Source: Obama Plans to Get Family Planning Aid Done Soon
Women's health advocates were dismayed this week to see the removal of family-planning aid from Congress' economic recovery bill after a push by Republicans to politicize a generally cut-and-dry issue of Medicaid waivers. (Time has some good background here.)
But the dismay may not last long. A source present at today's White House signing ceremony for the Lilly Ledbetter bill tells me that President Obama gave assurances that the family planning aid would be done soon -- perhaps as soon as next week, when the House is set to take up a spending bill that would keep the government funded until October.
Obama emphasized that the family-planning aid "makes the budget look better, it's a money saver," the source said. In fact, removing the need for Medicaid waivers for family planning saves states an estimated $700 million over 10 years.
By removing the family-planning aid from the stimulus at Obama's request, Democrats "were giving a nod to the Republicans, believing they would act in good faith," the source added. And given how many GOPers voted for the stimulus bill, sounds like the family-planning aid is back on track.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
All of which should really surprise no one. Pulling the Medicaid waivers from the stimulus bill was a tactical move, not a strategic one. The priorities haven't changed.
January 29, 2009 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Playing chess folks, playing chess.
January 29, 2009 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ack! I always lose both knights.
January 29, 2009 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Start with them first, that luck might change...
January 29, 2009 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah, the sound of sanity.
We all need to take a breath and remember that this isn't 2005 anymore. Everybody's whinging about the pruning of favored progressive programs as if we still have to slip these items into legislation under cover of night or attach them to "too big to fail" bills lest they be rejected by the majority.
We are the majority.
There is little or nothing that Obama and Congressional Dems can't pass, for the next two years, at least. Everything else is "bipartisan" window-dressing.
I know it's hard to adjust to having power after our 8 years in the wilderness (14 if you count the Gingrich years), but we've got it, and no amount of Limbaugh hectoring is going to change that. Stop freaking out and enjoy it.
January 29, 2009 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
But it can't be enjoyed too much. The Republicans are dominating the airwaves and are painting this as "Democrats gone wild". The Dems can't relax one bit and need to be out there pitching to the people and the media.
January 29, 2009 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes indeed. Otherwise, Rush Limbaugh's stimulus plan is going to start to be taken seriously.
What kind of whacko-nutty-surreal world are we living in when Oxycontin (blacks can't really be good quarterbacks) Rush has so much political influence?
January 29, 2009 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who pays any attention to Limbaugh? Other wackos. The 30% who think Bush did a great job. They're not going to be swayed by any kind of rational argument - that's why they listen to Limbaugh.
The target group should be those rational people inhabiting the middle and even center-right. They've been suckered by the R's for a long time, but having opened their eyes they see things quite clearly. Bipartisanship is really aimed at them. Get them on your side and the wackos become marginalized and irrelevant.
January 29, 2009 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who listens to Rush? The 28%ers and the media. I don't care about the 28%ers, but the media? Yes. And by "media" I mean the talking bobbleheads on cable news.
The moderates in the middle aren't going to get the message that you're thinking about, unless Dems get out there more forcefully.
January 29, 2009 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. Maybe we should start emailing/writing the media along with the politicians. That's always been the problem with TV; it's too one-way.
January 30, 2009 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good for him, sounds like he's doing a good job of climbing that learning curve.
January 29, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nope, Obama's atop the curve, it's you who are climbing up to meet HIM.
January 29, 2009 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Labonne climbing the learning curve? Surely you jest! After a year of watching Obama outsmart his opponents and come out on top, folks like him still continue to give Obama the benefit of any doubt or credit for anything he accomplishes.
January 29, 2009 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I tried to talk some here off the ledge on this last week....but nooooo, I was "drinking the Kool Aid" and the Obama and the Dems were "caving".
Being the majority party takes some getting used to, I guess.
January 29, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
What makes you so sure he didn't actually learn something from the zero Republican votes? Maybe he's a bit more capable of learning and adapting than some of his reflexive cheerleaders are.
January 29, 2009 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're an idiot if you think Obama really believed he was going to win over the Republicans. You're a bigger idiot if you think he was "caving" to republicans by taking away their political fodder.
In short, you're just an idiot.
January 29, 2009 5:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
What do you expect with a Hawaiian Punch avatar? :-)
January 29, 2009 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama's a damned good strategist. Many of us moaned and whined every 3 days during the campaign, sure he was giving it all away, but he kept pulling ahead. An article (NYT?) about his Law Review stint showed me a strategic, savvy, thoughtful, effective and principled guy -- and it looks like now we have him as the Prez. Are we lucky or what?!!!
January 29, 2009 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course he will!! Based on his actions - Mexico City, Ledbetter - why was there any doubt?
January 29, 2009 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love how our Stalinoid enforcers of Obamabot orthodoxy can't even stand it when one says something NICE about Obama! It is to laugh.
January 29, 2009 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here, let me say something nice about you, in return:
It's great that you've stopped beating your wife.
Now watch you somehow twist that into something bad.
January 30, 2009 8:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent news! Obama's got our backs!
http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/archives/i%20got%20this.jpg
January 29, 2009 6:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Like I said, henceforth and forevermore, because they refused to show even a modicum of support for Obama's first big bill, the public will always know without any doubt that Obama tried.
Repeat that, you'll say it to your conservative friends and family countless times over the next 8 years. And you will be totally justified in doing so.
Obama tried. He really did, and righ away, they flipped him off for the sake of their own egos and substance-challenged ideological ghosts.
Now, if he chooses to ignore them as the impotent minority, and they are relegated to procedural mischief, but never popular support, no one can say he didn't try.
To put it correctly, "Cheat me once, shame on you, cheat me twice, shame on me..."
January 29, 2009 7:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
The thing is, Obama and the Democrats should keep reaching out, especially on issues that are more symbolic than significant.
It's ultimately all about the great middle, and making sure they stay on board for the next Congressional election... and ideally the one after that too.
You can't usually bring about sweeping change in just two years... Obama needs time to get us out of the economic mess *AND* refocus this country towards a new economy and a better future, where everyone's rights are protected.
January 29, 2009 9:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sure Obama will get on it, just like he did with the Telecom immunity bill. Oh wait...
January 30, 2009 1:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sometimes it feels as though the issue of women’s health and family planning is a two steps forward, one step back issue. In his brief tenure, President Obama has made great strides towards expanding family planning information and access, most notably with the repeal of the global gag rule. However, I agree with a recent opinion piece by Ellen Goodman http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/reader_feedback/public/display.php?source_name=mbase&source_id=2008686573, in which she criticizes President Obama’s refusal to protect family planning funding in the Stimulus package. Despite his assurances that women’s healthcare will be an important issue in upcoming weeks, it is discouraging that the President has already allowed Republicans to use family planning as a wedge issue. I understand that abortion is controversial and that we, as a nation, need to rethink the divisive language that has permeated the choice issue for decades. But, I do not understand why other methods of family planning and women’s healthcare have any place in this debate. As Goodman points out, when the economy is in the doldrums and people lose their jobs and consequently their health insurance, the need to publicly finance family planning options is more important than ever. Republicans and Democrats agree that there should be less abortions in this country, so why did President Obama back down on a measure that would have achieved this goal? I hope that the President remains true to his word by addressing the need for family planning funding in the upcoming weeks and protecting the rights of women.
January 30, 2009 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink