Blue Dogs

Liberal Groups Organize In Opposition To Entitlement Reform Panel

Brian Beutler | November 25, 2009, 11:44AM

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)

Earlier this month, Republican and Democratic deficit hawks in the Senate, led by Kent Conrad issued a veiled threat to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: let us set up an entitlement-reform commission to address budget deficits, or we'll kill annual legislation raising the country's debt ceiling.

That may sound like a bunch of jargon, but loosely translated it means they want to get their hands on Social Security and they're willing to let America default on its debt, potentially unleashing economic catastrophe, if they don't get their way.

That has touched off a game of chicken as Congress counts down to the new year. Though she's somewhat handcuffed by Blue Dogs, who could join Republicans in forcing legislation calling for such a commission through the House, Pelosi is adamantly opposed to the idea. One side or the other will have to budge. For her part, Pelosi will have progressive organizations on her side.

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Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi Says Stupak 'Goes Beyond Status Quo', 'Optimistic' It Won't Stop Reform

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 19, 2009, 11:50AM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she's feeling positive that a controversial abortion amendment found in the House-passed health care bill won't derail reform if and when a bill leaves the Senate.

"I'm optimistic we'll find common ground," she told reporters this morning. "This is not a bill about abortion, this is a bill about health care."

The Senate reform package which made its debut last night doesn't contain the Stupak Amendment language found in the House bill. In her first public comments on the controversy the amendment has created among members of her caucus on both sides of the abortion debate, Pelosi said she sides with pro-choice advocates who say the language in Stupak goes too far.

"Stupak goes beyond maintaining the status quo" on abortion funding, Pelosi said.

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Health Care

Health Care Reactions Expected To Dominate Capitol Hill Today

Christina Bellantoni | November 19, 2009, 7:45AM

United States Capitol

It's a big day for health care and the reactions will be flooding the zone today.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid revealed his health care bill last night, with a $849 billion price tag. He's holding a big event at 12:15 at the Capitol Visitors Center (and the White House is reacting via a noon conference call).

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is holding her weekly press conference at 11 on Capitol Hill, Minority Leader John Boehner will talk about health care at 11:45.

Republican Sens. Judd Gregg and Lamar Alexander are briefing reporters this afternoon.

Volunteers from Organizing for America and pro-reform groups plan to attend Reid's event and show their health care spirit.

Sen. Chuck Schumer was on MSNBC this morning and predicted the bill will get the needed votes to pass.

He added, "When we get this done, poll numbers will go up."

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Tea Party

Tea Party Group Cancels Plan To Burn Perriello And Pelosi In Effigy

Eric Kleefeld | November 16, 2009, 3:52PM

Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA)

The plan by the Danville TEA Party Patriots to burn Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi in effigy -- a sort of Tea-Party Burning Man -- has been called off, Greg Sargent reports:

"We will not be going forward with the plan," a crestfallen Coleman told me by phone moments ago. "We had to cancel it. The property owner won't allow us to do it. The media attention was something that he didn't want."

Coleman said he was upset that people had gotten the wrong idea about his plan. "I'm disappointed that the story got out of hand and people misinterpreted something we thought would be a little historical lesson. They made people believe that we were committing an act of violence," he said, adding that the "they" in question were the "liberal blogs."

Tea Party

Tea Party Group Getting Cold Feet About Burning Perriello And Pelosi In Effigy?

Eric Kleefeld | November 16, 2009, 10:45AM

Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA)

The Danville TEA Party Patriots, a group that has courted controversy by planning to burn Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a rally this Saturday, may be having second thoughts.

"We've been getting a lot of flack about this," Danville TEA Party chairman Nigel Coleman told the Lynchburg News & Advance, "about burning those two in effigy and a lot of people in the public are unhappy about it. The story has gotten so large, it's kinda strange."

As the News & Advance notes, Coleman himself had announced this event by sending out a press release that promoted the event as "a move sure to spark controversy."

