Bipartisan Health Care Reform May Be Dead
Republicans, Democrats Will Unilaterally Pass Health Insurance Bill
Aug 24, 2009
Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Representative Barney Frank, former Governor, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and MD, Dr. Howard Dean, Nobel Laureate, Princeton Economics professor and New York Times Columnist, Dr. Paul Krugman and Co-Chairmen of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Representatives Raul Grijalva and Lynn Woolsey, have drawn the Democrat's line in the sand. Providing media blitzes these and other influential members of Congress have indicated that Democrats do not need Republican support in order to pass their version of a cost effective medical reform bill.
Who Won the Election?
Congressional Democrats are presenting the case that Republicans are obstructionists. Rep. Grijalva argues the Right not only wants to defeat healthcare but also the Obama administration. He said in an interview with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, “…this is an organized, financed effort to undermine not only healthcare reform, but…to undermine any ability for this administration to get anything done.”
Jacki Schehner from Health Care for America Now, told Carrie Brown of Politico on July 6th 2009, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa’s “…answer to the health care crisis is get a better job [he]…has no intention of true compromise.” Grassley poignantly told Brown, “I take pride with being an obstructionist….”
However, conservative commentator Dick Morris (quoted in Brown’s article) succinctly expressed the conservative agenda. “Republicans should not…give this bill even a single vote….To do so would be to offer Obama an out…and take away the Republican Party’s best shot for regaining political power....”
Democrat’s Offensive
If Republicans won't play ball, there's no point in compromising the Obama campaign agenda, a blogger wrote to CNN’s Jack Cafferty on August 19th. Liberals' tactics are to present the Republicans as obstructions (above) while stressing the Democrats' majority in Congress. Retracting from a compromise position, they are emphasizing their dominance via the Public Option.
Carl Hulse and Jeff Zeleny reported in a Tuesday NY Times’ article, Democrats Seem Set to Go It Alone on a Health Bill, “…such a change could alter the dynamics of…healthcare legislation and change the substance of a final bill ….With no need to negotiate…Democrats might…move more quickly.”
Carla Marinucci of the San Francisco Chronicle argued on August 21st that Nancy “…Pelosi insisted the legislation will go forward, with or without Republican support. ‘The president has said that he wants to have a bipartisan bill,’ she said. ‘But we will have a bill’."
On the Sunday morning talk circuit, Democrats continue this theme of unilateralism. Dr. Dean said on Face the Nation, "That [co-op] proposal is a political compromise, not a policy compromise…and has not worked in the past.” Dean continued on the Morning Joe Show, “…the final reform bill will be passed with the help of reconciliation….”
Senate Reconciliation
The Democrats can pass the bill via an over-riding rule called reconciliation. It limits discussion on a bill to 20 hours, taking the teeth out of a filibuster and requiring a simple majority for passage. Thus the Senate need persuade only 51 of the 60 Senate Democrats for healthcare reform.
But this is still a difficult task. Of the 58 Senate Democrats and 2 Independents who caucus with them, there are 17 Blue Dogs. Also called conservative democrats, the liberals must persuade 8 to vote in their favor to push the bill through via reconciliation.
Cafferty summed the strategy best, “…the White House doesn’t seem too worried…‘If we have to push it through this way, no one is going to remember how messy it was… a win is a win’.”
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