TPMDC Henry Waxman
Henry Waxman
Top Democrat Says GOP Will Have To Budge Big Time in Payroll Tax Fight
A key Democrat tasked with helping to negotiate a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits, and Medicare physician reimbursements says Republicans will have to move significantly off their December demands or all three will lapse.
"We want to extend the middle class tax cut, we want to extend unemployment insurance, and we want to keep our promise to Medicare beneficiaries that we're going to pay for their doctors, so they can have access to their physicians," Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) told me in a brief interview off the House floor Tuesday. "But I'm not going to support something to pay for that by cutting Medicare or cutting the middle class. We can reach an agreement on these things, but the Republicans are going to have to move."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Doc fix, Henry Waxman, Medicare, Oil, Payroll Tax Cut, Tax Cuts, Taxes, Unemployment
Barack Obama
GOP Takes Aim At Companies On Obama's Jobs Council
House Republicans are no longer content to use the investigative powers of Congress to go after President Obama's healthcare overhaul by compelling Obama administration to cough up information and testify before their committees.
In recent weeks, the GOP has launched a dragnet for internal information from companies with ties to the White House about the healthcare law and its impact on business.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Diana DeGette, Fred Upton, GOP, Health Care, Health Care Repeal, Henry Waxman
Debt Ceiling
Will Liberal Dems Swallow Debt Deal Slammed As A 'Satan Sandwich'?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Rep. George Miller (D-CA)
Some of the most senior and well-respected members of the Democratic caucus are simply disgusted with being force-fed the debt deal President Obama, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) hashed out with GOP Congressional leaders, but many will likely hold their noses and vote for it anyway.
The anger and disappointment is painfully obvious when you talk to some of the liberal stalwarts of the caucus. Pelosi told ABC News' Diane Sawyer earlier Monday that she planned on voting for the deal, even though she considered it a 'Satan sandwich with a side of Satan fries" simply because there were no other viable options.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Congressional Black Caucus, Debt, Debt Ceiling, George Miller, Henry Waxman, Nancy Pelosi
Medicare/Medicaid
Debt Deal Could Spare Middle and Upper Class Seniors, But Slam The Poor
Medicaid recipients receive treatment
Democrats' rallying cry on deficit talks couldn't be clearer: It's the elderly, stupid.
That means Medicare benefits are off-limits, a message that Democrats plan to reinforce at every opportunity through November 2012. With Republicans demanding trillions in cuts to raise the debt limit, however, savings are going to have to come from somewhere. The most logical option left is Medicaid, a favorite conservative target whose low-income recipients carry little clout in Washington compared to Medicare's elderly and middle-class base.
But there is one politically tricky obstacle to cutting Medicaid: Millions of seniors -- including those who consider themselves middle class -- rely on Medicaid cover their nursing home care, meaning any raid on its funding could complicate Democrats' image a the tireless champion of retirees across the land.
Mindful of the problem, aides and lawmakers are floating a way forward: shielding the elderly from Medicaid cuts while slashing aid to poor and uninsured Americans.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 112th Congress, Bill Pascrell, Debt Ceiling, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare/Medicaid, Rob Andrews, Senate
Medicare
Democrats Break Down Impact Of GOP Medicare Plan District By District
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA)
House Democrats have broken down the massive changes to Medicare and Medicaid proposed by the House GOP into a convenient take home size.
Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman (CA) and Frank Pallone (NJ), voters can now see what Democrats say is the direct impact of the Republican plan to turn Medicare into a voucher system on every congressional district in the country.
Waxman and Pallone have set up an interactive map that allows viewers to pop open a report on the impact of the Medicare change on the population in their community.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Frank Pallone, Henry Waxman, Medicare, Medicare/Medicaid
Henry Waxman
Waxman: Back Off Medicare Means Testing
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Underscoring the fact that there's significant opposition to means-testing Medicare in the Democratic Party, Rep. Henry Waxman's office blasted out a statement this afternoon pushing back on House Speaker John Boehner's strong hint that this should be part of the debt limit negotiations.