"I still would like to do it, but it's still up in the air at this point," Coleman added. "We've already started stacking firewood and building the effigy...we will have a bonfire. Burning someone in effigy was just gonna be part of it."

Abortion

DeGette: Stupak Agenda Is Much Wider Restrictions On Abortion

Brian Beutler | November 13, 2009, 5:24PM

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)

As co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) is leading the fight in the House to strip the Stupak amendment, which would forbid millions of women from buying comprehensive insurance policies that cover abortion, from the final health care bill. And she takes issue with Stupak's interpretation of the events leading up to the vote that completely changed the stakes of reform debate.

"Basically Congressman Stupak moved the goalposts, and I think it really took [House] Speaker [Nancy Pelosi] and other people by surprise," DeGette told me in an exclusive interview.

She says, after his abortion amendments went down in the House Energy and Commerce Committee (a panel on which she also sits), he demanded he get another crack at it when the Rules Committee set the contours of the floor debate.

"After we defeated him in committee," she said, "he said that he wanted to have an amendment in order on the floor... and that if he didn't have his amendment made in order then he had 40 people to vote against the rule."

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Abortion

Stupak Sticks To His Guns, Blames Liberals For Abortion Amendment

Brian Beutler | November 13, 2009, 12:42PM

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) says that House liberals backed themselves into a wall during health care negotiations, and got stuck with a harsher abortion amendment than they would have had if they'd just played nice. And now, he says, there's no going back.

In an interview with The Atlantic, Stupak says "Speaker Pelosi went to present [House liberals] what she agreed to with us, that it would be part of a manager's amendment.... [T]hey're the ones who insisted, 'No, Stupak doesn't get to go in the manager's amendment, we want it on the floor.' They're the ones who insisted on bringing it to a vote. They're the ones who wanted to vote against me, they were the ones who said they would win this vote."

If they hadn't rejected the Speaker on Friday night, to use their words, there would have been a less restrictive amendment that would have been part of the manager's amendment. They rejected that. They could not live with it. Even the less restrictive language. And therefore the Speaker came back and said, 'Bart, I'm sorry, but our deal's off. So I have no choice, because we made an agreement, I'm gonna have to give you an amendment,' and I said, 'Well, with all due respect, Madame Speaker, I'm not gonna send the amendment we agreed to, because if the deal's off, then I don't have to hold to that agreement, Hyde-lite, and I'm putting up the original Hyde language that I offered in committee, that Joe Pitts and I offered.' That's why it's called the Stupak-Pitts amendment.

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MA-SEN

Pelosi Endorses Capuano In Massachusetts Senate Race

Eric Kleefeld | November 12, 2009, 1:42PM

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA)

The Boston Phoenix reports that Speaker Nancy Pelosi will step into the Massachusetts special Senate election, endorsing Rep. Mike Capuano:

Capuano is considered a top Pelosi lieutenant -- he headed her transition team when the Democrats took the majority in 2006 and made her Speaker.

Nevertheless, it was unknown whether Pelosi would publicly endorse Capuano, against a woman opponent. Pelosi has been a strong advocate of increasing the number of women in elected office; Martha Coakley would be only the 18th woman in the current US Senate if elected.

A new Suffolk poll has state Attorney General Martha Coakley in the lead with 44% in the Democratic primary, which will be held on December 8, followed by Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca with 17%, and Capuano at 16%.

Calls to Pelosi's office and Capuano's campaign were not returned.

Late Update: It's official, with the Capuano campaign putting out a press release. Pelosi praises Capuano's work in passing the health care bill through the House -- a subtle rebuke of Coakley's statements that she would have voted against the bill because of the Stupak Amendment, which has become a big issue in the race: "Saturday the House of Representatives passed a historic health care bill that was a great victory for the American People. Mike Capuano not only cast a courageous vote for this historic legislation, but was a constructive force in improving this bill and moving it to the Senate."

The full press release is available after the jump.

