Who was the big winner in the lame duck session, Barack Obama or Olympia Snowe?

A few of us have been saying lately that recently passed legislation during the lame duck session was more about those affected by it than whether or not it was a "win" for President Obama. For example, the repeal of DADT finally allows gays and lesbians to openly die for their country.

Matt Yglesias explains how the media might have done better to anoint Olympia Snowe as the comeback senator rather than anointing Barack Obama the comeback kid:

The problem here, is that once we waited for the lame duck and wound up accomplishing all the legislative stuff that did in fact have substantial Republican support, all the press suddenly turned into how Obama was a “comeback kid” who was “winning” during the lame duck. Every fear that Bob Corker might have had six months ago about voting on Obama’s side of any bill was essentially vindicated. You could just as easily describe the lame duck session as a huge win for Olympia Snowe. After all, unlike Obama she got her way on START and DADT but also got her way on DREAM and one way to describe the tax cut compromise is really that she got Obama to shift to her position on taxes and got Mitch McConnell to give her cover on her right flank on unemployment insurance and ARRA extensions. But nobody is talking about how Olympia Snowe is the “comeback Senator” who, after 12 months of ineffectual moderation, succeeded in making the world turn on her pivotal status.

And yet congress just isn’t set up to function as a parliamentary body. If the passage of legislation per se is deemed a victory for the president, then it’s necessarily going to become an agonizing process to pass or repeal any kind of laws.

The Obama Administration’s Failure to Prevent the AIG Political Train Wreck

Obama on the public outrage at AIG’s bonuses from bailout money to its incompetent execs: “Oops, there go my people. I must hurry and catch up with them for I am their leader.”

Our leader has a lot of catching up to do. In today’s Huffington Post, Sam Stein, with additional reporting by Arthur Delaney, describes how the White House and congress refused to back legislation that would have prevented AIG’s arrogant misuse of taxpayer funds.

Senator Ron Wyden said on Tuesday that the furor surrounding AIG's bonus payments could have been avoided had the Obama White House and members of Congress simply backed legislation that he and Sen. Olympia Snowe introduced more than a month ago.

In an interview with the Huffington Post, the Oregon Democrat noted that during the crafting of the stimulus package, he and his Republican colleague from Maine introduced a provision that would have forced bailout recipients to cap their bonuses at $100,000. Any amount paid above that would have been taxed at 35 percent. The language made it through the Senate, but during conference committee with the House, it was inexplicably removed.

"The reality is, had that legislation been passed it would have been a very strong disincentive to anybody paying out bonuses in the future," said Wyden. "Earlier, the President had denounced those bonuses that came at the end of the year. And when Senator Snowe and I said it is not enough for those in elected office to say it was wrong, that they have got to have a plan to have them pay it back, we were able to get legislation through the United States Senate. Not a single United States Senator was willing in broad daylight to stand up and oppose our bipartisan amendment... but it died in conference."

Looking back, Wyden laments the missed opportunity, saying that it remains unclear who got the language stripped -- "it didn't die by osmosis." (Feel free to send along tips on who killed the provision.)

Moreover, Wyden says frankly, the Obama administration should have been better prepared to handle what was an inevitable political train wreck.

"I will say that I talked to most of the key members of the Obama team and I was not able to convince them of the value of the amendment that I authored with Senator Snowe," he recalled. "I think it is unfortunate. I think it was an opportunity to send a careful, well-targeted message, which would have communicated how strongly the administration felt about blocking these excessive bonuses. I wasn't able to convince them."

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It’ 8 p.m. and Time to Play “Who Wants to be Secretary of Commerce?”

Gail Collins has fun in today’s column portraying the Obama team’s recent travails in filling the secretary of commerce slot in the new administration.

Collins explains how the latest game show originated:

(emphasis mine)

The idea of filling the cabinet via TV games came to President Obama when Senator Judd Gregg changed his mind about becoming secretary of commerce. Gregg lost interest after discovering, late in the day, that he was a Republican and Obama was a Democrat. Instantly, dozens of other senators who were bored working in a place where everything important is decided by the three moderate Republicans, volunteered for the job.

Go here for more on Who Wants to be Secretary of Commerce?

Agreement Reached on Stimulus Bill; Final Vote Possible This Weekend

Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine.


Over the years, I’ve watched centrist Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine again and again provide the calm and rational voices needed to move stalled legislation. The two women played significant roles in negotiations that helped the senate reach an agreement this evening on a stripped down stimulus bill of about $780 billion.

Hulse and Herszenhorn at the NY Times report:

Democrats succeeded, after a long day of private negotiations and intense public debate, in winning the support of enough Republicans to move the package toward a final Senate vote, where Democrats are confident of passage, given the support announced by several Republicans. Exact outlines of the accord, which is somewhat smaller than the amount originally sought by President Obama, were not immediately available, but the senators agreed to cut some spending and strip out some business tax cuts to gain enough Republican support.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, hailed the agreement. “This is a very critical juncture for our great country,” he said on the Senate floor.

The timing of the Senate vote was not clear, but Mr. Reid signaled that action could take place over the weekend. Once it the package is approved, differences between the Senate legislation and a considerably different version passed recently by the House will have to be reconciled. President Obama has said he hopes all that can be accomplished in time for him to sign the measure within 10 days.

Three centrist Republicans, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine, were among the senators wooed by Democrats, whose efforts were bolstered by Rahm Emanuel, the president’s chief of staff, who is a former Congressman from Illinois.

Senator Reid and Mr. Emanuel reportedly met with Ms. Collins and Mr. Specter Friday evening to smooth out any remaining wrinkles. Soon afterward, Mr. Reid conferred with his fellow Democrats to gain their approval.

Gaining enough Republican support was essential, since 60 votes are generally required under Senate rules to move a bill forward. “Is it perfect?” Senator Collins asked rhetorically on the Senate floor. “No.” But what was put together is a worthy compromise, she said.

Mr. Reid singled out two negotiators, Ms. Collins and Senator Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat from Nebraska, as “two people who got us where we are, with great work by others.”

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