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Peter Roff - U.S. News & World Report
It has been said well and famously that politicians only really commit a gaffe when they tell the truth without meaning to. Add House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the list. Speaking Tuesday to the 2010 Legislative Conference for the National Association of Counties, Pelosi began the windup of her healthcare pitch by alluding to the controversies over the healthcare bill and the process by which it has reached its current state. Then, just after saying, "It's going to be very, very exciting," Pelosi gaffed, telling the local elected officials assembled that Congress "[has] to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it, away from the fog of controversy."
Broad business coalition opposing health care bill
Associated Press
Major business groups say President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is a job killer, and they're launching a multimillion-dollar ad campaign to take that message to voters. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and groups ranging from contractors to retailers said Tuesday the Democratic health care bills would raise their expenses, while failing to control health care costs.
Whip Count: House Dems' positions on the healthcare reform bill
The Hill
The Hill's survey/tracking of House Democrats' positions on healthcare reform legislation.
UPDATED: 3/10/10 at 12:05 a.m.
Firm No
Dan Boren (Okla.) * Won't be changing his mind
Bobby Bright (Ala.) * Voted against House health bill, stimulus and climate change
Artur Davis (Ala.) * Running for governor, but will make sure to return to D.C. to vote no
Proposed Rule on Electronic Health Records (EHRs) Threatens Privacy
Institute for Health Freedom
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a rule that would lead to the creation and sharing of electronic health records (EHRs) for a majority of Americans without their consent. The rule would accomplish this initially through incentive payments for physicians and other providers who create "certified" EHRs and submit electronic data to CMS.1 To be considered "meaningful users" of EHRs, the rule would require doctors and hospitals to submit data for a majority of all their patients--not just those on Medicare and Medicaid.
Votes uncertain as U.S. healthcare endgame looms
Andy Sullivan - Reuters
President Barack Obama's top healthcare official on Sunday seized on a new report to urge quick passage of healthcare reform legislation, but a top Democrat said they did not yet have the votes in Congress. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said a new Goldman Sachs report, which says profits are rising and competition decreasing for private health insurers, showed the need for reform at a time when 15,000 Americans lose their coverage each day.
Oh my: 68% now oppose passing ObamaCare without Republican support
Allahpundit - Hot Air
There's no trendline in the AP's story so let's see if we can make our own. Two weeks ago, Gallup found a 39/52 split opposed to reconciliation; on the same day, Fox News found just 34 percent wanted Obama to pass the bill without GOP support versus 59 percent who thought he should start over if no compromise was possible. Since then, The One's mumbled about the Olympic spirit, declared -- for maybe the fifth time since last year -- that the time for talk was over, and hit the road to demand an "up or down" vote on a bill that the public hates because he owes that to the public.
AP-GfK Poll: Public wants elusive accord on health
Charles Babington - Associated Press
Americans and their lawmakers are dramatically out of sync on health care, with large majorities of people looking for bipartisan cooperation that's nowhere in sight. A new Associated Press-GfK Poll finds a widespread hunger for improvements to the health care system, which suggests President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies have a political opening to push their plan. Half of all Americans say health care should be changed a lot or "a great deal," and only 4 percent say it shouldn't be changed at all.
Why Obama Can't Move the Health-Care Numbers
Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen - Wall Street Journal
One of the more amazing aspects of the health-care debate is how steady public opinion has remained. Despite repeated and intense sales efforts by the president and his allies in Congress, most Americans consistently oppose the plan that has become the centerpiece of this legislative season. In 15 consecutive Rasmussen Reports polls conducted over the past four months, the percentage of Americans that oppose the plan has stayed between 52% and 58%. The number in favor has held steady between 38% and 44%.
Obama pushing on health care end game
Associated Press
President Barack Obama makes a closing argument today for health care reform. He'll travel to a St. Louis high school for his second health care address in three days and push a new anti-fraud plan. His speech comes as congressional Democrats stand on the brink of delivering a dramatic success with passage of sweeping legislation -- or a colossal failure if they can't get it done.
Hoyer rebuffs Gibbs on Mar 18 deadline
Patrick O'Connor - Politico
Don't confuse the House timeline with the White House timeline, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) warned reporters Tuesday. "None of us has mentioned the 18th, other than Mr. Gibbs," Hoyer said in response to a question about whether Congress can pass a health care package by March 18, the date laid out last week by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. "We are trying to do this as soon as possible. That continues to be our objective."
Democratic Leaders to Rahm Emanuel: Stop the Health Care Deadlines
Trish Turner - Fox News' Speaker's Lobby
After about an hour and a half-long meeting with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on health care reform, Congressional Democratic leaders emerged to say the following message was sent to the senior Administration adviser: deadlines are not helpful. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reiterated Tuesday that the President wants the House to pass the Senate bill by March 18, ahead of Obama's trip to Indonesia and Australia, but virtually no deadline has yet been met in more than a year of dealing with health care legislation, and Democratic senators to a letter have fled from those coming from the White House now.
A dizzying array of options to pass health care
Patrick O'Connor and Carrie Budoff Brown - Politico
It's a hard time find a House Democrat who wants to vote for the Senate's health care bill. But they may not have to -- at least directly. Party leaders have discussed the possibility of using the House Rules Committee to avoid an actual vote on the Senate's bill, according to leadership aides. They would do this by writing what's called a "self-executing rule," meaning the Senate bill would be attached to a package of fixes being negotiated between the two chambers -- without an actual vote on the Senate's legislation.