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Bart Stupak

Controversial Stupak Amendment Sows Anger, Confusion On Capitol Hill

Brian Beutler | November 9, 2009, 6:55PM

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)

When Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) authored an amendment several months ago to prohibit federal dollars from being used to pay for insurance policies that cover abortion, Democratic leaders and health care principals didn't take his proposal very seriously. As a result it was never subjected to the sort of rigorous analysis that controversial legislation is often treated to. That was a miscalculation. Liberals were forced this weekend to accept the amendment as the price of passing an otherwise progressive health care bill through the House. And now, everyone on both sides of the abortion issue is scrambling to try to figure out what the amendment's language actually means and the practical effect it would have if enacted into law.

As one House Democratic health care aide put it, "there are a ton of unanswered questions."

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Health Care

House Passes Health Care Bill 220-215

Christina Bellantoni | November 7, 2009, 11:19PM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

The House of Representatives has passed a bill calling for comprehensive reforms to the American health care system and universal insurance coverage, marking a major milestone in the battle for health care reform.

It's the first time in the nation's history a chamber of Congress has gotten this far as the House passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act by a vote of 220-215.

The vote came after President Obama made a last-minute appeal to his party during the House Democratic Caucus, asking them to "answer the call" of history.

Democrat after Democrat cited history on the House floor during the rare Saturday session, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) saying generations of Americans have wanted health care reform.

"Today the call will be answered," Pelosi said, citing the late Sen. Teddy Kennedy who called health care reform the "great unfinished business of our society."

Earlier in the day, lawmakers were getting Pelosi's signature on their copies of the bill.

All but one of the Republicans opposed the bill after a day of debate, joining 39 Democrats who voted 'No.' Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) was the only Republican to vote for it.

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Health Care

Pelosi: 'We Will Pass Health Care Reform'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 7, 2009, 12:46PM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders just emerged from a closed-door caucus meeting that included a personal appearance by President Obama confident the House will pass a sweeping health care reform bill today.

Addressing reporters outside the caucus meeting room just now, Pelosi looked back briefly before announcing what seemed like a deal to pass reform.

It was three years ago today that Pelosi led Democrats to retake the House after more than a decade of Republican control. She said the date was "appropriate."

"It is appropriate that the promise we made [to voters] ... will be manifested today," she said. "We will pass health care reform."

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Anthony Weiner

Weiner Withdraws Single-Payer Amendment

Brian Beutler | November 6, 2009, 12:44PM

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)

Early in the health care debate, Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised single-payer advocate Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) that the House would hold a mostly-ceremonial vote on a Medicare-for-all amendment. It was a move intended to appease the sizable faction of House liberals who felt they'd had to swallow too many compromises during the committee process.

But if you allow a vote on one amendment you might get drowned in them, so Pelosi and Weiner have come to an understanding and are walking away from the agreement.

"I have decided not to offer a single payer alternative to the health reform bill at this time," says Weiner in a statement. "Given how fluid the negotiations are on the final push to get comprehensive health care reform that covers millions of Americans and contains costs through a public option, I became concerned that my amendment might undermine that important goal."

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Bill Owens

Bill Owens To Be Sworn In At About Noon Today

Eric Kleefeld | November 6, 2009, 11:37AM

Rep.-elect Bill Owens (D-NY)

Rep.-elect Bill Owens (D-NY) will be sworn in today at about noon, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office has confirmed.

Owens's win this past Tuesday in the NY-23 special election was a bright spot for Democrats on an otherwise dreary night, with his victory over Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman giving Democrats a pick-up of a seat that they literally did not hold during the entire 20th century.

Owens will also be meeting with President Obama at 4:25 p.m. ET today. During his campaign Owens had initially been skeptical of a strong public option, but was later supportive of the milder version contained in the current House health care bill. So don't be surprised if the upcoming health care vote, in which Owens could very well make the difference between passage and failure, is a major topic of discussion.

