Health Care

Carper: Conservative Democrats Not Likely To Support Senate Public Option

Brian Beutler | November 17, 2009, 5:22PM

Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE)

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) cast serious doubt tonight on whether conservative Democrats will ultimately vote for cloture on the Senate health care bill if it retains a public option with an opt-out clause, and gave new details on yet another compromise that he says might work for them.

Carper, who voted for a public option amendment during the Senate Finance Committee proceedings, first floated his idea last week as a potential alternative, in the event that Reid's public option proposal failed to muster enough Democratic support to overcome a filibuster. Now he says he doubts the support is there.

"We're concerned that a number of centrists aren't prepared to vote for a national public plan, even with an opt-out," Carper said in response to a question from TPMDC. "We're trying to find something that addresses their concern about government run, government-funded, but still addresses the need for the affordability needs and the need for more competition in states that don't have it."

"What we're asking centrists is, What concerns do you need to have addressed so that you can vote for cloture, either to bring the bill to the floor, or to take the bill off the floor and to go to conference? And the two concerns we keep hearing over and over again: government-run, government funded."

(The opt-out plan Reid has proposed would not be government funded, though it's not clear whether it would be run directly by the government, or outsourced to a non-governmental body accountable to Congress.)

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Chris Dodd

Dodd: I Fought For A Public Option

Brian Beutler | October 26, 2009, 5:26PM

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)--who lead the HELP committee's health care process, and supported the public plan behind the scenes--is a very big reason this compromise came to life. He wants you to know that: "I fought for a strong public option - in the HELP Committee and in this merger process - because it is the best way to keep costs low and insurance companies honest," said Dodd.

Majority Leader Reid has made a bold and right choice to endorse the HELP Committee public option, along with a provision allowing states to opt out. At its core, health care reform is about making insurance more stable and affordable for those who have it, and available to those who don't, while improving quality and lowering costs. I believe that the public option is a key component to successful reform, and I will continue to lead the fight for it on the Senate floor.

Health Care

Baucus: I Support Harry Reid And A Public Option

Brian Beutler | October 26, 2009, 4:09PM

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

Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, who was reportedly none too pleased when he learned that Harry Reid was leaning towards putting a public option in the Senate's health care bill, is now singing a much more positive tune. "It is time to make our system work better for patients and providers, for small business owners and for our economy. It is time for health care reform," Baucus said.

For more than a year, we've been working to meet the goals of reducing the growth of health care costs, improving quality and efficiency and expanding coverage. There are a tremendous number of complicated issues that go into reform and the public option is certainly one of them. I included a public option in the health reform blueprint I released nearly one year ago, and continue to support any provision, including a public option, that will ensure choice and competition and get the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. Success should be our threshold and I am going to fight hard for the 60 votes we need to meet that goal this year.

There's still some wiggle room there. (Will Baucus help twist arms to get to 60?) But he seems to be implying that he thinks the public option plus opt-out can clear the threshold--and that's the first clear statement of his abstract support for the provision in quite some time.

Health Care

Reid Hopes To Unveil Health Care Bill Details Next Week

Brian Beutler | October 23, 2009, 6:02PM

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)

These deadlines seem to be made to be broken, and with all the hoopla surrounding the public option still unfolding, it could happen. But a leadership source tells me that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hopes to unveil details of the Senate health care bill--the merged version of the Senate HELP and Finance Committee bills--early next week.

We know things are still changing. We know Reid has been leaning toward incorporating an opt-out public option in the final package. We know that other public option compromises are under consideration. We know that the White House has been trying to push back against Reid on this. What we don't know yet is what the outcome of all this sturm und drang will be. We may find out sooner than later.

Health Care

Sources: White House Pushing Back Against Senate Public Option Opt Out Compromise

Brian Beutler | October 23, 2009, 3:11PM

President Barack Obama

Multiple sources tell TPMDC that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is very close to rounding up 60 members in support of a public option with an opt out clause, and are continuing to push skeptical members. But they also say that the White House is pushing back against the idea, in a bid to retain the support of Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME).

