Immigration

It's The Time Of The Season For Illegal Aliens

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 20, 2009, 10:33AM

Rep. Steve King (R-IA)

In this unpredictable world we live in, it's nice to know there are some things you can still rely on -- the sun will rise in the east, winter will follow the fall and conservatives will start talking about immigration as an election year approaches.

To a nearly-empty room in the Rayburn building yesterday afternoon, the Republican members of the House Judiciary committee dusted off their well-worn rhetoric about the hordes of illegal aliens destroying the American way of life and partied like it was 2005, despite an economic downturn that has turned the immigration debate on its head.

"Americans are conditioned to believe that illegal workers are necessary," Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said.

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Republicans

Poll: Majority Of Republicans Think Obama Didn't Actually Win 2008 Election -- ACORN Stole It!

Eric Kleefeld | November 19, 2009, 12:28PM

Tea Partiers, ACORN logo, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama

The new national poll from Public Policy Polling (D) has an astonishing number about paranoia among the GOP base: Republicans do not think President Obama actually won the 2008 election -- instead, ACORN stole it.

This number goes a long way towards explaining the anger of the Tea Party crowd. They not only think Obama's agenda is against America, but they don't think he was actually the choice of the American people at all! Interestingly, NY-23 Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman is now accusing ACORN of stealing his race, and Fox News personalities have often speculated about ACORN stealing the 2008 Minnesota Senate race for Al Franken.

The poll asked this question: "Do you think that Barack Obama legitimately won the Presidential election last year, or do you think that ACORN stole it for him?" The overall top-line is legitimately won 62%, ACORN stole it 26%.

Among Republicans, however, only 27% say Obama actually won the race, with 52% -- an outright majority -- saying that ACORN stole it, and 21% are undecided. Among McCain voters, the breakdown is 31%-49%-20%. By comparison, independents weigh in at 72%-18%-10%, and Democrats are 86%-9%-4%.

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Health Care

Busted! GOP Drops Abortion Coverage For RNC Employees

Brian Beutler | November 13, 2009, 10:15AM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Faced with the charge of hypocrisy for providing employees health insurance that covers abortion, the Republican National Committee has moved to strike the benefit from their policy.

"Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this purpose," said chairman Michael Steele. "I don't know why this policy existed in the past, but it will not exist under my administration. Consider this issue settled."

With one exception--Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) who voted 'present'--House Republicans voted unanimously for an amendment to health care legislation that forbids women who receive government insurance subsidies from buying policies that cover abortion.

Of course, given the definition of "insurance," the RNC can only really escape the sin of financing abortions by buying insurance from a company that has a blanket policy against covering abortions.

Joe Lieberman

Poll: Connecticut Voters See Lieberman As Being More Republican Than Democratic

Eric Kleefeld | November 12, 2009, 9:50AM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

The new Quinnipiac poll in Connecticut has an interesting result regarding Sen. Joe Lieberman: More voters see his policies as being close to the Republicans than close to the Democrats.

An outright majority 51% of Connecticut voters, say Lieberman's views are closer to the Republican Party, with only 25% saying his views are closer to the Democrats. It's an amazing journey that Lieberman has taken, from being the 2000 Dem nominee for Vice President, to losing his primary and being re-elected as an independent in 2006, and supporting the Republican nominee for president in 2008 and then continuing as a member of the Democratic caucus.

Lieberman's overall approval rating is 49%, with 44% disapproval. Among Republicans, his approval is 74%-20%, with Democrats against him by 31%-62%, and independents approving by 52%-40%.

The public is split on Lieberman's re-election in 2012, with 46% saying he deserves another term and 45% saying he does not. If he runs as a re-election, 20% say he should do so as a Republican, only 12% say he should be a Democrat, and 55% say he should continue as an independent. The margin of error is ±2.8%.

Filibuster

Reid Continues To Target Republican Obstruction

Brian Beutler | November 6, 2009, 5:12PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is on a kick. Personally frustrated, and under pressure from the left, Reid has decided to take direct aim at Republican obstruction, and he's doing so in angry terms.

"For anybody watching, what's taken place the last three years knows the Republicans have become experts in wasting time, the American taxpayers' time, the American people's time, and yesterday was no exception," Reid said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Democrats can't pass off all of the blame for the glacial pace of progress in the last several months. With a 60-member caucus, they in theory have sufficient numbers to overcome GOP filibusters of key agenda items, if they could only agree to stay united. But even if they did muscle their agenda through the procedural labyrinth of the Senate, they still wouldn't be able to stop the foot-dragging.