"Under existing law, well-off seniors are already going to be paying more for their Medicare premiums," says Waxman, a California Democrat.
Further changes to Medicare at the expense of the wealthier or middle class seniors may push them to leave the program and end up with Medicare costing more because it would still have the sickest and poorest people left. In other words, this idea may undermine Medicare and cost beneficiaries more at the same time. PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Debt, Debt Ceiling, Henry Waxman, John Boehner, Medicare, Steny Hoyer, Taxes
Health Care
House Republican's Health Care Reform Probe Could Backfire On GOP
If House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) really wants to know what deals were struck between the White House and the health care industry to pass health care reform, he may end up giving health care reform some free advertising.
As part of his quest to publicize all of the dealmaking that characterized the health care reform process, Upton says he'll consider pressing industry leaders for details on their private negotiations with the Obama administration.
"It's something that's not off the table, in terms of what we may do," Upton said at a recent press conference with House leadership.
So far, Upton has directed all of his inquiries at the White House, to no avail. Changing course would give him easier access to the information he seeks (or claims to seek), but might put him behind the eight ball politically. That's because many of the stakeholders in question -- drug manufacturers, hospitals, and other interested parties -- either support the law, or entered a sort of non-aggression pact with the administration.
And if Upton drags those leaders -- many of whom lean Republican -- up to the Hill for a public hearing about their participation in the process, he may hear more about how they think it's a good law, than about how shady the whole process was.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Billy Tauzin, Fred Upton, Health Care, Henry Waxman, Max Baucus, PhRMA, Public Option
Nuclear Energy
Could House Restore Nuclear Safety Funding?
U.S. lawmakers are sticking to their past support for nuclear power despite Japan's ongoing crisis, but the disaster could put the kibosh on proposed funding cuts to nuclear safety programs in America.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has called on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he is the ranking minority member, to hold hearings on nuclear safety, and National Journal quotes a Republican aide saying that there will a budget hearing on the issue in the wake of Japan. The Republicans' proposed bill funding the government through September would cut $131 million from the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy as well as $1.4 billion from emergency response training to chemical and radioactive disasters.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 112th Congress, Henry Waxman, Japan, Lindsey Graham, Nuclear Energy
Henry Waxman
Waxman On Issa: 'He's Not Gotten Off To A Good Start'
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
You know whose first days as chairman of the House Oversight Committee didn't involve having to fire a high-profile staffer? Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who ran the committee from 2007 through 2009.
I caught up with Waxman in the Speaker's Lobby during a House vote on short-term spending Tuesday afternoon and asked him to weigh in on his heir Darrell Issa, who's had tougher luck.
"He's not gotten off to a good start," Waxman said, "and he's got to figure out how to make corrections in his own operation."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Darrell Issa, Henry Waxman, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Oversight Committee
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
As Frustration Grows, Airports Consider Ditching TSA
The Washington Post reports: "Some of the nation's biggest airports are responding to recent public outrage over security screening by weighing whether they should hire private firms such as Covenant to replace the Transportation Security Administration. Sixteen airports, including San Francisco and Kansas City International Airport, have made the switch since 2002. One Orlando airport has approved the change but needs to select a contractor, and several others are seriously considering it."
Obama Craves Familiarity On Hawaiian Vacation
The Associated Press reports: "There are those who crave adventure and spontaneity during their vacations. Then, there's President Barack Obama. More than a week into his Hawaiian holiday, Obama is proving to be a creature of habit, seeking refuge in the comfort and consistency of a familiar routine."
Topics: 2010 elections, Barack Obama, Climate Change, Eric Holder, Henry Waxman, Roundup, Sarah Palin, TSA
Andy Harris
GOPer Who Whined About Gov't Health Care Denied Committee Assignment
Rep.-elect Andy Harris (R-MD)
Karma's something something.