"They're skeptical of opt out and are generally deferential to the Snowe strategy that involves the trigger," said one source close to negotiations between the Senate and the White House. "they're certainly not calming moderates' concerns on opt out."

This new development, which casts the White House as an opponent of all but the most watered down form of public option, is likely to yield backlash from progressives, especially those in the House who have been pushing for a more maximal version of reform.

It also suggests, for perhaps the first time, that the White House's supposed hands off approach, to ostensibly allow the two chambers in Congress to craft their own bills, has been discarded.

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Health Care

How High Will Public Option Trial Balloon Fly In The Senate?

Brian Beutler | October 22, 2009, 6:51PM

For days there was silence. And then this morning and afternoon, the floodgates opened. Senators began saying, on the record, that Democratic leadership was leaning toward putting a public option--with an opt out clause--in the base Senate health care bill.

But, as a source close to the negotiations told me, there's more to leadership's inclination than meets the eye. Part of the play here is to see whether this news causes Senate centrists to flip out. A classic trial balloon. So far, only Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) has said it will likely cost Harry Reid her cloture vote. Conservative Democrats might not be pleased, but so far they're keeping it fairly bottled up. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) voiced some displeasure, but nobody's gone into revolt.

Assuming the calm endures, chances seem pretty good that this is the direction Reid will take. But it won't be set in stone...until it's set in stone. As Greg Sargent has noted, the votes aren't there yet for a straightforward public option like the level-playing-field plan in the Senate HELP Committee's bill. In other words, negotiations will continue.

Tom Carper

Carper: Senate Bill Will Include A National Public Plan With An Opt Out

Brian Beutler | October 22, 2009, 4:00PM

Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE)

After a meeting with Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) discussed the status of the public plan in the Senate health care bill with reporters. Here's what he said:

"I think at the end of the day there will be a national plan probably put together not by the federal government but by a non-profit board with some seed money from the federal government that states would initially participate in because of lack of affordability. The question is should there be an opportunity for states to opt out later on and if so, within a year, within two years, within three years?"

How would this plan work? "Among the things that's important," Carper said, "is, one, that this not be a government run, government funded enterprise, two, that there be a level playing field so that this non-profit entity that would be stood up would have to play by same rules basically as for-profit insurance companies--the idea that secretary of Health and Human Services [will be] running or directing the operation of this--no way.

We ought to have a non-profit board--it could be appointed by the President but a non profit board. They'd have to retain earnings, create a retained earnings pool, so that if they run into financial problems later on the financial needs of the plan could be met by the retained earnings, not by the federal government.

Carper suggested that a state's ability to opt out could be determined by the effectiveness and competitiveness of its insurance market. "There should be some standard--how do we say to a state, 'No you've got to participate in it right from day one,' and if so should there be an opportunity later on for you to say, 'Well, it's not working, we don't want to continue to be a part that,' and to opt out."

I pressed Carper on whether this entity would be accountable to taxpayers. He didn't answer directly--clearly there's some interest in de-emphasizing the government's role in the insurance market--he did sugest that the public option, though run by a non-government entity, would answer to the government.

And that would appear to bring it into line with the demands of the largest health care reform campaign in the country.

Health Care

Pelosi Prepares To Move Ahead With Robust Public Option

Brian Beutler | October 20, 2009, 8:09PM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

New CBO numbers may have sealed the deal. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing to move ahead with a "robust" public option--one that reimburses hospitals and providers at Medicare rates, plus five percent--in the House's health care bill. She is briefing her caucus about the plan's savings tonight, and, pending the approval of a sufficient majority of members, will adopt the measure as part of the complete reform package.

The analysis finds the reconstituted House proposal to be deficit neutral, and require less than $900 billion (reportedly around $870 billion) in new spending, over ten years.

The bill remains nominally more expensive than the Senate Finance Committee proposal, but would cover 96 percent of all Americans, providing greater bang for each federal dollar spent. And, aides note, the bill that comes to the floor of the Senate will be a hybrid of the Finance and more expensive HELP Committee bills, so the price is expected to rise.

