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From NBC's Jay Barbree
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- President Barack Obama plans to meet with NASA chief Charles Bolden this morning to discuss the space agency's future -- a future most hope will get America out of Low Earth Orbit and on flexible spaceflights within our solar system.
If the two executives decide to stay NASA's current course, the agency will have rockets and spaceships capable of stopping a future asteroid threat to millions, flying to and beyond the moon and, partnered with Russia and China, place in low orbit solar flux reflectors for climate control.
The meeting is expected to be the first for Obama to chart NASA's course by the time his 2011 budget request is submitted to Congress in February.
From NBC's Savannah Guthrie and Domenico Montanaro
We noted this morning the news of Iran test-firing a missile.
The White House's has this hawkish response from National Security Council Spokesman Mike Hammer:
At a time when the international community has offered Iran opportunities to begin to build trust and confidence, Iran's missile tests only undermine Iran's claims of peaceful intentions. Such actions will increase the seriousness and resolve of the international community to hold Iran accountable for its continued defiance of its international obligations on its nuclear program.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Coming full circle: Now that the eventual Senate health-care bill won’t contain anything resembling a public option -- even the Medicare “buy-in” compromise -- it’s worth noting that we’ve now come full circle back to Max Baucus’ Senate Finance bill. You might remember that legislation, which passed committee in October, didn’t contain any kind of public option. But Senate Majority Harry Reid decided to insert a public option (with a state “opt out”) in his bill, and then later retreated to offer the Medicare buy-in compromise. At the time, many observers (and most notably the White House) were convinced that the eventual legislation would end up looking more like Baucus’ bill, simply due to the tough road to 60 votes. Was it a mistake for Reid to make a play for the public option? Given everything that has transpired, a senior Senate Democratic aide said the fight was worth having. “The caucus as a whole had to come to an understanding what was possible and what wasn’t possible,” the aide told First Read. “Would having a public option made it stronger? Yes. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a strong bill.” So this was about bringing along the liberal/progressive members...
*** Lieberman doing the dirty work? There is plenty of speculation about whether Joe Lieberman -- by opposing any kind of public option compromise -- was going at it alone or doing the dirty work for a few Senate Dem moderates. (After all, we’re no longer talking about Blanche Lincoln, as Politico’s Jonathan Martin and Ben Smith reminded us yesterday.) Whatever happened, Lieberman is now clearly on board. The biggest unknown right now is Ben Nelson (over abortion). Also, are we finally going to get that CBO score today? As for President Obama’s remarks on health care yesterday, his tone seemed to be one of exasperated optimism -- if there is such a thing -- after sitting down with the Dem caucus. Most of his statement, including the shout-out to Tom Harkin, seemed designed to begin an attempt to calm the liberal wing of the party, which may tell us about the tone of the private meeting.
*** How many times can you say 'no'? While all the attention is focused -- correctly -- on the tenuous Democratic coalition as the president and Senate Dems attempt to get health care passed, does the likelihood that the legislation WON’T include a public option OR a Medicare buy-in mean that some Senate Republicans are running out of reasons to oppose this bill? Isn't the legislation, as it potentially stands, something that Snowe and Collins should be able to support? What about Grassley? It may be that the politics of this and the bitterness that's descended inside the Senate prevent anyone from crossing party lines. But do Republicans risk looking totally like obstructionists if some of their bigger concerns about the bill are gone? Similarly, Republicans are criticizing the administration’s decision to relocate Gitmo detainees -- to the president’s backyard of Illinois (!!!). At some point, don’t Republicans have to agree (or at least try to cut a deal) on something besides Afghanistan?
*** Can you govern if you’re unwilling to play ball? Again, like what appears to be happening on health care, the White House took the sting out of the toughest part of the Gitmo decision (where to relocate the prisoners). Some will say we're being naïve -- that, of course, the GOP is making a political calculation. But will Republicans be able to sell the idea to the middle that they are ready to govern if they don't appear to want to play ball on an issue besides Afghanistan? Aren't they handing Obama the "obstructionist" message that benefited Bush and Clinton in their first terms?
*** Poll day! So how are Americans viewing the health-care fight? What are their thoughts about the military escalation in Afghanistan? And what are their impressions of Obama’s nearly first full year in office? Be sure to tune into NBC Nightly News, or click on to MSNBC.com, beginning at 6:30 pm ET for the results from our new NBC/WSJ poll. Of course, we’ll have some early numbers to report before then, so be sure to visit the site later this afternoon. By the way, a new Washington Post/ABC poll has some tough health-care numbers for the White House and congressional Democrats, as it finds “the public generally fearful that a revamped system would bring higher costs while worsening the quality of their care.” A top Senate GOP aide reminds us of this Post headline from October: “Public option gains support; CLEAR MAJORITY NOW BACKS PLAN; Americans still divided on overall packages.”
*** Lots of international news: International affairs share today’s political spotlight. First, per Reuters, Iran “successfully test-fired a long-range, improved Sejil 2 missile, state television reported on Wednesday, an announcement likely to add to tension with the West.”… The AP reports (and NBC’s Savannah Guthrie confirms) that Obama wrote “a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as part of an intense effort to draw the reclusive nation back to nuclear disarmament talks.” … Obama phoned Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to wish him a speedy recovery after suffering an attack that broke his nose and chipped his teeth… And tomorrow, Obama embarks to the climate change conference in Copenhagen.