Health Care

House Democrats Set The Stage For Vote On Landmark Health Care Legislation

Brian Beutler | November 6, 2009, 9:34AM

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

The stage is being set for a rare and historic weekend vote on landmark health care legislation in the House of Representatives. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has left herself enough wiggle room to delay the vote in the event that the thorny issues of abortion and immigration prevent her from rounding up the 218 votes she needs to pass the bill, but she and other House health care leaders will be working throughout the day to resolve the concerns of the conservative Democrats who are still withholding support.

Any final agreements Pelosi makes with her caucus will be cemented by the Rules Committee, which, by procedural norm, will set the contours of the debate and vote on the House floor.

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

Strange Scene: 10 Arrested As Tea Partiers Heckle Police

Christina Bellantoni | November 5, 2009, 4:04PM

U.S. Capitol, Tea-party rally

U.S. Capitol Police arrested 10 people this afternoon after the Capitol Hill Tea Party crowd stormed Congressional office buildings.

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, public information office for the Capitol Police, told TPMDC the arrests happened in the Cannon House building as tea partiers attempted to protest Speaker Nancy Pelosi about health care.

They were charged with unlawful entry (entering a Congressional office and refusing to leave when told to do so) and/or disorderly conduct (yelling in the hallway outside an office) at Room 235 in the Cannon House Office Building.

Room 235 is Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office for district business, not where she conducts her duties as Speaker. That's handled at an office in the Capitol building.

TPMDC happened upon a crowd that formed around two police vans as the protesters were prepared for "transporting," according to one officer there.

Without those official details, protesters in the crowd watching the arrests were furious. They shouted "Let them go!" and one man yelled at the police that "Martin Luther King" was being dishonored and shouted "Letter from Birmingham Jail!"

One woman told officers they were "shameful." Others called the arrested protesters "political prisoners."

"This is America, this is not the Soviet Union," one woman said.

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Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi: Republican Health Care Proposal 'Scandalous'

Brian Beutler | November 5, 2009, 11:53AM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

At her weekly press conference this morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bucked the conservative spin that Tuesday's election was a boon to the GOP by noting that the results actually make health care reform easier for her to pass.

"Tuesday night we won two more votes for health care," Pelosi said. Both candidates won, she noted, amid a flurry of anti-reform ads in their districts and, despite the fact that one of the new members hails from a red-leaning district, both will vote for the plan.

"Bill Owens will be a great representative, independent voice, for his district," Pelosi said this.

She also took aim at the Republican health care plan, denouncing it in no uncertain terms.

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Health Care

Obama Gets More Visible On Health Care As House Prepares Weekend Vote

Christina Bellantoni | November 5, 2009, 10:28AM

Capital Building and President Barack Obama

President Obama will travel down Pennsylvania Avenue Friday to speak privately with House Democrats on the eve of a critical vote on health care.

The White House may be attempting to put more of a stamp on the legislation as it weaves its way through the halls of Congress, and administration officials have been forcefully pushing back against reports suggesting health care won't happen until next year.

Last night, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and administration health care staffers huddled with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and leadership senators Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer and Patty Murray on Capitol Hill.

Leadership and administration officials were mum on the details.

Meanwhile, the DNC's Organizing for America has been urging supporters to phone their member of Congress before the Saturday vote.

"We expect it to be very close," Mitch Stewart, director of OFA, wrote to the campaign's 13 million-strong email list.

Health Care

The Public Option Fight Continues--But How Exactly Does Reform Work?

Brian Beutler | November 4, 2009, 1:00PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)

After weeks of waiting and wondering, leaders in both chambers of Congress have announced their intentions with respect to the public option. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is rounding up the votes for a bill with a government insurance plan that will negotiate rates with providers. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is standing behind something similar--with the addition of a clause allowing states to opt out--and is trying to keep his caucus together in the face of unanimous Republican opposition. But what about the rest of reform?

