Roll Call: Hope For Bipartisanship Lingers, But Reconciliation Talk Increases
Roll Call says that while Senators are holding out hope for a bipartisan deal on health care, the talk of using budget reconciliation to produce a Democrats-only bill is rising: “With bipartisan talks yielding no results, Democrats have urged President Barack Obama to abandon efforts to win Republican support and instead push a bill through on party-line votes.”
Obama On Vacation
President Obama and his family are spending the week at Martha’s Vineyard, and do not have ay public events scheduled. Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said Obama is hoping for a quiet time: “He wants you to relax and have a good time. Take some walks on the beaches. Nobody’s looking to make any news.”
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will be in Washington, DC, this afternoon. He will deliver the closing remarks at the White House Conference on Gang Violence Prevention and Crime Control, which will be attended by mayors, police chiefs, community representatives and scholars discussing how to combat gang violence and criminal activity.
Cash For Clunkers Ends Today
Today is the final day of the Cash For Clunkers program, with the program officially expiring at 8 p.m. ET. This proved to be a much more popular government program than people had expected — indeed so popular that dealers and the government are sorting through a tremendous backlog of paperwork. Said one dealer: “I have people upstairs, that’s all they’re doing — paperwork. The backlog is a nightmare, and it’s starting to be a nightmare at the end.”
NYT: Obama Has Fewer Than Half Of Top Appointees In Place
The New York Times reports that President Obama has thus far only filled 43% of the more than 500 senior policy-making positions that require Senate confirmation, with career employees or holdovers from the Bush administration filling the balance. “If you’re running G.M. without half your senior executives in place, are you worried? I’d say your stockholders would be going nuts,” said Professor Terry Sullivan of the University of North Carolina, and executive director of the White House Transition Project. “The notion of the American will — it’s not being thwarted, but it’s slow to come to fruition.”
The Hill: Dean Haunts Obama After Being Passed Over
The Hill notes that since leaving the DNC and not being tapped for a position in the Obama administration, Howard Dean has emerged as a key voice from the left, agitating for a stronger position on health care reform. Said Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee: “It might have been a bless ing in disguise that Howard Dean was not brought into the admin because it has allowed him to be bully pulpit for the overwhelming majority of American people who support the public option.”
Right-Wing Group Targeting Reid In New Ad
The Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life conservative political group, is set to go on the air with a new ad in Nevada targeting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), a self-identified pro-lifer, making the accusation that the new health care bill will require taxpayer funding of abortions:
“Now Harry Reid is pushing a massive government-run health care system requiring taxpayer funding for abortions, and he won’t allow doctors or nurses the right to object,” the announcer says. Reid is up for re-election in 2010, and is set to be a major Republican target.
