[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
Obama Wars Title: House Democrats don't like Plan B January 18, 2010 House Democrats don't like Plan B House Democrats privately worry that the rank-and-file would reject a doomsday strategy that requires them to approve the Senate health care bill if Republican Scott Brown wins in Massachusetts on Tuesday. "Progressives and conservatives in the caucus won't go for it," one aide predicted on Monday. But they may not have another choice if the party loses its critical 60th vote in the Senate. If Brown beats Democrat Martha Coakley in the special election to fill the seat recently occupied by the late-Ted Kennedy, one alternative has the House passing the bill the Senate approved just before Christmas last year, with a promise to make additional changes through the upcoming budget process. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was noncommittal about this so-called Plan B in his comments to reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday night. "We're focused on two things: ironing out the differences in the bills, which you know the President has spent a lot of time working on over the past few days; and we think Martha Coakley is going to win this race," Gibbs said in response to a question about the doomsday plan. A House aide echoed that stance on Monday, saying, "Nothing has changed...We are working toward a compromise." But another aide acknowledged that a Brown win would force party leaders to recalibrate. This person suggested Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi would have to convince a skeptical rank-and-file that this was the only course of action. "I wouldn't want to speculate about that," said Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), a lead author of the bill, saying he still hopes Coakley can pull it out. If she doesn't, Dodd said, "We'll come back and regroup." Under the scenario, the House would approve the Senate bill, sending it to the president's desk for his signature. The White House and Senate negotiators would then have to promise to push further changes - such as those hashed out by negotiators last week - through the reconciliation process, in which the majority only needs 51 votes. The problem, though, with reconciliation is that it can only be used for things that have an impact on the federal budget. That would not relate to insurance reforms already in both bills and may limit the room for future negotiators. Liberal Democrats in the House have given their leaders an earful about the Senate bill since it passed late last year. Last week, the White House cut a deal with organized labor to soften the impact of a Senate tax on high-end health care plans, in large part, to quell unrest among Democrats in the House. Congressional negotiators are expected to announce additional compromises as early as this week after sending large parts of the bill to the Congressional Budget Office for review. But the prospect of a Coakley loss threatens to upend those internecine negotiations, angering House Democrats who have been on the short end of just about every development in the health care fight. Asked repeatedly about these scenarios, Gibbs told reporters Sunday night, "The plan to get health care passed is to continue to do what we're doing in ironing out the differences between the House and Senate." The White House spokesman expressed confidence that negotiators might be able to wrap up work this week. Asked there's a chance the negotiators could finish by the end of the week, Gibbs said, "I think so." He highlighted the president's involvement in a series of marathon negotiating sessions last week that seemed to yield breakthroughs on some of the most contentious differences between the House and Senate bills. "On those two days alone they spent many hours working through a lot of the differences that remain, and I don't think they're that far from finishing that task," Gibbs said. As of Sunday night, Gibbs said there weren't any plans for additional meetings, but he suggested some might be scheduled if staff negotiators reach an impasse. "I assume there will be" joint meetings this week, Gibbs said. "If it's not finished by staff, then they would get together." - Carrie Budoff Brown and Manu Raju contributed to this item
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread |
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|