Remember Rep.-elect Andy Harris (R-MD)? The anti-health care reform physician who got a heap of bad publicity when he made a fuss about having to wait a few weeks until his employer- (a.k.a. government-) provided health care kicked in? And who asked whether the government had a... public option, of sorts, from which he could buy insurance in the interim?
Turns out hubris has consequences.
According to The Daily Times, "The Maryland Republican didn't get his top choice for a committee assignment, the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over public health issues."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Andy Harris, Anthony Weiner, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House Energy & Commerce Committee, Public Option
Barack Obama
Inside The GOP's Plan To Stifle Obama's Executive Branch Power
Jim DeMint
In the nearly two months since the November midterms, the conventional wisdom has centered on the idea that President Obama's agenda will be largely protected from an influx of Republicans by the Senate's arcane rules and his own veto pen. With 47 members in the 112th Congress, the GOP will lack a majority, let alone a supermajority, to pass the legislation they'd need to pass to undo Obama's accomplishments and blunt his progress -- as if he'd sign those bills anyway.
But Republicans are all too aware of this conundrum, and have been looking for ways around it. What they found is an obscure authority provided by a 1996 law called the Congressional Review Act. It provides Congress with an expedited process by which to evaluate executive branch regulations, and then give the President a chance to agree or disagree.
House Republicans will have carte blanche next year, and will be able to pass as many of these "resolutions of disapproval" as they want. The key is that a small minority in the Senate can force votes on them as well, and they require only simple-majority support to pass. If they can find four conservative Democrats to vote with them on these resolutions, they can force Obama to serially veto politically potent measures to block unpopular regulations, and create a chilling effect on the federal agencies charged with writing them.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Henry Waxman, Jim DeMint, Lindsey Graham, Republicans
Bush Tax Cuts
House Dems Prepare To Fold On Obama Tax Cut Deal
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer with other House Democrats
House Democrats are coming to terms with the fact that a tax cut compromise filled with provisions they despise will pass and be signed into law. On Tuesday night they vented their frustrations to their harried leadership in a private caucus meeting, but emerged acknowledging that they've been boxed effectively in by the White House and GOP.
Tomorrow, after the Senate passes the plan President Obama negotiated with Congressional Republicans, Democratic leaders in the House will present their members with an end game. That endgame may involve passing the legislation word for word. Leaders may allow votes on amendments to the Senate-passed bill, and may even allow some minor tweaks to the package. But as far as dramatically tweaking its key provisions -- particularly the estate tax -- or otherwise endangering the deal, members predict leadership will allow those efforts to fail.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Bill Pascrell, Brad Sherman, Bush Tax Cuts, David Wu, Henry Waxman, James Clyburn, Tax Breaks, Tax Cuts, Taxes
Bush Tax Cuts
Dems Square Off With White House Over Tax Cut Compromise
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama
House Democrats will not silently accept the White House's edict that Congress pass the Obama-GOP tax cut compromise unchanged, touching off a brinksmanship that could kill the plan.
At a private meeting of the Democratic caucus this morning, members overwhelmingly rejected the idea that the plan is inviolable by passing a resolution agreeing not to bring up the tax package without changing it first. However, the White House and Republicans insist that the plan is in stone -- and any changes would likely prompt a GOP backlash.
The Senate could adopt the proposal as early as tonight, leaving House Democrats a choice between swallowing it, modifying it, or rejecting it and starting from scratch.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Bush Tax Cuts, Democrats, Henry Waxman, Joe Biden, John Larson, Raul Grijalva, Tax Cuts
Bush Tax Cuts
House Dems Identify Key Objection To Obama Tax Compromise
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer with other House Democrats
Angry House Democrats identified their key objection to President Obama's tax cut compromise Tuesday night, after they were briefed on the deal in a private meeting by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders.
