Health Care

Key Reform Ally Dishes On 'Weak-Kneed' White House Health Care Push

Brian Beutler | January 18, 2012, 5:25AM

President Barack Obama

In an encyclopedic new book that sheds fresh light on the defining fight of President Obama's first term, one of the administration's key health care reform allies recalls a thin-skinned, "weak-kneed" White House, strategically unwilling and temperamentally unable to face criticism from progressive reformers, whose toughest tactics were reserved for its natural allies.

Many of the revelations will be unsurprising to those who followed the year-long fight over health care reform closely. But they serve as a thorough reminder of the administration's uneven strategy during the debate, including its horsetrading with private industry, and private dealing with supporters on the left -- particularly those, like the author, who fought a bruising fight for a public health insurance option and lost.

The book is Fighting For Our Health, by Richard Kirsch, who directed the advocacy group Health Care for America Now during the push for reform. HCAN is a well financed umbrella group backed by scores of liberal groups, unions, and other reformers -- making Kirsch a close witness to the entire saga. He confirms that the White House treated the public option like a bargaining chip with powerful industry players, and believes that when his group became most critical of the bill mid-way through the fight, that top White House aides sought to have him canned.

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Super Committee

AFL Warns Super Committee Dems: Not One Vote For GOP Plans

Brian Beutler | November 18, 2011, 9:20AM

'Super Committee' members Sen. Patt Murray (D-WA) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), September 7, 2011.

So far Democrats and Republicans on the Super Committee have acted as voting blocs. And smart money is on the idea that any plan that can pass the committee will get substantial buy-in from both parties.

But for progressive groups there's a Doomsday Scenario where one deal-hungry Democrat defies his colleagues and votes with the entire GOP to pass a plan. The AFL-CIO is petitioning Dems to prevent that from happening.

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Chris Van Hollen

Dems Get A Boost For Super Committee Tax Bump

Brian Beutler | October 26, 2011, 3:00PM

With less than a month before their November 23 deadline, Democrats on the deficit Super Committee are facing serious pushback from their Republican counterparts for proposing a broad deal that would reduce deficits by nearly $3 trillion -- including cuts to popular programs like Medicare -- because it also includes more than $1 trillion in new tax revenues, according to aides briefed on private negotiations.

Sources remain mum on the specifics of the cuts and taxes Dems have put forward. And they caution that most, but not all, of the Democrats on the panel support the push -- an effort to achieve multiple Republican votes for a plan modeled on the "grand bargain" President Obama tried to strike with John Boehner.

But they got some unexpected help from Congressional Budget Office director Doug Elmendorf who testified before the panel Wednesday. He cited analysis his office did about a year ago, which found that allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire would carry greater reward than risk -- that the hole they punch in the budget overwhelms the positive impact they have on productivity.

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Jobs

Dems Float Surtax On Millionaires To Pay For Jobs Bill

Brian Beutler | October 4, 2011, 6:07PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Seeking to consolidate party support for President Obama's jobs bill, Senate Democrats are considering a proposal to impose a five percent surtax on millionaires to pay for the legislation, according to two party aides.

As currently written, Obama wants the joint Super Committee to increase its deficit reduction target by enough to pay for the whole jobs bill. That way its cost could be offset by spending cuts and revenue measures and other reforms that have bipartisan support. But failing that, Obama's bill would trigger a series of new taxes on wealthy Americans, including oil and gas companies, hedge fund managers and others.

This enforcement mechanism caused some strife in the Democratic caucus. Now, driven by party leadership and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), whose powerful Finance Committee has jurisdiction over the jobs bill, they're considering a simpler, less parochial, and thus less divisive measure.

A Senate Dem aide cautioned that nothing's final yet, and the party could ultimately settle on different measures. And there's a history of broad Democratic support for raising taxes on millionaires.

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Super Committee

Super Committee Members Raked In $41M From Wall Street

Susan Crabtree | September 26, 2011, 1:31PM

Members of the deficit-reduction super committee have received a combined total of $41 million from the financial and real estate sectors during their time in Congress, according to a new report from Public Campaign and National People's Action.

The report also found that at least 27 current or former aides for members of the super committee have traveled through the revolving door between K Street and Capitol Hill and have lobbied on behalf of financial firms.

