TPMDC Sheldon Whitehouse
Sheldon Whitehouse
Sen. Whitehouse On Disaster Funding: Take That, Tea Party!
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Democrats are hoping Republicans' more conciliatory spirit displayed Monday night to avert a government shutdown over disaster aid is a sign of shifting political winds after August's debt showdown that resulted in Standard & Poor downgrading the nation's creditworthiness.
After the vote last night to fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency through November, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) told TPM he hopes the Senate's agreement to pass a compromise bill sends a message to Tea Party House GOP members that the do-or-die brinkmanship has got to go.
"I think we were less close to the precipice this time," he said. "I think there was a little bit more anxiety on the part of the GOP to go there, and I hope it sends a message back to the House and the Tea Party that the Senate is not going to be amenable to this stuff anymore."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: FEMA, House Republicans, Roy Blunt, Senate, Sheldon Whitehouse, Tea Party, disaster relief
Medicare
Dems To GOP: Stop Lying To Seniors That Republican Budget Won't Impact Current Medicare Beneficiaries
Sec. of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius
House Republicans, facing tough questions in their districts for voting to phase out Medicare and replace it with a subsidized private insurance system, are fond of pointing out that the plan they support wouldn't touch benefits for existing beneficiaries, or for people who will reach eligibility within 10 years. There are a number of problems with that plan, but top Democrats are finally pointing out the biggest one: it's simply not true.
Though many Republicans are getting jittery about their budget's Medicare plan, they're still perfectly proud of the fact that it also repeals the new health care law. But that law includes plenty of goodies for current seniors, all of which would be zapped immediately if Republicans get their way.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Budget, Health Care, Health Care Repeal, Kathleen Sebelius, Medicaid, Medicare, Privatization, Sheldon Whitehouse
State Of The Union
Sanders Hails Decision To Go Light On Social Security In SOTU
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
On a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a leading progressive voice on Capitol Hill, praised reports that President Obama will not endorse the changes to Social Security suggested by his deficit reduction commission.
According to the Washington Post, Obama "has decided not to endorse" the panel's call "to raise the retirement age, and otherwise reduce Social Security benefits" in his State of the Union address.
Instead, Obama will keep his comments about Social Security vague. The paper reports "he is likely to urge lawmakers to work together to make the program solvent, without going into details, according to congressional sources."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Paul Ryan, Sheldon Whitehouse, Social Security, State Of The Union
Bush Tax Cuts
Schumer: Large Appetite To Fight Even If All Bush Tax Cuts Expire
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
At a press conference this morning after Senate Republicans blocked a bid to let Bush tax cuts for wealthy Americans expire, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said a large number of Democrats are prepared to continue this fight into next year, even if it means all the Bush tax cuts sunset as scheduled.
In response to a question from TPM, Schumer acknowledged, "there are lots of people in our caucus who do have that appetite. There are some who don't."
As he said that, several members joining him on stage -- Mark Begich (D-AK), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Al Franken (D-MN), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) -- nodded in agreement.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Al Franken, Barack Obama, Bush Tax Cuts, Chuck Schumer, Mark Begich, Sheldon Whitehouse, Sherrod Brown, Tax Cuts, White House
Democrats
Dems United, Republicans Split, By Bunning Benefits Blockade
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) has caused no shortage of problems for unemployed Americans, federal workers, and Medicare doctors. The list goes on and on. But he's also put the Republican party in a tricky position--upsetting members of his own caucus who want the benefits restored, but who haven't been able to rein him in--and he's unified Democrats, who are using his filibuster to put a human face on the victims of Republican obstruction.
Republican leadership doesn't have a great deal of leverage over Bunning, who is retiring at the end of the year. But they also don't particularly oppose what he's doing. Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) has risen to Bunning's defense, as has NRSC chairman John Cornyn (R-TX), whose job it is to get Republicans elected to the Senate.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bernie Sanders, Democrats, Filibuster, Harry Reid, Health Care, James Inhofe, Jim Bunning, John Cornyn, Jon Kyl, Republicans, Senate, Sheldon Whitehouse, Sherrod Brown
State Of The Union
Dems Laud Obama's Speech As Health Care Breakthrough--But To What Avail? (Video)
Democrats in both the House and Senate and beyond hailed President Obama's State of the Union address tonight as a major step forward on health care reform. But when the speech ended, and members filed out of the House chamber, one thing was abundantly clear: no matter how good tonight's speech was, it did not break the congressional health care logjam.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) said the President sent "exactly the right message."
"He made it very clear that he isn't walking away from health care with his tail between his legs," Wiener added.
That view was echoed by members in both chambers, and at least one powerful Democratic ally.
"This was an important message to get it done," Anna Burger, president of the labor federation Change to Win, told me in a brief interview. "They can do reconciliation...I think it's perfectly doable."
But for all the plaudits Obama's words won tonight, it appears that neither the House nor the Senate--stuck in a health care face-off since Democrats lost a Senate seat in Massachusetts last week--is prepared to blink.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Anthony Weiner, Barack Obama, Budget Reconciliation, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Democrats, Evan Bayh, Health Care, House of Representatives, James Clyburn, Lynn Woolsey, Republicans, Senate, Sheldon Whitehouse, State Of The Union
Chuck Schumer
Key Democratic Senators Correct Lieberman On The Public Option
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Key public option supporters in the Senate Democratic Caucus pushed back today on different objections raised by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to the idea of including a public option in health care reform.
"I think one of the problems the leader is working through...is that there have been a number of theories about what a public option is that have been kicked around," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in response to a question from TPMDC. "On the Senate side, in the [HELP] Committee, we chose to...make sure that these public options were self sustaining."
Lieberman has suggested both that the public option would be a drain on taxpayers, and that it would drive up private insurance premiums, in contrast to the findings of most experts.
"I think there's a bit of a function of trying to make sure that everybody's clear exactly what it is that we're proposing," Whitehouse said. "I think once the actual text of the bill is out and it's clear that the HELP language is what was adopted. I think we'll be successfully able to make the case to Senator Lieberman that there is not a subsidy here and it is not an entitlement."
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) added his own two cents as well.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Health Care, Joe Lieberman, Public Option, Senate, Sheldon Whitehouse, Sherrod Brown
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