What about Joe? Much work remains for Dems after Finance vote

ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf reports:

All eyes are on the Senate Finance Committee this morning, where there have not yet been any surprises.

But Republicans are circulating snippets from an interview conducted by Don Imus of Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Independent from Connecticut who caucuses with Democrats. He's one of the 60 votes Democrats will need to pass a sweeping reform bill.

In a reminder that once the Finance Committee passes its bill today, there is still a very long road for health reform, Lieberman told Imus he doesn't support the Baucus bill and he thinks President Obama is trying to do too much.

“I've been saying for a couple of months now that I'm concerned, that I'm concerned that there's a danger that we're trying to do too much here and the president is trying to do two good things. But doing them at once in the middle of a recession may be hard to pull off,” Lieberman said, according to a transcript circulated by Republicans.

He went on: “And the two good things are to bend the cost of health care down by changing a lot of the ways health care is delivered. The second thing is to cover some of the people, millions of people, who are not covered with insurance. So, this puts us in the position where you say, on the one hand, what we're about to do in adopting health care reform will, will reduce the cost of health insurance from what it would otherwise be and the other hand you say, oh incidentally, we're going to raise your taxes or cut your Medicare to the tune of $900 billion or a trillion. And people are beginning to think that maybe they'd do better holding on to what they have now.”

Lieberman's statement underscore the perilous situation for Democrats who will take the Baucus bill and try to marry it with what the HELP Committee passed in July. They will have to attract Lieberman's vote on one end of the spectrum. And only the votes of more liberal senators who think the Baucus bill does not go far enough toward universal coverage. Only one Democrat, Sen. Roland Burris of Illinois, has said he won't vote for a bill that lacks a public option.

“The inclusion of a public option as a central component to any healthcare reform legislation is the only way to create meaningful competition with the insurance companies, and in turn, bring down costs and improve quality of care for the people of Illinois and all Americans,” said Burris on the Senate floor recently.

But other liberals, like Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia have pledged to do their best to force a public option and affordability votes on the Senate floor.

It's hard to square those pledges with changes to mollify Lieberman and other moderates, who opposes a public option.

Wiggle room on the public option could come in the form of wordplay. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whose job it will be to marry the HELP and Baucus Finance Committee bills, has said there are different variations of a public option, even suggesting that the series of non-governmental co-ops envisioned by the Baucus bill could substitute for the public option.

But where it comes to affordability for people who currently have health insurance, there is less wiggle room. And there is also the undeniable fact that the Baucus bill does not insure every American.

“The bill before us still falls short of what people need and what people expect from us,” said Rockefeller during today's Finance Committee markup.

“It is not enough,” Rockefeller said. “Universal coverage has always been the goal”

He'll have to swallow his reservations and support the Baucus bill in the committee vote later today if he wants to make changes on the Senate floor in the future.

House GOP to Force Vote on Pelosi

ABC News’ Rick Klein, Jonathan Karl, and Dean Norland report:

House Republicans today plan to force their colleagues to vote on whether to launch an investigation of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s allegation that the CIA misled her, a move that will force Democrats to take a stand on a politically contentious issue.

The measure has virtually no chance of passing, given the Democratic majority in the House, and the wide support inside the caucus for Pelosi, D-Calif.

But Republican aides say they want to force the full House to vote on whether to create a special, bipartisan subcommittee to investigate the speaker’s claims — a move that keeps Pelosi in a harsh spotlight for another day, and forces some Democrats into a potentially awkward vote.

“The speaker has had a full week now to either produce the evidence or retract and apologize, and she’s done neither,” a senior Republican aide tells ABC News. “There is no choice now. A bipartisan investigation is needed to get to the facts.”

As Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said on ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” yesterday, Republicans don’t want this issue to fade, with next week’s Memorial Day break looming.

“We do go home for this Memorial [Day] break so there is a concern that this will dissipate over time. If it does then it’ll be the country that pays the price,” said King, who supports a more harsh resolution that would strip Pelosi of her security clearances until the matter is resolved.