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Health Care

Dems Keep Quiet As Leaders Hash Out Key Health Care Details

Brian Beutler | October 20, 2009, 6:35PM

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV); Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; Senator Max Baucus (D-MT); Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT)

Another day, and still a dearth of details. Senators and White House officials were almost comically tight-lipped throughout the afternoon on the progress of health care reform negotiations, even though it's clear by now that the people in the room hashing out the Senate's bill are getting down to the nitty gritty.

During a weekly caucus meeting, Democrats were briefed on the details of last night's health care powwow, yet, afterward, none were forthcoming with details.

"What I'm especially pleased about is that we're not rushing," said Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE). "I'm sure there's some who are impatient."

"It wasn't a townhall meeting at all. It was more like a prayer meeting," said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), who declined to divulge any specifics.

"We got into it a little bit, not a lot," added Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). "[Leadership is] extremely open and working with everybody."

In a moment of coyness gone awry, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters, "we're leaning towards talking about the public option." Last night his spokesman Jim Manley said, without going into detail, that Senate and White House negotiators discussed "the public option, affordability, and other key issues," during their evening scrum.

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Chris Dodd

Health Care Negotiations Between Senate, White House Continue Tonight

Brian Beutler | October 20, 2009, 10:06AM

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)

The intricate process of turning two very different health care bills into one will continue tonight, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hosts Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Max Baucus (D-MT), and a number of high-level White House officials in his offices tonight.

Last night, Reid spokesman Jim Manley said the health care bill will come to the floor just as soon as a CBO cost estimate is available. Before negotiations got under way in earnest, Reid suggested that the Senate would begin debate on a single piece of legislation on October 26, but aides now caution that we're more likely to see action in the first or second week of November.

Before that time, negotiators will have to make some potentially monumental decisions, including whether or not the bill that comes to the floor will include a public option. We'll keep tabs for you.

Health Care

Pelosi Aims to Squeeze Skeptics on Public Option With Cheaper Bill Than Senate

Brian Beutler | October 19, 2009, 12:41PM

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

The House health care bill is getting cheaper, but Democrats aren't boasting just yet. Because when they ultimately break silence the hope is to present conservative Democrats in both chambers with a bill that will walk the walk of fiscal responsibility--including a public option, which is projected to save the government billions.

As always, the legislative process is unpredictable, and the Senate is operating in isolation from the House. But with the public option potentially in the balance, Speaker Pelosi's goal is this: present conservative Democrats in both chambers with a Hobson's choice between a public option bill and a potentially more expensive Senate bill that may have no public option at all.

On Friday, the Washington Post ran with leaked CBO numbers, showing that House health care leaders have reduced the price tag of their bill by at least $100 billion. The numbers were preliminary--not reflective of the current state of the legislation, which is changing constantly--but they showed a definite downward trajectory in the overall cost of its reform plan.

Still, leadership was not pleased.

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Health Care

Major White House Players To Run Point On Senate Health Care Bill

Brian Beutler | October 6, 2009, 9:17AM

Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel

We've known for a long time now that, as soon as the Senate Finance Committee reports out a health care bill, Majority Leader Harry Reid, along with Finance chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), Senate HELP Committee chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), and White House officials will sit down to produce a single piece of legislation to bring to the floor.

And we've known for a long time now that the White House's role in the negotiations will be key. Already, Senate aides are letting it be known that the White House will have to lead on all the issues around which Democrats have been unable to find consensus--issues like the public option.

So which White House players are likely to be in the room? Roll Call reports:

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Health Care

Finance Committee Wraps Up Hearing on Health Care Bill--Vote Next Week

Brian Beutler | October 2, 2009, 8:43AM

The Senate Finance Committee worked until the wee hours of Friday morning to vote on amendments to its health care bill before adjourning until Tuesday when, after the Congressional Budget Office weighs in on the spending implications of the package, it will hold a final vote.

The delay was baked into the cake several days ago when the committee agreed not to hold a vote on a bill that hadn't received a preliminary analysis from the CBO.

The progress prompted a statement from the White House, which you can read here.

If the panel advances the legislation, Senate health care leaders, White House officials, and Majority Leader Harry Reid will meet to merge it with the more liberal HELP Committee bill, and introduced on the Senate floor later this fall.

