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The Wheels On The Omnibus Go Round And Round

Torey Van Oot |
March 11, 2009 | 8:55 a.m. PDT

Columnist
Torey Van Oot

From lifting limitations on embryonic stem cell research to throwing political punches over pork barrelling -- it's been a busy beginning of the week in the Beltway. Here's brief recap of what you might have missed as President Obama passes the 50 day mark in his first term.

Obama talked yesterday about his plan to push merit-based pay for teachers, a proposal that has received demerits from some. But despite opposition for the policy, which would reduce the extent to which public school teachers could receive tenure-like status by focusing on paying teachers based on performance rather than seniority, teachers are super psyched to be getting some press from the new prez.  
Education and science were two areas Obama pledged to push forward in his Inaugural address. His moves on the latter caused quite a stir this week when he reversed President Bush's executive order banning the allocation of federal dollars to embryonic stem cell research Monday. But Obama didn't put new guidelines for funding in place or specify what sort of cell lines can and can't be used -- he instead passed that responsibility to the National Institute of Health, which must create guidelines for embryonic stem cell research within 120 days.  
The plan received a resounding thumbs down from Republican leadership and right-to-life coalitions, their top complaint being that Obama is forcing taxpayers to fund the killing of innocent embryos. But this isn't necessarily the hot-button issue that will unify the frayed Republican caucus -- some top Party members, including Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) back the plan, as well as former First Lady Nancy Reagan.
Past polling suggests the move will be fairly popular with the public, despite the vocal opposition to the practice coming from the right. Sixty-five percent of respondents to a 2007 CBS News poll said they generally support embryonic stem cell research. A Gallup poll conducted last month found support for the move a bit more muted, but still there. Just more than 50 percent of people polled think the current funding levels should stay the same or increase. 
Many in the scientific community are celebrating the change, but the reaction isn't all concocting new libations for "dress like your favorite element on the periodic table" parties, or whatever scientists do for fun. Worries about funding in the wake of the shift in policy have already erupted. As the New York Times reports, many states stepped in to fill the funding gap after President Bush put a halt to federally funded research in 2001. Now that a flood of federal cash is available in technical terms -- in the current economy, no one has high hopes -- scientists are worried states will pull the plug on their promised contributions.

Speaking of spending, Obama slapped his John Hancock on a $410 billion check today. The omnibus spending bill passed 62-35 in the Senate last night.  

Omnibus is just a fancy word for "everything" or "all" -- on the Hill the term just means that Congress bundles a whole load of votes on bills and amendments into one massive piece of legislation to pass en masse. You'll hear the perennial pledges from lawmakers that they will read each piece of legislation to weed out excessive spending before its enactment, but most know that trying to pass each element of the spending package individually would be near impossible (without cutting into the Senate's routine four-day weekends, at least...).
The current bill includes about 8,000 earmarks that come to a grand total of $7.7 billion, a stat sure to send Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) into a TWITTERING FRENZY! Earmarks, provisions to set aside cash for a specific project, typically in a lawmaker's home district or state, are always a popular political target for elected officials, especially fiscal conservatives who decry the provisions as excessive and unfettered spending. Obama denounced earmarks on the campaign trail, but signed it anyway, saying it's time to push forward with a new kind of politics (by continuing the old? Ok...). Republicans are pushing for earmark reform, an idea the public generally supports. But lawmakers also have a distinct challenge in clamping down on earmarks: though the public says they want the guv'ment to spend less, they're sure to cry foul when the stream of cash for projects, ranging from research grants to hospital renovations, runs dry.

Party labels are so 2008. After his post-partisan strategy was promptly shot down by Congressional Republicans, Obama has reportedly most recently called himself as a "New Democrat." And, no, he doesn't just mean anyone younger than Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the oldest member of the Party establishment. He fittingly announced his new affiliation to members of the New Democrats, a group of House centrists who support free trade and strong foreign policy, but are less conservative than the Blue Dog Democrats. As if the House needed more alliances, caucuses and coalitions -- the cliques in the Members' Dining Room are worse than the high school caf. Obama has so far been mum about defining his governing philosophy. Just last week, he demurred from answering a New York Times reporter who pressed him repeatedly on whether he is a socialist. Not only did Obama dodge the question, but he called back the reporters later to ask why they would even ask that? Now where's Joe the Plumber when we need him....

Still hungry for some good ole' partisan spats? Check out this classic showdown between talking heads Ann Coulter and Bill Maher, moderated by Time's Mark Halperin earlier this week.



 

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