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Obama Moderates Health-Care Stance Jul 2, 2009 — The Wall Street Journal By LAURA MECKLER President Barack Obama, after picking fights with rivals over health care during the election campaign, is signaling flexibility on many of his previous stances as he tries to put a health-care deal together. As a candidate, Mr. Obama criticized Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton for proposing that all Americans be required to get health [...]
Chamber of Commerce position on health care reform Jul 2, 2009 — KAISER HEALTH NEWS BY JENNY GOLD Of the myriad business groups weighing in on health legislation, none is as powerful as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. While the Chamber is on record as supporting health care reform, it remains staunchly opposed to two major components of the bills now on Capitol Hill: proposals for an employer mandate and a [...]
Obama cheerleading for healthcare plan Jul 2, 2009 — The Hill By Sam Youngman With more questions than answers arising in the debate over his healthcare proposal, President Obama is looking to pressure Congress by taking his push for reform back on the road. On Wednesday, Obama is holding yet another town hall on healthcare reform, his second in two weeks, this one in Annandale, Va. But [...]
‘Cap and trade’ faces uphill climb in Senate Jul 2, 2009 — MarketWatch By Robert Schroeder With a victory for his energy policy in the House of Representatives last week, President Barack Obama now shifts his attention to the Senate, where passage of a controversial “cap-and-trade” system for cutting greenhouse gas emissions is facing a steep uphill climb. “In the months to come, the Senate will take up [...]
Employer Mandate Proposals: Which Way To Go? Jun 30, 2009 — Members of Congress last week were considering three distinct employer mandate proposals. Which are the best and worst ideas — from both a policy and political perspective? • Idea 1: Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., called a “free rider” alternative to the employer mandate a “live option,” according to a June 25 report by [...]
Arena Digest: Waxman-Markey: yea or nay? Jun 30, 2009 — Politico POLITICO’s Arena contributors discuss the team of Henry Waxman and Ed Markey and the climate bill. Daniel Becker, director, Safe Climate Campaign “Unfortunately the energy-climate bill has more holes than cheese. Chairmen Henry Waxman and Ed Markey and Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried mightily. Despite long odds, they came up with a bill that begins to [...]
Chamber CEO: House is rushing climate change bill Jun 29, 2009 — The Hill By Kevin Bogardus Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Friday that the House is forcing a vote far too soon on the climate change bill. “Last night, those people being asked to vote were given a 1,200-and-some-odd-page document that they have never seen before. This is ‘hurry up and [...]
Chamber of Commerce: House climate bill adds to uncertainty for business Jun 29, 2009 — Christian Science Monitor By Dave Cook The climate bill headed for a vote in the House on Friday adds to the climate of uncertainty troubling American businesses, says U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue. “The bill that is up in the House has 402 new regulations that are going to affect how people can run their business and [...]
Chamber of Commerce Economist: Double-Dip Recession Possible Jun 26, 2009 — Wall Street Journal An expected rebound in the U.S. economy this year could be choked off by rising interest rates and inflation, sending the nation into a double-dip recession in mid to late 2010, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Economist Martin Regalia warned Thursday. “I don’t see a double dip occurring within the next year,” Regalia said [...]
Advertising wars escalate in health care fight Jun 26, 2009 — USA Today By Richard Wolf The type of advertising war that helped doom the last effort to overhaul the nation’s health care system is heating up. Business groups opposed to health care bills floated by House and Senate Democrats launched print ads this week. The Republican National Committee ran its own TV ad as well. Until now, ads for [...]
Obama Pushes for Energy Bill as House Readies Vote Jun 26, 2009 — Bloomberg Press By Lorraine Woellert and Kim Chipman President Barack Obama prodded lawmakers to approve a “historic” bill to limit greenhouse-gas emissions as part of intensifying lobbying efforts for a vote in the U.S. House that could come today. Obama yesterday promoted the bill in a brief public statement outside the Oval Office and, in a private [...]
THE INFLUENCE GAME: Health bills prompt grumbles Jun 24, 2009 — The Associated Press By ALAN FRAM For President Barack Obama, the MRIs and other medical scans for Medicare patients that cost the government billions are prime targets for cuts to help finance health care overhaul. The response from physicians and industry: a lobbying counterattack accusing Obama of denying patients the lifesaving tools they need. Patients, rural doctors and advocacy [...]
Chamber vs. EPA on Carbon Ruling Jun 24, 2009 — Politico By Lisa Lerer The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is seeking an additional review of an Environmental Protection Agency finding that would regulate greenhouse gas emissions across a wide swath of industries. A draft version of the April ruling declared carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases to be a danger to public health and [...]
