Washington is keeping pretty busy in the run up to Christmas. Health care, of course, still dominates the headlines coming out of the Senate, where Democrats appear to be a tad bit upbeat after reaching a tentative agreement on an alternative to the public option. Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., told CBN News that Americans won't be fooled.
"My first thought is they think people are stupid," DeMint said. "They really do think they can put a different costume on the same idea and that Americans won't notice it."
Whatever the case, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., still needs 60 votes to push his legislation across the finish line. Whether the so-called national health plan will gain enough traction among liberals and moderates remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the same group that pressured the U.S. House of Representatives to adopt language that blocks federal dollars from being used to pay for abortions is now blasting the Senate for failing to follow suit. Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called the defeat of the Nelson amendment "a serious blow to genuine health care reform". He went on to call the failed vote deplorable and vowed to oppose the Senate bill "because it abandons both principle and precedent."
In the House, lawmakers just passed the Tax Extenders Act. It's touted as a tax-cutting, job-creating measure to help millions of middle class Americans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it's "another step forward in our drive to create more jobs, strengthen our economy, and lay the foundation for long-term prosperity."
The virtual party-line vote, 241-181, comes one day after President Obama outlined a jobs plan that would take advantage of leftover TARP money. Pres. Obama summoned a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers to the White House to discuss his proposals further. Republicans marched out of the meeting, saying the Administration is out of sync when it comes to Americans' number one concern: jobs. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said they continually raised that point to the president.
Here's how Pres. Obama responded, according to Mr. Boehner: "It's not my agenda, it's you Republicans who are there scaring the American people."
Perhaps the policies being pushed by Democrats may stir unrest. And, perhaps Republicans may be guilty of unnerving an already anxious public. But if unemployment remains at record highs, Washington politicians are the ones who need to be scared ... especially the ones facing an angry electorate in 2010.