Several members are withholding their support for the legislation unless the details of an estate tax agreement between the White House and Senate Republicans become more progressives.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Anthony Weiner, Barack Obama, Bill Pascrell, Bush Tax Cuts, Chris Van Hollen, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Henry Waxman, House Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, Tax Breaks, Tax Cuts, Taxes
Steny Hoyer
House Chairmen, Key Pelosi Allies Back Hoyer In Whip Race
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
A number of influential House chairmen, including key allies of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have signed a letter this morning endorsing Majority Leader Steny Hoyer in his race against Democratic Whip James Clyburn to be the new minority whip next Congress.
"Leader Hoyer is ready to hit the ground running as Democratic Whip," the chairmen write. "He is one of our party's most effective messengers, with the ability to challenge Republicans on the Floor, build support for our party's middle-class policies across America, and fight back against the special-interest money that played such an important role for Republicans in this election."
Like us, Congressman HoyerPERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
understands that Americans do not support the Republican agenda of repealing health care reform, loosening rules that protect consumers and our environment, privatizing Social Security, and funding tax cuts for the wealthy with billions of dollars in new debt.Steny Hoyer is a tested leader who can help Democrats rise to the challenge of the next Congress, protect the interests of the middle class, and win back the majority. For those reasons, we support Steny Hoyer as our next Democratic Whip, and we hope that you will do the same.
Topics: Barney Frank, Ed Markey, Henry Waxman, House Democratic Whip Race, James Clyburn, Nancy Pelosi, Nick Rahall, Steny Hoyer
Bush Tax Cuts
House Dems Also Punt On Upper-Income Bush Tax Cuts
House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), President Barack Obama, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
The Senate's decision not to address the Bush tax cuts until after the election is the strongest indication yet that the game is over. After a House Democratic caucus meeting this morning -- but before the news broke on the Senate side -- key legislators were mum, and aides pessimistic, that the House will do what Speaker Pelosi wants to do: force a vote on tax legislation that will put Republicans on the record backing tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Pelosi herself had earlier canceled a scheduled press conference, another sign that her attempt to rally the caucus was coming up short. With House Democratic leaders still insisting that they will follow the Senate's lead, it seems more and more likely that they too will drop the tax cut issue until after the election.
Pelosi's effort to wrangle her caucus into voting on middle-income tax cuts before the election appears not have dislodged conservative and politically vulnerable Democrats who either wanted to extend all the Bush tax cuts, including for high-income earners, or to avoid any kind of risky vote s close to the elections.
In what would be a surprising twist, one member of the Democratic leadership team suggested Dems might pivot away from the argument over upper-income tax cuts and press ahead with a separate raft of cuts before adjourning.
At a press availability after the meeting, TPM asked Majority Whip James Clyburn whether the House will "take up the issue of the Bush tax cuts" before adjourning next week. Clyburn puzzlingly responded by noting that the caucus stands behind a full extension of tax cuts in the stimulus bill. Those cuts are popular among Democrats and Republicans, but are ultimately a different issue than the Bush cuts.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bush Tax Cuts, Democrats, Henry Waxman, James Clyburn, John Larson, Nancy Pelosi, Sander Levin, Tax Cuts
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
Kagan On Track To Be Confirmed For SCOTUS Today
The Senate is set to vote today to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Kagan is expected to be confirmed easily, as there are enough committed votes in her favor for both confirmation and to clear any hypothetical filibuster.
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will visit the Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Chicago at 10:55 a.m. ET, and will deliver remarks there at 11:15 a.m. ET. He will deliver remarks at a 1:45 p.m. ET event for Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, and will also speak at fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee at 6:15 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET. He will depart from Chicago at 8:50 p.m. ET, arriving at Andrews Air Force Base at 10:25 p.m. ET, and back at the White House at 10:40 p.m. ET.
