Obama Lauds Democratic Caucus On HC Bill Passage

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sources: MSNBC

Obama Strongly Compels Democratic Caucus To Pass HC Bill

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Obama To Dems: Overhaul "Is In Your Hands"


President Barack Obama exhorted House Democrats to make history by bringing health insurance to millions of struggling families now left out, as Democratic leaders appeared confident they had the votes needed to pass the landmark legislation Sunday.

Obama can rely only on Democrats to gain passage of his top domestic priority in a make-or-break vote for his presidency. He faces unanimous opposition from Republicans, who say the plan amounts to a government takeover of health care that will lead to higher deficits and taxes. Some moderate House Democrats also are wary about the plan's costs and abortion provisions.

On Saturday, Democratic leaders frenetically hunted for votes inside the Capitol as angry protesters gathered outside with some hurling racial insults at black members of Congress.

"I know this is a tough vote," the president told House Democrats at a meeting on Capitol Hill, adding he also believes "it will end up being the smart thing to do politically."

"It is in your hands," Obama said, bringing lawmakers to their feet. "It is time to pass health care reform for America and I am confident that you are going to do it tomorrow."

In a carefully orchestrated appeal to unity, Obama and House leaders were joined by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who brought a pledge from more than 50 of his Democratic colleagues to promptly finish the bill after the House of Representatives votes Sunday. House Democrats have been wary of being left in the lurch by the famously unpredictable Senate.

The United States is alone among developed nations in not offering its citizens comprehensive health care, with nearly 50 million Americans uninsured.

Although the bill before Congress does not provide universal health care, it should expand coverage to about 95 percent of Americans. It would require most Americans to carry insurance with subsidies for those who can't afford it, expand the government-run Medicaid program for the poor, and create new places to buy health care.

Even so, the reform is likely to be judged alongside the boldest acts of presidents and Congress in domestic affairs. While national health care has long been a goal of politicians and presidents stretching back decades, it has proved elusive, in part because self-reliance and suspicion of a strong central government remain strong in the U.S.

It may still elude Obama, too. A series of last-minute flare-ups threatened to slow the Democrats' march to passage, after more than a year of grueling effort and a turbulent debate that has left the country deeply divided.

The most intense focus was on a small group of Democrats concerned that abortion funding restrictions in the legislation do not go far enough. Determined to avoid votes on such a charged issue, Democratic leaders raised the possibility of an executive order from Obama that reaffirms existing federal law barring taxpayer funded abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

House Democratic leaders abandoned a much-challenged procedure for passing the legislation after an outcry from Republicans and protest from some of their members. According to the new plan, the House will vote separately on the health care bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve as well as a package of changes.

The Senate bill would then go to Obama for his signature, the companion fix-it measure to the Senate, which hopes to pass it within the week under a procedure called reconciliation that requires only 50 votes in the 100-member body.

The parliamentary maneuvers became necessary after January's special election in Massachusetts when a Republican won the seat held for decades by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a champion of health care reform. That deprived the Democrats of their 60-vote Senate supermajority required to block Republican legislative delaying maneuvers.

The 10-year, $940 billion measure represents the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare and Medicaid were enacted in the 1960s to provide government-funded health care coverage to the elderly and poor.

The sweeping legislation, affecting virtually every American and impacting one-sixth of the U.S. economy, provides health coverage to 32 million people now uninsured, bars insurance companies from denying coverage to those in poor health, and sets up new marketplaces where self-employed people and small businesses can pool together to buy coverage.

Republicans, unanimous in their opposition, complained anew about the bill's cost and reach. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said a fuller analysis of the bill's long-term costs is needed.

Displaying a gritty confidence, House Democratic leaders said they were getting closer by the hour. "We are on the verge of making great history for the American people," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Democratic leaders and Obama focused last-minute lobbying efforts on two groups of Democrats: 37 who voted against an earlier bill in the House and 40 who voted for it only after first making sure it would include strict abortion limits that now have been modified.

Inside the Capitol, Democratic leaders pursued the last few votes to reach the 216 needed to pass the sweeping legislation, sometimes in full view on the House floor. Several thousand demonstrators opposed to the bill swirled on nearby streets, with some surrounding lawmakers between the Capitol and their offices.

Obama's motorcade was delayed, and as he rode up to Capitol Hill, many of the protesters booed and gave him a thumbs down.