Right now, it's impossible to compare what the Senate is trying to do with what the House is trying to do because Reid hasn't unveiled his bill yet. But though there will surely be some major differences, both proposals will contain some of the same underlying architecture.

The basic theme of health care reform is that insurance would be mandatory, subsidized and regulated. As is the case today, for the first many years after enactment, most people in the country would be insured by their employers--in fact, large and medium-sized businesses would be required to provide insurance for their employees. Uninsured people would either be roped into existing entitlement programs like Medicaid, or required to buy regulated insurance--typically through an "exchange," which, comprised of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of customers, would theoretically have the bargaining power needed to keep premiums down.

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Health Care

Yesterday's Overwhelming Historic Republican Victory Makes Democratic Health Care Reform Just A Bit Easier

Brian Beutler | November 4, 2009, 10:04AM

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi (D-CA) and Congressman-elect Bill Owens (D)

Most of the commentary about last night's elections has centered around Republican pickups in the New Jersey and Virginia statehouses. But what's gone largely unnoticed is that the two congressional seats up for grabs last night both went to Democrats, and that will have immediate ramifications for health care reform.

The NY-23 seat abdicated by Republican John McHugh (who resigned to become Secretary of the Army) went to Democrat Bill Owens--the first Democrat to hold the seat in over a century. And the CA-10 seat abdicated by Democrat Ellen Tauscher (who resigned to become Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs) went to Democrat John Garamendi.

That creates some simple arithmetic. Yesterday, Democrats had 256 voting members in the House. By week's end, they'll have 258. Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could afford to lose no more than 38 Democratic votes on a landmark health care reform bill. Next week, after Owens and Garamendi are sworn in, she can lose up to 40. For legislation this historic and far-reaching, she'll need every vote she can get--and both seem likely to support reform.

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Health Care

Pelosi Unveils 'Manager's Amendment' Finalizing House Health Care Bill

Brian Beutler | November 3, 2009, 10:42PM

After hearing from all sides of her caucus, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced some minor changes to the health care bill she unveiled last week, enshrined in a so called "Manager's Amendment" to the greater bill she plans to bring to the floor.

You can read the Manager's Amendment here (PDF). By agreement, it will have to be online for at least 72 hours before the bill can come to the floor, meaning we could see action by the end of the week. At a glance I see some tweaks firming up the provisions ending the anti-trust exemptions for insurance companies, and creating some real consequences for violators.

Again, at a glance, I see no changes to the public option, particularly one, requested by House progressives, to create a ceiling on the rates negotiated between the government and health care providers. I also see not a single word about abortion--Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) wants to ban any and all federal money--including money spent on subsidies for private insurance plans--from paying for abortions, and he's been raising quite a fuss about it.

But it's legislative text, so we're still going through it, and will certainly have more for you in the morning.

Late update: Pelosi has issued a statement on the amendment, which I've pasted below the fold.

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Health Care

Pelosi To Send House Bill To Floor Today

Rachel Slajda | November 2, 2009, 9:46AM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning to send the health care reform bill to the House floor today, according to The Hill.

With the bill introduced today, the earliest a vote could come is Thursday, because Pelosi has promised 72 hours for the public and Congressmen to review the legislation.

Pelosi said last week that she expects a vote before Veterans Day at the latest.

Late update: Rules Committee spokesman Vince Morris told reporters today that the vote timing has not been announced, but to "stay tuned for something later in the week."

Health Care

Grijalva Requests Changes To Health Care Bill, Vote On Robust Public Option

Brian Beutler | October 30, 2009, 4:22PM

In a curt, terse letter delivered today, public option champion, and progressive caucus co-chair Raul Grijalva says he wants to see some major changes to the House's health care bill--reflected in a so-called manager's amendment--before it comes to the floor.

• Americans in every state in the nation must be able to take advantage of the benefits of the bill; thus the bill shall explicitly state that the public option must be available without any triggers or opt-out provisions.
• If the Secretary is forced to negotiate provider reimbursement rates in the public plan, a ceiling shall be determined and set for such rates.
• The bill shall fully repeal the McCarran Ferguson Act for health and medical malpractice insurance, as oppose to merely amending the Act.