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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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Cap-and-Trade

Climate Bill Passes Senate Committee Amid GOP Boycott, Baucus Opposition

Brian Beutler | November 5, 2009, 9:58AM

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the planet Earth

A major climate change bill passed out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee amid a Republican boycott this morning, setting the stage for other panels to amend the legislation. The final vote was 11-1. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)--whose Senate Finance Committee probably have its own crack at the bill--was the lone hold out. No Republicans showed up to vote.

Baucus says he wants near-term emissions targets softened, and to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from stepping in to regulate carbon emissions on its own, pursuant to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling.

After the vote, ranking member James Inhofe (R-OK) appeared on Fox News and, in predictable fashion, lambasted the legislation, calling the committee's actions "unprecedented." He also claimed that the bill is "dead."

Chair Barbara Boxer wasn't nearly so glum.

"We found, after questioning the EPA extensively, that the Republicans' demand for another EPA analysis now would be duplicative and a waste of taxpayer dollars," Boxer said.

The absence of the Republicans during the EPA's presentation was a clear message that their criticism of the EPA analysis was not a substantive one....

We are pleased that despite the Republican boycott, we have been able to move the bill.

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Health Care

Republican Health Insurance Reform Bill Insures Almost Nobody

Brian Beutler | November 5, 2009, 9:05AM

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

Earlier this week, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner made a prediction. The Republican health care plan, he said, "will cover millions more Americans" than the Democrats' plan. Bold. But here's what the experts say:

By 2019, CBO and JCT estimate, the number of nonelderly people without health insurance would be reduced by about 3 million relative to current law, leaving about 52 million nonelderly residents uninsured. The share of legal nonelderly residents with insurance coverage in 2019 would be about 83 percent, roughly in line with the current share.

Oops. You can read the entire analysis here (PDF).

To Boehner's dismay, the GOP bill was leaked to the media earlier this week, and quickly became a focus of derision for experts and activists who noted that, among other failings, the bill didn't include some of the most popular insurance regulations in the Democrats' bill, including a ban on pre-existing condition discrimination.

What else does CBO find?

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Health Care

White House Talking Points: GOP Health Care Plan Puts Families At Risk

Brian Beutler | November 4, 2009, 4:13PM

House Minority Leader John Boehner

The White House could probably laugh off the House Republicans' health care bill. But when the Democrats' bill comes to the floor conservatives will no doubt complain that their, better proposal is getting short shrift, so the Obama administration is getting out in front of that.

"House Republican Health Care "Plan": Putting Families at Risk," is the title of White House talking points, hitting a number of key aspects of the GOP plan.

"Unlike the House Leadership bill, the Republicans' bill takes us backwards rather than forwards."

"No Elimination of Discrimination Based on Pre-existing Conditions."

"The Republicans' bill leaves affordable health insurance out of reach for millions of Americans."

You get the idea. Read the entire sheet below the fold. It'll give you a sense of the plans failings, and the line Dems will be taking against it in the days (and possibly weeks) ahead.

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Bill Owens

Republican Leadership Aide: Owens Implies He'd Oppose Health Care Reform

Brian Beutler | November 4, 2009, 3:00PM

NY-23 candidate Bill Owens (D)

In response to this scientific post by TPMDC, a Republican House leadership aide sends over a link to Bill Owens' campaign website to suggest that Owens ought to oppose "the Pelosi health care bill". Here are the key bullet points.

Bill Owens is opposed to:

• Opposes: Medicare benefit cuts. We can all agree that there are inefficiencies and waste in the system, but any savings should be used to strengthen Medicare.
• Opposes: Taxing health care benefits.
• Opposes: Increasing taxes on the middle class in any way.

Of these, the only one that could legitimately cause Owens any grief is the first. The House bill doesn't tax health care benefits or the middle class. It does extract waste from Medicare, in part by reining in over-payments by Medicare Advantage plans, and those savings are not rerouted back into Medicare. But does that mean he should oppose the bill. It doesn't sound like he thinks he should, but we have a call in to his campaign staff for some clarity.

Lindsey Graham

Graham: I Understand The Concerns Of Republicans Boycotting Climate Hearing

Brian Beutler | November 3, 2009, 3:32PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

As you may have heard, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee kicked off an amendment process on a climate change bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today over the howls of the committee's Republican minority.

