National Journal: “Lawmakers
in both parties could face a dangerous political dilemma after they
return to Washington: Either endorse a second round of damaging
sequester cuts or prepare for another government shutdown. The situation
is that stark, and it’s coming on fast.”
A Very Bad Year
First Read: “Now that we’re into the final month of the year, it’s worth recapping
how rough 2013 has been for President Obama. The struggles with the
federal website (more on that below) have dominated the last two months,
and have sent his approval ratings to new lows. But before that, it was
the damaging NSA/Snowden leaks. Before that, it was the
IRS-Benghazi-leak stories (which have definitely lost their punch since
the summer). And before that, it was the failure to get gun-control
through the U.S. Senate.”
Dan Balz:
“This is hardly what Obama could have envisioned as he looked toward
his second term in the weeks after his reelection. He took his 51
percent popular vote… as a mandate to press forward with a progressive
agenda (although some around him warned not to over-interpret the
voters’ message). With much to accomplish, he sounded a note of
impatience in his inaugural address as he sketched out his ambitions.”
How Backing Gun Control Helped in Virginia
Kevin O’Holleran, who managed Mark Herring’s (D) campaign for Virginia attorney general, writes in the Washington Post that gun control was the key to his narrow win.
“Political conventional wisdom has it that in a purple state, such as Virginia, support for gun-safety legislation is best played down. As manager of Mark Herring’s campaign for attorney general, I got a lot of advice. One of the things I heard most frequently was that we should soft-pedal his strong record and advocacy for sensible gun legislation. It would hurt us outside of Northern Virginia and wasn’t a voting issue within the Beltway, I was told. Like much conventional wisdom, this was wrong — and we not only ignored this advice but did the opposite.”
Effort to Repeal Obamacare is Nearly Dead
Brian Beutler notes that upon launch of the Obamacare health care exchanges, “but really after January 1, a vote to repeal the law would transform from an abstraction into an attempt to snatch health insurance away from as many as several million people.”
“That’s a bad vote to take… And if Healthcare.gov holds up today and through the end of the year, it’ll be dead.”
Democrats Say Obama Needs Stronger Team
Former administration officials and Democratic operatives tell The Hill that President Obama “is ill-served by his current White House staff and must reboot his second term team following the disastrous Obamacare rollout.”
“First-term insiders argue the White House’s weakness was defined by a lack of preparedness, messaging blunders and failure to keep the president informed. They say Obama’s team lacks depth after the departures of longtime advisers David Axelrod, David Plouffe, Robert Gibbs and Patrick Gaspard, and suggest new people must be brought on.”
A Better Obamacare for Lawmakers
“Trying to align lawmakers with the people they represent, Congress three years ago decided that when the new healthcare plan took effect, members would give up their platinum health benefits and enroll in the online marketplaces created for millions of other Americans,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“While many members of Congress are indeed signing up for health coverage through the District of Columbia exchange — which was designated as the provider for all members — their experiences have been significantly better than those of average consumers in several respects, including more generous benefits packages, VIP customer service from insurers and the same government-subsidized premiums they’ve always enjoyed.”
Record Year of Congressional Inaction
“The good news for Congress as it heads into the final workdays of the year is that, for the first time in five years, there are no edge-of-the-cliff December crises threatening to bring the country to its knees,” the Washington Post reports.
“The bad news is that whatever gets done in December will still be part of a year with record-low congressional accomplishment. From the confirmation of a new Federal Reserve chairman to the expiration of dairy pricing rules, House and Senate leaders head into the final month of 2013 with a checklist that is short but critical. But even a final burst of activity would do little to change the historic arc of this calendar year under the Capitol dome.”
Christie’s Backing of Cuomo Could Undermine Him
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) “bizarre behavior” in refusing to say he’ll support a possible challenger to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo next year could derail his chances to become president, state and national GOP insiders have told the New York Post.
Said one national GOP operative: “Christie already has a problem with many Republicans refusing to forgive him because of his embrace of Obama and his socially liberal policies. But this bizarre behavior in suggesting he won’t help a Republican defeat a Democratic governor, and a Cuomo no less, could finish off his chances of becoming his party’s nominee for president in 2016.”
Amazon Plans Delivery Drones
Wonk Wire: Are we ready for Amazon Prime Air?
You can actually already buy an aerial drone on Amazon, though it doesn’t yet deliver itself.
Smith Changes His Mind on Senate Run
Former Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) said he has changed his mind and will try to defeat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) for his old seat next year, WMUR reports.
Smith said that he “had made a decision not to run largely to get out of the way for other candidates, but as weeks came and went no major candidates got into the race, and he kept getting encouragement to run.”
Said Smith: “I have a decision to run again for the Senate. This is nothing personally against Jeanne Shaheen, who I like as a person, but I couldn’t disagree more with her politics.”
Life Inside the Bubble
Just published: Life Inside the Bubble: Why a Top-Ranked Secret Service Agent Walked Away from It All by Dan Bongino.
The Baltimore Sun reports Bongino is now running for Congress as a Republican.
Lawmakers Warn Americans Are No Safer Today
“Americans shouldn’t feel safer today than they did before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the leaders of the Senate and House intelligence committees said Sunday,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The country now faces a larger number of threats from splintered terrorist groups and more complex weapons than when the U.S. began combat operations in Afghanistan in 2001… At the same time, the nation’s spy programs-which can help foil terrorist plots-are under heavy scrutiny that could ultimately lessen their effectiveness.”
Bipartisan Group Makes Little Progress
Boston Globe: “No Labels — which now counts 87 representatives and senators spanning the ideological spectrum as members — is among several tentative, sputtering efforts inside and outside of Congress formed to break down the capital’s no-compromise mentality… In many quarters of Washington, the response has been: Good luck with that.”
“No Labels has been unable to advance, in any meaningful way, a single item from its relatively modest list of goals. Critics dismiss it as window dressing, with some congressional staffers comparing it to a high school civics project and going as far as drafting memos to their bosses urging them not to join.”
The Crash of 2016
Just published: The Crash of 2016: The Plot to Destroy America–and What We Can Do to Stop It by Thom Hartmann.
Quote of the Day
“It may take until 2017. It will work really well then.”
— White House adviser David Plouffe, quoted by ABC News, on the implementation problems facing Obamacare.
Scott Brown Drops ‘MA’ from Twitter Handle
Just before Thanksgiving, former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) dropped the “MA” from his Twitter handle and he is now @SenScottBrown, WMUR reports.
The move prompts more speculation Brown is preparing for a U.S. Senate run for New Hampshire.
The 10-Step Playbook for Republican Recovery
Just published: Hail Mary: The 10-Step Playbook for Republican Recovery by Ford O’Connell.
Rule #1: “Ronald Reagan is dead. Accept it.”
Clinton Rebuilds Bonds with Black Voters
New York Times: “Since Mrs. Clinton left the secretary of state post in February, she and her husband have sought to soothe and strengthen their relationship with African-Americans, the constituency that was most scarred during her first bid for the presidency. Five years after remarks by Mr. Clinton about Barack Obama deeply strained the Clintons’ bond with African-Americans, the former first family is setting out to ensure that there is no replay of such trouble in 2016.”
“This task has taken on new urgency given the Democratic Party’s push to the left, away from the centrist politics with which the Clintons are identified. Strong support from black voters could serve as a bulwark for Mrs. Clinton against a liberal primary challenge should she decide to run for president in 2016. It would be difficult for a progressive candidate, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, to rise if the former first lady takes back the black voters she lost to Mr. Obama and retains the blue-collar white voters who flocked to her.”
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