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CBO

Wait A Minute--The Public Option's Premiums Would Be Higher On Average?

Brian Beutler | October 30, 2009, 2:11PM

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and CBO Director Doug Elmendorf

Health care reformers have a number of arguments for the public option, but the main one is this: that by injecting fairness and competition into the market the public option will lower premiums for everybody, including those paying for private plans. Unfortunately, a new CBO study finds that it may not have that effect at all.

The theory behind the public option is that, by injecting a major non-profit insurer into the marketplace, it will force private competitors to cut down on administrative waste and other excesses, and, therefore, drive premiums down for everybody. Last week, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was on the verge of losing the fight for a muscular public option, she said "There's no philosophical difference between a robust public option and negotiated rates. It's just a difference in money."

But is that true? Yesterday, in an analysis of House health care legislation, the CBO concluded that the six million people expected to enroll in the public option by 2019 will be paying, on average, higher premiums than will people buying private plans.

"[A] plan paying negotiated rates would attract a broad network of providers but would typically have premiums that are somewhat higher than the average premiums for the private plans in the exchanges," wrote CBO chief Doug Elmendorf.

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Health Care

House Will Vote On Health Care Before Veterans' Day

Rachel Slajda | October 29, 2009, 6:40PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

In a conference call this afternoon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will vote on health care reform before the Veterans' Day holiday.

Pelosi said next Thursday, Nov. 5, is the "theoretically earliest date" the vote could take place.

Health Care

CBO Says House Health Care Bill Is Deficit Reducer In Near And Long Term

Brian Beutler | October 29, 2009, 4:47PM

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and CBO Director Doug Elmendorf

The CBO has weighed in with a preliminary cost estimate of the House's health care bill--and there are almost certainly some very happy people in House leadership.

At $894 billion, the bill's 10 year cost comes in a hair under President Obama's $900 billion red line. But, more politically and substantively important, the bill is projected to reduce the deficit in both the first 10 years and the second 10 years after enactment, just as Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) told me earlier today.

Over the first 10 years, revenues and savings are projected to exceed new spending (aka it reduces the deficit) by $104 billion. Projections into the following decade are, as CBO chief Doug Elmendorf always notes, very dicey. But Elmendorf says that, from 2020-2029, "the added revenues and cost savings are projected to grow slightly more rapidly than the cost of the coverage expansions." In other words, though the government will pay more and more each year in subsidies and expanded entitlements, it will be realizing savings and collecting revenues at a greater rate.

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Health Care

Pelosi Mum On Obama's Support For The Public Option

Brian Beutler | October 29, 2009, 4:10PM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) with Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was mum today about her level of confidence in the White House's commitment to the public option going forward.

On a conference call with reporters and bloggers this afternoon, I asked Pelosi whether, given recent reports about the President Obama's reluctance to push for a public option in the Senate, she was confident he'd be supportive of the measure going forward.

Pelosi said she's been too busy to gauge the White House's commitment to the public option, but suggested that Obama may need to be a bit more persuaded of its political viability if he's going to throw his weight behind it.

"I guess I'm just so busy with what I'm doing that I'm not worrying about what somebody else is doing, and I have confidence in the President of the United States. He wants the strongest best possible bill that will work for the American people. And we have to convince him that what will pass in the Congress is something similar to what we have in the House," Pelosi said

Pelosi acknowledged that a more robust public option--one with payment rates tied to Medicare--was always a long shot in Congress.

"We knew the Senate was not going to that place if even Senator Kennedy was not going in that place," Pelosi said, referring to the fact that an early version of Senate legislation contained a public option with negotiated rates similar to the one she unveiled today.

But that's about as low as she's willing to go. "I don't see any way to go less than that, as good as it is."