"Wall Street bought the deregulation that led to our economic collapse and the American public has paid the price," Nick Nyhart, president of Public Campaign said in a release. "The super committee should not give Wall Street and big banks another free ride because of their campaign cash."

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Super Committee

Super Committee Riven By Major Divide Over Basic Facts

Brian Beutler | September 14, 2011, 5:59AM

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)

Political debates over deficits and debt are always marked by obfuscation and technicality. The numbers are huge and frightening, the terms obscure and technical, and the simple, fundamental point of the argument gets buried underneath this avalanche of panic and esoterica.

But for a brief moment Tuesday, under questioning from Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Congress' top economic analyst made it perfectly clear to everybody who was listening.

"I think really the fundamental question for you is not how we got here, but where you want the country to go, what role do you and your colleagues want the government to play in the economy and the society?" said Doug Elmendorf, who heads the Congressional Budget Office. He was addressing the six Democrats and six Republicans on the new joint deficit committee, and for three hours he did his best not to get buried under the same avalanche.

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Russ Feingold

Feingold To Press Dems To Abandon Any Unbalanced Super Committee Deal

Brian Beutler | August 23, 2011, 12:36PM

Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), June 12, 2011.

Former Sen. Russ Feingold and his new group Progressives United are petitioning the six House and Senate Democrats serving on the joint deficit Super Committee to walk away if Republicans don't budge on tax increases, and insist on cutting entitlement benefits.

"If we don't get our policy priorities, Democrats need to be ready to walk away from the deal," Feingold emailed his supporters. "You can guarantee extremists on the other side will continue to push relentlessly to give even more to corporations and put even more of the burden on the middle class. We have to fight harder than they will."

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Harry Reid

Reid Picks Murray, Kerry, Baucus For Super Committee -- Here's The Upshot

Brian Beutler | August 9, 2011, 6:15PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has announced that Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Max Baucus (D-MT) will serve a new deficit Super Committee. Murray will be the Democrats' top member.

"I have great faith in Senator Murray as the co-chair of the committee," Reid said in a statement. "Her years of experience on the Senate Budget and Appropriations committees have given her a depth of knowledge on budget issues, and demonstrated her ability to work across party lines. Senators Baucus and Kerry are two of the Senate's most respected and experienced legislators. Their legislative accomplishments are matched only by their records of forging strong bonds with their Republican colleagues."

Entitlement defenders were hoping for a more progressive bunch than this. But the key on the Democratic side of the new committee isn't so much whether members will agree in principle to some entitlement cuts -- most say they will -- it's whether they'll require as a concession that Republicans agree to increase tax revenues.

And through that prism, there's some reason for optimism.

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Taxes

Baucus: Revenues In Debt Limit Deal Should Match Medicare Cuts

Brian Beutler | June 23, 2011, 1:15PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

One of the Democrats participating in bipartisan debt discussions said he's "very disappointed" his Republican counterpart has ditched negotiations over an impasse on taxes, but says he hopes to continue working with the group in a different context.

He also made an impassioned case that new tax revenues be part of any deal to raise the debt limit that involves significant cuts to entitlement programs.

"I'm disappointed that Leader Cantor's withdrawn," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus during a hearing on health care spending. "I think we should stay at the table. I think we should keep working, difficult as it is, and try to balance between Medicare cuts -- additional Medicare cuts -- so long as there is commensurate additional revenue. We need balance here."

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McKinsey

Dems Pile On McKinsey, Calls Firm's Defense Of Health Care Survey 'Unjustifiable'

Brian Beutler | June 20, 2011, 6:08PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Democratic members of Congress who pressed the consulting giant McKinsey & Company to open the books on its disputed health care study are piling on, now that the firm's released its survey materials.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), who took a leading role in the pressure campaign, just lambasted the firm for inadequately addressing the controversy. Baucus also provided new details about a private meeting the firm's representatives had with members of his own staff about the survey.

"McKinsey has long held a reputation for fair-minded analysis, so it is particularly disappointing that this study does not live up to that reputation -- or even come close. McKinsey made clear and definitive predictions, and, in the face of tough questions, simply changed their story" said Baucus. "This report is filled with cherry-picked facts and slanted questions - it did not provide employers with enough information for them to make honest choices and fair evaluations. Rather than correct the major deficiencies in their report, McKinsey has chosen to again stand by their faulty analysis and misguided conclusions."