Rep. Andre Carson, said that as he left the Cannon House Office Building with Rep. John Lewis, a leader of the 1960s civil rights movement, some among the crowd chanted racial slurs at the lawmakers, who are both black.

"It was like going into the time machine with John Lewis," Carson said.

Kristie Greco, spokeswoman for Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn said a protester spit on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver who is black.



Sources: MSNBC

GOP House Leaders Blame Pelosi For Dysfunction, Partisanship

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

House GOP aims Fire At Dem. Leaders


After a spirited back-and-forth with President Barack Obama on Friday, House Republicans re-focused their barbs on a familiar target: House Democratic Leadership.

Obama’s hour-and-a-half exchange with House Republicans didn’t leave either side with much renewed hope for bipartisanship, but GOP leaders muted their criticism of the president after his forceful performance, instead blasting Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

House Minority Leader John Boehner and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor have spent much of the last year bashing Obama and his policies, blaming the president for failing to acknowledge their legislative suggestions.

But after their direct confrontation with Obama, the pair praised the president for spending 90 minutes with them, saying it was a forum “we need to have more of" and expressing confidence that Obama would follow through on more dialogue with Hill Republicans.

Instead, Pelosi and Hoyer were their targets. Boehner and Cantor bashed the House Democrats’ leadership style and placed the future of this session of Congress squarely on Pelosi and Hoyer’s backs.

“It’s really up to Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer to carry through,” Boehner said. “I think the president will carry through in terms of having more meetings with us, having more discussions with us, but there’s got to be more than just discussions.”

Pelosi's team quickly pushed back. "Republican leaders continue to complain about the absence of bipartisanship, but they are ignoring some of the facts: More than 100 Republican-sponsored bills passed the House (many with unanimous support), and many other major bills received Republican support," said Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami. "All you hear from Republicans is their opposition to the Recovery Act (which included jobs and middle-class tax cuts), health insurance reform and Wall Street reform."

Pelosi and Boehner will meet next week, a confab scheduled before the retreat, a Democratic leadership aide said.

But Boehner said Democratic leaders have all but closed the door on bipartisanship: They "looked up and said, 'We have a 40-vote majority; we're just going to go it our way.'"

“I think the speaker and the majority leader need to assess how they’re running the House,” he said. “This is not the way the founders envisioned the House working.”

Of course, Boehner wasn't ready to let Obama off the hook entirely.

About two hours after the event ended, Boehner's office issued a news release accusing Obama of repeating "discredited talking points during dialogue with House GOP."


Sources: Politico, MSNBC

Dems Angry Over Parker Griffith's Defection To GOP

Alabama Slammer: Democrats Fret Over Parker Griffith


The outlook for the 2010 elections just grew dimmer for Democrats, with the abrupt announcement Tuesday that Rep. Parker Griffith, an Alabama freshman, was jumping to the Republican Party.

While Griffith’s departure from the now 257-member Democratic Caucus will have almost no impact on the balance of power in the House, his party switch highlighted the growing unease among the Democratic Party’s most vulnerable members about the party’s ambitious national agenda and its role in contributing to the deteriorating political environment in which they must run for reelection.

Publicly, congressional Democrats mostly remained silent, a reflection of the unexpected timing—Griffith blindsided House leadership with the news and had even attended Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s pre-recess holiday party—and a desire to downplay the significance of his exit.

In the only statement issued by a top Democrat, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen simply asked for the party’s money back after devoting considerable resources to his 2008 election and reelection campaign.

"We were committed to helping Mr. Griffith deliver for his constituents and successfully helped Mr. Griffith fend off the personal attacks against him from the far right,” said Van Hollen in a statement. “Mr. Griffith, failing to honor our commitment to him, has a duty and responsibility to return to Democratic Members and the DCCC the financial resources that were invested in him. His constituents will hold him accountable for failing to keep his commitments.”

A Griffith spokesman confirmed to POLITICO Tuesday that DCCC money would be returned.

During last year’s election, the DCCC poured over $1 million into Alabama’s 5th Congressional District in an effort to fend off attacks on Griffith from the National Republican Congressional Committee and other conservative groups. Pelosi herself recently donated $2,000 to Griffith’s campaign coffers.

Martin Frost, a former DCCC chair who dealt with a handful of Democrat-to-Republican party switches during his late 1990s tenure, dismissed the significance of a single party-switching member.

“I don’t think one party switch means much of anything, quite frankly,” said Frost. “I’m sure the DCCC would rather no one switch, but one switch is not a big deal.”