The back story's pretty simple, and not at all surprising. The committee minority, led by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), don't want a climate change bill to move forward. The most moderate among them--Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH)--isn't pleased that official EPA reports don't paint a sufficiently gloomy picture of a post-cap and trade future and together, the GOP is boycotting committee proceedings at least until such time as they get their hands on such a study.

But then there's Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

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Health Care

Republican Health Care Bill Circulating On Capitol Hill Contains No Surprises

Brian Beutler | November 3, 2009, 12:31PM

House Minority Leader John Boehner

TPMDC has obtained a copy of a Republican health care bill, making the rounds on Capitol Hill. Republican leaders have not officially unveiled the package, and warn that it is still changing, but the early draft, contains almost surprises.

Among the legislation's major goals are to enact malpractice reform, allow consumers to buy health insurance over state lines, cancel a federal comparative effectiveness research program created by the stimulus bill, and prohibit taxpayer-funded abortions.

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Health Care

MoveOn Targeting Democrats Considering Health Care Filibuster

Brian Beutler | November 3, 2009, 11:35AM

As Christina mentioned yesterday, MoveOn is targeting the conservative Democrats in the Senate suggesting they may vote with Republicans to filibuster a health care bill.

Radio ads will run in Arkansas and Louisiana, directed at Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA). You can hear the Landrieu ad below.

Accompanying the radio spots will be a broader direct mail campaign aimed at Lincoln and Landrieu, but also at Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), the only Republican on the list.

Lincoln, Landrieu, and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) will also be faced with polling data showing that the public option is popular among their constituents, who do not want to see them obstructing the passage of a reform bill.

NY-23

Democrats Delight: Say Moderates Pushed From GOP

Christina Bellantoni | November 2, 2009, 2:37PM

NY-23 Candidate Doug Hoffman (Conservative)

There's no doubt that even though they are facing the possibility of triple losses tomorrow, Democrats have found a talking point they are comfortable with.

On the Sunday shows yesterday and in conversations with reporters today, Democrats from the White House press secretary to the national campaign committees say moderates clearly aren't welcome in the Republican Party.

They found this message in the election in New York's 23rd Congressional district, where conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman is surging.

There have been few Republicans to say this publicly, so the Democrats are saying it for them. All day long Democratic operatives have emailed TPMDC links to news stories suggesting the GOP is in "chaos" or the party is in "turmoil."

President Obama's White House has done a nice job of picking off the social moderates, elevating Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman to be ambassador to China and Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) to be Secretary of the Army. (That's why the NY-23 seat is vacant.)

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs jumped on the bandwagon this afternoon, saying the Hoffman surge in New York is "fascinating."

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Health Care

Reid: Lieberman Is The Least Of My Problems

Brian Beutler | October 27, 2009, 2:48PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addressed a development, first reported by TPMDC, that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will filibuster a health care bill if it includes a public option.

"Joe Lieberman is the least of Harry Reid's problems," Reid told reporters at his weekly press conference.

During a Q&A session with reporters, Reid offered a fairly spirited defense of Lieberman, signaling perhaps that he doesn't believe Lieberman will ultimately be an obstacle--or at least that he doesn't want to tip his hat: "I don't have anyone that I've worked harder with, have more respect for, in the Senate than Joe Lieberman. As you know, he's my friend. There are a lot of senators--Democrat and Republicans--who don't like [parts of this bill]... Sen. Lieberman will let us get on the bill, and he'll be involved in the amendment process."

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Health Care

Change Of Tune: Leadership, Progressives, Advocacy Groups Jump On The Opt-Out Train

Christina Bellantoni | October 27, 2009, 8:48AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

After Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's big public option opt-out reveal yesterday, the major players are looking pretty unified.

Check out all the reactions we posted at TPMLiveWire yesterday and see what they have in common, as Senate leadership, progressives and advocacy groups appear to be rallying behind the new strategy.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) was singing a different tune, reminding everyone in a statement that "I included a public option in the health reform blueprint I released nearly one year ago."

MoveOn, which was asking members to pressure Obama last week, is now shifting gears to make sure the Democratic Party gets in line and votes to block a filibuster.

Health Care for America Now was championing Reid for "standing up" and doing the right thing, collecting more than 20,000 signatures on a thank-you petition to the leader.

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Harry Reid

Party Of No? It Would Appear So!