Health Care

Progressives Prepare to Pressure Reid to Include Public Option in Senate Health Care Bill

Brian Beutler | October 1, 2009, 12:59PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Major progressive organizations see a golden opportunity to resurrect the public option, and are preparing a campaign, which will include television ads in Nevada, to pressure Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to get on board.

As I've noted a number of times, the public option will not be in the Senate Finance Committee's health care bill, but it can re-emerge at three key points in the legislative process. Among those, one of the most important is the next step, when Reid merges the Finance bill with a more liberal proposal from the Senate HELP Committee. If he adopts the latter panel's public option, it would dramatically alter the nature of the legislative battle, shifting the onus from liberals, who have been doggedly fighting to include the public option in the Senate bill, on to conservative Democrats, who would have to decide whether their opposition to the popular measure is so strong that they'd be willing to join the GOP in a health care filibuster and tank the entire reform effort.

Such a move would likely alienate Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), the only Republican working with Democrats on health care reform, and require Democratic leaders, including Reid and President Obama to make sure all 60 Democrats stand united when Republicans try to block the bill--a tall order, and one Reid doesn't seem prepared to meet.

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Health Care

Reid Cancels Columbus Day Recess to Focus on Health Care

Brian Beutler | September 30, 2009, 12:42PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made good on a threat to cancel a week-long October recess to continue work on health care.

"I talked to the Republican leader about this last week," Reid said on the Senate floor this morning. "But the Columbus day is fast approaching. It's the week after next. And with all the things going on here, it just would not be right for us to take that week off. So what we're going to do, as I explained to the Republican leader last week, we'll be off that Monday, which is the holiday, Columbus day, and the following Friday."

Once the Finance Committee finishes work on its health care legislation, Reid will merge it with a different bill, and then bring it to the Senate floor. The week of October 12 seems a bit early for the floor debate to have kicked off, but this could at least prevent any further delays.

Health Care

HCAN: Snowe Still Important, But in the End the Public Option's Up to Democrats

Brian Beutler | September 28, 2009, 5:26PM

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

A lot of the most pressing political questions about health care reform will soon be answered, and reformers and pols alike are grappling with the fact that Democrats now have enough votes to pass a public option without any Republican votes.

"Hopefully when push comes to shove, Democrats will support a strong public option, and do the right thing," said Jacki Schechner of the reform campaign Health Care for America Now.

"We're in a good spot right now," added Schechner. "We'll see where we are after tomorrow.

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Health Care

Reid Supports a Public Option, But Will He Include One in the Senate Health Care Bill?

Brian Beutler | September 28, 2009, 1:06PM

Two telling indicators suggest that, despite a true 60 vote majority, the public option may nonetheless face an uphill climb in the Senate. On Friday, during a tele-townhall, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told an audience of constituents that he thinks a "triggered" public option is a "pretty doggone good idea"--not as good as a robust public option, but better than the private co-op proposal that for a time was regarded as a likely compromise between Democrats, who support a public option, and Republicans, who do not support health care reform.

Today, citing anonymous Democratic sources, the New York Times reports that Reid will likely not include a public option in a final legislative proposal when he merges the Finance and HELP committee bills.

Officially, Reid says it's too early to have decided what will and will not be included in the package he introduces on the Senate floor--the public option will get more than one vote in the Finance Committee this week, and only if it fails (as is expected) will Reid have to decide whether to incorporate it from the HELP bill, or to drop it.

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Health Care

Three Public Option Amendments to Baucus Bill Put Conservative Democrats on the Spot

Brian Beutler | September 21, 2009, 2:23PM

By my count, Democrats have offered three different amendments that, if approved, would result in the adoption of a public health insurance plan. The first, proposed by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) calls for the creation of a fairly robust public option much like the plan originally drafted by the House of Representatives. It would pay providers Medicare rates plus a small bonus for those practitioners who already take Medicare patients.

That will be a telling vote, but more telling will be the votes on the other two public option proposals. The first, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) would create a so-called "level playing field" public option, which wouldn't be permitted to set rates. The second, offered by Schumer and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), would create a very similar public option, this one imported from the Senate HELP committee's bill.

