TOPICS
TOPICS
Moderate Democrats flexing muscles on fiscal matters
With Congress gearing up to consider President Obama's budget, moderate Senate Democrats are stepping up their efforts on the budget and other Democratic priorities in a push to form a unified block urging fiscal restraint.
Fifteen or more Democrats will announce Wednesday that they are aligning in a working group focused on fiscal responsibility, said Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., a key member of the group.
The senators this week held their second meeting, where Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., gave a presentation on the budget, members said.
Staffers are also meeting over the next week regarding holding down spending in the budget.
While the budget will be in the forefront in coming weeks, Democratic centrists have weighed in recently on several fronts. At least eight Senate Democrats have signed a letter opposing use of the budget reconciliation process to pass climate change legislation -- a step Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is mulling to deny Republicans a chance to filibuster the bill.
Moderate Democrats are also resisting entreaties from Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to back a housing bill that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgage terms through steps including reducing the principal. Bayh and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., are pushing to pick up backing from Republicans and Democrats who are uneasy with Durbin's approach for an alternative that would make the so-called cram-downs available to far fewer homeowners.
Bayh said his approach is more likely than Durbin's to win 60 votes because it will not "impose higher costs on the vast majority of Americans that won't have to resort to bankruptcy in the long run."
The increased moderate heft results from Senate Democrats' pick-up of many formerly Republican seats in 2006 and 2008. The wins brought in more Democrats who come from right-leaning states with electoral incentives to line up with longer-serving centrists like Bayh and Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Kay Hagan of North Carolina are among those likely to join or vote with the moderate group.
The group appears particularly focused on Obama's climate change plans in his budget outline, with Nelson organizing moderate efforts on that front, senators said.
The senators anticipate their position will be strengthened by new economic news. "I think you'll see in coming days there will be new estimates coming in that will reflect that the economy is not good that will make the budget challenge even more difficult," Bayh said.
"You have to set priorities and fund what you can and perhaps defer for a modest period of time those things that you can't afford." Bayh said, adding, "because there is a limit to things that we can borrow from the rest of the world without it causing grave economic consequences in the longer term."
With Republicans staking out positions generally opposed to the budget, moderates see an opportunity to hold sway in various areas.
"You will probably see the Republicans provide no votes for addressing the [financial crisis], and so it will be up to moderate Democrats to play a constructive role in trying to do that," Bayh said.
COMMENTS
- Chris, that might be a good start; and, to be quite honest, I can understand your sentiments as well as those of many others. But… in doing so you said the “BAD” word; compromise. Well… it’s the GOOD word AND the BAD word. Many folks think the problem is that there's just too much time within the Beltway, there is too much compromising of the even good electors’ principles. And yet, without compromise nothing would ever be accomplished. To be quite honest, I do not know what the answer is. It’s just that every time I heard term limits, I think of the movies “Wild in the Streets”, “Logan’s Run”, and many more that put out blanket prohibitions on anyone over 30 years of age. There are good folks everywhere; Lawd forgive me, but I THINK maybe even a few inside the Beltway. I also think term limits might create a rotating group of people; kind of like the Party Pachyderm did with the various department and committee chairs. They enacted a “term limit” on the various committees but just rotated the same group of people in and out; i.e. all those with seniority. What I really think should be done is to give the people their voice. I think that with a bill similar to the “Bayh-Celler Amendment” of 1969 eliminating the Electoral College, government as a whole will become more responsive to the citizenry. Or will it just become a popularity contest? Every question begets another… Good luck out there! Tip off Posted March 23, 2009 11:08 AM
- to quote " And for all those "Off wit der heads!" folk; please consider, if you throw ALL those buzzards out, we'd end up just spending the entire term teaching the new ones how to fly. " AND... this would be a bad thing? OK, we'll compromise anyone with less than 4 years seniority can stay... to teach the younger ones... Chris Posted March 20, 2009 1:13 PM
- Dear Cheryl: I agree with you that our Congress is really messed up. And, a lot of what you say is absolutely true. What I am seeing is a backlash to some very liberal attempts at fundamentally changing American culture, economics, and freedom. This attack on these values began long before George Bush and seem to be coming into focus with President Obama. America became great because of self sacrifice, strong work ethics, a Constitution that guarantees specific freedoms and rights and limitations on central power, and a capitalist economic system that rewards hard work. There have been and are examples of some who have abused the capitalist system to enrich themselves and have oppressed their own workers. That is where our government needs to step in and correct that type of behavior. The inherant weakness in any open and free society is that there will be some who abuse it. However, President Obama's stated policies are anethma to those principles that have made our government great. He wants to take the fruits of labor of those who are producing and give them to those who do not. Now, obviously, there are many who work hard who need help with a hand up, and I believe we should do that at the local level. The problem with a federal program is that it casts a broad net and there are too many undeserving included in the benefits. If government will stick to the constitution, including the Bill of Rights and be a force that facilitates equal opportunity, then this country can really soar. If the government starts to selectively tax some citizens and selectively reward others, If it tries to force equal reward regardless of individual effort, if it punishes entire industries because they do not fit the fad thought of the day, or if it begins to trespass on the Bill of Rights, then we will decline as a country and a people and prosperity will only be a faded memory to some and an unknown concept to the rest. charles thompson Posted March 19, 2009 11:32 AM