Topics: 2010 elections, Alexi Giannoulias, Barack Obama, Gay Marriage, Henry Waxman, House '10, Maxine Waters, Proposition 8, Roundup
Health Care
Dems Scrutinize Business, GOP Claims That Health Care Will Cost Corporations Millions
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
The ink on the health care law President Obama signed last week hadn't even dried when Republicans and business reporters picked up on a striking claim from some of the nation's biggest corporations. The legislation, they say, will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars this year, thanks to the elimination of a major tax deduction -- but that's a claim the Democrats aren't taking at face value.
Republicans instantly glommed on, using figures released by the companies as part of their ongoing efforts to portray the bill as a jobs killer. "[W]e heard from Caterpillar this week; $100 million it's going to cost them just this year," warned Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on the House floor Sunday--one of several House Republicans to attack the bill for hurting employers.
There are a couple of problems, though.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Democrats, Health Care, Henry Waxman, John Boehner, Louie Gohmert, Republicans
Health Care
Are Democrats Really Scrapping Abortion Negotiations With Stupak?
U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
The Associated Press raised a lot of eyebrows today with this piece, implying that negotiations over the abortion provision in the Senate health care bill had fallen apart.
"House leaders have concluded they cannot change a divisive abortion provision in President Barack Obama's health care bill and will try to pass the sweeping legislation without the support of ardent anti-abortion Democrats," they reported.
Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said the leadership will press ahead without reworking the abortion provision, which opponents say falls short in restricting taxpayer dollars for abortion coverage. He predicted some of the anti-abortion lawmakers in the party will end up voting for the overhaul anyway.PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: Abortion, Bart Stupak, Democrats, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives
Health Care
Dems To White House: Enough With The Health Care Timelines Already!
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Congressional Democrats are under increasing pressure to finish up health care reform, but they've had enough of the White House dictating deadlines to them. And at a bicameral leadership meeting this afternoon--attended by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and other administration officials--they made that very clear.
"I was at a meeting with Rahm Emanuel and he was certainly informed that we don't feel that we want any deadline assigned to us," House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman told a few reporters outside of a Democratic caucus meeting this evening. "We want to pass the bill, we want to make sure it's the way it should be, and soon as possible, but we don't feel that we have to have any particular deadline."
I asked Waxman how Emanuel reacted to the pushback?
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Democrats, Dick Durbin, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Rahm Emanuel, Robert Gibbs, Senate, Steny Hoyer, White House
Health Care
Déjà Vu All Over Again: Why Abortion Imperils Health Care One More Time
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), President Barack Obama
For the third time in less than six months, the issue of abortion threatens to kill health care reform. The initiative is fragile enough without abortion, yet more and more it's becoming clear that abortion is the one, final issue that must be resolved if Democrats are to succeed. But this time, there's much less legislative wiggle room than before and Democrats are scrambling to figure out what, if anything can be done.
The logjam is a familiar one, and comes down to simple political arithmetic. For health care reform to pass, he House must pass the Senate bill word for word, then make minor tweaks to it through the budget reconciliation process. But Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)--and, if we take him at his word, about a dozen of his Democratic colleagues--say they won't vote for health care again unless the Senate's abortion language is made more restrictive--a demand that seems like a legislative impossibility.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Barack Obama, Bart Stupak, Democrats, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Republicans, Senate, Steny Hoyer, White House
Health Care
Insurance Rate Hikes Scrutinized On Capitol Hill As Anthem Forges Ahead With Increases In California
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)
Insurance executives will be in the hot seat today as Congress probes scheduled health insurance rate increases for Anthem Blue Cross customers in California.
Democrats are putting the spotlight on Californians hurt by the rate hikes as witnesses today to put a real face on why health care reform is necessary. The Energy and Commerce panel's Oversight subcommittee hearing examining the rate increases was put together fairly quickly. From a political perspective, it's nicely timed to coincided with President Obama's health care summit tomorrow at the White House.
