Democrats on Fast Track to Govern

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President Barack Obama and a strengthened Democratic Congress have their eyes on a blockbuster first 100 days in office, hoping they will begin to break the gridlock that has thwarted liberal agenda items for decades.

Democratic lawmakers and the Obama team, while trying to set realistic expectations, know they need to produce quickly as they confront two wars, an exploding national debt and a continuing economic crisis that has already thrown millions out of work and out of their homes.

“The first thing is we’ve got to pull this economy out of the ditch here and promote recovery because everything else depends on economic recovery. It’s very hard to do a lot of other things unless we provide some recovery for the economy,” Senate Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan (N.D.) said.

But Dorgan said Congress would also tackle other issues with an eye toward moving the economy forward.

“I think at the same time you have to begin thinking about how you reform health care, how do you make us less dependent on Saudi and foreign oil,” he said.

Senate Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) echoed that sentiment, saying the first 100 days of the new Congress would include “lots of things. You’ll see, getting the economy going, work on health care, work on energy, work on education, Iraq — a lot.”

The first major pieces of legislation Obama will likely sign are high up on the Democratic wish list and have little to do with the crises facing the nation.

At the end of last week, both chambers appeared close to putting the finishing touches on an equal-pay bill and an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Both measures are holdovers from President George W. Bush’s days in office, and Democrats have been champing at the bit to get them enacted. Last year, Republicans filibustered the equal-pay measure, whereas Bush vetoed the SCHIP bill in 2007.

On SCHIP, Democrats are trying to expand the program from 6 million to more than 10 million children, and they have made no secret of the fact that they consider the effort a precursor to passing comprehensive health care reform later this year. No issue defined the differences more starkly between Bush and Democrats over the last two years than the SCHIP fight, and Democrats appear headed for an easy victory after racking up a more than two-thirds majority vote in the House.

The even bigger kahuna right out of the gate is an $825 billion economic stimulus package that would be one of the most ambitious and expensive bills in the nation’s history, eclipsing last year’s $700 billion Wall Street bailout.

Obama and Democrats have repeatedly said Republican input is not just welcome but key to the success of the economic package. However, GOP House leaders were miffed that House Democrats crafted their version of the plan with only minimal GOP consultation.

On the other hand, Senate Republicans, who are more consequential because they still have the power to filibuster, have praised Obama’s willingness to include a nearly $300 billion tax-relief component to the bill. Even if Senate Republicans don’t attempt to block the measure from moving forward, Obama has put a premium on attracting broad bipartisan support for the bill. To achieve that goal, he will need to persuade 15 to 20 GOP Senators to sign on.

House Democrats are largely counting on public pressure to persuade endangered Republicans to support their package.