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McKinsey

Conservatives Defend McKinsey Against Democratic 'Bullying,' 'Enemies Lists'

Brian Beutler | June 20, 2011, 10:20AM

Fox Business host Stuart Varney

If the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. comes clean about the methodology behind its recent report that claims "Obamacare" will significantly undermine worker's health benefits, they'll have plenty of allies -- among conservatives.

A new line is gaining traction among health care reform opponents. They claim that McKinsey is entitled as a private company to keep its survey materials private -- and if they cave, they'll unleash a wave of administration bullying and antagonism against businesses on a White House enemies list.

"In economic terms this is the equivalent of a journalist being told to reveal their source," said Fox Business host Stuart Varney on Fox News Friday. "[I]f congress finds out which companies are indeed going to leave ObamaCare, then they will be subject -- maybe -- to all kind of pressure. Intimidation. Bullying. They may be on an enemy's list. There may be retribution against those companies."

In response to this, the anchor noted, "If you are an American insurance company and you say to McKinsey, 'You know, we are curious how this is going to affect us and how it's going to affect the people that we cover and the companies we're involved in, we would like to hire you privately to do a study to give us information on that. I think most folk would say that's a closed circle. That's a business arrangement. You give us the research and we'll pay you for it."

Watch:

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Health Care

Baucus Issues Public Call To McKinsey To Come Clean On Controversial HCR Survey

Brian Beutler | June 16, 2011, 2:50PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Updated: 4:25 p.m.

McKinsey & Co's public relations fiasco continued Thursday, as one of the most powerful senators on Capitol Hill issued a public call for the influential consulting firm to come clean about a questionable study it published on the impact of the new health care reform law.

In an accompanying letter to the firm's managing director, Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) reveals that McKinsey has agreed to meet with members of his staff to discuss the survey -- and includes 13 questions on methodology, which he "expect[s McKinsey] to be able to answer completely."

"Honest public discourse requires a standard level of transparency -- one McKinsey simply has not met," Baucus said in a prepared statement. "The conclusions McKinsey reached differ sharply from results of other reputable, transparent research on the subject. McKinsey's findings also counter what actually happened in Massachusetts when similar policies increased employer-sponsored health insurance. We all want the most accurate information and the ability to evaluate its integrity, which is why McKinsey should answer these basic questions."

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Gas Prices

Senate Dems and Oil Execs Face Off Over Tax Breaks

Susan Crabtree | May 12, 2011, 12:15PM

Oil executives testify at a Senate Finance Committee hearing.

Executives of the five largest U.S. oil companies received a harsh public flogging for near-record gas prices coupled with high profits for the first quarter of the year at a Senate Finance Committee hearing Thursday.

Democrats excoriated the executives for rejecting calls to end tax breaks for the industry when they stand to make record profits and gas prices are reaching an all-time high at the pump.

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Labor

Top Union Presses Senators To Ditch Union-Busting Push By House GOP

Brian Beutler | April 20, 2011, 12:43PM

A powerful union is lobbying Democratic and Republican congressional negotiators to make sure they don't curtail worker rights when they finalize new FAA legislation.

A conference committee composed of a bipartisan group of senators and congressmen will soon sort out differences between two different versions of the bill. But the House bill contains a provision that would make it much more difficult for airline and rail workers to form unions. More on that provision here -- it would reinstate old rules that count abstentions as "no" votes in union elections, thus stacking the deck against pro-union workers.

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Medicare

Dems Find Message Discipline Against GOP Plan To Scrap Medicare

Brian Beutler | April 6, 2011, 8:50AM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

A funny thing happened on the way to a government shutdown. Democrats got on message about the House Republicans' other, bigger budget, which creates a policy blueprint for the next decade.

That message? The GOP plan to end Medicare and hack away at Medicaid is a non-starter. This came from top Democrats across the political spectrum.

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Budget

Sen. Baucus Rips Paul Ryan Budget: "Not On My Watch"

Benjy Sarlin | April 5, 2011, 1:12PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Max Baucus (D-MT), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has seen enough of Rep. Paul Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" to declare it dead on arrival. In a statement to reporters on Tuesday, Baucus ripped into the Republican proposal to privatize Medicare while slashing benefits for seniors over time as a betrayal of the program's core mission.

