outright refusing to vote for a bill that does not include the public option.

"I would not support a bill that does not have a public option," Burris, 72, said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "That position will not change."

Burris has been, for lack of a better word, a burr under the saddle of Democrat leaders, who frankly did not want him in the Senate seat he now occupies. His threat to veto any health care bill that doesn't have a government run insurance program has brought more unwanted attention.

from Reuters

MOSCOW - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up a European tour Wednesday by calling on Russia to uphold human rights and prevent attacks on activists who challenge the Kremlin.

Clinton devoted the second day of her Russia visit to events with ordinary citizens, following a round of diplomacy with Moscow officials which produced warm words from both sides about cooperation but no specific results.

"People must be free to take unpopular positions, disagree with conventional wisdom, know they are safe to peacefully challenge accepted practice and authority," she said in a speech at Moscow State University.

"That's why attacks on journalists and human rights defenders here in Russia is such a great concern because it is a threat to progress," Clinton said.

As Clinton spoke, Russian opposition lawmakers walked out of parliament in protest against regional elections Sunday in which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party won victories across the country.

from msnbc

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's plan to remake the nation's health care system is about to take its biggest step yet toward becoming reality.

The pivotal Senate Finance Committee was poised to approve sweeping legislation Tuesday requiring nearly all Americans to purchase insurance and ushering in a host of other changes to the nation's $2.5 trillion medical system.

Much work would lie ahead before a bill could arrive on Obama's desk, but action by the Finance Committee would mark a significant advance, capping numerous delays as Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., held marathon negotiating sessions — ultimately unsuccessful — aimed at producing a bipartisan bill.

Secretary of State Hillary ClintonSecretary of State Hillary Clinton is saying she won't run for the White House again.

"I am looking forward to retirement at some point," she said on NBC.

from msnbc

WASHINGTON - With unemployment expected to rise well into next year even as the economy slowly recovers, the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress are discussing extending several safety net programs as well as proposing new tax incentives for businesses to renew hiring.

President Obama’s economic team discussed a wide range of ideas at a meeting on Monday, following his Saturday radio address in which he said it would “explore additional options to promote job creation.” But officials emphasized that a decision was still far off, and that in any event the effort would not add up to a second economic stimulus package, only an extension of the first.