After Reid’s Unveiling Of His Health Care Experiment Landed With A Thud In Senate, Will Pelosi Have Better Luck With Her Fellow House Dems?

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Has Sent Out Invitations To [Today’s] 10 A.M. Unveiling Of The House Democrats’ Health Care Reform Legislation.” (Chris Frates, “House Leaders To Unveil Bill Tomorrow At 10 A.M.” Politico’s “Live Pulse” Blog, 10/28/09)

AFTER REJECTION OF REID, WILL FELLOW DEMS FANCY NANCY AND HER BILL?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) Compares Republicans Who Oppose His Health Care Experiment To Girls That Rejected His Offers To Dance In High School. ”Senate Republi cans are like the girl that gave Harry Reid the cold shoulder in high school, the [Senate] Majority Leader said today… ‘It’s like when I was in high school, I wanted to dance but she wouldn’t get up. OK?’” (Eric Zimmermann, “Reid: GOP Is Like A Girl Who Won’t Dance,” The Hill,10/27/09)

But It’s Democrats Causing Reid The Most Heartache. “The Nevada Democrat needs every Democrat to break the filibusters that Republicans are vowing to mount. But some of the moderates refuse to say wh ether they’ll stick with their leader on procedural votes, let alone those on the merits of the bill.” (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “Democrats Struggle To Find Unity On Health Plan,” The Associated Press, 10/28/09)

So House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Trying Hard To Keep Every Democrat On Board. ”Democratic leaders have plenty of work to do rounding up support for their package … Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has led the charge in leadership of mapping the views of her Caucus on the public option and trying to drum up support for the liberal approach, which she prefers.” (Tory Newmyer, “House Leaders Ready to Unveil Moderate-Favored Health Plan,” Roll Call, 10/28/09)

SOME OF NANCY’S DEMOCRAT DANCE PARTNERS MIGHT CHOOSE TO BE WALLFLOWERS

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) Knows Pelosi “Not Happy With” Him Because He Opposes Federal Funding Of Abortion In Current House Dems’ Bill. “Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not pleased with his effort to change abortion-related provisions in the House healthcare bill on Tuesday. During an interview on C-SPAN’s ‘Washington Journal’ show, Stupak said he is undeterred in trying to ensure that taxp ayer dollars do not pay for abortions. Stupak, who opposes abortion rights, acknowledged that some in his party are upset with his public campaign to change the bill. ‘The Speaker is not happy with me,’ Stupak said.” (Bob Cusack, “Mich. Democrat: Pelosi ‘Not Happy With Me’,” The Hill’s“Briefing Room” Blog, 10/27/09)

Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) Has “A Big Problem With The Bill” And Its Tax Increases On Small Businesses. ”‘I have a big problem with the bill,’ Altmire said. Altmire said he opposes the bill’s tax increase on the wealthy and mandates on small businesses.” (Steven T. Dennis, “Leaders Confident On Health Bill Vote,” Roll Call, 10/22/09)

Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) Says Dems Should “Change Course” On Current House, Senate Bills Because Of Their “Debilitating Problems.” ”In spite of all the work that has gone into the House and Senate health-reform bills, both suffer from two debilitating problems. First, they build upon an already too complicated and costly web of underlying programs: Medicare A B and D, Medicaid, Social Security, FSAs, etc. Second, health ca re and insurance are tied to the most complex and reviled of all federal programs, the income-tax code. It is not too late to change course and solve both problems while we have the opportunity.” (Rep. Brian Baird, “Time For Real Reform Of Health Care And Taxes,” The Seattle Times, 10/19/09)

Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY) Has “Grave Reservations.” ”However, Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, and fellow members of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 52 moderate-to-conservative House Democrats, aren’t completely convinced … In a statement released to media outlets, Chandler … expressed ‘grave reservations’ about ‘any plan that does not retain the benefits of our current system, support rural health care, protect our small businesses, control costs, and continue to allow patients to choose their doctors.’” (Halimah Abdullah, “Ky. Lawmakers Remain Mixed On Obama’s Plan,” The Lexington Herald-Leader, 9/11/09)

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) “Willing To Start From Scratch On A Health Care Bill” To Work With Republicans.“Rep. Emanuel Cleaver told reporters this morning he’s willing to start from scratch on a health care reform bill, as many Republicans have suggested. ‘I’m willing to push the reset button,’ Cleaver said, although he appeared skeptical about the prospects for any new legislation fro m a restart of the process. The Missouri Democrat also said health care reform is ‘too important’ to be passed with only Democratic votes, as White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has recently suggested.” (Dave Helling, “Cleaver Willing To Start Over On Health Care Bill,”The Kansas City Star, 8/19/09)

Rep. Parker Griffith (D-AL) Thinks Current Dems’ Bill Should Be Scrapped. ”U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, said the Waxman bill should be scrapped so ‘that moderates in Congress can begin again to write a bill that will bring real health reform without expanding government or adding more debt to an already overburdened treasury.’” (Dana Beyerle, “Speech Did Not Change Minds Of Alabama Delegation,” The Gadsden Times, 9/10/09)

AND THE NUMBERS SHOW NANCY HAS VERY FEW DEMS TO TANGO WITH

22 House Dems Oppose Pelosi’s Tax Increase On Small Businesses To Pay For Their Health Care Experiment.“[W]e are extremely concerned that the proposed metho d of paying for health care reform within this legislation will negatively impact small businesses … While the Ways and Means Committee states that the proposed surcharge in H.R. 3200 will only impact 4.1 percent of small businesses, we are concerned that this does not paint a complete picture. According to the Internal Revenue Service’s 2002 Statistics Of Income, 64 percent of households filing individual tax forms with AGI above $250,000 filed as an S-Corporation or partnership or filed a Schedule C sole proprietor tax form … We believe that any revenues for the health care program should be collected from a larger base than the critical small business sector.” (Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) et al., Letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), 7/16/09)

30 House Dems Oppose Pelosi’s Plan For Federal Funding Of Abortion. ”While some assert that language contained in variations of H.R. 3200, America’s Af fordable Health Choices Act, is sufficient to preclude Federal funds being used for abortion, we do not agree. If eliminating Federal funding of abortion is sincerely the goal, then a simple solution would be to include the Hyde Amendment to the version of H.R. 3200 that comes to the Floor - the intent and effect of which is understood by all Members. This is a serious matter for us and for our constituents, and regardless of their views on abortion, many Members are opposed to Federal funding.” (Rep. Bart Stupak, et. al., Letter To Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 9/29/09)

57 House Dems Would Oppose Any Bill That Didn’t Include Most Liberal Version Of Government-Run Health Insurance. ”Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, for a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates -not negotiated rates -is unacceptable … In short, this agreement will result in the public, both as insurance purchasers and as taxpayers, paying ever higher rates to insura nce companies. We simply cannot vote for such a proposal.” (Congressional Progressive Caucus, Letter To Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, Charles Rangel and George Miller, 7/30/09)

While 52 House Dems Oppose Any Bill That Did Include Most Liberal Version Of Government-Run Health Insurance. ”The Blue Dog Coalition has a position that if a public option is included, that it should be based in negotiated rates, that it operates on a level playing field with the private plans and that it should be subject to a trigger…” (Bret Hayworth, “Herseth Sandlin Open To Public Option,” Sioux City Journal’s ”Politically Speaking” Blog, 10/22/09)

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Tags: government option, Healthcare, Pelosi

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 11:27 am and is filed under Healthcare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.