An executive from Anthem's parent company WellPoint told a California state Assembly panel yesterday they will forge ahead with the increases of as much as 39 percent after May 1, according to the Los Angeles Times. Earlier this month, Anthem was ordered to delay the increases to that spring date by the state's insurance commissioner.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Anthem Blue Cross, Health Care, Henry Waxman, WellPoint
Health Care
Dems Ask California Insurer To Testify About Insurance Rate Hike
U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Democrats have called on Anthem Blue Cross officials to testify about the 39 percent insurance rate hike their California customers have been told to expect this year.
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Bart Stupak will hold a Feb. 24 hearing to examine the rate hike, which the Obama administration has called "extraordinary."
Waxman and Stupak wrote a letter to Anthem parent company WellPoint's President Angela Braly, asking for her testimony and documentation about why the increases are being imposed given WellPoint's profits. Read the letter in full here.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Anthem Blue Cross, Health Care, Henry Waxman, Kathleen Sebelius, WellPoint
Anthony Weiner
House to Senate: We're Ready On Health Care If You Are
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Rep. George Miller (D-CA)
Leading Democrats in the House still insist that "all options are on the table" to move ahead on health care. But for the first time since last Tuesday's special election in Massachusetts, it's clear that they're coalescing around the most widely discussed option: moving ahead with the Senate bill once it's clear that it will be changed through the filibuster-proof reconciliation process. Before they can move ahead, they need the Senate to make some real headway on their end of the bargain--and they're not getting the signs they need.
"I thought we could get the votes in the House to pass the [Senate] bill if fixes to the Senate bill can be done," House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) told reporters today.
"That would be a good option as far as I'm concerned," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), leader of the House progressives' health care task force. "I could support it. Reconciliation. Majority rule."
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA)--one of the key architect's of the House health care bill--gives it the high sign. "I think reconciliation's an appropriate way to proceed on reconciling the budget requirements," he said. "It's available to us. That was very specifically handled that way when we passed the budget."
The hang up, they now say, is not on their end, but that they first need a high sign from the Senate that the two chambers can work in lockstep.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: Anthony Weiner, Budget Reconciliation, Democrats, Harry Reid, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Jan Schakowsky, John Larson, Senate
Democrats
Leading Health Care Experts Tell House To Pass Senate Health Care Bill
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Rep. George Miller (D-CA)
Nearly four dozen of the nation's leading health care luminaries--including Jacob Hacker, the man who brought the public option to light--are urging the House of Representatives to pass the Senate health care bill, and quickly pass a separate bill to modify it: an approach favored by some members of Democratic leadership, major unions, and reform advocates.
In a stark message to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and her health care lieutenants--Reps. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Henry Waxman (D-CA), and George Miller (D-CA)--the experts say it's time for the House to act.
"Both houses of Congress have adopted legislation that would provide health coverage to tens of millions of Americans, begin to control health care costs that seriously threaten our economy, and improve the quality of health care for every American," reads a letter, obtained by TPMDC. "These bills are imperfect. Yet they represent a huge step forward in creating a more humane, effective, and sustainable health care system for every American. We have come further than we have ever come before. Only two steps remain. The House must adopt the Senate bill, and the President must sign it."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Democrats, George Miller, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Public Option, Senate
Health Care
House Leadership To Meet With President Obama Tonight
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), President Barack Obama
Following on a meeting between House and Senate leaders and President Obama last night, a number of senior House Democrats will return to the White House to continue negotiating toward a final health care bill.
Joining House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be Henry Waxman (D-CA), George Miller (D-CA), Charlie Rangel (D-NY)--the chairmen of the three committees that drafted the House bill--and Louise Slaughter (D-NY), chair of the House Rules Committee.
These members, and other House leaders will also huddle this morning, as they continue to discuss what issues should be at stake when the House and Senate health care bills are merged, and how to prevail on those issues.