*** Drum roll, please: Time magazine’s Man of the Year is … Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, as was announced on TODAY this morning. Bernanke beat out others including Obama, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. This is the type of pick that will look smart in 25 years; it fits the moment in history well. Also, you think this will help Bernanke at his committee confirmation vote tomorrow?
*** Obama vs. George W. Bush: Yesterday, liberal blogger John Aravosis raised a provocative question: Why was George W. Bush seemingly more successful getting some his legislative priorities passed (the two tax cuts, the Medicare prescription-drug law, No Child Left Behind) than Obama has been, and with smaller GOP majorities in the Senate? While recognizing that Obama has been in office for just 11 months, and that the Medicare prescription-drug fight had nearly the amount of drama this current battle has, perhaps here’s an answer to Aravosis: Democrats actually voted with the Republicans. After all, Ted Kennedy worked with Bush on No Child Left Behind, and numerous Dems backed the tax cuts. By nature, are some Democrats just more willing to want to cut a deal than their current GOP counterparts are?
*** Programming note: MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” which airs at the 1:00 pm ET hour, will interview RNC Chairman Michael Steele, as well as Barney Frank and Jay Rockefeller.
*** 2012 watch: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) heads to Concord, N.H., today to speak at a fundraiser for state Senate Republicans at 5:30 pm ET. RealClear Politics curtain-raises Pawlenty’s visit by wondering why so many more prospective 2012 candidates have traveled to Iowa but not to the Granite State. “Iowa, another early nominating state, has already seen a visit from Pawlenty, two from Mike Huckabee, and others even from dark horses like Rick Santorum, George Pataki and Mike Pence… The only other national political figure of note to visit New Hampshire this year was Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who attended a state party fundraiser in June.”
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"Senate Democratic leaders abandoned the last vestige of a government health plan yesterday but pledged to move ahead on a sweeping health care overhaul, infuriating many liberals but pleasing President Obama, who said victory on his highest domestic priority was within sight," The Boston Globe writes. "Lawmakers, after getting another pep talk from Obama at the White House, said they would rather pass a weaker measure than go home empty-handed and miss a rare opportunity for a historic expansion of health care."
The Washington Post: “Liberals fumed over the abandonment of a government-run insurance option, but they did not defect, and as a final vote neared, strenuous efforts to win the support of even a single Republican seemed increasingly unlikely to succeed.”
Roll Call adds, "One day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) dropped proposals to expand Medicare and implement a public insurance option from the health care package, most liberal Democrats supportive of those measures said they would still vote for the bill. Democrats stressed that the legislation included long-sought-after insurance reforms and said passing something this year would facilitate additions and improvements to the package in the future."
CONTINUED >>
"Congressional Republicans expressed outrage Tuesday over President Barack Obama’s plan to transfer detainees from the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, prison facility to Thomson, Ill., and warned that Democrats in the House and Senate will pay a stiff price if they agree to the proposal… National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) said that the prisoner transfer plan, which is sure to play heavily into Illinois’ open-seat Senate election, would also hurt Democrats running in other parts of the country. Cornyn warned the proposal 'enhances a stereotype of Democrats being soft on national security,' which Democrats such as Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) will have to address during their campaigns."
(Yet the plan has the support of the governor of Illinois, its senators, most of the congressional delegation, and the Illinois town. On top of that, it's in the president's home state.)
The Wall Street Journal says that Obama “used the backdrop of a suburban Virginia Home Depot Tuesday to press his plans for job creation, the third event in four days in which the president has tried to show his concern for economic woes on Main Street. But political realities are clouding Mr. Obama's efforts. On Tuesday, House Democratic leaders unveiled a $75 billion job-creation package that doesn't include the two new ideas the president proposed last week: tax rebates for home energy-efficiency renovations -- dubbed ‘cash for caulkers’ -- and tax credits for small businesses that hire new employees.”
Also: “A presidential push to loosen lending to small business has been weakened by the big banks' repayment of federal bailout money to get out from under government control. And looming over all of Mr. Obama's efforts on the jobs front is an annual budget deficit running at a projected $1.4 trillion that White House aides promise to address in the fiscal 2011 budget release in February.”
"President Barack Obama has written a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as part of an intense effort to draw the reclusive nation back to nuclear disarmament talks, a senior State Department official said Tuesday," AP writes. "The letter was delivered to North Korean officials last week by Obama's special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, during a visit to Pyongyang aimed at restarting the stalled negotiations, the official said."
GOP WATCH: Granite State of Mind
RealClear takes a look at Tim Pawlenty's trip to New Hampshire tonight for a Republican Party fundraiser. It is "among the first by any would-be candidate this year, even if it is more than two years until the first-in-the-nation primary." So why have more candidates visited Iowa so far than the Granite State.