Brian Beutler | October 23, 2009, 4:43PM

The liberal organization People for the American Way has had just about enough. PFAW says it's time for the White House and Senate leadership to get down to business and bring dozens of Obama nominees--all of whom are waiting as Republicans threaten filibusters--to the Senate floor. Now the group is planning to take that message directly to Democratic leaders, who haven't done all they can to circumvent the obstruction.

"There is unprecedented obstruction going on of executive branch officials," says Marge Baker, Executive Vice President of PFAW.

In 1949, a change to Senate rules allowed members to filibuster executive branch nominees. Senators tend to believe (or at least to say) that, within bounds of decency, the White House deserves to be able to staff the executive branch as it chooses; and in the 60 years since then, the practice has been used sparingly.

Until Barack Obama came to town.

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Republicans

Poll: GOP's Favorability At Its Worst In A Decade

Eric Kleefeld | October 23, 2009, 2:48PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

A new CNN poll has some really bad news for the Republican Party, with their favorability number reaching its lowest in a decade.

Only 36% of people view the GOP favorably, with an outright majority of 54% viewing them unfavorably. By comparison, the Democratic Party is at 53% favorable to 41% unfavorable -- hardly a good omen for the Republicans if they want to make significant gains in 2010.

The last time the GOP was this bad in CNN's polling was in December 1998, in the heat of the impeachment battles, when they were at 31%-57%.

From the pollster's analysis: "The Republican party may still be battling the legacy left to them by George W. Bush. They have also spent a lot of time in 2009 working against Democratic proposals. That hasn't left them a lot of time so far this year to present a positive, post-Bush message. Of course, there is still plenty of time for them to do so before the 2010 midterms."

AHIP

It's Come To This: AHIP Called 'Baby Haters' In New Web Ad

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 23, 2009, 12:48PM

Meet Patriot Baby

Apparently there's no room left for subtlety in the fight against AHIP. Meet Patriot Baby, the new hero of health insurance industry opponents:

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House of Representatives

New GOP Health Care Attack: Obama Administration Slams Its Own Plan

Brian Beutler | October 21, 2009, 6:39PM

This afternoon, the Associated Press reports ominously: "A new government estimate finds that the nation's health care tab -- already the biggest of any advanced country -- would increase even more under health care overhaul legislation in the House."

And it's true. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has found that the version of House legislation passed by the Ways and Means Committee would cause national health care expenditures to grow. So naturally, the GOP is jumping all over it.

"The American people have never fallen for the Democrat spin that a government takeover of health care would lower costs," said Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), chair of the Republican Study Committee.

Now, the Obama administration has confirmed that the Democrat plan would actually grow the slice of the pie consisting of American health care spending. With the country already struggling under the flawed economic policies of this administration, the last thing we need is to strain Americans' ability to pay for their health care.

With the administration affirming that H.R. 3200 is bad medicine for the American economy, I hope House Democrats will take heed and pursue a different approach to reform. It's time for Speaker Pelosi to toss this costly legislation and start over with bipartisan ideas that empower patients to control their own health care decisions.

So, obviously, there are a number of caveats.

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Michael Steele

Poll: Steele Viewed Favorably By 39% Of Republican Voters, With High Undecideds

Eric Kleefeld | October 20, 2009, 5:08PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

A new Rasmussen poll finds RNC chairman Michael Steele with only a modest approval rating among Republican primary voters, with a high number of respondents who have no opinion.

The numbers: 39% favorable, 27% favorable, and 35% with no option. A further breakdown shows 11% very favorable and 28% somewhat favorable, to 9% very unfavorable and 18% somewhat unfavorable.

The pollster's analysis also finds that male Republican voters view Steele both more favorably and more unfavorably than women Republicans do, with women having a disproportionately high undecided number of 41%.

Barack Obama

New Poll: 48% Of Republicans Say Obama Does Not Love America -- 27% Say He Does

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 20, 2009, 2:36PM

President Barack Obama

More than half of Republicans either say President Obama doesn't love America or say they aren't sure of his feelings toward the country he leads.

That's according to a new national poll due out tomorrow from Public Policy Polling. The firm gave TPMDC an early look this afternoon.

PPP polled 766 registered voters nationwide. Of the GOP respondents, 27% agreed that Obama "loves America," 48% disagreed and 25% said they weren't sure.

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Health Care

Democrats Face Long Slog As They Try To Finish Health Care By Year's End

Brian Beutler | October 20, 2009, 11:34AM

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

With no firm deadline in the Senate, but a health care bill expected on the floor next month, it's probably worth laying out a rough time line for the larger reform effort.

