Republicans

CENSORSHIP! Dems Cry Foul Over GOP Interference With Medicare Mailers

Brian Beutler | June 15, 2011, 11:15AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

A bitter, behind-the-scenes fight over the GOP's Medicare phase-out plan has bubbled out into the open, and now Democrats are openly charging Republicans with censoring their communications with constituents.

Several House Democrats are petitioning House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), in a letter first reported by Roll Call, to step in and stop Republicans on the House Administration Committee from blocking Democratic Medicare mailers.

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Health Care

What'll It Take? Obama Woos Labor Over Controversial Health Care Tax

Brian Beutler | January 12, 2010, 2:11PM

President Barack Obama

Last night, Obama administration officials, and the President himself, met with the most influential leaders in organized labor to brainstorm ways to fix to a controversial provision in congressional health care legislation, roundly opposed by unions. And it appears the White House is trying to hit the right notes to keep its fragile alliance with unions alive.

At issue is whether there's any way to square the administration's support for a tax on high-end health care plans--a major source of funds--with the concern, articulated by myriad progressives and union officials, that the tax will impact many middle class Americans, and ultimately ensnare more and more of them.

"My understanding it was really discussions surrounding policy fixes that could, to at least try to delay the impact and look at maybe raising the threshold a little more," said one top labor official briefed on the meeting.

"Secretary Sebelius was there for part of the discussion," the official went on. "They are exploring, at least, some modifications that might take into account some collectively bargained plans, maybe trying to tie some exclusion for plans that are covered by a collective bargaining agreement."

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House of Representatives

Latest Health Care Flashpoint Strains Relationships Among Democrats

Brian Beutler | January 8, 2010, 1:17PM

President Barack Obama and Rahm Emmanuel

Last year's health care debate was dominated by a bruising--and ultimately losing--fight over the public option. But simmering on the back burner for weeks while the public option ran its course has been a battle among Democrats over how to pay for health care reform. And now, with the public option swept into the dustbin, the fight over taxes has come to the fore, and is testing relationships all the way up the Democratic ladder to party leadership and the White House.

At issue is whether expanding insurance coverage to over 30 million Americans should be paid for by wealthy Americans (as the House would like), or, as the Senate calls for, by people who have expensive health care plans--many of whom are middle class. The vast majority of House Democrats--and the public at large--oppose the Senate proposal. But the idea has one powerful ally: President Obama.

"The polling just hasn't moved an inch," Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) told me. Recent data indicates that the public opposes the Senate's so-called "Cadillac tax" plan by a two-to-one margin. "Frankly, it's the same polling that was there when Obama went after McCain on this."

According to Courtney many in the House believe that, after sacrificing the public option, Democrats should draw a line in the sand over the excise tax--including one Democratic leader.

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