Congressional Progressive Caucus

Waxman: Health Care Bill Still On Track

Brian Beutler | July 31, 2009, 11:11AM

Just as a bit of an update, since there have been so many ups and downs, House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) says health care legislation is still on track to pass his panel, probably before day's end.

Waxman says he's managed to mollify progressives on his panel by restoring some subsidies to uninsured, middle-class Americans who, under the terms of the bill, will have to buy health care on the individual market. At a glance, this mini-bargain doesn't seem as if it will placate the 57 progressive signatories to this letter, who say they won't vote for the final bill unless minor changes to the public option, made at the behest of House Blue Dogs, are reversed.

But I'll look into it.

Blue Dogs

Update: After Public Option Concession To Blue Dogs, 57 House Progressives Say They'll Vote

Brian Beutler | July 30, 2009, 8:11PM

As an update to this post, 57 House progressives have now signed a letter vowing to vote against health care legislation unless concessions to conservative Blue Dogs related to the public option are reversed. That's up from 53 this afternoon, which was already more than enough, in theory, to kill the bill. You can view the final copy of the letter, including all signatories at this link.

Blue Dogs

Despite Progressive Objections House Committee Still On Track To Pass Bill

Brian Beutler | July 30, 2009, 3:06PM

Of the 53 progressives who have signed a letter saying they won't abide by the compromises Democratic leaders offered to Blue Dogs, none sit on the House Energy and Commerce Committee--the panel where health care legislation originally stalled, necessitating the concessions in the first place.

That leaves the legislation in decent shape to pass out of the committee in time for August recess. But this throws the bill's prospects on the floor into some doubt. If the compromises Blue Dogs fought for--particularly a public option that isn't tied to Medicare--are included in the legislation, and progressives stick to their pledge, then the bill won't have enough votes to pass. But if the public option were to be restrengthened, it could alienate enough Blue Dogs to similarly imperil the legislation.

Health Care

Progressives Say They Have 53 Signatures On Letter Rejecting Public Plan Compromise

Rachel Slajda | July 30, 2009, 2:49PM

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) just announced that Congressional progressives have 53 signatures on the letter that says their caucus won't vote for legislation that contains the Blue Dog compromise.

Woolsey spoke at a rather raucous press conference happening right now outside the Capitol building. (You can watch live on CSpan.org.)

Several members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, speaking at this presser, said they won't vote for legislation that doesn't include a "robust public option."

Blue Dogs

In Letter, House Progressives Object To Blue Dog Public Option Compromise

Brian Beutler | July 30, 2009, 2:28PM

In a letter to be delivered to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House health care leaders, Congressional progressives will reject a compromise Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) forged with Blue Dog Democrats to advance legislation. "We regard the agreement reached by Chairman Waxman and several Blue Dog members of the [Energy and Commerce] Committee as fundamentally unacceptable," it reads.

This agreement is not a step forward toward a good health care bill, but a large step backwards. Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, for a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates - not negotiated rates - is unacceptable.

You can read the letter, the text of which was obtained by TPMDC, below the fold. It was being circulated for signatures until early this afternoon*, and could be released officially later today. Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are hoping 50 or more members will sign on, to prove they have enough votes to kill the final bill. Earlier today, over 30 had added their names to it, according to one source, but that number could have grown. We'll get you more details as they're made available.

Late update: House Progressives have announced that they've rounded up 53 signatures--if every one of them legitimately votes against a bill that incorporates the compromises the Blue Dogs extracted, they would kill it.

Late, late update: * After making it to 50 signatures, progressives will continue to seek signatures, hoping to achieve 60.

Read more »

Blue Dogs

After Quelling Progressive Rebellion, House Health Care Mark-Up Continues This Morning

Brian Beutler | July 30, 2009, 9:06AM

After several derailings, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is once again on track to mark up health care legislation, and should resume deliberations this morning.

After brokering a deal with Blue Dog Democrats yesterday, chairman Henry Waxman thought he'd cleared the last big pre-recess hurdle standing in the way of a committee vote on health care legislation. He expected to resume mark up yesterday afternoon en route to a Friday passage. But then, House progressives--reluctant to further weaken the public option, but, moreover, displeased with leadership's solicitousness of conservative Democrats--threw another obstacle in the way, and threatened to block the bill once more. Addressing those objections proved challenging for House leaders, and led Waxman to (again) delay proceedings.