“This is one guy in the south who’s made a political calculation. He could have won as Democrat and he felt it would be easier as a Republican,” said John Anzalone, an Alabama-based Democratic pollster.

Still, privately Democrats acknowledged the announcement came as a serious blow to a party that, over the last several election cycles, had made significant inroads in conservative southern districts like Griffith’s, which delivered 61 percent of the vote to John McCain in 2008 but nevertheless managed to elect a Democrat to an open House seat.

The situation is compounded by the worrisome recent uptick in retirements in politically competitive districts—among them veteran Southern Democrats like Tennessee Reps. John Tanner and Bart Gordon—and comes amidst troubling polling data for various Democratic incumbents.

“There’s a real backlash in the conservative districts against Washington and the president,” said one senior Democratic operative. “In any right-leaning district…you’re going to see the incumbent looking at numbers they’ve never seen before.”

“I just think it really shows the moderates feel they don’t have a voice in the party, they don’t like where we are going as a party, and that should be troubling for Democrats,” said another senior Democratic strategist. “Less than a year into a Washington that is controlled by Democrats, they’ve lost hope, they feel disillusioned, and they don’t think there’s anything to stick around for.”

On Tuesday morning, House Democratic leadership aides made rushed calls to at least two first-term members who frequently vote with Republicans—Reps. Walt Minnick of Idaho and Bobby Bright of Alabama—to gauge whether they were also planning to switch parties.

In a statement to POLITICO later in the day, Minnick said he had no plans to leave the Democratic caucus.

“Nothing should be read into or inferred about Congressman Bright’s future based on an individual decision by another member,” said Bright spokesman Lewis Lowe.

Griffith framed his announcement as a rebuke of Democratic leaders and the agenda they put forward during his first 10 months in office.

“Unfortunately there are those in the Democratic Leadership that continue to push an agenda focused on massive new spending, tax increases, bailouts and a health care bill that is bad for our healthcare system,” Griffith said in a statement. “I have always considered myself to be an independent voice and I have tried to be that voice in Congress—but after watching this agenda firsthand I now believe that the differences in the two parties could not be more clear and that for me to be true to my core beliefs and values I must align myself with the Republican party and speak out clearly on these issues.”

For Republicans, Griffith’s announcement was the culmination of a months-long, behind-the-scenes courtship effort. GOP sources said Griffith reached out to House Minority Leader John Boehner and met with NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions after first approaching an Alabama delegation colleague, GOP Rep. Jo Bonner. On Sunday, Griffith notified Boehner that he was prepared to make the switch official. GOP sources insisted that no deal was struck between Griffith and the House Republican leadership over his move.

Democratic aides said Griffith had actually approached House leaders after the August recess—a time in which he faced raucous town halls—to discuss a party switch. But aides said today’s announcement caught them off guard, and that Griffith gave them no indication that he was planning to bolt.

Democrats said in hindsight Griffith telegraphed his intentions in August when he told a local newspaper that he wouldn’t vote for Pelosi as Speaker again because she was too divisive.

“For people who have been working with his office and watching him, it wasn’t a big surprise,” remarked one senior Democratic leadership aide. “You connect the dots and it’s not a big surprise.”

Still, on the eve of an historic congressional health care vote, the announcement was an unwelcome reminder of the resistance to the measure—Griffith referred to it in his statement as “a major threat to our nation”—and of the increasingly stormy midterm election environment.

“Just about every signal we’ve had so far indicates that 2010 is going to be a tough year for Democrats, and this is another flashing red light,” said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist. “The Democrats telling us Griffith’s switch doesn’t matter remind me of the Republicans who insisted that Arlen Specter’s party flip made no real difference. No, these things matter considerably, and they are indicators of which way the wind is blowing in a political season.”


Sources: Politico

Parker Griffith Blames Pelosi's Leadership For Switch To GOP

House Democrat Blames Pelosi, Leaders For Switch


Democratic Rep. Parker Griffith announced Tuesday that he's switching parties – saying he can no longer align himself “with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy and drives us further and further into debt.”

“Unfortunately there are those in the Democratic Leadership that continue to push an agenda focused on massive new spending, tax increases, bailouts and a health care bill that is bad for our healthcare system,” Griffith said in a statement. “I have always considered myself to be an independent voice and I have tried to be that voice in Congress – but after watching this agenda firsthand I now believe that the differences in the two parties could not be more clear and that for me to be true to my core beliefs and values I must align myself with the Republican party and speak out clearly on these issues.