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Health Care

House Democrats Whipping Their Bill

Christina Bellantoni | October 29, 2009, 2:47PM

TPMDC has learned that House Democrats are whipping the new health care bill Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced this morning.

Here's the text of the question Democratic members must respond to this afternoon.

WHIP QUESTION:

Will you support passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act?

RESPONSE DEADLINE: TODAY at 3:00PM

***Please send your response to your assigned Regional Whip
NO LATER than 3:00pm TODAY***

The Affordable Health Care for America Act
Bill Summary

***The full text of the legislation will be available on the website of the Committee on Rules: http://www.rules.house.gov/ ***

***The attached document compares the Affordable Health Care for America Act to H.R. 3200, as introduced***

Health Care

House GOP Knows What It Doesn't Want In A Health Care Bill, Won't Yet Say What It Does

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 29, 2009, 1:59PM

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN)

House Republicans slammed the new Democratic health care reform bill this morning, but didn't say when or if they'll be offering a reform package of their own.

GOP leader John Boehner led a press conference to voice his concerns about the bill an hour or so after Pelosi was done presenting it outside. He walked carrying the nearly 2,000 page house bill, which he dropped with a thud onto the podium.

"Through August and September, the American people made it clear they want know part of a government-run system for providing health care," he said. "[But] this bill amounts to a government takeover of our health care system."

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Health Care

Obama Offers Praise For House Health Care Bill And Cites 'Strong Consensus'

Christina Bellantoni | October 29, 2009, 11:51AM

President Barack Obama

The White House sends over a lengthy statement from President Obama on the house health care bill.

He says he's sure there will be more debate but congratulated Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House leadership for "countless hours of hard work" and for forging "a strong consensus that represents a historic step forward."

Compare that with the White House response to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's reveal Monday. Obama was "pleased" with public option but not as effusive in that statement.

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NRCC

GOP: Pelosi Driving Dem House Members Off A Cliff

Eric Kleefeld | October 29, 2009, 11:27AM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

NRCC communications director Ken Spain released this statement on the House Democrats' unveiling of their health care bill, making it clear that the GOP will try to keep on using this issue as a cudgel against Democrats in swing districts:

"The lasting image coming out of today's press conference is one of dozens of House Democrats standing proudly behind an incredibly unpopular Nancy Pelosi as she prepares to lead them off a political cliff. Not only will the Democrats' government takeover of healthcare lead to increased costs, higher taxes, and cuts to Medicare, it also feeds into the emerging narrative that Nancy Pelosi and her puppets are more interested in creating government even if it comes at the expense of creating jobs."

Health Care

Pelosi To Unveil Health Care Bill This Morning--To Crowd Of Tea Partiers?

Brian Beutler | October 29, 2009, 9:14AM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

As announced yesterday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats will unveil the health care bill they plan to bring to the floor this morning. The long awaited legislation will come in at under $900 billion. Like the Senate bill, its public option will reimburse providers at negotiated rates--though unlike in the Senate bill, states will not be allowed to opt out.

Pelosi had pushed in recent days for a more robust public option, which would have saved more money. To make up for those lost savings, the House bill will lower the Medicaid threshold to 150 percent of the poverty line (it was originally expected to cover everybody below 133 percent of poverty).

The employer and individual mandates will be more robust than in the Senate bill, and, as a result, the bill is expected to cover millions more Americans. The $900 billion will be covered by a mix of taxes on high-income earners, industry contributions and savings wrung from existing government health care programs. That means it will not expand the deficit for at least the first 10 years.

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Health Care

Report: House Health Care Bill Unveiled Tomorrow

Brian Beutler | October 28, 2009, 3:04PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Rumors have been swirling all day, and now ABC is reporting that House leaders will unveil their health care bill at a morning press conference tomorrow.

Of the specifics that were still up in the air, the bill reportedly: will not include a robust public option, as recent signs have been indicating; will cost about $900 billion--in line with President Obama's mark; will cover several million more people than the Senate Finance Committee's bill will; and will be paid for, in large part, with a 5.4 percent surtax on high income families and individuals.

