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Blue Dog Leader Says He Has Votes To Block House Health Care Bill

By Philip Klein on 7.15.09 @ 3:24PM

Dow Jones reports:

U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., a leader of fiscally conservative House Democrats, said Wednesday a House plan to overhaul the U.S. health-care system is losing support and will be stuck in committee without changes. "Last time I checked, it takes seven Democrats to stop a bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee," Ross told reporters after a House vote. "We had seven against it last Friday; we have 10 today.

Three House committees are slated to begin considering the $1 trillion-plus bill this week, but the Energy and Commerce looms as the biggest challenge. That's because it counts among its 36 Democratic members seven members of the Blue Dog Coalition, a fiscally conservative bloc that is opposing the House Democrats' effort.

Elsewhere in the article, Ross is quoted as saying, "The current bill would have to be substantially amended before we could consider supporting it."

Meanwhile, North Dakota Rep. Earl Pomeroy, a Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said he opposes the bill because the government-run plan would drive down reimbursement rates to doctors and hospitals.

House Democrats face a July 31st deadline for passing a health care bill, unless they delay recess.