TPMDC Dan Boren
Health Care
Four Democrats Back Health Care Repeal In Test Vote
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
The House voted 236-181 Wednesday, mostly along party lines, to pass a key procedural measure signaling its intent to repeal the new health care law.
Four Democrats joined the unanimous GOP majority in support of repeal: Reps. Dan Boren (D-OK), Larry Kissell (D-NC), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), and Mike Ross (D-AR)
The final vote on the repeal bill -- better known now as the "Repealing the Job Killing Health Care Law Act" -- is scheduled for Wednesday.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, Dan Boren, Health Care, Repealing health care
Health Care
House To Hold Test Vote On Health Care Repeal Today
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
The Republican-led House of Representatives today will hold a key test vote on its top priority: repealing the new health care law.
The up-or-down vote will set the terms of the debate on the repeal bill itself, which is scheduled to hit the floor (and pass) on Wednesday. During that debate, Democrats will be unable to introduce their own amendments and have been closed out of the process more generally. An earlier plan to force committee-level votes on popular elements of the bill was scuttled earlier this week.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012, Dan Boren, Health Care, Jason Altmire, Repealing health care
Nancy Pelosi
Pelosi To Run For Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi
Speaker Nancy Pelosi just announced that she's running for House Minority Leader.
Pelosi broke the news on Twitter, "Driven by the urgency of creating jobs & protecting #hcr, #wsr, Social Security & Medicare, I am running for Dem Leader."
(#hcr stands for health care reform, #wsr stands for Wall Street reform.)
You can read her letter to colleagues announcing her intention here.
For the last three days, gaming out whether Pelosi would make this call has become a favorite parlor game in Washington.
Starting yesterday, sources close to her floated the possibility of a run as a trial balloon, and she herself acknowledged that she was weighing the possibility. Just this morning, numerous Democratic aides gamed out what would factor into her decision.
Topics: 2010 elections, Dan Boren, House Minority Leader, Jason Altmire, John Yarmuth, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer
Polls
Poll: Blue Dog Rep. Dan Boren Maintains Strong Numbers In Deep-Red District
Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK).
A new survey by Public Policy Polling (D) finds that Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) -- one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, and one of the most outspoken critics of the Democratic leadership -- is doing just fine politically in his conservative district.
Boren has an approval rating of 51%, to only 33% disapproval, at the same time as President Obama's approval rating in the district is a ghastly 27%-65%. In the 2008 election, Boren's district voted 66%-34% for John McCain.
PPP communications director Tom Jensen writes: "On the whole Boren's clearly done a good job of differentiating how his constituents feel about him personally from how they feel about his party. 70% of his district disapproves of the job Congressional Democrats are doing. But most of them are planning to vote for him anyway."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Dan Boren, House '10, OK-02, Polls
Dan Boren
Blue Dog Rep. Boren: Dems Will Lose Seats --And That's Good For Me
Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK).
Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, is not only predicting that the party will lose a significant number of seats in the House -- he's welcoming it, saying it will be a "good thing for Oklahoma and for me."
"If we have a tight majority one way or another, that puts me in the driver's seat," Boren told the Tulsa World. "In the 112th (Congress), I probably will have the most influence I have ever had, no matter who has the majority."
Boren did say that a Republican takeover of the House was a "tall order," but also added that the Democratic Party would be forced to move more toward the center politically with a smaller majority.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Dan Boren
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
Talks To Merge Health Care Bill Bills Begin Behind The Scenes
Roll Call reports that the Congressional aides have begun setting up the negotiations between the House and Senate for the health care bill, though at a very early stage. "Everything happening this week is happening behind the scenes," said a Senate aide. "Staff is taking the week to review documents. Informal staff meetings may happen, but nothing is scheduled just yet."
Health Lobby Takes Fight To The States
The New York Times says that with the federal government poised to pass a health care reform bill, the states are set to become the new battlegrounds over issues of opting into some programs, opting out, or fighting them entirely: "Last year, for example, the drug industry poured more than $20 million into political contributions in states around the country. In California alone, the industry spent an additional $80 million on advertising to beat back a California ballot measure intended to push down drug prices."
Topics: Afghanistan, Blue Dogs, Dan Boren, Health Care, House '10, Japan, Peter Orszag, Roundup
Blue Dogs
Blue Dog Boren: We May Take Health Care Into Fall
Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), a Blue Dog, went on Fox News today to say he wants President Obama to slow down on health care legislation, saying Congress "might miss a target deadline going into the August recess. We might take it into the fall."
"I think you're gonna see some compromise come out," Boren said. "We've gotta slow things down."
That falls in line what a Blue Dog aide told a Reuters reporter today -- that they'd ask Obama to slow down on his push for reform. The president is meeting this afternoon with Democrats from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, seven of which are Blue Dogs.
Boren has been outspoken on health care reform. "If health care reform is going to happen, it's going to have to happen in a bipartisan way," he told the Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce. "It's really up to the president."
A bipartisan bill, as Greg Sargent points out, could only exist if the White House dropped its most important goals. So, in essence, Boren is demanding Obama roll over in submission to the Republicans.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Barack Obama, Blue Dogs, Dan Boren, Health Care
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