Chutzpa, Denial, And Suicide
Many Democrats Appear Dumber And Dumber
Democratic congressional leaders are now said to be banding together around what is perhaps their last and best hope for salvaging President Barack Obama’s faltering health care overhaul.
Their Game Plan Explained
Senior Democratic aides said Monday that their present plan is to try and pass the Senate bill with as few minor changes as possible, and Dem (Dumb) leaders will present the idea to the rank and file later this week.
Do They Have The Votes?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said last week she does not have enough votes to pass the Senate bill without changes, but it’s unclear if she said this because it’s true or because she was attempting to unite Dems.
Why Are They Pressing Ahead With This?
To the obvious surprise of almost everyone except the House Dems, the momentum to pass the Senate bill actually appears to be growing and among those arguing for a quick strike on health care is David Plouffe, who was the political adviser who helped elect Obama president and who has just got summoned back by the White House to help coordinate this year’s elections.
Plouffe just argued in a Washington Post op-ed;
"I know that the short-term politics are bad, but politically speaking, if we do not pass it, the GOP will continue attacking the plan as if we did anyway, and voters will have no ability to measure its upside. Among the immediate benefits: allowing dependent children to stay on their parents’ coverage into their mid-twenties, and assistance for seniors in the Medicare prescription coverage gap”.
And Dick Durbin of Illinois who is the No. 2 Senate Democrat said on Monday:
"We’ve put so much effort into this, so much hard work, and we were so close to doing some significant things. Now we have to find the political path that brings us out. And it’s not easy”.
But Ron Pollack, who is the executive director of Families USA, a liberal advocacy group, when asked, "Are they there yet?”, answered very categorically, “No”.
Three Possible Choices are:
1. The procedural route, also known as reconciliation, which would circumvent the need for a 60-vote majority to hold off Republican delaying tactics and would allow a majority of 51 senators to amend their bill to address some of the major substantive concerns raised by the House.
2. Scaling back the health care bill into less controversial, smaller pieces.
3. Setting the health plan aside for the time being and concentrating on either the growing deficit or unemployment.
The major problem that the Dems who are still pushing the bill will have with “reconciliation” is that it won’t be possible to resolve all the significant differences between the House and Senate bills through the special budget procedure, since only changes that affect taxes and government spending are normally allowed to pass with a majority of 51 senators, rather than a 60-vote majority.
Abortion is a case in point since the House bill is far more restrictive than the Senate’s version and it’s totally unclear how taxpayer funding for abortions could be restricted.
James R. Horney, a former Senate Democratic budget aide now with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said:
"Provisions that have no budgetary effect would clearly run afoul”.
Abortion opponents say they will count any House vote for the current Senate bill as favoring new government subsidies for abortion, and Douglas Johnson, who is the legislative director for National Right to Life said, "I suggest they do it the other way around, fix it first and then pass it. Members will be held accountable for what they actually vote for. It really doesn’t do to say, `I voted for something, but I was against it’".
So the bottom line is that although Democrats might be able to resolve the differences between the House and Senate on economic issues such as taxing high-cost insurance plans, closing the coverage gap in the Medicare prescription benefit, and providing subsidies to help middle-income households pay insurance premiums, they would most likely still be left with a bill that couldn’t pass both the House and Senate.
Last 10 posts by Michael Redbourn
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