Stay tuned for more details as they emerge.

Health Care

House Still Shy On Votes For Robust Public Option

Brian Beutler | October 27, 2009, 5:59PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Greg Sargent's numbers are right: "47 House Dems are committed No votes, and eight are Leaning No," on a health care bill if it includes a public option, preferred by reformers, that pays providers Medicare rates plus five percent.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can only afford to lose a maximum of 38 votes in her own party, and she's still well over that. Nobody I've asked has gone so far as to say this is the end of the road for the so-called "robust" public option, but it's certainly not a good sign.

This morning, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he was fairly confident a more modest public option, using negotiated rates, would win out in a vote count.

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Health Care

Pelosi: Though Robust Public Option Is Still The Goal, The Atmosphere Has Changed

Brian Beutler | October 23, 2009, 4:41PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

After a rough and tumble start to the day, the House's public option predicament remains mostly unchanged. Speaker Nancy Pelosi still wants a robust plan, pegged to Medicare, but she's finding it difficult to round up the necessary votes. Undecided Democrats are being put on the spot and are doing everything they can to slink away from the discussion. In the face of this predicament, Pelosi is acknowledging that the more progressive public option may not happen.

"The atmosphere has changed. When we were dealing with the idea that the Senate had nothing, it was really important, again, to go in with the most muscle for the middle class with a robust public option," Pelosi said at the news conference.

"This is about the endgame now," she said.

Though the push is still on for the robust public option, that seems about as clear a sign as any that leadership is at least preparing for the possibility that their monumental push might not succeed.

Health Care

Hill Source: 'Lot Of Undecided Members'

Christina Bellantoni | October 23, 2009, 12:30PM

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), President Barack Obama

As we've been reporting today, House Democrats held a private caucus meeting on health care and the various public option possibilities for a final version of their bill.

A Democratic leadership source tells TPMDC that leaders read out the names of the entire caucus this morning to get Democrats on record with their positions. Members were asked if they support a "robust" public option.

"There are a lot of undecided members," the source said.

Reports that any counts of House Democrats are firm or weak aren't accurate, the leadership aide said.

"We're still working on getting there," the source added. "At the end of the day, we will have a public option, the question is what it will look like."

There's been some scuttlebutt today about whether progressives promised Speaker Nancy Pelosi more than the votes they could deliver on the most aggressive public option. Our leadership source says no, and believes progressives "did a great job of coalescing the caucus."

TPMDC has more detail here.

Public Option

Report: Pelosi Reiterates Robust Public Option Still On The Table

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 23, 2009, 12:22PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Nancy Pelosi called an "emergency meeting" of House Democrats this morning in an attempt to beat back rumors that she and other congressional leaders have abandoned the so-called robust public option. The House Speaker insisted that, despite reports to the contrary, the public option is very much alive as Democrats draft the health reform bill they hope to send to the House floor next month.

The Hill reports:

The Speaker met late Thursday night with the Progressive Caucus, the bloc of Democrats most supportive of a robust public option, and assured them that it was still on the table, according to a member in attendance. And according to attendees, Pelosi reiterated that pledge to the larger caucus at Friday's morning meeting."

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Public Option

Pelosi Publicly Demanding Public Option Skeptics Get Off The Fence

Brian Beutler | October 23, 2009, 11:02AM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) with Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

For days now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been trying to sway skeptics in her caucus into supporting a robust public option. That effort has hit some road bumps--let's just say the votes didn't materialize as easily as she'd hoped. And the mood is definitely pessimistic. But no final decision has been made, and now it seems Pelosi is bringing out some bigger guns.

She is currently conducting what's known as a public whip--huddling with her rank and file and asking everybody, including fence sitters, where they stand on the robust public option. That means we should have answers soon.

Late update: The meeting ended a few minutes ago--though the push is continuing. We'll update you as details trickle out.