TPMDC Mike Ross
Mike Ross
Blue Dog Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) Won't Seek Reelection
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), a co-chair of the moderate Blue Dog caucus in the House, will not run for re-election in 2012.
According to a report in National Journal, Ross could resurface as a gubernatorial candidate in 2014 when Democratic Governor Mike Beebe is forced out by term limits, a position he has expressed interest in in the past.
His seat, the last Democratic one remaining in the state, will be difficult for the party to hold. While Ross was a popular and resilient politician, his district went 58% for John McCain in the 2000 presidential race and has only grown more Republican since the lines were redrawn in redistricting. He's the fourth Blue Dog to retire from the House this year after surviving the 2010 midterms, which eliminated dozens of Democrats in similar swing districts.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Mike Ross
NRCC
NRCC Learns How To Attack Dems Over The Budget (AUDIO)
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)
Just before the House adjourned, Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) voted against the Congressional Black Caucus budget, the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget, the House Democratic budget, the Republican Study Committee Budget, and the House GOP Budget -- the only one of the five options on the table that passed.
That gives Republicans an opening to attack him for refusing to cut spending without mentioning that their own budget does extremely unpopular things -- like reducing deficits over the course of decades by unloading health care costs on to seniors.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Blue Dogs, Budget, Medicaid, Medicare, Mike Ross, NRCC, Republicans, Tax Breaks, Tax Cuts, Taxes
Spending
Thirteen House Dems Vote With GOP To Defund Obama 'Czars'
President Barack Obama
Thirteen Democrats bolstered the GOP's frame that several of President Obama's unconfirmed advisers are "czars" by voting for an amendment to the House spending bill that would defund their offices.
They are Reps. Dan Boren (D-OK), Ben Chandler (D-KY), Jerry Costello (D-IL), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Pete DeFazio (D-OR), Gene Green (D-TX), Larry Kissell (D-NC), Jim Matheson (D-UT), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), Nick Rahall (D-WV), Mike Ross (D-AR), and Heath Shuler (D-NC).
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Ben Chandler, Heath Shuler, Henry Cuellar, Jim Matheson, Larry Kissell, Mike McIntyre, Mike Ross, Nick Rahall, Peter DeFazio, Spending, Steve Scalise
Joe Barton
DCCC Puts GOP On Spot For Not Ousting Barton
Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-TX)
Now that House Republicans have concluded that Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) can keep his post as top GOPer on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Democrats are associating that decision with Republican members in contested districts, highlighting their complicity with party leadership and Barton himself.
"House Republicans like Representative Dave Reichert are keeping British Petroleum apologist Joe Barton as their top Republican on energy policy and continue to back his unbelievable obstruction to holding British Petroleum accountable for this disaster," reads a statement from DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer. "This is another outrageous example of Representative Reichert putting Big Oil, like British Petroleum, before American taxpayers. Voters will not tolerate Republicans like Reichert who want a British Petroleum apologist to lead their party's energy policy and their continuing efforts to block holding British Petroleum fully accountable."
If you're keeping track, Barton first apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward over the government response to the oil spill, then apologized for his apology, then basically took back his apology, until his spokesman took responsibility for taking back the apology.
This push will be made in Reichert's Washington state district as well as the districts of the members below the fold, including GOP leadership.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: BP, Dave Reichert, Eric Cantor, Gulf Coast Oil Spill, Joe Barton, Mike Pence, Mike Ross, Oil, Oil Spill
Health Care
Ross Says He Once Suggested A Medicare Buy-In As A Replacement For Separate Public Option
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)
Earlier today, The Hill ran with an eye-catching statement from Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)--the chair of the Blue Dog's health care task force who recently announced he doesn't support a public option.
"I -- speaking only on behalf of myself -- suggested one possible idea could be that instead of creating an entirely new government bureaucracy to administer a public option, Medicare could be offered as a choice," Ross said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Blue Dogs, Health Care, House of Representatives, Medicare, Mike Ross, Public Option
Health Care
Pelosi Works the Inside Game for the Public Option
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
A number of reports suggest House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reversed a July deal she and Democratic health care leaders struck with Blue Dogs that weakened the public option.