The House will soon have a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office on its health care bill--including three different variants of the public option--and will then proceed to a floor debate and vote. Compared to the Senate, this entire process should be relatively painless.

On the other side of the Hill, the floor debate could take weeks.

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Democracy Corps

Democracy Corps: GOP Voters Think Obama Is Destroying America, Thus GOP Leaders Can't Compromise

Eric Kleefeld | October 16, 2009, 1:04PM

On a conference call with reporters just now, Democracy Corps' James Carville, Stan Greenberg and Karl Agne went over their focus group study of Republican base voters and their worldview that President Obama is out to destroy the country -- and the pressure this puts on Republican voters to make no compromises with the Obama administration.

"I don't know if we'll say we were startled," said Carville, "but if you take the position that these Republican voters take, it's easy to see why it leads to this, but they really believe that Obama has a secret agenda here. And our view is this is a dominant view in the Republican Party."

Karl Agne also noted that GOP voters see the the party's leadership as too timid and not strong enough on the issues: "Their negative view of the Republican party is really startling."

Carville explained: "What they want is, if people in Washington look at the Republican Party, they say, gee, they really oppose everything the President does. What these folks say is what they're doing is not enough, they want more opposition. If you're a Republican and you watch this, and you don't want to get primaries, there's nothing here that tells you to go compromise on anything -- quite the contrary."

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Health Care

Prez Contender Pawlenty: Baucus Bill 'Bad For The Country'

Rachel Slajda | October 13, 2009, 2:23PM

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a likely contender for the Republican presidential nomination, wrote a column today criticizing the Senate Finance Committee bill as a "a tax and spending bill masquerading as a health reform bill."

Pawlenty has been upping his national visibility with a new PAC, a planned trip to Iowa and other comments on health care reform, including calling the Democrats' plans "a manure spreader in a windstorm."

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Health Care

LIVEBLOG: Senate Finance Committee Votes On Health Care Reform Bill

Brian Beutler | October 13, 2009, 10:01AM

Check in here for continuous updates until the vote, which may not come until the afternoon.

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Tom DeLay

DeLay's Moment Of Truth: Will He Be Booted Tonight?

Christina Bellantoni | October 6, 2009, 10:54AM

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay

"What's a little pain when you can party?" Tom DeLay told the judges who cooed over his dual foot fracture last night on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

Clad in a bedazzled shirt featuring an elephant, DeLay tried his hardest to push through the pain, but still he and partner Cheryl Burke (in a sparkling dress with a donkey applique) only managed to earn 15 out of 30 possible points from the judges.

DeLay's daughter Dani told supporters in an email right before the show that he was planning a "sassy" Samba that was a political spoof choreographed by Cheryl. It wasn't quite sassy, as they "danced" around the stage to the tune of "Why can't we be friends."

As we noted last week, injuries have hurt DeLay with the judges, and he revealed last night he now has stress fractures in both feet.

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Health Care

Pelosi Promises To Post Health Care Bill For 72 Hours Before Voting

Rachel Slajda | September 24, 2009, 2:36PM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Accepting Republican demands, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised to post health care reform legislation online for 72 hours before a final vote on the bill, The Hill reports.

House Republicans, including Minority Leader John Boehner, have introduced a petition to require three days for lawmakers to read the final bill before voting. Two Democrats, Brian Baird and Walt Minnick, have also signed on. At today's press conference, Pelosi said she would "absolutely" support the petition.

A discharge petition forces a bill onto the floor without the support of leadership and needs 218 signatures to do so. But with Pelosi saying she supports legislation that would require the 72-hour window, its backers might not need the discharge petition at all.

A Senate Republican, Jim Bunning (R-KY), introduced an amendment to the Senate Finance Committee bill that would have required the same thing. It was voted down.

Congressional Budget Office

Orszag: Health Care Reform Will Be Done in Six Weeks

Brian Beutler | September 23, 2009, 11:36AM

CBO Director Peter Orszag

The Senate Finance Committee continues to tussle over the question of whether to delay a panel vote on health care reform legislation by two weeks. But whatever happens, White House budget directer Peter Orszag says health care reform will be done in about six weeks.

"The goal would be, yes, over the next six weeks or so, maybe sooner," Orszag told Bloomberg.

