Patterico's Pontifications

7/29/2009

House Democrats Mend Healthcare Fences

Filed under: Obama,Politics — DRJ @ 3:25 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

The “Blue Dog” Democrats have reached a deal with the Democratic leadership on healthcare legislation:

“Across the Capitol, House Democratic leaders gave in to numerous demands from rank-and-file rebels, so-called Blue Dogs from the conservative wing of the party who had been blocking the bill’s passage in the last of three committees.

The House changes, which drew immediate opposition from liberals in the chamber, would reduce the federal subsidies designed to help lower-income families afford insurance, exempt additional businesses from a requirement to offer insurance to their workers and change the terms of a government insurance option.”

This is good news and bad news for Speaker Pelosi and the White House. The leadership must be pleased to have resolved this impasse but the concessions have angered liberal Democrats.

In addition, the revised timetable means the House won’t vote on this legislation until September. It’s a long time until then, including an August recess when many House members will return home and have to face constituents from both sides of the fence.

— DRJ

11 Responses to “House Democrats Mend Healthcare Fences”

  1. We need to reach out and touch our Democrat Congressman. I will be contacting 20 myself.

    HeavenSent (01a566)

  2. The Blue Dogs are only partly on board: 4 out of 7 on the committee, and no commitment from the caucus itself. And the Progressives” are angry. Don’t put the pitchforks away yet.

    Kevin Murphy (805c5b)

  3. Let the games begin. Time to turn the screws and use this window of opportunity to rationalize the reform movement without bankrupting the country.

    vet66 (9d1bb3)

  4. Charles Grassley is the guy what said AIG executives should kill themselves. Can’t wait to see the Grassley touch applied to health care.

    happyfeet (71f55e)

  5. Grassley is a scum bag. Mr Corn Subsidy himself. No recession in Iowa right now let me tell you!

    AIG was expensive but not even 1/1000 as expensive as all the money we have thrown down a rat hole at Iowa for Corn.

    There are certain people who should be struck dead in the most vile ways by God as a message of his ways — Chuck Grassley is on that list and emblematic of all that is wrong with the Republican Party.

    HeavenSent (01a566)

  6. Time is on our side.

    Joe (a32cff)

  7. OK, this is OT, but too good not to share…

    http://feedyouradhd.blogspot.com/2009/07/im-democrat-you-owe-me.html

    Make sure you read the whole thing, some of it’s hilarious; other parts are so true it almost makes me sad PISSED!

    Bob (99fc1b)

  8. I agree about Grassley – the one time he had to stand up for his party, he cravenly caved a la Arlen Spector. With quislings like these, who needs a Republican party anymore?

    Dmac (e6d1c2)

  9. If Medicare and Medicaid are bankrupting the nation how can national healthcare solve our medical problems.

    If Bush’s prescription plan cost $100 as announced why is it costing more than four times that today?

    Why have universal healthcare in Massachusetts, Oregon, and similiar experiemnts with extended healthcare in Hawaii, Oregon and Tennessee ended in failure? The costs escalating rapidly far beyond the orginal estimates.

    I wonder if the GOP will have the courage to dismantle this program when they have the ability to do so and turn back Obama’s “reforms.”

    Thomas Jackson (8ffd46)

  10. I will be on the lookout for Sen. Grassley. He usually doesn’t hide in DC during the recesses and actually comes back to Iowa for other than campaigning, unlike the other piece of crap that is a Senator FOR Iowa.

    No plan is any good unless the politicians and bureaucrats are forced in to plan in the least generous catagories.

    PCD (02f8c1)

  11. I called Grassley’s office and gave them a lead on the geriatric specialist in Iowa (the only one outside of an academic center) who has had to drop out of Medicare in order to properly treat her geriatric patients. It would be interesting if they found her and got them together. She was being harassed and threatened with prosecution if she saw her elderly patients too often. She has now quit Medicare and charges the patients cash. They are willingly paying. There might be a lesson for Grassley there.

    I wouldn’t mind the insurance exchanges if they were combined with taxing health benefits and providing a corresponding credit for buying insurance. That was McCain’s plan (which he couldn’t explain) and, combined with exchanges but no “public option,” it might make insurance affordable. There are lots of ways to reform health insurance without blowing up the system. The Democrats don’t want to reform the insurance system; they want to blow it up.

    MIke K (2cf494)


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