Stupak: There's No Deal, And I Won't Agree to a Promise to Fix the Bill in the Future
John McCormack - Weekly Standard
Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak said yesterday at a townhall in his home state, "I'm more optimistic than I was a week ago" that a deal could be reached to pass a health care bill that bans public funding of abortion. Some speculated that this meant Stupak was ready to cave. "Obviously they don't know me," Stupak said in an interview this afternoon with THE WEEKLY STANDARD. "If I didn't" cave in November, "why would I do it now after all the crap I've been through?"
Democrats: No thanks to new 'Gang of 14'
Carrie Budoff Brown and Chris Frates - Politico
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wants to revive the bipartisan Gang of 14 -- this time for health care reform, not judicial nominees.But most of his moderate Democratic colleagues aren't rushing to R.S.V.P.Graham said Tuesday that a coalition of Republican and Democratic senators could rescue the Senate from an institutional disaster brought on by the use of the parliamentary maneuver known as reconciliation to finish the health care bill.
Health care overhaul's biggest threat? A delay in the vote
Margaret Talev and David Lightman - McClatchy Newspapers
Thousands of liberal public-option backers and conservative tea partiers launched last-chance campaigns Tuesday in the nation's capital to persuade Congress to pass -- or reject -- sweeping health care legislation. Democratic congressional leaders conceded that they may not have the votes for final passage of the overhaul by March 26, when Congress is to break for spring recess. They're trying to convince party moderates and abortion foes to go along. President Barack Obama wants final votes even earlier, before his March 18 departure on an overseas trip. That appears unlikely.
Parliamentary Hurdle Could Thwart Latest Health Care Overhaul Strategy
David M. Herszenhorn and Robert Pear - New York Times
The White House and Democratic Congressional leaders said Tuesday that they were bracing for a key procedural ruling that could complicate their effort to approve major health care legislation, by requiring President Obama to sign the bill into law before Congress could revise it through an expedited budget process. An official determination on the matter could come within days from the House and Senate parliamentarians, and could present yet another hurdle for Mr. Obama and Democratic leaders as they try to lock in support from skittish lawmakers in the House.
On health-care reform, Republicans target Democrats' division over reconciliation
Shailagh Murray - Washington Post
As Republicans work to prevent a health-care bill from reaching President Obama, they are scrambling to exploit divisions between Democrats in the House and the Senate. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned House Democrats that they would be taking a colossal risk if they approved the Senate's version of health-care legislation before the Senate had acted to remove some of the bill's most contentious provisions. Now that Democrats have lost their supermajority in the Senate, some variation of this delicate two-step process is the only way a health-care reform bill can become law.
Tea Party groups come to town to lobby against health-care reform
Amy Gardner - Washington Post's 44
Tea party organizers came to Capitol Hill Tuesday night to kick off a weeklong campaign they're calling "Take the Town Halls to Washington," an effort to block Democrats' latest push for health reform. It's not clear how many protestors will actually travel to Washington for the campaign, which is being organized by the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition and Tea Party Nation. Leaders say busloads of local grassroots activists from around the country will visit Washington over the course of the week.
Obama and health care: When's the vote
David Jackson - USA Today's The Oval
President Obama and his critics are using campaign-style tactics in the health care battle, but this kind of political contest has one big difference: No one knows exactly when the election will be. A House vote on the Senate health care plan is the first step toward a final bill, and there appear to be differences among Democrats as to when that should be. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs wants a House vote before March 18, the day Obama is scheduled to leave for a trip to Guam, Indonesia, and Australia. But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters yesterday that, "none of us have mentioned the 18th other than Mr. Gibbs." Hoyer said his "objective" is March 26, the day before the House adjourns for a two-week recess.
Democrats On the Fence Feeling Pressure on Health Care
On the Record w/ Greta
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: At this moment, our next guest is one of the most powerful people in Washington. Everyone wants his vote. First time around last November, Democratic congressman Jason Altmire voted no on the health care bill in the House. That was then. So what about now? President Obama desperately needs his vote to change to a yes. So is Congressman Altmire going to change his vote to yes? Well, let's ask. He joins us live.
GOP plan: Play on Blue Dogs' nerves
David Rogers - Politico
When Mitch McConnell speaks these days, he expects House Blue Dogs to be listening. It's not that the Senate minority leader imagines himself to be E.F. Hutton, but he's very much part of a newly launched Republican shadow war to block health care reform by playing on the nerves of wavering Democrats across the Capitol. Speaking on health care Monday, McConnell suddenly switched gears, for example, and threw in a line about the high cost of the Senate's $100 billion-plus jobless benefits bill, heading soon to the House. "Every dime" of 10-year savings from health reform would be wiped out "with one stroke of the president's pen," he said. And by implication, debt-conscious Blue Dogs can't assume the country is moving in "a more fiscally responsible direction. ... And this undercuts the entire point of reform," said the Kentucky Republican.
| Latest Polling |
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Associated Press/ GfK March 9, 2010 68% think the president and congressional Democrats should work with Republicans on health care reform, rather than pass a bill with no GOP support. |