Check back in at TPMDC for continuing updates.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Barack Obama, Charlie Rangel, George Miller, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Louise Slaughter, Nancy Pelosi, White House
Health Care
House Leaders Meet To Set Top Health Care Priorities
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
House Democratic leaders and key committee chairmen are meeting this afternoon with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to set the stage for future negotiations with their Senate counterparts, where they will shape a final health care reform bill in the coming days and weeks.
Those in attendance include Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA), George Miller (D-CA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), John Larson (D-CT), and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
These principals will be fielding input from rank and file members to enter negotiations with a series of issues on which they'd like to see the House bill prevail over the Senate's.
"That's what we're going to [be meeting about] right now," Van Hollen said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Chris Van Hollen, George Miller, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Rosa DeLauro, Senate, Steny Hoyer
Democracy for America
Poll: Vast Majority Say Anti-Public Option Dems Should Face Primaries
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)
Here's a snapshot of the electorate, at the moment when a small handful of Democrats have teamed up to tank the public option. A new Research 2000 poll, commissioned by Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee finds that the overwhelming majority of likely voters believe Democrats who vote against the public option should face primaries from their left.
When asked: "If a Democratic member of Congress votes against a public health insurance option, would you want a more progressive candidate to run against them in a Democratic primary?" 84 percent of respondents said "yes," 11 percent said "no," and 5 percent said they weren't sure.
Those are fairly striking numbers, particularly given last night's news that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is standing in the way of public option alternatives. Lieberman, along with Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) joined forces several weeks ago, insisting they'd filibuster a health care reform bill if it included a public option. That threat laid the groundwork for a new compromise, but Lieberman's saying even that's a no-go.
The overall survey, which will be released later today, polled 802 from December 11 through the 13th--it's margin of error is 3.5%. For the above question, which went to Democrats only question, 256 were polled, yielding a 6.1% margin of error.
Topics: Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, Democracy for America, Henry Waxman, Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, PCCC, Progressive Community, Progressives, Public Option
Bart Stupak
Think The Stupak Amendment Is Bad Now? It Could Have Been Worse
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which voted way back in July to advance health care legislation to the House floor. At the time, the legislation stipulated that no federal funds authorized by the bill would be used to pay for abortions, except in cases of incest, risk to the life of the mother, and rape. And at the time, that was good enough.
But even back then, Stupak was trying to strengthen the language in the bill restricting the availability of abortion services under the House health care plan.
A day before the bill passed out of committee, Stupak co-sponsored, and voted for an amendment written by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA)--distinct from the now notorious "Stupak amendment"--that would have limited the government's ability to include abortions in benefits plans to cases of incest, life of the mother, and forcible rape.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Abortion, Bart Gordon, Bart Stupak, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Stupak amendment
Health Care
Democrats Optimistic, Progressives Coming To Terms, On Health Care Bill
Before House Democrats unveiled their health care bill, the caucus huddled in the basement of the Capitol to get fired up. As the meeting broke, Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) darted down the hall and a reporter asked him how many votes he had.
"All we need," Clyburn shouted back, cheekily.
Inside the caucus room, members broke into applause.
Unsurprisingly, optimism was the theme of the morning among House Democrats, though some progressives aren't completely pleased with the outcome.
Rep Lynne Woolsey (D-CA)--co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus--said, emphatically, that when she and other liberal leaders meet with the President tonight, she wants to hear him say "that he supports a strong public option and he will take that over to the Senate." As for whether she can support the bill in the House with a somewhat weakened public option, Woolsey told me she needs to learn more.
"We're looking at what they've put in the bill to make up for it not being Medicare-plus-five, to see if it covers...our same goals," she said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Anthony Weiner, Democrats, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Jerrold Nadler, Lynn Woolsey, Public Option
Climate Change
Business Leaders Plan D.C. Visit to Press Swift Action on Climate Change
Executives from some of the nation's most powerful corporations will visit Washington, D.C. this week to press Congress to act swiftly on far-reaching climate change legislation.
