The Faces Of Betrayal
If this article is right, then Speaker Pelosi’s face is the new botoxed face of betrayal. Here’s what the Hill is reporting:
Speaker Pelosi is backing away from a deal she cut with centrists to advance health reform, said a source familiar with talks.
Pelosi’s decision to move away from the agreement that was made with a group of Blue Dogs to get the bill out of committee would steer the healthcare legislation back to the left as she prepares for a floor vote.
Pelosi is planning to include a government-run public option in the House version of the healthcare bill. She wants to model it on Medicare, with providers getting reimbursed on a scale pegged to Medicare rates. “The speaker is full-steam-ahead,” said a senior Democratic aide.
If Speaker Pelosi hijacks this bill after Mike Ross negotiated a deal with Henry Waxman, she’ll destroy her credibility with Blue Dogs. If she loses them, then she’ll lose their support for major parts of the Democrats’ agenda, meaning that she’ll possibly suffer a number of humiliating defeats.
This isn’t just about Pelosi backing out of the deal either:
Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and a group of fellow Blue Dogs had negotiated a deal with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in July that would remove the link to Medicare. Under that plan, officials with the government-run plan would negotiate individually with providers.
That move, which drew howls of protest from liberal members, prevented the bill from getting stuck in committee. But Ross returned from the August break saying he couldn’t support a public option under any circumstances, essentially withdrawing his support for the deal.
Anyone who negotiates an agreement on legislation, then backs out of that agreement, deserves whatever he gets. Anyone who backs out of a deal that they’ve negotiated shouldn’t complain that their credibility disappeared.
These conflicts and hard feelings are only part of the reason why I discount Harry Reid’s blustering about using the nuclear option:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid threatened on Tuesday to use a procedural maneuver to steamroll opponents of health care reform, even as a Senate panel began delicate negotiations over a package that could have the best chance at passing.
The Nevada Democrat, who has issued similar threats before, spoke as the Senate Finance Committee began debate over Chairman Max Baucus’ reform plan. Reid threatened to use a budgetary tool called reconciliation, also known as the “nuclear option”, that would allow Democrats to pass key parts of the legislation with a simple majority, as opposed to the 60 votes needed to avoid a Republican filibuster.
“If we can’t work this out to do something within the committee structure, then we’ll be forced to do the reconciliation,” Reid said, adding that he views that as a “last resort.”
“It remains to be seen as to whether we will have to do reconciliation. I am confident and hopeful we won’t have to do that, but time will only tell,” Reid said.
Sen. Reid must think that the American people take him seriously. Just because he holds the post that LBJ once held doesn’t mean that people think of him in that same light. NOTE TO SEN. REID: We pay attention to what’s happening. We know that it isn’t likely that the Finance Committee bill will make it out of committee before the end of next week.
If Reid tries employing the nuclear option, then he’s in for an even bigger headache. Sen. Judd Gregg is working on a list of points of order to ask whether parts of the Finance Committee bill have to be seperated into a policy bill and a appropriations bill. Experts told Newt Gingrich that the points of order, followed by the floor vote, could take another week.
Assuming that the House passes a bill, then the bills need to go to conference committee to iron out the differences between the House bill and the Senate’s bills. Considering the fact that Pelosi is likely to appoint hard left representatives as conferees, I’m expecting the conference committee to be contentious, possibly even testy.
If those aren’t enough hurdles, then there’s this: Senate rules dictate that the nuclear option can’t be used after October 15. That’s why most pundits are saying that President Obama won’t get a health care bill to his desk before Thanksgiving.
Technorati Tags: Medicare, Speaker Pelosi, Harry Reid, Reconciliation, Mike Ross, Blue Dogs, Public Option, President Obama, Democrats, Judd Gregg, Republicans
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
September 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 am
When you deal with the Devil, be prepared to be burned.
Every jackass in Congress, whether Democrat or Republican, has dealt with the Devil, and now wonders why they’re getting burned.
Pelousy is not the Devil, she’s just a botox-frigid agent, and will do anything to further Satan’s agenda, so the question now is, why are dumpkopfs like Ross surprised she is going back on her solemn(?) word?
I’ve heard of “dumb as a box of rocks”, but for crying out loud, this guy’s gotta get a clue sometime in his lifetime!
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:00 pm
you would think they would have learned from Bush, remember the no new taxes when he gave that up for a tax increase tied to budgets the dems agreed on and renighed