"Independent experts agree the House Plan would make deep cuts to the Medicare benefits seniors count on," Baucus said in a statement. "It would end Medicare as we know it and funnel Medicare dollars directly into private insurance companies' pockets. Under the House plan, seniors' coverage would be cut drastically, benefits would no longer be guaranteed and seniors' costs would skyrocket. We can't allow the House to balance the budget on the backs of seniors and we won't - not on my watch."

Baucus is typically considered one of the less partisan members of his caucus, best known in recent years for delaying health care talks for months in order to try and secure Republican votes that never materialized. But his statement makes clear that even as an opening bid in deficit talks, Ryan's entitlement cuts are a nonstarter.

Health Care

House Republican's Health Care Reform Probe Could Backfire On GOP

Brian Beutler | March 24, 2011, 6:00AM

If House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) really wants to know what deals were struck between the White House and the health care industry to pass health care reform, he may end up giving health care reform some free advertising.

As part of his quest to publicize all of the dealmaking that characterized the health care reform process, Upton says he'll consider pressing industry leaders for details on their private negotiations with the Obama administration.

"It's something that's not off the table, in terms of what we may do," Upton said at a recent press conference with House leadership.

So far, Upton has directed all of his inquiries at the White House, to no avail. Changing course would give him easier access to the information he seeks (or claims to seek), but might put him behind the eight ball politically. That's because many of the stakeholders in question -- drug manufacturers, hospitals, and other interested parties -- either support the law, or entered a sort of non-aggression pact with the administration.

And if Upton drags those leaders -- many of whom lean Republican -- up to the Hill for a public hearing about their participation in the process, he may hear more about how they think it's a good law, than about how shady the whole process was.

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Medicare

Sebelius: House Effort To Defund Health Care Law Would Cripple Medicare

Brian Beutler | March 9, 2011, 3:26PM

Sec. of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius

File this under unintended consequences. If House Republicans get their way and prevent President Obama from using any discretionary appropriations to implement "Obamacare," it would cripple existing Medicare programs, many of which are operated under methodologies enacted in the health care law.

In response to a letter from Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius lists the ways the House spending bill would hamper existing entitlements.

"If H.R. 1 were enacted, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would not be able to use CR funds to administer payments based on any rate calculated on the basis of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act -- which is to say virtually all rates," she writes.

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Fiscal Commission

FAIL: Fiscal Commission Adjourns Without Holding Official Vote

Brian Beutler | December 3, 2010, 11:12AM

The 18-Member Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, Sept. 29th, 2010

After weeks of tumultuous negotiations, the White House's fiscal commission adjourned today without agreement on a controversial plan to reduce deficits by slashing spending and lowering income tax rates.

Recognizing that they'd fail to meet the 14-vote threshold for passage, the 18-member commission ultimately did not take a final vote. However, members announced their positions ahead of today's final meeting, and in the end a majority -- according to Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), 11 in total -- claimed to support the proposal.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Tax Cut Negotiators Meeting This Morning

Eric Kleefeld | December 1, 2010, 10:19AM

Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner

The bipartisan group set to negotiate the issues surrounding the expiration of the Bush tax cuts is set to meet at 10:15 a.m. ET, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The roster:

• Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner

• Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jacob Lew

• Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee

• Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

• Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the incoming ranking member of the House Budget Committee

• Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), the likely next Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Bush Tax Cuts

Dems Torn Over Schumer Plan To Raise Taxes On Millionaires Only

Brian Beutler | November 30, 2010, 8:07PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

At an undisclosed White House meeting yesterday with Senate Democratic leaders, President Obama pushed back on a controversial, but politically potent tax cut plan that has knocked Republicans off message in recent days.

Pushing hardest for the new approach was Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the third ranking Democrat in the Senate and the Dems' new point man for combining message and policy. He proposes to create a new tax bracket above the $1 million income threshold, and let Republicans decide whether to fight to the death to give those people a tax cut. It's the one compromise that polls well and wrongfoots the GOP at the same time.

"Republicans are worried about this proposal because it would expose that they are fighting for millionaires instead of the middle class," said Schumer's spokesman Brian Fallon in a statement to me.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Tax Cut Negotiation Team Set By Congressional Leaders

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2010, 5:17PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Congressional leaders from both parties have announced who they will be dispatching to participate in the tax cut negotiations President Obama announced earlier today.

Democrats have selected Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD) and Sen. Max Baucus (MT) for the negotiations. Republicans have chosen Rep. Dave Camp (MI) and Sen. John Kyl (AZ). The White House delegation will consist of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House Budget Director Jack Lew.

All were announced this afternoon by their respective partisan leadership.

If President Obama has his way, the team will determine how to create a bipartisan *compromise between* Democrats who want to allow the tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans to expire and Republicans who want them extended for everyone. Obama announced the bipartisan negotiations after meeting with top leaders from both houses of Congress at the White House today.

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Barack Obama

Obama's Federal Worker Pay Freeze Was Blasted By Democrats Months Ago

Brian Beutler | November 29, 2010, 12:14PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama proposed a two year freeze on federal employee compensation today, just ahead of a Tuesday post-election meeting with the GOP leaders. The proposal was originally put forward by Republicans in recent months -- and slammed by Democrats.

The move is reminiscent of Obama's call for a freeze on non-defense discretionary spending in the days after Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) won deceased Sen. Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in a special election earlier this year. The gesture resulted in no meaningful counter-gesture from the GOP and the administration's natural allies questioned the move. It's likely to be no different today.

In recent months, Democrats have attacked Republicans for proposing federal pay and hiring freezes, and experts have derided the idea of attacking massive budget deficits with small-fry initiatives like this one.

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Social Security

Meet The 18 People Who Could Determine The Fate Of Social Security

Brian Beutler | August 30, 2010, 11:55AM

President Obama meets with the leaders of his bipartisan debt commission, Democrat Erskine Bowles, on left, and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, on right.

Last week former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, who co-chairs the White House's fiscal commission, drew a storm of criticism for comparing Social Security to a "cow with 310 million tits." But Titgate isn't really about language. It's about both Simpson himself -- who has long viewed Social Security as a bloated program for spoiled old people -- and about the commission as a whole. Comprised of nine tax-averse Republicans and nine Democrats, many of whom have expressed support for Social Security changes in the past, the commission will almost certainly be biased toward benefit cuts, and away from raising taxes, when it presents its report on December 1. Below, the cast of characters who will be making the calls.

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2010 elections

GOPers Revise History: Say Dems Have Tax Hike Ticking Time 'Bomb'

Christina Bellantoni | August 19, 2010, 8:56AM

Somewhere between approving a massive tax cut plan with an expiration date and President Obama's election, Republicans seem to have decided that it's Obama's fault the tax cuts aren't permanent.

Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS this week detailed the "seven public policy initiatives" that will be most important for Congress next year. The group runs ads against Democrats across the country.

On the list at No. 1: "Stop the Obama tax hike time bomb scheduled to detonate on January 1, 2011."

That's not a typo. Rove's group is claiming that Obama set the timer on that so-called "bomb."

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Jobs

Unions Take Aim At Dems Protecting Money Managers Over The Unemployed

Brian Beutler | May 21, 2010, 2:05PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Some of the Democrats who fought hardest to strengthen the Wall Street reform bill are at the same time seeking to preserve a tax loophole for money managers, which, if closed, could be used to pay for extending benefits, health care subsidies, and job creation for the unemployed. And now the biggest players in Democratic politics are taking aim at them.

"I don't know how you explain to the nurse struggling to pay her mortgage or the security guard whose son can't afford college that they should pay higher taxes than Wall Street hedge fund managers and venture capitalists," SEIU spokesperson Lori Lodes tells me. "They see what's happening in their communities - states cutting back vital services, more of their neighbors losing their jobs. What they will never be able to understand is Senators holding up a needed jobs package because they want to look out for money managers."

The senators she's talking about are almost all Democrats--including John Kerry (D-MA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who actually voted against Wall Street reform for not doing enough to rein in financial industry excess.

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Health Care

Baucus: There May Be 'Minor' Changes To Reconciliation Bill

Rachel Slajda | March 23, 2010, 1:55PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus told reporters today that there may be "one or two" changes to the health care reconciliation bill, meaning it could be sent back to the House for another vote.

