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A Victory in Health Care Vote for Opponents of Abortion
Monday, November 09, 2009
by DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and ROBERT PEAR
Refer to Chapter 17
Essence of the Story
- Health care reform finally passed the House of Representatives, but in order to assure passage, Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed amendments that would ban government support of insurance plans that pay for abortions.
- Abortion rights advocates charge that the government is proposing a health care reform that would deny a legal medical procedure in states that allow abortion. Opponents, however, vowed to scuttle the bill without these provisions.
- Now this becomes an issue in the Senate, where a smaller number of fierce advocates on either side of this issue can derail the bill.
Political Analysis
- It became increasingly clear that, in order for this bill to be assured of passage, Pelosi was going to have to give way on abortion.
- The vote count was shaping up as just too close, with about 20 Democrats already having publicly announced their opposition on cost grounds.
- The abortion issue also resonated strongly in many districts where "Blue Dog" Democrats had been elected in traditionally Republican areas. These are areas where the Democrats want to hold their seats in 2010, another reason Pelosi gave way.
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Strains for Democrats in Budget-Balancing Act
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
by Jackie Calmes
Refer to Chapter 16
Essence of the Story
- A recent meeting between economists and Democratic leaders to talk about the need for additional economic stimulus turned to an unexpected subject--how to cut the deficit.
- The Democrats in Congress and the White House face an uneasy public, which is unhappy with rising unemployment but is also showing an increasing sensitivity to rising budget deficits.
- The problem is that these two political imperatives press in the opposite direction--"A stimulus doesn't work if it doesn't increase the deficit--that's the bottom line" is how one participant put it.
Political Analysis
- The Democratic Party was able to grasp the mantle of deficit hawk from the Republicans during the end of the Reagan Administration, and held it firmly during most of the Clinton years.
- As a party that had long had an image of "tax and spend," being seen as a smart manager of the public purse was a real political boon for the Democrats.
- Now they run the political risk of being blamed for high unemployment (something the public usually blames Republicans for) and fiscal mismanagement.
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A Proposed Tax on Cadillac Health Plan May Also Hit Chevys
Sunday, September 20, 2009
by Reed Abelson
Refer to Chapter 17
Essence of the Story
- One way that the health care reformers plan to pay for their bill is to tax so-called "Cadillac" health care plans that are far more expensive than typical health care plans that cover most Americans.
- The problem for Democrats is that, while at first they thought these plans were mainly the purview of rich executives, it turns out that many generous labor union contracts may fall under this provision.
- In addition, the proposal as currently stands does not have an inflation adjustment, meaning that more and more plans will become "cadillacs" as they naturally increase in cost over time.
Political Analysis
- The economic idea behind the tax on plans is to discourage the use of extremely expensive health care plans. These plans disguise the cost of health care to the consumers, and are a way for companies to compensate their employees while avoiding paying tax on compensation.
- Politically, however, the Democrats absolutely cannot afford to lose union support for reform.
- Ultimately, some sort of compromise is likely to emerge that will index this tax, and make it high enough that most union contracts are unaffected.
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