by Congressional Quarterly

enate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said Tuesday he intends to push for a vote by this weekend on job creation legislation, though another winter storm bearing down on Washington made the Senate schedule increasingly tenuous. Following a meeting of Democratic and Republican leaders at the White House, Reid said he hopes the jobs package will be introduced later Tuesday. A portion centered on a tax credit for new hiring had bipartisan support, at least as of Monday night, he added. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., told reporters after the White House meeting that there is “a chance” that his party could get behind the tax-related provisions, but he called it “kind of a work in progress” and said most Republicans hadn’t seen it yet. “Frankly, it’s not ready yet . . . We’re certainly open to it. There’s a chance we can move this forward on a bipartisan basis,” McConnell said. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer , D-Md., was more circumspect, saying not much progress had been made in the White House talks. He also indicated House Democrats wanted to study the effectiveness of a tax credit for hiring. Senate Democratic leaders plan to take up the $154 billion jobs bill the House passed in December, which combined tax breaks with infrastructure spending and extended unemployment benefits, and amend it with their own version, Reid said. “I hope it can be bipartisan,” Reid said. While members are scheduled to leave town Feb. 12 for the one-week Presidents Day recess, Reid raised the possibility that the Senate could be held in over the weekend to pass the measure. “We’re going to move toward that,” he said. “I want to get it done, and we may have to work into the weekend because of the weather.” Since they control 59 votes, not the 60 needed to surmount a filibuster, Senate Democrats will need GOP support to advance any jobs package.

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   by Congressional Quarterly

Congressional leaders say they welcome President Obama’s idea for a health care summit — but it is far from clear that more talking will deliver Republican votes for any bill that Democrats rewrite. “Senate Democrats join with the president in reaffirming our commitment to seeking a bipartisan solution to health reform,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev. “We have promoted the pursuit of a bipartisan approach to health reform from day one.” House GOP Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio said he, too, was looking forward to the summit. But in a statement, he launched another attack on Democrats’ current plans. “Obviously, I am pleased that the White House finally seems interested in a real, bipartisan conversation on health care,” he said. “The problem with the Democrats’ health care bills is not that the American people don’t understand them; the American people do understand them, and they don’t like them.” Congressional Republicans have largely resisted the Democratic effort to write health care legislation. Only one Republican member voted for the House bill when it passed in November. No Republicans voted for the Senate bill during procedural motions or on final passage. Obama’s call for a summit makes it less likely that a compromise will be struck before March. Democrats have been struggling to find a way to move the Senate-passed bill through the House, along with a package of yet-to-be-determined compromises that would guarantee that House Democrats would support the effort. Negotiators have been working quietly behind the scenes, but for the time being are saying little publicly about the effort while they focus on jobs legislation. Obama on Sunday proposed holding a bipartisan, bicameral health care summit on Feb. 25. In an interview on CBS during the Super Bowl pre-game show, the president said he hoped to review proposals in Senate- and House-passed health plans, as well as those offered by GOP critics. “I want to ask them to put their ideas on the table, and then after the recess, which will be a few weeks away, I want to come back and have a large meeting, the Republicans and Democrats, to go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward,” Obama said.

Pelosi Urges Party Faithful to Get Involved

February 5, 2009

   by Congressional Quarterly

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) used an address to the Democratic National Committee’s winter conference on Friday to try to energize party loyalists and encourage them to “get the word out” about Democrats’ accomplishments so far. Pelosi told conference attendees “to make sure the American people know that the Democratic Party knows them.” The Speaker used the forum to talk up what Democrats have done in the past year to try to stem joblessness and reverse the economic downturn, including last year’s $787 billion stimulus. She reiterated that jobs and the economy remain a central focus on Capitol Hill. “Democrats are leading the fight for Main Street,” Pelosi said. “Never again will Wall Street’s recklessness undermine Main Street’s progress. Never again will Wall Street be allowed to jeopardize the jobs, the pensions, the homes, and the life savings of the American people.” Pelosi’s remarks came as the latest jobs report revealed the nation’s unemployment figure now stands at 9.7 percent, a slight improvement from last month’s 10 percent. But the report also revealed a loss of 22,000 jobs nationwide, which Pelosi said was “too much.” It also comes at the beginning of an election year in which Democratic majorities in the House and Senate are under siege. Pelosi issued a call to the party faithful to “get the word out” on the Democrats’ accomplishments so far, although she didn’t mention the November elections in particular. “Recognize your role in this. We can do all the inside maneuvering but without your participation, nothing great or good can happen,” she said. The morning address was not without its jabs to Republicans. “Anyone who wants to know the difference between Democrats and Republicans need only look at their budgets,” Pelosi said. “President Obama’s provides a new foundation for economic growth.” “The Republican budget provides tax breaks for the wealthy, ends Medicare as we know it and privatizes Social Security. Here they go again,” she said. Midway through her 25-minute address, the Speaker touched on what was once the party’s main legislative focus: health care reform. While House and Senate leaders are still struggling over how to pass a bill, Pelosi assured the crowd that “central to our fight is the fight to reform health insurance for the American people.” “This is about the economic security of America’s families,” Pelosi told the crowd to much applause. “The bill is about jobs, creating 4 million good paying jobs in the life of the bill.”

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