But though that's not accurate to the letter, it is indicative of a private fight Pelosi's waging to keep a public option--preferably a strong one--in the final bill.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Blue Dogs, Health Care, House of Representatives, Mike Ross, Nancy Pelosi, Public Option
Health Care
Key Blue Dog: I Will Oppose Health Care Bill with Public Option
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)--the leader of the Blue Dogs' Health Care Task Force--says he will vote against health care legislation if it includes a public option.
"I have been skeptical about the public health insurance option from the beginning and used August to get feedback from you, my constituents," Ross wrote in a newsletter to constituents. "An overwhelming number of you oppose a government-run health insurance option and it is your feedback that has led me to oppose the public option as well."
"[I]f House leadership presents a final bill that contains a government-run public option, I will oppose it," he added.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Blue Dogs, Health Care, House of Representatives, Mike Ross, Public Option
Health Care
Key Blue Dog Boasts: We Held Health Care Hostage For 10 Days
Via Firedoglake comes the below video, of Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), the Blue Dog's health care point man, boasting of holding House health care legislation hostage in the Energy and Commerce Committee for 10 days.
Ross also repeats a common, but strangely tone deaf, "critique" of a robust public option, tied to Medicare, nothing that "Medicare has really good rates, because they're negotiating for every senior in America." How horrible.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)Topics: Blue Dogs, Health Care, House of Representatives, Mike Ross, Public Option
Blue Dogs
In Wake Of Finance Committee Report, Blue Dogs Mull Offer From Waxman
To borrow a Rumsfeld-ism for a moment, one of the health care debate's known unknowns may soon become a bit clearer. To wit, we may soon know just how much the Senate Finance Committee's negotiations will impact negotiations in the House?
Last night, House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman made an offer to seven Blue Dogs on his committee, lead by Alpha Dog Mike Ross. This morning, Ross will take that offer to the rest of the Blue Dog coalition to gauge how much support it has among conservative Democrats.
But here's the thing: The slow-down in the House has been driven in part by the fact that conservative Democrats don't want to go out on a limb and support a proposal that's significantly more liberal than what the Senate Finance Committee's cobbling together. Now we have a bit more clarity on that proposal, and it's--unsurprisingly--significantly weaker than what the House originally drafted. That'll no doubt weigh heavily on the minds of several Blue Dogs. But how much? I suspect we'll know more after this morning's meeting.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Blue Dogs, Health Care, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, Mike Ross, Senate, Senate Finance Committee
Blue Dogs
Blue Dogs: WH Meeting 'Constructive,' Had 'Breakthrough' On MedPAC
Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, seven of whom are fiscally conservative Blue Dogs, emerged from the White House this afternoon saying their hour-long meeting with President Obama was constructive and that they had a "breakthrough" on Medicare payment recommendations.
The White House's proposal to strengthen the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations on how Medicare pays health care providers, won support from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), according to Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), but they haven't finalized an agreement.
"We came out of the meeting with an understanding that we're moving in that direction, based on the fact that the CBO tells us that it's the biggest single item we can address as it relates to cost containment," Ross told Dow Jones.
Ross also said they agree with Obama's four main goals for health care reform, according to Politico.
"He said it must be deficit neutral. He said it must contain cost and reduce health care inflation. He said we've got to cover as many people as we possibly can, making health insurance affordable for them. And that we need insurance reform, that we've got to cover pre-existing conditions. We share all of those principles, all those concerns," Ross said.
He added that final decisions on cost-cutting measures won't be made until the Congressional Budget Office scores the various provisions under consideration, according to Congressional Quarterly.
Waxman pointed out that the entire committee, and not just the Blue Dogs, are committed to bringing down health care costs, reports The Hill.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Blue Dogs, Health Care, Henry Waxman, Mike Ross
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