President Obama meets with house Democrats, links passage of budget with ability to move on health reform

President Obama on Monday met with House Democrats in closed-door sessions to discuss his fiscal year 2010 budget proposal, during which he linked the passage of his budget to the ability to act on major issues including health care reform, Politico reports.

According to Politico, Obama said that the "momentum" of the budget would help Democrats move on reform legislation (Rogers, Politico, 3/30).

Obama added that he is "serious as a heart attack" about addressing the nation's long-term deficit problems (Taylor, AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune, 3/31). He also said that the large deficits his budget proposal predicts can be attributed to inherited structural deficits and not new spending on major initiatives in his plan, including health care reform (Taylor, AP/Denver Post, 3/31).

According to Politico, "Obama appears to be making a calculated gamble that by blurring the lines with fellow Democrats, especially in the Senate, he can salvage what the White House seems to want most: a clear path to health care reform in this Congress" (Politico, 3/30).

Senate Gets to Work

The Senate on Monday began debate on its version of the budget resolution (SConRes13) (AP/Denver Post, 3/31). Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said the Senate's version of the resolution would reduce the budget deficit by two-thirds over five years and includes deficit-neutral reserve funds for health care reform and other initiatives touted by Obama.

Conrad added that health care reform is necessary to help address the problem of the long-term deficit. He said that health care "is the part of our spending that is absolutely out of control and the only way to get it back under control is fundamental health care reform, and that is provided for in this budget on a deficit-neutral basis" (Sanchez, CongressDaily, 3/30).

The Senate is expected to vote on its budget resolution later this week. The House also is expected to vote on its version of the budget resolution (HConRes85) later this week (AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune, 3/31).

Conrad on Reconciliation

Conrad said he remains opposed to using budget reconciliation to move health care reform legislation through Congress. The Senate resolution does not include budget reconciliation instructions. Conrad acknowledged that he cannot control what will come out of conference, adding that he would be open to reconciliation next fall, pending Republican action on health care reform (Politico, 3/30). Conrad said, "I believe there are a group of Republicans who fully intend to help write major health care reform legislation, and they've said so publicly and privately. And we, I think, ought to engage them" (CongressDaily, 3/30).

Politico reports that Conrad is "more hopeful" than some Obama administration officials that Republicans will participate in the debate over health care reform. However, Conrad said that a second budget resolution could be created in the event that Republicans do not engage in the process. He said, "One could go through this year, at least most of this year, on this budget resolution without reconciliation instructions and then, if it proved absolutely essential -- if there were no Republican cooperation on writing major health care reform -- you could run a second budget resolution," adding, "It would only take a day on the floor, and you could put reconciliation instructions there" (Politico, 3/30).

Editorial

The Republican alternative to Obama's budget proposal, while "bill[ed] as an alternative to President Obama's spending proposals, ... fails at the basic function of a budget: to spell out where money should go," a Boston Globe editorial states. The editorial continues, "Whatever its merits, Obama's budget makes clear how quickly he intends to move on health care and renewable energy, and how he would pay for it," while the "House Republicans, instead of proposing any numbers, offer a vaporous collection of Sunday gab-show talking points."

According to the Globe, "Republican leaders must have recognized the lameness of the document, because they're promising more details this week." The editorial continues, "It's up to them to show -- with hard numbers -- that they have a better way to deal with the nation's troubles within its current fiscal constraints" (Boston Globe, 3/31).

Opinion Piece

"Centrist Democrats ... were sent to Capitol Hill to help middle-class Americans by championing such issues as health care and clean energy," and they "need not abandon" Obama's desire to act on health care reform because of "Republican opposition," Democratic political consultant and Roll Call columnist Donna Brazile writes. Brazile continues, "Most, but not all, Democrats would like to see President Barack Obama's top policy priorities enacted sometime this year," including health care, which is evident in Democrats' budget resolutions.

She continues, "Republicans, and a very small handful of Democrats, disagree" and "argue that the president's budget priorities and the price tag attached to them will lead to an economic Armageddon." Brazile writes that the "fight is on, and it's going to get a lot more heated now that House Republicans have issued their budgetary blueprint -- albeit without a price tag." According to Brazile, "Democrats must do two things simultaneously" -- "work with Republicans, forcing them, if necessary, to come to the negotiating table" and "with or without Republicans, [Democrats] must continue to move forward on their sound plan to put the country on a more sustainable path to fiscal health" (Brazile, Roll Call, 3/31).