Obama Agenda Moves Forward             05/18 14:13

   Despite Democratic fears, predictions of the demise of President Barack 
Obama's agenda appear exaggerated after a week of cascading controversies, 
political triage by the administration and party leaders in Congress and lack 
of evidence to date of wrongdoing close to the Oval Office.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Despite Democratic fears, predictions of the demise of 
President Barack Obama's agenda appear exaggerated after a week of cascading 
controversies, political triage by the administration and party leaders in 
Congress and lack of evidence to date of wrongdoing close to the Oval Office.

   "Absolutely not," Steven Miller, the recently resigned acting head of the 
Internal Revenue Service, responded Friday when asked if he had any contact 
with the White House about targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt 
status for special treatment.

   "The president's re-election campaign?" persisted Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.

   "No," said Miller.

   The hearing took place at the end of a week in which Republicans repeatedly 
assailed Obama and were attacked by Democrats in turn --- yet sweeping 
immigration legislation advanced methodically toward bipartisan approval in the 
Senate Judiciary Committee. The measure "has strong support of its own in the 
Senate," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a member of the panel.

   Across the Capitol, a bipartisan House group reported agreement in principle 
toward a compromise on the issue, which looms as Obama's best chance for a 
signature second-term domestic achievement. "I continue to believe that the 
House needs to deal with this," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who is 
not directly involved in the talks.

   The president's nominee to become energy secretary, Ernest Moniz, won Senate 
confirmation, 97-0. And there were signs that Republicans might allow 
confirmation of Sri Srinivasan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit, sometimes a stepping stone to the Supreme Court.

   Separately, a House committee approved legislation to prevent a spike in 
interest rates on student loans on July 1. It moves in the direction of a White 
House-backed proposal for future rate changes to be based on private markets.

   Even so, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the Energy and Commerce 
Committee, said, "It's been a bad week for the administration."

   Several Democratic lawmakers and aides agreed and expressed concern about 
the impact on Obama's agenda --- even though much of it has been stymied by 
Republicans for months already.

   At the same time, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., voiced optimism that the IRS 
controversy would boost the push for an overhaul of the tax code, rather than 
derail it. "It may make a case for a simpler tax code, where the IRS has less 
discretion," he said.

   Long-term budget issues, the main flash point of divided government since 
2011, have receded as projected deficits fall in the wake of an improving 
economy and recently enacted spending cuts and tax increases.

   Even before Obama began grappling with the IRS, the fallout from last year's 
deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, and from the 
Justice Department's secret seizure of Associated Press phone records, the two 
parties were at odds over steps to replace $85 billion in across-the-board 
spending cuts. In particular, Obama's call for higher taxes is a nonstarter 
with Republicans.

   Other high-profile legislation and presidential appointees face difficulties 
that predate the current controversies.

   Months ago, Obama scaled back requested gun safety legislation to center on 
expanded background checks for firearms purchasers. That was derailed in the 
Senate, has even less chance in the House and is unlikely to reach the 
president's desk.

   Republicans oppose other recommendations from the president's State of the 
Union address, including automatic increases in the minimum wage, a 
pre-kindergarten program funded by higher cigarette taxes and more federal 
money for highways and bridge repair.

   In a clash that long predates the IRS controversy, Senate Republicans seem 
intent on blocking Obama's nomination of Tom Perez as labor secretary. Gina 
McCarthy's nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency is also on 
hold, at least temporarily, and Democrats expect Republican opposition awaits 
Penny Pritzker, Obama's choice for commerce secretary.

   Rhetorically, the two parties fell into two camps when it came to the White 
House troubles. Democrats tended to describe them as controversies, Republicans 
often used less flattering terms.

   Speaking on the Senate floor, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., accused the 
administration of fostering a "culture of intimidation." He referred to the 
IRS, the handling of the Benghazi attack and Health and Human Services 
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' "fundraising among the industry people she 
regulates on behalf of the president's health care law."

   Two days later, Camp, a 23-year veteran lawmaker, opened the IRS hearing by 
calling the agency's actions part of a "culture of cover-ups and intimidation 
in this administration." He offered no other examples.

   Rep. Trey Radel, a first-term Florida Republican, said in an interview, 
"What we're looking at now is a breach of trust" from the White House.

   House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California offered a scathing 
response when asked if the controversies would hamper Obama's ability to win 
legislation from the Republican-controlled House. "Well, the last two years 
there was nothing that went through this Congress, and it was no AP, IRS or any 
other (thing) that we were dealing with."

   "They just want to do nothing. And their timetable is never," she said of 
GOP lawmakers.

   Similarly, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gave no ground on Benghazi, a 
dispute that increasingly centered on talking points written for administration 
officials to use on television after the attack last September in which U.S. 
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

   "It's obvious it's an attempt to embarrass President Obama and embarrass 
Hillary Clinton," he said of Republican criticism that first flared during last 
year's election campaign.

   On a third front, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., resurrected legislation that 
would requiring a judge to approve subpoenas for news media communications 
records when investigating news leaks said to threaten the national security. 
It was a response to the FBI's secret, successful pursuit of Associated Press 
phone records in a current probe.

   While Democrats counterattacked on Benghazi and parried on leaks, they 
bashed the IRS' treatment of conservative groups as improper if not illegal --- 
and warned Republicans not to overplay their hand.


(KA)