UPDATE: Democrats voted to table the resolution that would have required an investigation, with a 252-172 party-line vote. So Republicans got the vote they wanted, albeit not directly.

UPDATE II: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called a press conference to blast Republicans’ “policy of distraction” by focusing on Pelosi, instead of the core issues regarding interrogation techniques and policies.

“Republicans for the last few weeks have been focused on the politics of personal destruction,” Hoyer said. “This was a distraction — a distraction because the minority party does not want to look at what George Bush did.”

Gregg Expects to Vote ‘No’ on Stimulus,Downplays Concerns Over Census

ABC News’ Teddy Davis reports:

<img src=”http://plsdontcallme.info/wp3/wp-content/uploads/gregg-expects-to-vote-no-on-stimulusbrdownplays-concerns-over-census-1.jpg&#8221; alt=”Gregg Expects to Vote No on Stimulus,
Downplays Concerns Over Census” title=”Gregg Expects to Vote No on Stimulus,
Downplays Concerns Over Census” />

 

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., withdrew from consideration for Commerce Secretary at a Feb. 12, 2009, press conference on Capitol Hill.
Ferdous Al-Faruque/ ABC News 

Barack Obama’s erstwhile pick to run the Commerce Department said Friday he expects to vote against the president?s stimulus package when it comes to a vote in the United States Senate.

“I presume I will be, yes,” Gregg told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked if he would be voting against the stimulus. “I haven’t made a final statement on that, but that’s philosophically where I probably am.”

Gregg discussed his inclination to vote against the president’s stimulus plan one day after announcing that he was withdrawing his name from consideration to be United States Secretary of Commerce.

In a written statement released Thursday, Gregg identified the stimulus and the census as two “irresolvable conflicts” with the Obama administration. But when Gregg was specifically asked at a Thursday press conference how he would vote on the stimulus, he deflected, saying, “Well, can I save that for tomorrow when we vote on the stimulus bill?”

Back on Feb. 4, Gregg said that he would not be voting on the stimulus bill, or any other legislation, while he was under consideration for Commerce Secretary.

In Friday’s CNBC interview, Gregg critiqued the stimulus by saying that a “tactical error” was made in allowing “the appropriators” to write it. He said this made it “unfocused” and “disjointed” although he also said that the stimulus has gotten better as it has gone forward.

Asked how the stimulus could be re-worked in order to win his support, Gregg said: “They don’t need to rework it now. They got their votes.”

When asked if White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was going to try to “hijack” the census for partisan purposes, Gregg said: “That’s a good question. We’ll have to see what happens. The way it was explained to me was that it was — the census would still report to the Commerce Secretary, but the White House wanted to have a major interest in the census process also.”

Asked if he felt comfortable with that, Gregg said, “I actually hadn?t concluded as to how that was going to play out, to be honest with you. I thought that when I got there, I could probably straighten that out if it was a problem.”

He then added that he was “a little surprised, in fact, disappointed, that some of the groups basically prejudged” his ability to manage the Commerce Department before he even got there.

When Obama first nominated Gregg to head the Commerce Department, the Congressional Black Caucus and an organization representing Hispanic elected officials publicly raised questions about whether Gregg could be trusted not to undercount minorities.

In his CNBC interview, Gregg voiced confidence in Ken Pruitt, the person whom the White House has proposed to manage the census. Gregg worked with Pruitt in 2000 when the New Hampshire senator chaired a congressional committee with oversight over the Commerce Department.

“I thought he did an excellent job,” said Gregg. “I think the people in place will do a good census, and we?ll have to wait and see.”

Update: Gregg: ‘Stimulus Measure Falls Short’

At 5:49 pm ET, Gregg released an official statement, “Stimulus Measure Falls Short,” explaining why he decided to vote against the stimulus bill on Friday evening.

See below for the full text of Gregg’s written statement:

“Our country is facing one of the greatest economic challenges of our lifetime, and I believe sizable action is needed to help our economy begin moving forward again. Today, the American people are worried about their jobs, home values, retirement savings, and Main Street businesses, and we need an economic plan that brings immediate relief, creates jobs, and strengthens American production to get our nation back on course.”