But last night there was yet another breakthrough, as House progressives agreed, reluctantly, to let the bill move forward. They note that there remains plenty of opposition among House progressives, and are still holding out the possibility of opposing the final legislation. But for now it looks like the committee will wrap things up before recess and a final bill will be put together for a likely floor vote in September.

Congressional Progressive Caucus

House Progressives Force Another Mark-Up Delay

Brian Beutler | July 29, 2009, 5:36PM

And here we go again. Now that House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman has enough Blue Dog support to pass the bill, he has to sell it with progressives. And that's not proving to be as easy as he'd hoped.

"[They] have a lot of questions about the legislation," Waxman told reporters, "and I think it's more important that we sit in the Democratic Caucus and let people ask questions, get answers, hear each other out."

What exactly are their concerns? Well, for one, the compromise included a change to the public option that could weaken it on the merits. As originally written, the House bill would have temporarily tied the public option's pay rates to Medicare rates. Now they'll be negotiated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, meaning the rates will vary regionally, and often fall closer to private insurance rates than government rates.

But more generally, the Congressional Progressive Caucus basically believes that their views have been marginalized throughout the Blue Dog process, and are understandably frustrated about being asked to accept compromises with Blue Dogs when they've already compromised a great deal. Last week, several House progressives warned that they couldn't tolerate any further weakening of the public option, and asked to play a greater role in negotiations. Now they feel leaders ignored their concerns.

The mark up was scheduled to resume tonight, but now it looks like it will have to wait until tomorrow, with the goal still to pass the bill by Friday.

Blue Dogs

How Many Blue Dogs Will Support House Health Care Reform Legislation?

Brian Beutler | July 29, 2009, 5:23PM

Four out of seven Energy and Commerce Blue Dogs have signed on to a compromise on health care reform legislation. But can we use that split as a stand in for the broader Blue Dog caucus? Not necessarily.

"The 52-member Blue Dog Coalition has not taken a group position on the draft health care legislation that is working through the committee process," said Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration. "Today's announcement signifies that the committee process is moving forward. The committee will work its will, but the broader coalition has not ratified any agreements related to the draft legislation."

"If you poll the Blue Dog coalition individually and separately, you'll find that not everybody is on the same page and there is no position collectively," said Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) one of the three Energy and Commerce Blue Dogs who still opposes the bill.

To provide a bit more data still, only one of the five Blue Dogs on the Education and Labor, and Ways and Means Commmittees--Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA)--voted for the legislation.

But that was before this compromise was brokered, and even then, other Blue Dogs had articulated support for health care reform. At the same time, last week, House progressives told Democratic leaders they could not countenance any further weakening of the public option--and today the House's public option was somewhat weakened.

Which is all to say that barring the defection of a number of House progressives, Henry Waxman bought himself and his allies in leadership some breathing room today.

House of Representatives

House Progressives: We Can Not Tolerate Further Weakening Of The Public Option

Brian Beutler | July 24, 2009, 4:51PM

As if there weren't already too many factions of the Democratic party working at cross-purposes on health care, eight members of the House progressives are now saying, on behalf of the entire Congressional Progressive Caucus, that they won't tolerate any more weakening of the public option.

"We cannot tolerate further weakening of the public option," the letter reads.

We are also concerned about the latest discussion regarding the Independent Medicare Advisory Commission. We understand that no final decision has been made. However if discussions move forward to make IMAC a reality, we ask that you include us in discussion.

You can read the entire letter here. Some of the signatories are on record saying they won't vote for a bill unless it creates a public option--but now they're saying they won't vote for it if the one on the books right now is weakened any further.

About as soon as the letter was released, though, the status of the House health care bill became all-but unknowable, and it's not really clear how germane these concerns will be once the smoke has cleared. Still, it's a rare show of muscle from a group whose vote is often taken for granted, and that's sure to lift the spirits of beleaguered reformers after a hectic and disappointing week.