Griffith’s party switch comes on the eve of a pivotal congressional health care vote and will send a jolt through a Democratic House Caucus that has already been unnerved by the recent retirements of a handful of members who, like Griffith, hail from districts that offer prime pickup opportunities for the GOP in 2010.

The switch represents a coup for the House Republican leadership, which had been courting Griffith since he publicly criticized the Democratic leadership in the wake of raucous town halls during the summer.

Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, hailed Griffith's move from a large majority to a small minority as proof that the Democrats have become “completely disconnected from seniors, young workers and and families in America.”

Liberals countered that Griffith was essentially a Republican all along, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said he should give back the money Democrats have contributed to his campaign.

"House Democratic members and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee took Parker Griffith at his word and, as a result, invested a great deal in working with Alabamans to bring Mr. Griffith to Congress," he said in a statement. "Mr. Griffith, failing to honor our commitment to him, has a duty and responsibility to return to Democratic Members and the DCCC the financial resources that were invested in him. His constituents will hold him accountable for failing to keep his commitments."

Griffith, who captured his seat in a close 2008 open seat contest, will become the first Republican to hold the historically Democratic, Huntsville-based district. A radiation oncologist who founded a cancer treatment center, Griffith cited the Democratic health care bill as a major reason for his switch.

“I want to make it perfectly clear that his bill is bad for our doctors, our patients and will have unintended consequences far beyond what we know today,” he said. “As a doctor and as a Republican, I plan to once again oppose this measure and hope that we can defeat this bill that is a major threat to our nation.”

While the timing of his announcement was unexpected, Griffith’s party switch will not come as a surprise to those familiar with his voting record, which is one of the most conservative among Democrats. "He has bucked the Democratic leadership on nearly all of its major domestic initiatives, including the stimulus package, health care legislation, the cap-and trade energy bill and financial regulatory reform. "He was one of only 11 House Democrats to vote against the stimulus.

“Look at his voting record – he’s had substantial differences philosophically with the Democratic agenda here in Congress,” said an Alabama ally who is familiar with Griffith’s decision. “It’s something that’s been discussed for the last several months… talking to people in his family. And it genuinely is a reflection of where he feels. It’s his own personal conviction.”

The Obama administration’s decision to scrap plans to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe further frustrated Griffith, according to GOP sources, because his district contains the base for Boeing’s ground-based missile defense research.

Ironically, a National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman called Griffith a “woefully ineffective advocate for Tennessee Valley jobs” after the decision was announced in September.

Signs of Griffith’s dissatisfaction with his party began to surface publicly during the summer recess, when he received an earful of criticism from constituents.

In August — one month after Republicans picked up his former state legislative seat in a special election — Griffith told a local newspaper that he wouldn't vote for Nancy Pelosi to remain as House Speaker because she's too divisive. He joked that if she didn’t like it, he’d provide her with a gift certificate to a mental health center.

He added that if the Democratic leadership wouldn't commit to working in a more bipartisan manner, "perhaps we should look at altering that."

Later that month, he was booed at a town hall forum, even though he said he was against his leadership’s version of health care reform.

“If I'm agreeing with you, don't fight me," Griffith said to a heckler, according to the Huntsville Times. "I'm on your team."

After the November off-year elections, he told POLITICO that he wanted to be called an independent Blue Dog and not a Democrat. He said the point of the elections was clear: “I should be nervous.”

Democratic pollster John Anzalone, an Alabama native, said that Griffith would have faced a difficult re-election, and undoubtedly was worried about his prospects in a conservative district.

“This is never a pleasant thing… you never can really figure out the motivation. Usually, it’s political opportunism. Parker Griffith can win as a Democrat, but it’s easier to win as a Republican,” said Anzalone. “When you run as a Southern Democrat, you run because you have a certain principle of being with the party of the people. You know what you’re getting into, there’s no surprise on the legislative side. It’s a political calculation.”

Several Republicans have already stepped forward to challenge Griffith, and it’s not clear whether they’ll drop their bids in light of his party switch. Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks has already raised more than $100,000 for the campaign, while Navy veteran Les Phillip also is running.

Brooks's campaign manager, Bruce Tucker, told POLITICO he would remain in the race and called Griffith's move “a desperate political move.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will now have to scramble to find a candidate to run against Griffith before Alabama’s April 2 filing deadline.