That would leave plenty of time for the Congressional Budget Office to analyze the final bill--a hybrid of the Finance bill and the HELP committee's bill--before it goes to the floor of the Senate for a full debate. Of course, Republicans will do what they can to slow the process down.

Health Care

Republicans Turn up the Heat on Snowe

Brian Beutler | September 17, 2009, 9:27AM

This piece from Politico offers some useful insight into the extent to which Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) is under just as much political pressure to oppose health care reform as she is to support it.

Conservative members of her caucus aren't being particularly shy about where they stand.
"It would be terrible if one Republican chose to basically sell out the whole Conference," said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), "particularly in return for some naive idea that we can get some compromise here and that it's going to hold up in [a House-Senate] conference."

"If Republicans are unanimous or maybe unanimous but one -- that puts a real spotlight on anybody who does differ from all of their colleagues," said Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ)

And that's just what they're saying publicly.

Health Care

Snowe: Baucus Bill "Moves in the Right Direction"

Brian Beutler | September 16, 2009, 2:26PM

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) says that the Finance Committee's health care draft represents a step "in the right direction," but warns that "a number of issues still need to be addressed -- including cost assumptions and ultimate affordability to both consumers and the government as well as ensuring appropriate competition in the health insurance exchange."

What she ultimately decides to do will likely depend on how the bill changes during hearings next week. But for now, Democrats aren't particularly optimistic. You can read her entire statement below the fold.

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Health Care

Baucus Unveils Health Care Bill, Tracks Closely With Obama's Principles

Brian Beutler | September 16, 2009, 9:43AM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus has unveiled a draft of his health care reform bill, which, as expected, calls for co-ops but no public option. So far, after months of bipartisan negotiations, no Republicans have agreed to support the framework--but that could change during hearings next week as the bill gets amended. More to come as we sift through it.

Health Care

Lieberman Opposes Public Option Despite Strong Support in Connecticut

Brian Beutler | September 15, 2009, 2:14PM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

Seems like only yesterday, Democratic leaders were telling supporters they supported Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) because "he's with us on everything but the war in Iraq."

That maxim doesn't actually extend to health care, though. Lieberman has come out against a number of aspects of the Democrats' health care reform proposal, including the public option...despite strong support for the measure in Connecticut.

A new Research 2000 poll commissioned by Daily Kos finds that 68 percent of likely voters in Connecticut support a public option, while only 21 percent oppose.

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Health Care

Dems See Political Upside to Republican Obstruction on Health Care

Brian Beutler | September 15, 2009, 12:36PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Though Democrats are prepping a procedural contingency to advance health care reform legislation without any Republican votes, there remains an overwhelming desire among party leaders to pass a bill with 60 votes (most likely 59 Democrats and Olympia Snowe)--but that's not just because Democrats are squeamish about going it alone, and concerned about the technical complications. Some think there may be an upside to exhausting all options.

"We've come this far, so we're going to try this to the bitter end," says one Senate Democratic aide.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) will soon unveil a draft of the Senate Finance Committee's health care bill and, with the budget reconciliation bill set to move forward in mid-October, there's a premium on getting Baucus' plan out of committee swiftly.

Already, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has threatened to cancel a week-long October recess if Republicans slow things down in committee and on the Senate floor.

"We won't miss the window," the aide said. "Everyone's cognizant of it."

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Health Care

Conrad Clarifies: No Federal Subsidies for Non-Citizens Under Health Care Bill

Brian Beutler | September 11, 2009, 11:31AM

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) told reporters today that while non-citizens won't be barred, under Senate Finance Committee legislation from entering health insurance exchanges, the exchanges themselves will require all consumers to show proof of citizenship, in order to insure that undocumented residents don't receive any federal subsidies.

"You can't prevent someone from being able to purchase insurance," Conrad said. "They would not get any government assistance.... What we're trying to prevent is anybody who is here illegally from getting any federal benefit."

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Charles Boustany

Boustany: We Agree with 80 Percent of Obama's Plan, which Should Be Scrapped

Brian Beutler | September 10, 2009, 3:06PM

Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA)

Maybe President Obama's health care speech yesterday did have an impact on Republicans. For instance, earlier this afternoon, Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) told MSNBC "of course there's common ground. There is plenty of common ground."

"In fact," he said, "I would venture to say that we agree on about 80% of the issues right now. It's just a matter of hashing out those few areas where we disagree, but there's really not been that kind of real discussion, and it needs to happen."

That's downright Obama-esque language right there.

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