Many Democrats are beginning to realize that the public will blame them if they are forced to give up their health care (which most like by the way) or have to work within a federally controlled system. Unfortunately, President Obama has deferred to the more radical leadership in his party – as in Pelosi, Reid, Frank etc. – instead of staying true to his professed campaign rhetoric which proclaimed concern for the public as a whole . . . obi jo
Dissension among Democrats flared anew on Friday as a top House Democrat threatened to bypass his own committee to speed passage of a bill to provide health insurance for tens of millions of Americans. But by the end of the day, Democrats said they were trying to patch up their differences.
For President Obama, the turmoil in the House represented just one cycle in what promises to be a long legislative roller coaster ride. But the day’s events suggested that House Democratic leaders, having temporarily lost control of one of the most powerful committees in Congress, might have to make significant concessions to secure passage of the legislation, the centerpiece of Mr. Obama’s domestic agenda.
The president met at the White House on Friday with the Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and the Finance Committee chairman, Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, to assess the outlook for the bill in the Senate. Mr. Reid said Thursday that the Senate could not meet Mr. Obama’s goal of approving the bill before its August recess.
At 3 p.m. Friday, the Blue Dogs’ point man on health care, Representative Mike Ross of Arkansas, said that after weeks of discussion with Mr. Waxman, the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, “it pretty much fell apart this afternoon.”
Asked if there was any chance of a deal that would address the Blue Dogs’ concerns about the cost of the trillion-dollar bill and its impact on small business, Mr. Ross said simply, “No.”
Democrats’ Divide Fuels Turmoil on Health Care – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/us/politics/25health.html?ref=health
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