Democrats scrambling on Healthcare Bill after HISTORIC Massachussets upset

soccerballtux · 2010-01-20T21:02:06+00:00

Looks like Obama is slowing down, actually representing country for ONCE. http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/20/health.care/index.html Democrats scramble on health care after GOP win Washington (CNN) -- Nervous Democrats debated Wednesday how to save a health care reform plan suddenly pushed to the brink of defeat by an upset GOP Senate win in Massachusetts. Senator-elect Scott Brown's victory in one of the most progressive states in the nation raised already-high anxiety levels among Democrats looking ahead to midterm elections. It also stripped Democrats of their 60-seat Senate supermajority, giving Republicans enough votes to block any measure in the chamber. Administration officials and top congressional Democrats are reviewing a diminished range of options to pass a health care bill and salvage victory on President Obama's top domestic priority. "I think most of us have tried to weigh what happened in Massachusetts and feel that perhaps we need a little breathing space here to reflect on it, and to chart a course," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. "We haven't decided on a strategy." "We are working through the best way forward," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "Health care continues to be a priority." House Democratic leaders spent much of the day huddling with rank-and-file members behind closed doors. Among the options under consideration is having the House pass an identical version of the bill approved by the Senate in December. Doing so would allow the measure to proceed straight to Obama's desk to be signed into law. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Wednesday it "remains to be seen" whether there's enough support in the House for such a course of action. "There's a lot of good things in the Senate bill," she said. "As you know, 85 percent of the bills are the same." Pelosi argued "the message from Massachusetts" was that voters are angry about special state-specific provisions added to the Senate bill in order to win over wavering Democrats. She specifically cited a provision exempting Nebraska from the costs of expanded Medicaid coverage, a provision critics have labeled "the Cornhusker kickback." "Some of those issues are lightning-rod issues and some of that has to be changed," Pelosi said. "I don't think our members should be asked to support something that even Sen. (Ben) Nelson" -- the Nebraska Democrat who initially pushed for the provision -- "has backed away from." A number of House liberals, however, are pushing back hard against the idea of adopting the Senate plan without major changes. The more conservative Senate measure contains a number of provisions unpopular with progressives, including a 40 percent tax on insurance companies providing high-end "Cadillac" health plans. "If it comes down to that Senate bill or nothing, I think we're going to end up with nothing," Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Massachusetts, said Tuesday. "I don't hear a lot of support on our side." Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-New York, told reporters he didn't think he could vote for the Senate bill. "And I don't think there are the votes in the House for the Senate bill," he said. Several other Democrats echoed Lynch's concerns, telling CNN that even if there was a firm commitment to follow approval of the Senate version with a second bill containing changes negotiated by House and Senate leaders and the White House, they wouldn't vote yes. A key labor union, however, indicated a willingness Wednesday to go along with what has become known as a "two-step process." "The House should pass the Senate's health insurance reform bill -- with an agreement that it will be fixed, fixed right and fixed right away through a parallel process," said Andy Stern, head of the Service Employees International Union. A second option under consideration is to draft a new, stripped-down version of the bill capable of passing both chambers. Such a bill, according to several rank-and-file Democrats, would focus on less controversial provisions, such as barring discrimination by insurers based on pre-existing conditions and closing the Medicare "doughnut hole" to bring down prescription drug costs. "There are great concerns about the health insurance system and the kind of power that the insurance people have over people to deny care, to raise rates and so on," White House strategist David Axelrod told CNN Wednesday. Obama is "not going to walk away from that." A third option -- trying to ram a compromise bill through the House and Senate before Brown is seated -- appears to be losing favor among Democrats. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, released a statement Tuesday night arguing that it would "only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated." A fourth option is to revisit the idea of trying to push health care through the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes. But to do that Democrats would have to use a process known as reconciliation, which presents technical and procedural issues that would delay the process for, and Democrats are eager to put the health care debate behind them and move on to economic issues, such as job creation, as soon as possible in this election year. "If there's anybody in this building that doesn't tell you they're more worried about elections today, you should absolutely slam them," Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, said Wednesday. "That's what this place thrives on." Newly empowered Republican leaders on Wednesday urged Democrats to scrap the current version of the bill completely and restart negotiations. People are "more interested in shrinking unemployment than expanding government," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "They don't want the government taking over health care. ... They made that abundantly clear last night in the commonwealth of Massachusetts." Congress needs to "stop this unsavory sausage-making process known as health care reform," said Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona. "The people of Massachusetts have spoken for the rest of America." Way to misrepresent voters, Pelosi. They are NOT angry about specific state provisions-- they're angry about the WHOLE THING! Let me be the first to say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Thread starter soccerballtux
Start date Jan 20, 2010

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Zebo

Elite Member

Jan 20, 2010

The bill is total trash. Similar bill has Massachusettians paying 250% MORE in premiums - and one of the reasons they elected Brown. Massachusettians are up close and personnel with failure and high costs. If Democrats foist this POS on the general population they will usher in a right wing revolution never seen before.

This is not a good thing IMO. Stop now. Get back to the table and invite progressives and foreigners who have a working system to the table instead of lobbyists.

Last edited: Jan 20, 2010

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