"Likely more of a factor is format of the contests themselves, as well as the profile of the electorate in each," RealClear writes. "Iowa's caucuses are more likely to be dominated by conservative activists with an emphasis on social issues. New Hampshire, where fiscal issues tend to be paramount, has an open primary includes a significant independent bloc. And since Democrats will likely have just a token primary in 2012, moderate and even liberal-leaning independents will have a significant voice in that primary."
The DCCC is running radio ads in six districts, hitting Republican members for voting against the financial regulations bill. The targets: Dan Lungren (CA-3), Mary Bono Mack (CA-45), Lee Terry (NE-02), Charlie Dent (PA-15), and Joe "You Lie" Wilson (SC-02).
The DNC, meanwhile, has released this Web video. http://bit.ly/4HgOBw
CONNECTICUT: In an interview with Princeton University’s newspaper, Ralph Nader (an alum of the Ivy League college) says he is considering a run for Chris Dodd’s Senate seat.
FLORIDA: Rep. Alan Grayson (D) says he'll vote against Afghan war funding.
ILLINOIS: "Rep. Bobby Rush claims that the 'white-dominated' media are ignoring an African-American candidate running for President Obama’s old Senate seat. In an interview with The Hill, Rush also said the black community in Illinois is worried that Sen. Roland Burris’s (D-Ill.) retirement will leave the chamber without an African-American member. 'When Roland retires, then there is the possibility again we will turn back to an all-white Senate. There’s something wrong with that.'"
Cheryle Jackson, who is backed by EMILY'S list, is African American and running in the primary for Obama's Senate seat against state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, the presumed front runner. A recent Chicago Tribune poll showed Giannoulias with a 31%-17% lead over Jackson. Jackson was, in part, a former Rod Blagojevich spokesperson. Rush leapt to the defense of Blagojevich in a wild press conference that saw the disgraced former governor quote Rudyard Kipling and have a handicapped constituent on stage.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Kelly Paice
As Congress scurries to get health care passed by the end of the year, conservative bloggers claim that Democratic Party leadership is losing its grip on the substance of the bill and are criticizing Democrats for not caring what gets passed as long as something gets passed.
Weekly Standard's Matthew Continetti writes, "After causing Senate Democrats reportedly to drop the public option and the Medicare buy-in, Sen. [Joe] Lieberman released a statement today saying he senses that 'we are now taking significant steps forward to obtain 60 votes on the Senate floor.'" Continetti sums it up: "Lieberman and Ben Nelson likely will dictate the terms of a new deal."
Erick Erickson opens a his blog on RedState with a cautionary note: "Don’t believe everything you hear. The Senate Democrats are not on the verge of a collapse. They are on the verge of compromising every single thing they want just so they can get a 'health care reform' bill passed." Erickson gives the inside scoop on what he's hearing about health care on the Hill: "The Democrats have given Joe Lieberman everything he wanted. Joe will now vote for the bill. Ben Nelson (D-NE) is being threatened with having every major military installation in Nebraska shut down. ... Lastly, the CBO scoring of the bill is going to look fine now that the Medicare affecting portions are going to be dropped." Erickson concludes that with this health care push, President Obama and Democrats "want to be seen as doing something and beating the Republicans -- with what, they don’t care."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Ali Weinberg
Liberal bloggers and left-leaning writers also have plenty of criticism for Democratic leadership on health care reform -- heaping most of it on Connecticut independent Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman, who yesterday announced he would not support an expansion of Medicare that would allow people ages 55 to 65 to buy in to the government coverage provider -- although he supported such legislation while campaigning as Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential election. Some criticism, however, is saved for President Obama.
AMERICAblog's Joe Sudbay writes of Lieberman's effect on health care reform: "[Liberal senators] learned a tough lesson this week: They don't matter to the White House. Lieberman does." Sudbay also comments on the Senate bill's inability to control costs without provisions like the House's public option. "Democratic leaders are going to have to explain how forcing a mandate on people to buy private health insurance, without controlling the insurance industry, makes sense. That concept might appeal to Joe Lieberman, but it doesn't sit well with everyone else."
Posting on Daily Kos, Steve Singiser--with perhaps a drop of irony--recommends Senate Democrats write Republican leaderes John Boehner and Mitch McConnell a "thank you card" for "crafting health care legislation that will, ultimately, please no one. The Democratic base is going to voice strong objections, because instead of taking bold steps in the face of a health care crisis, you allowed a guy that spent 2008 campaigning for a Republican presidential nominee to have unilateral veto power over the legislation (the optics of that aspect of this story could not possibly be worse). Good luck getting that base to the polls in 2010."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
AP reports: "Washington's city council has voted to legalize gay marriage in the U.S. capital. Mayor Adrian Fenty has promised to sign the bill, which was co-sponsored by 10 of the council's 13 members. The final vote Tuesday was 11-2.
The bill now goes to Congress, which has final say over the the capital city's laws. Opponents say they will try to get Congress or voters to overturn it."
Same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, and Vermont and will be in New Hampshire starting in 2010. Maine and California previously approved same-sex marriage, but those laws were repealed by referenda. Despite passing the New York state Assembly, it failed in the state Senate. A bill is also being considered in New Jersey.