Rockefeller's plan would please reformers and liberals, and substantively makes more sense on a cost control level. But what makes the other two amendments more politically interesting is that they put conservative Democrats--particularly Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT), Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)--on the spot. No longer will they be able to simply dismiss the public option by saying it doesn't have the votes to pass the Senate. And they won't be able to honestly oppose these plans on big government grounds.They'll actually have to go on the record one way or another. And a lot of eyes will be on them when they do.

Health Care

A Roadmap To The Health Care Fight Ahead

Brian Beutler | September 18, 2009, 1:34PM

All the news coverage these last few days has focused on the developments in the Senate Finance Committee. And for good reason! That's where all the news is. But that may obscure the fact that there's another health care bill that's been voted out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and a final package emerging in the House of Representatives, and each of these will help shape the bill President Obama hopes to sign.

Before August recess, each of the three House committees with jurisdiction over health care reform approved different versions of the same so-called "tri-committee bill". Over the break, the chairmen of those committees, working with leadership and the Democratic caucus, made progress on stitching those bills together into a package that will be voted on by the entire chamber. That work continues, and yesterday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will pass a bill "when we're ready," but that she's not waiting for the Senate to move ahead first.

Things haven't matured quite that much in the Senate. The Finance Committee will hold hearings on its bill next week, and the current thinking is that the legislation will likely pass with only Democrats (or Democrats plus Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine). When that's done, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid--working with Finance Chair Max Baucus, HELP Comittee leaders, and the White House--will take the lead merging the two bills into a final product that he thinks can overcome a filibuster, and then pass with at least 51 votes. This will mostly happen behind closed doors.

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Health Care

Baucuscare: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Brian Beutler | September 17, 2009, 12:52PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Sen. Max Baucus' health care reform proposal doesn't have any friends on the right or left, and most of the support it does have comes from industry, and industry-backed House Blue Dogs. But though the skepticism of the Baucus plan is borne out of a number of flawed policy proposals, there are some genuinely good aspects to it, too. Herewith, the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of Baucuscare:

THE GOOD:

Fiscal responsibility: Yes, calls for "fiscal responsibility" seem to rear their ugly heads only when conservatives and conservative Democrats oppose the policy changes at stake. But liberal experts also agree: it's crucial that the costs of health care reform be covered, and that the reforms themselves address the problem of health care inflation. Baucus' bill succeeds on both scores. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities concludes "The proposed offsets in the Baucus plan are sound policies that would use resources in the health care system more efficiently.... [W]eakening or eliminating these offsets would not only result in a less efficient health care system but also make it more difficult to provide low- and moderate-income Americans with sufficient subsidies to afford health coverage." And the CBO finds that, via it's main financing mechanism and other measures, Baucus care would be a deficit reducer over both 10 and 20 year windows.

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Health Care

CBO Says Baucus Bill a Big Money Saver

Brian Beutler | September 16, 2009, 6:09PM

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Following on Sen. Kent Conrad's request, the Congressional Budget Office has analyzed the Finance Committee's draft bill--not just for a 10 year window, but for a 20 year window--and concluded that it would be a big money saver. From 2010 through 2019, the legislation, if enacted as is, would reduce the federal deficit by $49 billion. And, in a rough projection, CBO found that the bill would continue to provide savings relative to current law, for the 10 years thereafter. Though there's a tremendous amount of uncertainty, from 2020 through 2029 the legislation would save on the order of .5 percent of GDP

As I noted yesterday, Conrad requested an extended outlook, likely with the intent of giving this bill a political boost. Conrad and the "Gang of Six" worked closely with CBO chief Doug Elmendorf while crafting the bill, and almost certainly knew that it would score favorably, particularly in comparison to the Senate HELP bill and House legislation, which do less to control the rate of health care inflation.

Health Care

Key Reform Group Calls Baucus Bill a "Failure"

Brian Beutler | September 16, 2009, 12:56PM

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Last week, when Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) circulated an outline of the bill he released today, the reform campaign Health Care for America Now pointed me to letters they'd written to leading Democrats urging Baucus to include a public option in his legislation. Ultimately, he didn't.