The groups, working under the umbrella of the campaign We Can Lead, will meet Wednesday and Thursday for training sessions, briefings, and advocacy on the Hill in support of the House's Waxman-Markey climate change bill and similar legislation.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Cap-and-Trade, Chamber of Commerce, Climate Change, Environment, Henry Waxman
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Waxman: Health Care Bill Still On Track
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: Blue Dogs, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Public Option
Blue Dogs
In Letter, House Progressives Object To Blue Dog Public Option Compromise
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: Blue Dogs, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi
Blue Dogs
After Quelling Progressive Rebellion, House Health Care Mark-Up Continues This Morning
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Blue Dogs, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives
Congressional Progressive Caucus
House Progressives Force Another Mark-Up Delay
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.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Blue Dogs, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Health Care, Henry Waxman
Blue Dogs
How Many Blue Dogs Will Support House Health Care Reform Legislation?
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.
Topics: Blue Dogs, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Public Option
Health Care
Three Key Blue Dogs Still Oppose House Health Care Legislation
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to resume its health care mark-up session this afternoon, after winning over four of the seven Blue Dogs who had been holding it up for several days.
That means three of the Blue Dogs still oppose the legislation, though. And that means committee Chairman Henry Waxman is still working to squeeze the bill through a very small window. There aren't very many progressives on the committee but if more than a couple of them are unhappy with the details of the compromise leaders struck with Blue Dogs, it could once again leave Waxman without enough votes to pass his bill.
Speaker Pelosi has been meeting with progressives to allay their concerns, so that things can proceed as planned.
My sense from conversations with some House aides is that another blow up's not terribly likely. But as you may have noticed if you've been paying attention to the process thus far, just about anything can happen. And, for what it's worth, that's the political math.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Blue Dogs, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi
Health Care
Report: House Reaches Deal On Health Care, But No Vote Until September
CNN just broke some important news. House leaders and Blue Dog Democrats have reached an agreement--the terms of which remain mostly unclear--that will allow the Energy and Commerce Committee to pass health care legislation by weeks end. As part of the arrangement, though leaders have agreed to postpone a vote on the final legislation until after August recess comes to an end.
In the meantime, leaders will stitch together a final package, stitching together the portions of the bill that have been amended by the Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor Committees.
The only figure that's been reported thus far is that Blue Dogs have lowered the cost of the legislation by about $100 billion. But we'll get you more details the moment they're available.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Blue Dogs, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives
Health Care
As August Deadline Approaches In House, Blue Dogs, Liberals, Still Far Apart On Health Care
A number of high profile Democrats are expressing public doubt that the House can pass health care in the next few days before it's set to adjourn for August recess. Chief among them is Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
"You understand that if we pass something out of committee this week, we've got to spend the month of August putting together the three bills," Hoyer told Roll Call. "Saturday and next week is available. Now whether or not there will be any productive reason to stay for that period of time remains to be seen over the next couple of days."
Part of the problem, as I suggested earlier, is that the news out of the Senate has widened a rift between House liberals and Blue Dogs. Rep. George MIller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and an author of House health care legislation, isn't at all pleased with the watered down reform bill the Senate Finance Committee is set to propose.
"I don't think that adds up to health care reform. It doesn't add up to insurance reform. It doesn't add up to keeping costs down. I don't know what the hell that adds up to," Miller said.
Meanwhile, Alpha Dog Bart Stupak says the Finance Committee's expected proposal is yet more evidence that the House needs to scale things back.
"The Senate's on a completely different agenda," Stupak said. "I've been here long enough, you do a bill and you get a plank sawed off behind you."
Stupak is one of the seven Blue Dogs on the Energy and Commerce Committee who's objected to the House's bill. He and his six allies are now trying to decide whether to back a compromise offered by chairman Henry Waxman--but the Finance Committee's on such a different--and less progressive--page that they're wary about striking any kind of deal.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Blue Dogs, George Miller, Health Care, Henry Waxman, Senate, Senate Finance Committee, Steny Hoyer
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