"Anything is possible. We've constructed this thing so well ... maybe one or two but they're so minor they're almost not even worth mentioning," Baucus said.

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Harry Reid

So Much For That! Bipartisan Jobs Agreement Falls Apart Almost Instantly

Brian Beutler | February 11, 2010, 5:08PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Bipartisan agreement on jobs lasted all of a few hours. This afternoon, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus announced he'd reached accord with ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). They unveiled what was supposed to be a final jobs package. But the agreement didn't sit well with many Democrats, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has pulled it out of their hands, and announced he'd move ahead with a smaller bill.

"I think Reid saw the writing on the wall," said one top Senate Democratic aide. "This was about to get bogged down again so he pulled it back."

Liberal Democrats were not pleased with the Baucus-Grassley compromise. Among other things, Baucus and Grassley said that jobs could only move forward if the Senate agreed to take up a bipartisan "reform" (a.k.a. slashing) of the estate tax. They registered their dissatisfaction at a weekly caucus lunch this afternoon, and when it was over, Reid emerged to make the announcement.

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Health Care

Been There, Done That? Why This Year's Health Care Summit Will Be Different From Last Year's

Brian Beutler | February 8, 2010, 5:55PM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), President Obama, and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

About a year ago, President Obama kick started the health care debate by hosting a bipartisan summit designed to build momentum for what he hoped would be his signature domestic policy initiative. The March 5, 2009 meeting was marked by pleasantries, and engagement between Republicans and Democrats--and that figured. Republicans were facing a popular President, pushing a popular initiative, in the aftermath of a big victory on the stimulus bill.

Fast forward to February 2010, and a lot of people in Washington--liberals, Democrats, even some pundits--are asking a question: Why is President Obama wasting his time with yet another summit. After all, he tried this a year ago and...well, just look how well that's paid off.

Times have changed, though. And now Democrats see an opportunity not so much for bipartisan co-operation, but for the President to magnify the differences between his own party, and the hell-bent-on-obstruction GOP. Whether they're right or wrong, though, the politics have simply changed. After a year of smears and bad faith, with Republicans locked into opposition, this month's summit simply won't be a redux of the same event.

Take Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)--ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee. Here's what he said to Obama at the time: "I think you served with us in the Senate long enough to know that Max Baucus and I have a pretty good record of working out bipartisan things."

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Jobs

Dorgan: Baucus Will Have Say Over Part Of Jobs Package

Brian Beutler | February 2, 2010, 3:51PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Democrats leading the Senate jobs push will likely unveil their initial package of legislation Thursday, but it will not include a key section, which will likely be adopted separately after action by the Senate Finance Committee, headed by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT).

"Senator Durbin and I will be disclosing the jobs bill that we put together...will probably do something to disclose that on Thursday," said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND).

"Our jobs bill...contains the things that we think represent a consensus in our caucus of what we can do to stimulate the creation of additional jobs," Dorgan added.

But the package will not include a tax credit aimed at stimulating employment.

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Democrats

Fool Me Twice? Dems Say Jobs Agenda Won't Get Bogged Down Like Health Care

Brian Beutler | February 2, 2010, 1:21PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Democrats have pivoted, at times clumsily, from a universal focus on health care reform to a universal focus on jobs legislation. But is jobs destined to get bogged down by the same legislative morass that ultimately stymied health care? Democrats say not on their watch.

Yesterday, Politico reported that Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) had told Democratic leadership that he'd like to take a crack at some elements of the Democrats' burgeoning job proposal in his Finance Committee. The news gave progressives, and rank and file Democrats flashbacks to the Baucus-led Gang of Six negotiations on health care reform, which dragged on for months and ultimately failed to secure any Republican votes.

But numerous Senate aides said today that the jobs push is--and will be--different. They say the sense of urgency is greater, and that leadership is busily figuring out how to enact a meaningful jobs package as expeditiously as possible.

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Health Care

#HealthCareFAIL: How The Dems Botched Their Signature Legislation

Brian Beutler | January 29, 2010, 3:37PM

Clockwise from top left: Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT); MA Sen. candidate Martha Coakley (D); Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Former Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and President Obama

Talk about fits and starts.

