Congressional Democrats’ new agenda targets GOP
Scaled-back bills aim for populist appeal
WASHINGTON - With their signature priority - health care legislation - stalled and voter anger and mistrust of Washington accelerating, House Democrats are moving to Plan B: Introducing a slew of smaller initiatives meant to put Republicans on the spot as incumbents enter a volatile campaign season.
Democrats, who return with their Republican counterparts from a weeklong recess tomorrow, expect to take up a limited bill to remove the antitrust exemption health insurers have enjoyed for many years, a move Democrats say will stop collusion during the setting of premiums.
Consideration of other tightly focused health care bills, such as allowing parents to keep their children on their insurance until they are 26 and banning sex discrimination in setting insurance rates, would follow.
Leaders of the majority party are hoping these steps will help them seize the populist fervor that has been boosting Republican candidates. Democrats insist they haven’t given up on passing sweeping legislation on such issues as health care, climate change, and financial regulation. But they want to rebrand the party as the advocate of those hit hard by the recession. The strategy is also intended to force Republicans into stark choices pitting the frustrated voter against moneyed special interests.
Republicans have “always had the angry white men. Now it’s angry adults,’’ said Representative Michael Capuano, a Somerville Democrat. “We’ve always been slow on that one - always.’’
Putting up smaller, popular ideas for votes could rack up Democratic legislative victories after a year of setbacks and help thwart a GOP that has rapidly been gaining steam among independents, Capuano said.
Issues of economic fairness could also be addressed. Representative John Tierney, Democrat of Salem, is working with colleagues on legislation to cap interest rates on credit cards. Representative Paul Hodes , Democrat of New Hampshire, is pushing legislation to impose a 50 percent tax on Wall Street bonuses exceeding $400,000 if those firms also received federal bailout money. The receipts from the tax would be used to pay down the federal debt, a goal of many populist activists.
“If the Republicans vote for it, it’s a bipartisan bill. And if they don’t, it’s grist for the mill,’’ said Brendan Daly, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California.
Republicans have made substantial strides by tapping voter anger over increases in the jobless rate, government spending, and the federal deficit. The conservative Tea Party movement, which helped elect Massachusetts GOP Senator Scott Brown, are fueling support for other Republican candidates. Democrats, who have long seen themselves as the voice of the working people, are anxiously trying to get back their support.
Democrats blame themselves - not for policy missteps, but for what they call a poor job at getting their message across. The health care package they thought would be so popular has instead been picked apart by conservatives and questioned by many voters, who see it as confusing, unwieldy, costly, and potentially ineffective.
“It’s so frustrating,’’ said House Rules Committee chairwoman Louise Slaughter, Democrat of New York. “What the world saw in health care was Democrats squabbling over two bills,’’ and not the nearly unified GOP opposition, she said.
“We lost the message war,’’ said Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri.
Members of the GOP disagree.
“Out-of-touch Washington Democrats just don’t get it. The problem isn’t their message, it’s their job-killing agenda that the American people oppose,’’ said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio. “They need to drop their government takeover of health care, ‘cap and trade’ national energy tax, out-of-control spending spree, tax hikes, and endless borrowing.’’
Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, called the Democrats’ decision to narrow their focus “the best of a series of bad strategies for them.’’ But it will be difficult for Democrats to seize the populist vote, he said.
“It’s easier for the party out of power to capture the populist anger, to say ‘We’re coming to clean up Washington, we’re the reformers,’ ’’ Smith said. “The problem right now is that Democrats are going to get blamed for what’s happened in this country whether they like it or not.’’