Regulate Insurers, and Reform the Delivery System Jun 24, 2009 — The New York Times We need to redesign the payment system so that doctors and hospitals make more money when they keep people healthy and are most efficient and effective, not when they order lots of duplicative tests and bring someone in for readmissions and follow-up operations
Who Will Manage Health Reform Once It Is Passed? Jun 23, 2009 — National Journal Editor’s Note: This week, former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle is providing the question and joining in the discussion. It is increasingly likely that Congress will pass meaningful, comprehensive health reform this year. But that is the beginning, not the end, of changing the way our health system functions. Over the next 10 years, our [...]
Banks lobby to change accounting rule that could cost billions Jun 23, 2009 — The Hill By Silla Brush Nine major financial and real estate lobbying associations are joining forces to push for a greater say in a series of accounting rule changes, one of which could soon force banks to raise tens of billions of dollars in capital. A recently adopted accounting rule effective at the beginning of 2010 requires [...]
Feinstein stuck in middle of union ‘card-check’ fight Jun 22, 2009 — San Diego Union-Tribune By John Marelius Organized labor’s highest legislative priority in Congress is the Employee Free Choice Act, commonly known as “card check,” under which a union would be certified if 50 percent of the workers sign cards. Currently, a majority vote in a secret-ballot election is required in most cases. Arguments in favor: If the majority in [...]
Chamber Ramping Up Free Enterprise Campaign Jun 22, 2009 — National Journal Peter H. Stone The Campaign for Free Enterprise, the advocacy blitz that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently launched, is searching for a manager, has started fundraising, and is using focus groups to help shape its message, according to a chamber official involved in its development. The fundraising for the campaign, which reportedly could cost [...]
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Campaigns Against Obama Health Plan Jun 22, 2009 — Bloomberg By Heidi Przybyla The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobbying group, began a campaign against President Barack Obama’s health-care plan, calling on its membership to “push back” against Democratic bills being written on Capitol Hill. Bruce Josten, the chamber’s executive vice president, criticized several elements of the plan, including one calling for [...]
Chamber study blasts proposals to increase oil and gas taxes, fees Jun 19, 2009 — PennEnergy Imposing $80 billion of new taxes and fees on the oil and gas industry would increase US dependence on foreign oil, raise costs to consumers, jeopardize US jobs, and erode the US economy, a new US Chamber of Commerce report said. The report, “Taxing Our Way to Energy Insecurity Again,” was released June 18 by [...]
Geithner faces Fed skepticism Jun 19, 2009 — Politico By Eamon Javers One day after the Obama Administration unveiled its sweeping new financial regulatory proposal, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner headed up to Capitol Hill on Thursday to sell the plan to lawmakers who will craft the legislation that drives it. He appeared at a moment of transition – behind the scenes for months, the [...]
On Health Care, Obama Tries to Seize the Moment Jun 19, 2009 — The New York Times By KEVIN SACK In their heart of hearts, few in the Obama administration would have predicted late last year that they would be this well positioned by June to achieve a major victory on health care. As the economy faltered, and attention focused on Wall Street and Detroit, it seemed unthinkable that Congress would be [...]
Obama’s Financial Regulation Reform: 7 Things You Need to Know Jun 18, 2009 — U.S. News and World Report By Luke Mullins Ever since the credit markets began seizing up in the late summer of 2007, the federal government has worked franticly to prevent a full-scale financial meltdown. The Fed has slashed its benchmark interest rate to as low as zero percent and has welcomed dodgy assets onto its balance sheet. The Treasury Department, [...]
Lawmakers clash over cost of health care overhaul Jun 18, 2009 — The Associated Press By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR WASHINGTON (AP) — Hoping to make history, the Senate set off on its major overhaul of the nation’s health care system Wednesday, but its first steps were quickly overtaken by fresh cost concerns and partisan anger. An ambitious timetable that called for completing committee action in early summer seemed in danger of [...]
Obama Says U.S. Jobless Rate to Reach 10% This Year Jun 17, 2009 — Bloomberg Press By Matthew Benjamin President Barack Obama said the U.S. unemployment rate will reach 10 percent this year, even as the economy begins to emerge from the recession. “You’re starting to see the engines of the economy turn,” Obama said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the White House. “It’s going to take a [...]
Congressional scepticism emerges over reform plans Jun 17, 2009 — Financial Times By Tom Braithwaite Hank Paulson, as Treasury secretary, wanted to streamline regulation. His blueprint for reform, published in March last year sounds rather similar to the overhaul due to be proposed by his successor. When the Obama administration provides its own blueprint today, there will be subtle differences in the architecture, according to people familiar with [...]
Chamber rips Senate healthcare bill Jun 17, 2009 — The Hill The U.S. Chamber of Commerce formally warned lawmakers Tuesday that it intends to oppose an early version of healthcare reform legislation unless wholesale changes are made. A rejection by the powerful and influential big-business group may not come as a surprise, but opposition by the Chamber would signal an intensification of the political and lobbying battle over healthcare reform.