A year ago Democrats committed to passing comprehensive health care legislation; six months ago, it became clear that their project wouldn't go smoothly; one month ago it was full speed ahead; and a week and a half ago it all fell apart.

Health care reform is now on life support. To mix metaphors, it's on life support and the back burner at the same time. How the Democrats' signature agenda item went from a foregone conclusion to a prospect in peril is a tale of missteps and bad luck. No single player or event brought us to where we are today. But if any of the below episodes had gone...more smoothly, this might've been a done deal.

You know how the saying goes: Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan. And you can be sure that if health care reform fails, the people below will make like John Edwards--quick-like.

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Max Baucus

Harkin And Baucus: Health Care Reform Isn't Dead Yet!

Jillian Rayfield | January 28, 2010, 6:16PM

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Senators Tom Harkin (D-NH) and Max Baucus (D-MT) said today that the Democrats are not going to give up on health care reform.

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Health Care

Leading Health Care Experts Tell Senate To Step It Up

Brian Beutler | January 27, 2010, 9:37AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Democratic insiders, members of Congress, and health care reformers are now ramping up pressure on the Senate to take procedural steps to assure a comprehensive bill can become law. The House is signaling that it's ready to pass the Senate's health care bill, but only if the Senate gives concrete signs that they will follow suit, and pass a separate amending bill through the budget reconciliation process--a move that is increasingly seen as a necessary precondition of a successful reform push.

Today, 49 leading health care experts--who recently urged the House to act--are now acknowledging that the House deserves an act of good faith from the upper chamber before it pulls the trigger on reform.

"Key differences between the bills, such as the scope of the tax on high-cost plans and the allocation of premium subsidies, should be negotiated through the reconciliation process. Key elements of a reconciliation compromise enjoy broad support in both houses," reads a new letter from the experts to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV); Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Max Baucus (D-MT); and President Obama. "Other discrepancies between the House and Senate bills can be addressed through other means."

Last Friday, we urged the House to adopt the Senate-passed bill along with improvements that can be immediately achieved through reconciliation. We urge the Senate to join the House in this effort, and we urge the President to sign both bills.

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Health Care

They're Done! (Almost)--What Happens Now That The Senate Has Passed Health Care Reform

Brian Beutler | December 24, 2009, 8:45AM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

The hard part is over. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid kept his caucus aligned all the way to the final vote. He could have afforded to lose several liberal or conservative members, upset about the concessions they've had to make over the last several weeks, but none of them defected.

Now he'll need them to stay united for several more weeks.

According to Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Senate health care principals (including himself) and their counterparts in the House will begin working with Democratic leaders and White House officials next week to marry the two chambers' bills. During that process, they'll have to be mindful of just how fragile the coalition in the Senate is, and will likely make no dramatic changes to the legislation that passed this morning.

That means the House will face a vote on a final bill that's likely to be less progressive in a number of ways than the package they passed in November. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is already fielding defection threats from a number of high-profile progressives in her caucus. And given that the first bill passed by an extremely slim margin, for almost every "yes" in her caucus who becomes a "no," she'll have to find a "no" vote, and turn it into a "yes."

That's a precarious balance, and we'll be tracking the Democrats as they try to strike it.

Barack Obama

Gibbs: 'Nobody' In WH Aware Of Baucus' Girlfriend Issue

Christina Bellantoni | December 7, 2009, 2:36PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked to respond to the news Sen. Max Baucus recommended his girlfriend for a U.S. attorney post.

"Senator Baucus did not give us any information about those three names," Gibbs said.

"Nobody here was involved in it," Gibbs said, adding, "I don't mean anybody besides those who know Senator Baucus, I mean nobody."

The RNC called for an investigation, but there has been relatively little reaction as Baucus talks about health care most of today on the Senate floor.

Health Care

Baucus, Dodd: Votes Likely Tomorrow

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2009, 6:59PM

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and key health care principals met with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Nancy-Ann DeParle, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and other officials to discuss, among other things, the GOP logjam preventing progress on a reform bill.

After the meeting, Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Max Baucus (D-MT) said there would likely be many votes tomorrow--the first of the debate.

Republicans, who have a long menu of obstructive options before them, have been blocking amendments for several days now, provoking the ire of Democratic leaders.