Though it has never elected a Republican to Congress, Griffith’s seat has a long conservative tradition and has backed Democrats who have a brand independent from the national party. As a result of the district’s Democratic heritage, Democrats still hold the majority of state legislative seats within the 5th Congressional District’s boundaries.

The district, however, is trending Republican: A wave of new residents is moving into the Huntsville suburbs, where the area’s burgeoning aerospace and defense industries have created a miniboom. And those voters, with fewer ties to the area’s past politics, have been reliably Republican at the national level.

The district gave John McCain a resounding 61 percent of the vote last year — a tick above the 60 percent President George W. Bush won in 2004.

Even so, last year Griffith managed a narrow win against the strong drag at the top of the ticket in one of the nastiest House races in the nation. He defeated Republican Wayne Parker 51 percent to 48 percent, despite heavy GOP spending against him.

The National Republican Congressional Committee poured in $514,000 to air ads attacking Griffith, including one that suggested he was soft on Islamic terrorism.

And the committee raised questions about whether Griffith engaged in medical malpractice when it released decades-old documentation accusing his cancer center of underdosing patients with radiation so that he could collect more money.

Griffith is the first House Democrat to switch parties since Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) changed parties in 2004. The most recent member of Congress to switch parties is Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), who announced his decision in April.

Griffith’s predecessor, former nine-term Rep. Bud Cramer, had been frequently mentioned as a possible party-switcher — and also as a possible appointee in the Bush administration — but he retired from Congress as a Democrat.

Griffith now has $619,000 in the bank to run as a Republican, a total boosted by contributions from several of the Democratic Party’s more liberal leaders. The political action committee of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer donated $10,000 to Griffith’s reelection this year, and even Pelosi chipped in $4,000 — prior to Griffith's August remarks.





Republicans Embrace Parker Griffith


Republicans who desperately wanted to beat Alabama Democratic Rep. Parker Griffith next year are loving him today.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) touted Griffith as a “dedicated public servant who has consistently put the best interests of his constituents first.” Pete Sessions, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Griffith is putting the “interests of his constituents ahead of Nancy Pelosi’s reckless ideological agenda.” Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) says Griffith is ready to “stand and fight” with his new party.

Even the top Senate Republican felt compelled to tout Griffith as a sign of things to come, saying the defection represents “growing evidence of the unacceptability of this national Democratic agenda in much of red state America.” But Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who told reporters Tuesday he grew up in Griffith’s district, said the divide is wider than just traditionally Republican enclaves.

“As you’ve seen the public opinion polls on health care bill, it’s not just red-state America where the health care bill is unpopular; it's in blue-state America as well,” McConnell said.

Boehner had been in talks with Griffith about switching parties, and today the Alabama lawmaker became the 178th Republican in the House.

“House Republicans will continue to offer the American people better solutions to address their everyday challenges, an effort that will surely benefit from Congressman Griffith’s leadership,” Boehner said in a press release.

House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said the “historic decision should send a deafening message that the Obama-Pelosi agenda of borrowing, spending, bailouts and takeovers is being rejected by the American people.”



View Larger Map


Sources: Politico, Google Maps

Lieberman May Seek GOP Bid In 2012

Lieberman: GOP bid a "Possibility"


Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday that it is a "possibility” that he will run as a Republican when he seeks reelection.

“I don't know what I'll run as,” Lieberman said during an interview with CNN. “I like being an independent. So that's definitely a possibility. But I'd say all options are open.”

Lieberman lost a Democratic primary challenge in 2006 to Ned Lamont, though he went on to win the general election running as an independent. Lieberman enraged his former Democratic colleagues this week by threatening to withhold his vote on health care reform.

While the Connecticut senator said it was “unlikely” that he would run as a Republican when his seat is next up in 2012, he insisted that he would not “foreclose any possibility.”

“I think the more likely thing is that I'd run as an independent because that's what I am,” he said.

Lieberman also tried to dispel speculation that he may oppose health care just to stick it to the Democrats who did not support him in 2006.

“That's just poppycock,” Lieberman said. “This is all about what I think health care reform should be.”

“The president and I have a very good, mutually respectful relationship,” he added. “If I had any sense of vendetta against the Democratic Party, I wouldn't be in the Democratic Caucus today.”



View Larger Map


Sources: Politico, Google Maps