Now, HCAN says the Baucus bill is a "failure."

"The Baucus bill is a gift to the insurance industry that fails to meet the most basic promise of health care reform: a guarantee that Americans will have good health care that they can afford," says HCAN's campaign director Richard Kirsch.

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Health Care

Harkin: Mark My Word, Health Care Reform Will Have a Strong Public Option

Brian Beutler | September 14, 2009, 11:37AM

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

In taking up Ted Kennedy's mantle as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) is leaving no doubt that he plans to fight hard for a politically contentious feature of his panel's health care reform bill.

"That bill -- mark my word, I'm the chairman -- is going to have a strong public option," Harkin told constituents at his annual Steak Fry in Iowa.

He made it clear, too, that he views a strong fight for the public option as part of his role in carrying on Kennedy's legacy. "We lost a great progressive, a great leader on so many issues," Harkin said. "It now falls to me to pick up the torch."

Harkin's ability to impact the fight over public option will be determined in no small part by whether he's selected as a negotiator if and when House and Senate health care legislation are merged in a conference committee. Though he now chairs the HELP committee, the panel's health care process was overseen by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) who acted as chairman until shortly after Kennedy's death.

Health Care

Experts: Baucuscare Would Leave Poor Out of Work

Brian Beutler | September 11, 2009, 9:57AM

While the liberal policy community in Washington mostly acknowledges that the health care plan put forward by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) falls short of its counterparts in the House and Senate, they also believe it would be an improvement over the status quo. But at least one of the measures, reportedly supported by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), is so poorly designed that it has some critics downright worried.

"The Baucus plan is going to create all kinds of incentives to avoid hiring low income people," says Edwin Park of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Shortly after Baucus unveiled his proposal, CBPP--a respected policy shop that tilts liberal--released a report warning about this very possibility.

"It's the one [measure] that we've been worried about in the Finance Committee discusions or months now," Park warned.

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Chris Dodd

Dodd Chooses Not to Take Kennedy's HELP Committee Gavel

Brian Beutler | September 9, 2009, 9:05AM

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)

In a move that comes as a fairly big surprise, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) will reportedly announce today that he is not taking over the chairmanship of the Help, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which became vacant upon the death of Ted Kennedy. Dodd had been expected to take up Kennedy's mantle, leaving a vacancy on the Banking Committee, which he currently chairs.

The HELP chairmanship will instead go to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), who is next in line after Dodd. Dodd had been the focus of much attention, because if he had taken the HELP chairmanship then Banking would have gone to Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), whose home state is a major base for the credit-card industry.

To round out the game of musical chairs, Harkin will have to vacate the Agriculture Committee chairmanship, which will likely be filled by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)--the only senior member of that committee who doesn't already have a chairmanship.

Sherrod Brown

Brown to White House: "Congress is Writing the Bill, the President's Not"

Brian Beutler | September 3, 2009, 6:12PM

Despite several indications that the White House will ultimately not go to bat for a public option, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) says he's seen no signs that the White House will change course--but if they do, he's not budging.

"I know that the White House is debating it internally," Brown said in an interview with TPMDC. "But Congress is writing the bill, the President's not."

"The White House should not take progressives for granted," an animated Brown told me. "It's not just the conservatives he needs to be in the fold. It's the progressives who've been in the vineyards fighting for reform for years."

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Health Care

Kay Hagan Signals Willingness to Support Public Option Alternative

Brian Beutler | August 28, 2009, 8:44AM

As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) voted in favor of a health care reform bill with a public option. But she's also interested in a compromise that would scrap the public option in favor of system of private, state-based, non-profit health-care cooperatives. "Having been a state senator for 10 years," she said, "I think states can do a good job at that."

Kay Hagan's vote for the public option wasn't easily won, so it's little surprise that she's open to alternatives. But has her level of support dropped? I've placed a call to her office to check, but just last month, she defended her vote for the public option, describing it as "a back-stop option for those without access," that "competes with the private insurance companies."