I just got off the phone with Sen. Lamar Alexander, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — and he poured cold water on the idea that Democrats could meet the White House deadline to get health care legislation passed in both chambers of Congress before the August recess.
“I don’t see any way that can happen in the Senate,” Alexander said. “We don’t even have a bill. We don’t even have an estimate on what we’re voting on and we’re talking about legislation that involves 16 percent of the economy and it’s being written in two different committees. The Finance Committee isn’t marking up its bill until next week. So, my hope is we’ll take the time to do it right, and not rush it through.”