“However, I am concerned that this so-called stimulus bill falls short of what is needed. What was initially advertised as a well-intended effort to boost economic growth has become sidetracked by misplaced spending and lack of attention to the true problems facing the nation, especially housing. Massive amounts of money will be spent years after this bill is signed into law, thereby undermining claims that it is stimulative. Also, the bill?s tax relief provisions will not adequately spur investment and business activity, which are critical for job creation and economic growth.”

“This bill, therefore, is not timely, targeted, and temporary, which is what a stimulus bill should be. And with a deteriorating budget situation, we cannot afford a proposal that will saddle future generations with massive amounts of debt with little to show for it in return.”

ABC News’ Z. Byron Wolf and Ferdous Al-Faruque contributed to this report.

Judd Gregg Won’t Vote on Stimulus

ABC News’ Jon Karl Reports: Here’s one Republican vote President Obama won’t get for his stimulus bill.

In an interview today with CNBC, Senator Judd Gregg said he won’t be voting on the economic stimulus bill. He’ll remain a Senator until he gets confirmed as Commerce Secretary, which likely won’t happen for several weeks, but, he told CNBC, “I’ve recused myself from voting during the pendency of my nomination.”

That’s too bad for Obama. Gregg is one of the very few Republicans who seemed like he was poised to vote in favor of the bill. “I’ve been supportive of a very robust stimulus package from day one,” Gregg said in the interview. “I think this economy has to have a major stimulus initiative because the only person — the only group that’s got liquidity around here is the federal government.”

REGAN: You have a lot of influence within the Republican Party. You’ve — you’ve been a senator for many years. With that in mind, how — how might your connections and your influence help or shape the stimulus bill as it now stands in the Senate?

GREGG: Well, I’m not really engaged in the stimulus bill. I think we need one. We need a robust one. I think the one that’s pending is in the range that we need.

I do believe that it’s a good idea to do it at two levels, which this bill basically does, which is immediate stimulus and then long- term initiatives which actually improve our competitiveness and our productivity.

But this — I’m — I haven’t been appointed, so…

REGAN: So will you be voting then?

GREGG: No, actually, I’ve recused myself from voting during the pendency of my nomination

GOP Lawmaker: Obama was ‘Likeable,’ But My Vote Is Still ‘No’

ABC News’ Viviana Hurtado reports: A Republican House lawmaker writing to ABC News from inside the meeting with President Barack Obama said that before the president arrived for a bipartisan discussion, “there was a fighting mood.”

“We’re against parts of the stimulus, just laughing over the spending on contraceptives to ‘stimulate’ the economy,” said the Republican, who also provided the photo featured below exclusively to ABC News.

But, the “fighting” spirit quickly dissipated, turning “businesslike and academic” once the president addressed the group of lawmakers. Obama started off by promising to listen to GOP concerns about spending, and stated that the days of increasing government for its own sake, are over.

With top economic advisor Larry Summers present to provide heft to his arguments, President Obama pointed to recent announcements of job cuts by Microsoft and Caterpillar, as evidence that the current economic situation is dire, and unemployment could reach double digits if a bold economic stimulus plan–in size and tenor–does not reach his desk for signature soon.

The president then took questions, according to this legislator. Republican lawmakers asked Obama about his willingness to include more tax cuts. They also expressed concerns that ranged from the belief that small businesses were receiving less funds than the allocation to re-sod the national mall, to the fear that income taxes could skyrocket, as could the deficit.

This House lawmaker describes the president as being “at his most charming” and of a “likeable” character. But, some did express concerns that Obama’s pledge of bipartisanship means very little if his Democratic House colleagues will have none of it. The lawmaker said, “behind the scenes, this legislative battle could be shaping up to be one between Mr. Obama and his party’s Congressional leadership, as he tries to convince them to lose what Republicans deem unnecessary spending, such as the contraception measures, and add more tax cuts to achieve a true, bipartisan bill.”

And as far as flipping House Republican votes from no to yes? This lawmakers says right now, his vote is still firmly in the “no” column.