Thirty Pieces of Silver Democrats?
Color me shocked. The Democrats can’t reach agreement on how to reform health care:
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says House Democrats are struggling to reach consensus on overhauling health care, a divide that could delay House approval of a plan beyond lawmakers’ scheduled vacation in August.
House leaders have said they wanted to pass a plan before they leave on a monthlong break. But Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday there is still disagreement on proposed tax increases on the wealthy, and whether to establish a government-run insurance program to compete with private plans.
Hoyer said House Democrats will continue to negotiate in private, with the goal of passing a plan next week. He downplayed the idea of keeping lawmakers in session while negotiations continue, but wouldn’t rule it out.
In an attempt to win over Blue Dog Democrats, President Obama is lobbying Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee:
Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce panel are headed to the White House, not their committee room, on Tuesday.
Instead of continuing their markup, Energy and Commerce Democrats will be lobbied by President Obama at the White House. Tuesday’s continuing markup was canceled, but the panel is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday.
The delays and intense effort by the White House cast more doubt on whether the House will meet its deadline of voting on the landmark bill before the August recess.
Conservative Democrats on the panel have criticized the healthcare reform bill’s costs, and complained it does not do enough to reduce long-term healthcare spending. Freshman Democrats have also been worried about growing fiscal deficits and the risk the healthcare bill could add to them, while members from wealthy districts are upset about a surcharge on the wealthy that would be used to pay for some of the bill’s costs.
The White House meeting is scheduled at 12:45 on Tuesday.
While Democrats aren’t as intimidated by President Obama as they were when Preside Obama’s ratings were through the roof, I’d be surprised if he isn’t able to persuade them to supporting the House legislation. If he’s able to win them over, the Blue Dogs on the committee will be left in a vulnerable position. Mike Ross has been critical of the House bill, going so far as to say that he has the votes to stop the bill in committee:
Democrats outnumber Republicans 36-23 on the Energy and Commerce committee, which contains eight Blue Dogs, including Ross. If seven Democrats vote with Republicans against the bill, it would fail to advance to the House floor. Asked whether the Blue Dogs on Energy and Commerce are considering voting as a group against the bill if it remains unchanged, Ross replied, “absolutely.”
If those Blue Dogs give in to President Obama’s persuasion, they’ll look like they’re just as easily bought as Collin Peterson looks after getting a couple minor concessions on the National Energy Tax. Frankly, I’d make a motion to bloggers that we stop calling them Blue Dog Democrats and start calling them Thirty Pieces of Silver Democrats.
If they don’t object to having that moniker attached to them, that’s fine. I’ll certainly do everything within my power to apply that nickname to them. If they’re only principled until they’re pressured by party leaders, should they be thought of as principled politicians? I don’t think that’s justified if they cave again.
Let’s be clear about this. If the Blue Dogs win some major concessions, then they’ve earned the title of being principled politicians. That said, I don’t see that happening today. I can picture them having a kumbayah press conference after the meeting, with everyone praising each other for the frankness of the discussion and the sharing of ideas.
I won’t care about the photo op, though. I’ll want to see what, if any, concessions the Blue Dogs won and how they vote on the legislation. All the happy talk in the world doesn’t mean anything if disastrous legislation gets passed with their help.
Technorati Tags: Reforms, Health Care, Blue Dogs, Mike Ross, Collin Peterson, cap And Trade, President Obama, Lobbying, Democrats, Election 2010
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog