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The New York Times is reporting that Democrats plan to take up several other legislative priorities and then return to health care reform at some later date.
With Mr. Obama’s health care overhaul stalled on Capitol Hill, Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, said in an interview that Democrats would try to act first on job creation, reducing the deficit and imposing tighter regulation on banks before returning to the health measure, the president’s top priority from last year.
This sounds like the first step to quietly dropping comprehensive reform all together. It is also possible that Democrats, having no other choice but to move on to other topics, will work out the details of health care. Indications are that the reconciliation sidecar strategy is still the favored path moving forward, and it would inherently take time to negotiate the reconciliation measure and determine what is possible. The last thing Democrats should want is for everything to stand still while the Washington press corp focuses primarily on more secretive health care negotiations.
Personally, I think the delay is a sign of real trouble. The fact that I have not yet seen a strong public commitment from the vast majority of senators and House members is interesting. I also have not seen outlined a popular, easily sold set of “fixes” that would go in a reconciliation measure. The only outline I know of is for a politically toxic combo. And, if they deal with all that, there is still the politically sticky issue of the Stupak amendment.
It is possible two months of cooling off will make the Senate bill more popular with members of Congress and the public, but I would not bet on it.
My recommendation is that Democrats should also be working on a very simple, clean reconciliation-only bill of just easily explained Medicaid/SCHIP/COBRA expansion, along with the reconciliation sidecar measure. I can easily see how the sidecar strategy could fail, and there should be a quick, simple backup plan. Maybe if Democrats had been smart enough to have created a reconciliation-based plan B months ago, they would not be in such serious trouble now.
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Thanks Jon. Maybe as unemployment heads north, they will figure out that the public option is the best bridge to single payer. Not likely, but I am trying to be positive.
I wish I could be positive. I’m uninsured and have not been holding my breath by any means, but to see them retreat this quickly is pitiful and shameful. The notion that they are representatives of the American people is just utterly laughable at this point. This is not a democracy, it’s a failing empire sliding into third world status.
The simplest, most comprehensive plan of all: Medicare for Everybody, passed through reconciliation. But who’ll push this? Not “the Democrats”, meaning the leadership and/or the White House. The Progressives have to rise up, take the controls from “the Democrats”, and push this through. He’ll sign it, but it has to reach his desk first.
Not only are they retreating, but they are retreating by choice not necessity.
The delay is so that they can get a jobs bill and financial reform first. They will do comprehensive health care with a reconciliation sidecar with a likelihoood of about 90%…but after they do that nothing else gets done, so jobs has to come first.
Jon, Unfortunately, I agree with you on this. It looks pretty clear that “Clarence” would rather buy over a few Red coats than negotiate with Progressives. If “Clarence” (or PHARMA or Ins. Cos.) can convince just a few Repubs to earn the scads of money that’s been thrown at them, he can sign the Senate Bill and claim bi-partison victory. (Of course, the Dems will be clobbered in the fall, but my guess is, that’s no concern to Rahm -he’ll be ready to move to a very lucrative consulting career. Hmmm, I wonder what his client list will look like?
They’re hoping we’ll go away so they can keep the PhRMA deal.
Let’s prove them wrong.
Rahm is a tool.
Either all of us create jobs,none of us,or some of us. In a just society, all of us create jobs. Or to offer an elucidation: there was always work for all, there is now work for all, and there always wld be enough [actually too much] work for all of us.
However what is done or not done is in toto controlled by a minority of people of which WH/congress is a mere servant.
And my dear people, they do bombings, dronings, missilings; use cia to commit crimes, make wmd of all kind but complain ab s’mone elses.
mmeanwhile, dirty rivers don’t need clean up; land doesnt need to be reforested; pollution is OK; if ur sick u can go without treatemnt; killing ‘aliens’ is more important, etc. Welcome to america! Eat ur hearts out all u socialists and other ‘aliens; tnx for ur patience in reading the above propaganda!
Srteets don’t need policings, but afgh’n,iraq, et al do! tnx
“My recommendation is that Democrats should also be working on a very simple, clean reconciliation-only bill of just easily explained Medicaid/SCHIP/COBRA expansion, along with the reconciliation sidecar measure.” Exactly, John. This whole HCR game has been to take the spotlight off the easiest most direct ways to get the job done. They can pass a separate bill to handle the Ins. issues. Expand Medicare to all and most of the Ins. problems vanish with the greedy MFing Industry. GAME OVER! But this was always always always about raping the taxpayers to expand the health Ins. criminals and their rotten fucking criminal Enterprises. It has NEVER been about Health care.
RIGHT! Killing is their real Modus Operandi isn’t it? They can’t seem to solve problems any other way can they?
The problem is there are what two real Progressives Franken and Sanders? The Health CORPS. are ten chess moves ahead of the rest of us here.
No – I read this as Obama/Rahm worried that the welfare check to corporations that is the Senate bill will be changed by budget Recon – so they will wait until authority for budget recon ends in August – and it will be pass Senate Bill or go home.
It is all corporations all the time with Obama.
I will be happy if a clean reconciliation-only bill of just easily explained Medicaid/SCHIP/COBRA expansion, VIA THE reconciliation sidecar measure (not along with) is passed -
but I am not holding my breath.
“but I am not holding my breath.” Same here. The Dems. NEVER intended to do anything more then fuck with our heads and pass a bill that rewarded the same Corps. that are causing the whole problem. The whole so called HCR game revealed to everyone what the Dems. are really about in DC.
Please don’t beat me up, as I am very inexperienced in this area, and, unfortunately it seems that the more I read the less I understand. I have now reached a point where I am no longer sure that either the Senate or the House do any actual work at all.
I have suddenly had this fantasy that every American family could be issued a regular supply of Ativan, Valium, Vicodin etc. every month. This would eliminate any need for medical insurance, as nobody would be in pain, nor would they be anxious about their declining health. And if the case may be that people die, they would do so in relative comfort. To augment this, the citizens could visit their state or federal Drug Depot, purchasing medical marijuana (available for everyone). This would create enormous tax revenues, and at the same time reduce the price tremendously. These particular substances are cheap to manufacture. Voila, problem solved. And everybody is happy. (Well, perhaps not the corporations, who would lose their enormous profits.) It should make the government happy, as they would not have to worry about the peasants taking to the streets with pitchforks and torches, or, God forbid, type unpleasant diatribes in their basements, clad in pajamas, on liberal, oh pardon me, progressive blogs. Happy Daze