Poll: American optimism wanes

The euphoria of 2008 is over: America is in a funk.

Elected last November on a wave of optimism, President Barack Obama now finds himself governing an increasingly pessimistic country.

The latest Associated Press-GfK poll shows that Americans grew slightly more dispirited on a range of matters over the past month, continuing slippage that has occurred since Obama took office.

Now, Obama's approval rating stands at 54 percent, roughly the same as in October but very different from what it was in January just before he took office, 74 percent. And 56 percent of people say the country is heading in the wrong direction, an uptick from 51 percent last month and 49 percent in Obama's first month as president.

SOURCE: Denver Post

Dems brace for another recess

On Thursday and Friday, MoveOn members will hold events in more than 60 congressional districts to thank members who supported the bill. The group is also planning to run a print ad thanking progressive lawmakers who successfully pushed to include a public health insurance option.

“This weekend, representatives had a critical choice to make. They either stood up and took a historic vote to fix the health care crisis, or they stood with the vast majority of Republicans and the insurance industry to vote for the status quo,” said MoveOn Executive Director Justin Ruben. “MoveOn members will make sure that representatives who did the right thing know they can count on the support of their base and those who stuck with the insurance companies face real political consequences.”

The labor-backed Americans United for Change is part of a coalition of progressive groups — including SEIU, HCAN and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — that has targeted 81 House members and 22 senators with constituent calls. This week, the group will thank lawmakers who voted yes and continue to pressure their Senate colleagues to support reform, said spokesman Jeremy Funk.

SOURCE: Politico

GOP tries to recapture town hall anger

Republicans are looking to resurrect the angry town halls of August in the last few weeks of November.

Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander said Republicans are “quietly” planning some 50 in-person and telephone town hall gatherings over the next three weeks to drum up opposition to Democratic health care bills. Republicans believe this effort will pick up new urgency once Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) releases his long-awaited bill — possibly next week.

There may be more town hall events in December, but they would become harder to schedule if the Senate stays in session six days a week to try to finish the bill by year’s end.

“If every American has a chance to read the bill, understand what it costs and how it affects them, it wouldn’t have a chance in the world of passing,” Alexander said Tuesday. “We’re taking the bill to our constituents.”

SOURCE: Politico

Senate Health Update

Senate Democrats still don't have any Congressional Budget Office estimates for their bill, which hasn't even been finished as yet, making talk of starting the debate on health care legislation next week seem a bit premature.

That wasn't lost on Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), who has made clear he does not want to be rushed on full Senate consideration of a health bill.

"Until I see the bill and know what the bill is, I can't make any decision on cloture on the Motion to Proceed," Nelson told me on Tuesday.

In other words, Nelson won't guarantee that he will vote to allow the health bill - whatever it is - to come up for debate.

SOURCE: Jamie Dupree

Reid puts House healthcare bill on Senate calendar

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) late Tuesday laid the groundwork for the Senate's healthcare reform debate to start next Tuesday.

Reid filed a motion to introduce the bill on Monday, Nov. 16. Anticipating a Republican objection, the bill would be pushed onto the Senate calendar.

"A motion to proceed to the bill would be in order the next legislative day," said Reid spokesman Jim Manley.

In doing so, Reid heeded the advice of former President Bill Clinton, who visited Senate Democrats Tuesday at their weekly caucus lunch and urged them to move quickly to pass health reform. Clinton imparted lessons from his own attempt during his presidency, in 1993, and said Democrats should be prepared to compromise but should act with speed.

Currently, the Senate's healthcare bill is awaiting a cost analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, which senior Democratic aides expect by the end of this week.

SOURCE: The Hill