Player of the Week: Charles Schumer

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is heavily involved in two high-profile
issues this week.

On Monday, the eve of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington, Schumer announced that he will introduce legislation chastising China for currency manipulation.

{mosads}During a press teleconference, Schumer said, “The U.S. can’t afford to keep losing jobs and wealth because China manipulates its currency. China’s currency is like a boot to the throat of our economic recovery.”

Schumer and other lawmakers have long said Chinese manipulation exacerbates a growing U.S.-China trade deficit, and they argue that China’s currency is undervalued by 25 to 40 percent.

The Schumer legislation is co-sponsored by Sens. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who are both up for reelection in 2012.

The bill could lead to higher tariffs on imports from China if the country is found to be artificially depressing its currency value.

Timing is everything in politics, and Schumer is a master at picking the right time to make news. He shrewdly scheduled his teleconference on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday that is usually a slow news day. Not surprisingly, he generated many headlines on Monday that immediately became part of the narrative for Hu’s visit to the capital.

Meanwhile, the battle to repeal President Obama’s healthcare law will soon be moving to the Senate. As the head of the Senate Democrats’ messaging operation, Schumer’s task of improving the law’s image is a challenging one.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last March, Schumer predicted that by the midterm elections, “those who voted for healthcare will find it an asset; those who voted against it will find it a liability.”

That prediction didn’t come true. But most of the benefits have not kicked in, and Democrats have noted recent polls on the health law provide some hope that public opinion can be changed.

Democrats publicly acknowledge that Republicans last year won the message battle on healthcare reform, but they are anxious to have another chance to defend it.

During his appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Schumer said, “We welcome, in a certain sense, their attempt to repeal it, because it gives us a second chance to make a first impression.”