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Health Care Roundup

By Philip Klein on 3.8.10 @ 10:53AM

With President Obama set to kick off his health care road show in a few minutes, I thought I'd round up some of the health care news from over the weekend.

The House Democrats have two major obstacles to passing a health care bill. The first is developing an actual final set of changes that both the House and Senate could agree on and pass via reconciliation. The second is that mutual distrust among the two chambers has made it more difficult to convince House members that the Senate will in fact pass the agreed on changes with a reconciliation bill. Along these lines...

Rep. Jason Altmire, a Pennslyvania Democrat who voted "no" the first time around and is now wavering, said, "The Senate has given us a lot of reason not to trust them."

Rep. John Adler of New Jersey, another original Democratic "no" vote, questioned the cost saving measures in the bills: "If the House and Senate can't work out cost containment, I don't see how I could support a bill that doesn't help our business community."

Rep. Brian Baird, a reitiring Washington Democrat who voted "no," said leadership can't assume that Democrats who aren't seeking reelection will vote for the bill. The Hill reports: "Appearing across from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) on CNN's 'State of the Union,' Baird heartily agreed in principle with the need to reform healthcare but expressed reservations about the current bills. He responded 'yes' when host Candy Crowley asked if he would vote against the current proposals even if it meant that healthcare reform went down."

Meanwhile, Rep. Eric Massa, a Democrat who was forced to step down over allegations he harassed a male staffer, came out fighting on a radio show, arguing he was pushed out because he voted "no" on the health care bill:

"There's a reason that this has all happened, frankly one that I had not realized," Massa said on WKPQ radio on Sunday. "Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill, and this administration and this House leadership have said, quote unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill. And now they've gotten rid of me and it'll pass."

View all comments (5) | Leave a comment

JP| 3.8.10 @ 12:18PM

The ball is still in Pelosi's court. Before anything gets done, Pelosi must find 218 votes in order to pass the Senate's Christmas Eve version of ObamaCare. The President and his operators promise that all differences between the 2 versions could be ironed out via reconcilliation.

To House veterans who've served a few decades, these promises must ring hallow. Remember Bush41 and his agreement to raise taxes, but only on the promise that Congress would cut spending? Less than 2 years later, Bush41 (and his advisor who pressured him to cut a deal, Dick Darman) were civilians again. Not only is reconcilliation a false promise, but it is a promise that niether President Obama and Senator Reid can keep. The GOP can offer up hundreds if not thousands of amendments; one can see this process continuing through next year - and if nothing gets reconciled, ObamaCare as the Senate wrote it remains law. And the House Dems will suffer a 100 seat loss in November. But who really cares. Other less noxious bills (such as the bill that established the Department of Education in 1980) remain with us. The President and his activists will have gotten what the desired - that is all that the Far Left really cares about. They take the long view.

The question remains: Willl 20 House Dems sacrifice thier careers for The One? I think most House Dems know what is going on, as well of what is being asked of them. If they pass ObamaCare, there will be no reconcilliation.

Bud| 3.8.10 @ 12:49PM

I don't trust anyone in Washington after all the back room deals. This bill changes too many things and must be made based on what the American people want. Not what Obama, Pelosi or Reed want. Let the bill die and start over.

Pete| 3.8.10 @ 2:18PM

How or why can any elected "representative" take any flak for voting what the majority of his constituents want? More than any other legislation that I can remember, the fight to pass this behemoth gov't takeover signals the death knell of representative government, i.e. democracy.

Hypocritus| 3.8.10 @ 4:39PM

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.

"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada," Palin said in her first Canadian appearance since stepping down as governor of Alaska. "And I think now, isn't that ironic?"

The irony, one guesses, is that Palin now views Canada's health care system as revolting: with its government-run administration and 'death-panel'-like rationing. Clearly, however, she and her family once found it more alluring than, at the very least, the coverage available in rural Alaska. Up to the age of six, Palin lived in a remote town near the closest Canadian city, Whitehorse.

(really?)

Cris Worth| 3.8.10 @ 6:06PM

The Mass. legislature should fax RomneyCare to Congress. Every year since 2006, health care costs go up, insurance costs go up, medicaid costs go up and taxpayers suffer a little bit more. No apologies from Willard he knows what he's doing.