SAM SEDER: The sudden resurgence of the culture war may be playing right into the hands of the president. In our fourth story on the "Countdown" — President Obama unveiled a compromise today on the mandate requiring health insurance plans offered by religious organizations to include contraceptive services.
(Excerpt from video clip) OBAMA: Under the rule, women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services, no matter where they work. So that core principle remains. But, if a woman's employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of their health plan, the insurance company — not the hospital, not the charity — will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge, without co-pays and without hassles.
SEDER: Casting himself as a citizen and a Christian, the president acknowledged religious leaders "genuine concerns." While Catholic bishops may remain unsatisfied, all the rage on the right this week has been Obama's assault on religious liberty.
(Excerpt from video clip) OBAMA: I understand some folks in Washington may want to treat this as another political wedge issue, but it shouldn't be. Religious liberty will be protected, and a law that requires free preventive care will not discriminate against women.
SEDER: The economy-intensive campaign season has left little room for the GOP presidential hopefuls to sink their teeth into social issues. Republicans have been crowing about Obama's "war on faith" for some time, but their attacks weren't as convincing without a policy to cite. And then, the White House announced its decision last month.
Rick Santorum pounced on the opportunity to paint himself as the anti-abortion, pro-family candidate of social conservatives dreams. The president may not have planned it this way, but the uproar over contraception coverage handed Mitt Romney's Republican rivals another chance to question his conservative values. And, of course, all the GOP candidates will double down on denouncing Obama's new policy, isolating themselves even further from the majority of Americans who support the measure.
Let's bring in Markos Moulitsas, founder and publisher of Daily Kos and "Countdown" contributor. Appreciate your time tonight, Markos.
MARKOS MOULITSAS: I'm so thrilled to see you on Current, Sam.
SEDER: It's great to see you, too, Markos. So all right, is the White House caving in on this or are they smarter than we all think?
MOULITSAS: Look, we've been so conditioned the last couple of years to expect cave-in after cave-in from the Obama administration, so it's actually quite refreshing to see an actual compromise, that is — a real compromise.
I mean, he did not surrender on any core principles. Women can get the care and the contraceptive services that they deserve, and the religious — you know, the concerns of the religious community were completely managed and dealt with. So, this is actually the perfect resolution to this issue. Now, Republicans, they don't like it because they have lost a talking point. But actually, Obama rocked it this time. I mean, this was a real home run.
SEDER: I agree with you on that. Now, let's — let's take it a step further, because the solution that they came out this today — this compromise — was sort of floated back in October. I mean, it's sort of based on what's happening in Hawaii. Do you think the administration sort of courted this controversy? Because it could have been — perhaps, could have been avoided, but they seemed to, maybe, get some benefit out of it.
MOULITSAS: Well, they're going to definitely get some benefit out of it. I mean, polls show that the policy is wildly popular. I mean, 65 percent of Americans in a Fox News poll — they couldn't even pretend — a Fox News poll showed that this was wildly popular. And, the numbers are no different amongst Catholics. So, this is not even a wedge issue with Catholic voters. So, absolutely, this is going to be a positive.
Did the Obama administration plan this? I actually — maybe. Maybe they're that smart. I suspect that they are too risk-averse to really plan something like this. But, once it was handed on a platter, they decided to take a swing at it and they really did hit it hard.
SEDER: All right, so even though this has basically been settled, the Republicans have sort have lost this talking part — point. Do you think we're going to continue to see them highlight this rule as an attack on religion?
I mean, Representative Fred Upton said in a statement today — let me read this to you — "The Constitution does not compromise. Those rights are inalienable and cannot be bartered away for political expediency and convenience. The administration has simply reaffirmed that congressional action to permanently reverse this mandate is necessary."
Are they going to go forward with this? Are they going to basically just attempt to strip this rule that is forcing insurance companies — not religious organizations — for providing this prescription medicine to women who need it?
MOULITSAS: Well, their base is screaming for it, so they're absolutely going to keep pushing this thing. I mean, if they really think it's unconstitutional, let the courts decided. They'll get laughed out of the courts.
But, you know, I think what we are seeing right now is that Republicans know that they've lost the battle on the economy. I mean, just a few weeks ago all they could talk about was jobs, jobs, jobs, and jumping at every jobs report. Suddenly, you have several job reports in a row that are looking really pretty good. The NASDAQ hit an 11-year high. The Dow hit a four-year high. Consumer confidence is up, Obama's numbers on the economy are up. All across the board people are — they're not happy, but they're content and they're confident in Obama's stewardship of the economy. So, Republicans really need something else and they'll always fall back on social issues when they've got nothing else.
But, I have got to say, if Republicans want to outsource their policy to the Catholic church to avoid a "war on religion," then I can't wait to see Republicans join Democrats in opposing the death penalty and supporting an extension of unemployment benefits, of supporting comprehensive immigration reform and the Dream Act, and opposing useless wars, like the war in Iraq. Because those are all things that the Catholic church has been vehemently pushing, as far as its agenda.
SEDER: Yeah, I'm not going to hold my breath on that one. But, I want to you to — finally, I want you to take a listen to what else the president said today.
(Excerpt from video clip) OBAMA: Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health. Period.
SEDER: Is he — is he taking the Republicans into the deep end here? Essentially, he is now sort of forcing the Republicans, if they want to continue to argue this, that they're against contraception. I mean, this is — we're in sort of, like, territory that was hashed out 50, 60 years ago.
MOULITSAS: Yeah, conservatives have always been against contraception because they just feel icky about sex. I mean, that's really the bottom line. They've used abortion as sort of a stand-in. But the true motivation — or true agenda, really — is sex. And this is what this is all about. Great.
But, you know, this is a party, of course, that's really fixated on freedom, right? And they're really going to argue that a woman shouldn't have the freedom to make those decisions without interference from an insurance company, without interference from their employer, without interference from the government? And they want to talk about freedom? This is what freedom actually looks like.
SEDER: Markos Moulitsas, it was great talking to you.
MOULITSAS: Pleasure.