CBO: Senate bill $1 trillion over 10 years Jun 16, 2009 — The Associated Press By DAVID ESPO WASHINGTON – A leading health care bill under consideration in Congress would cost the government an estimated $1 trillion over the next decade and reduce the ranks of the uninsured by about one-third, or 16 million individuals, congressional budget officials said Monday in a preliminary estimate. In a letter to Sen. Edward M. [...]
Obama, AMA at odds over health reform Jun 16, 2009 — The Washington Post By Jennifer Haberkorn President Obama is scheduled to meet Monday with the country’s largest physicians organization, one of the most prominent in a growing group of opponents to his health care reform plans. The American Medical Association (AMA) said last week that it opposes a proposal gaining momentum among congressional Democrats and Mr. Obama [...]
Obama and the Politics of Short Memories Jun 15, 2009 — The Washington Post By E.J. Dionne Jr. Business has been on the ropes since last fall’s financial collapse, but the first glimmerings of recovery are calling forth a capitalist counteroffensive. It’s one thing for President Obama to face off against Fox News, the right-wing radio empire and Republican congressional leaders whose names are unfamiliar to much of the [...]
The Early Word: Car Dealers Press Congress Jun 15, 2009 — The New York Times By Susan Jo Keller AND Ashley Southall The heads of General Motors and Chrysler will find themselves on the hot seat again this Friday morning as they testify about the closing of dealerships and their companies’ restructuring. The hearing, before the oversight committee of the House Energy Committee, convenes at 10 a.m. In The Times, Carl [...]
Spike in Interest Rates Could Choke Recovery Jun 12, 2009 — Washington Post By Neil Irwin Rising long-term interest rates are making it more expensive for home buyers, corporations and the U.S. government to borrow money, threatening to further stifle an already weak economy. In just the past two weeks, the rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage has risen to 5.6 percent from 4.9 percent, ending a boom [...]
Biden adviser takes shot at Chamber’s ‘free enterprise’ defense Jun 12, 2009 — The Hill By Michael O’Brien Vice President Biden’s chief economic adviser chastised the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s new “Campaign for Free Enterprise,” saying that had the group had its way on issues, the economy would have suffered more intensely. White House economist Jared Bernstein took aim at what he said was the Chamber’s “ideology” during an appearance Thursday [...]
Chamber concerned on health bill Jun 12, 2009 — Politico By Carrie Budoff Brown The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a powerful lobby with deep pockets, will tell a key Senate committee Thursday that its health care reform bill is “focused largely on ideological efforts that will not solve the real problems Americans are facing in health care.” “The Chamber is gravely concerned by the process [...]
Industry Groups Push Back on Kennedy’s Health Bill Jun 11, 2009 — The Wall Street Journal By JANET ADAMY WASHINGTON — Employers and health-insurance companies are pushing back against parts of a health bill proposed by Sen. Edward Kennedy, in a sign of the challenges that loom for Democratic-led legislation. Lobbyists spent Wednesday combing through the “Affordable Health Choices Act” that the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions released a [...]
GOP plan heavy on nuke power, drilling Jun 11, 2009 — Los Angeles Times By Lisa Lerer Republicans released a long-awaited energy plan on Wednesday that’s heavily focused on nuclear energy, offshore and Arctic drilling and development of alternative fuels. Yet their alternative proposals were also designed as a critique of Democratic climate change proposals, which the GOP believes are too expensive and would essentially create a national “energy [...]
US Chamber Says: No More Mr. Nice Guy Jun 11, 2009 — Politico <img src="http://www.uschamber.com/NR/rdonlyres/emhd7uwl6i6qd2a5dbdpic3yyu7hw7lp6kdykwjrxe67ztyueiox4cr6d42begx2mqmutmoerpdphxmcfvit45bnpnb/staff_donohue.jpg" alt="" title="donohue" width="100" border="0" align="right" style="padding:0 0 8px 8px"/>With sweeping health care and energy and labor initiatives being taken up on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has apparently decided it has little to gain by engaging with congressional Democrats and the Obama Administration and has decided instead to launch a broad-brush counter-offensive that Chamber President Tom Donohue calls "one of the most important and necessary initiatives in our 100 year-history."
U.S. Senate Panel Approves More Offshore Drilling Jun 10, 2009 — Bloomberg By Tina Seely A U.S. Senate panel approved expansion of offshore oil and natural gas drilling, in a bid to open more of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to energy development. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 13- 10 today in favor of an amendment to expand drilling, including off the coast of [...]
Kennedy releases health reform draft Jun 10, 2009 — Politico By Carrie Budoff Brown Sen. Ted Kennedy’s committee released a 615-page health care reform bill Tuesday, but left out the details for now on the most contentious issues, such as the public insurance option and the employer mandate. The Democratic bill from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee includes some of the most [...]
Chamber defends free market system Jun 10, 2009 — Politico As the Obama administration encroaches deeper into the private sector and Congress contemplates more regulations, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching a multimillion-dollar campaign to defend the free market system.

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