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by Mark Silva
Maybe there is something, after all, to this business of setting deadlines in Washington.
Drop one, and the next day the momentum's gone.
The "default'' position in this town, according to the president, is "inertia'' and "inaction." (see the clip above.) The president had been insisting upon action on healthcare reform this summer, and last night injected a new term into the debate at his prime-time news conference (the one which was not held to talk about the Cambridge, Mass., arrest of Harvard's Henry Louis Gates Jr., though many commenting in these epages are suggesting the president may have "stupidly'' buried his own healthcare story by biting on racial profiling.)
"We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice, and provides coverage that every American can count on,'' President Obama said last night. "And we will do it this year.''
Bingo: Comes word from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today that the Senate will vote on healthcare in September (though, technically, if they do it before Sept. 21, they could still be in bounds.)
Senate Democratic leaders today "abandoned plans for a vote on health care before Congress' August recess, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's ambitious timetable to revamp the nation's $2.4 trillion system of medical care,'' our friend Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of the AP reports today, the same reporter who took note of Rep. Charlie Rangel's comment the other day that no one wants to tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi she is moving too fast on a House vote by month's end, and they "damn well" don't want to have to tell the president that.
The Senate is delivering the message. Reid (D-Nev.) announced the official word on what actually had been expected since critics within his own party started asking, what's the rush? "It's better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through,'' the leader said today.
The Senate Finance Committee will act on its portion of the bill before the monthlong August break in the Senate, Reid says, and they will merge that with separate legislation passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee earlier this month. It's complicated somewhat by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) looking for a bipartisan deal on a health committee bill approved by Democrats on a party-line vote.
The president had pressed for votes in the House and Senate before August to ensure that lawmakers had enough time to negotiate their differencees before the end of the year and the start of a politically charged congressional election year.
Republicans had asked Baucus for more time, Reid said, suggesting: "The decision was made to give them more time and I don't think it's unreasonable.''
The word came down as Obama was heading to a town-hall styled forum in Ohio, where he is pressing Congress for action on healthcare. The word, "summer'' is missing from the president's prepared remarks today.
Comments
The wheels on the bus come off and off, off and off, off and off...
Watch for Pelosi to retreat from her "we got the votes" for healthcare reform legislation comment in 3...2...1...
Posted by: Chris | July 23, 2009 2:46 PM
Watch for Pelosi to back pedal on her "we got the votes" for healthcare reform legislation in 3...2...1...
Don't you love it when liberals do what they do best: lie, bluff, pander, and retreat.
Posted by: Chris | July 23, 2009 2:50 PM
With the Republican smear-the-public-option campaign---designed by Wingnut mouth-breather Frank Luntz---in full swing, here's a handy, crystal-clear rebuttal you can print out and leave on windshields and utility poles (and even in emergency rooms!) across America:
5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA'S PUBLIC HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION
1. Choice, choice, choice. If the public health insurance option passes, Americans will be able to choose between their current insurance and a high-quality, government-run plan similar to Medicare. If you like your current care, you can keep it. If you don't—or don't have any—you can get the public insurance plan.
2. It will be high-quality coverage with a choice of doctors. Government-run plans have a track record of innovating to improve quality, because they're not just focused on short-term profits. And if you choose the public plan, you'll still get to choose your doctor and hospital.
3. We'll all save a bunch of money. The public health insurance option won't have to spend money on things like CEO bonuses, shareholder dividends, or excessive advertising, so it'll cost a lot less. Plus, the private plans will have to lower their rates and provide better value to compete, so people who keep their current insurance will save, too.
4. It will always be there for you and your family. A for-profit insurer can close, move out of the area, or just kick you off their insurance rolls. The public health insurance option will always be available to provide you with the health security you need.
5. And it's a key part of universal health care. No longer will sick people or folks in rural communities, or low-income Americans be forced to go without coverage. The public health insurance plan will be available and accessible to everyone. And for those struggling to make ends meet, the premiums will be subsidized by the government.
It might not hurt to give your senators a jingle and ask 'em which they embrace more: campaign contributions from the big insurance lobby and Frank Luntz's Republican propaganda, or historic legislation that will enhance their legacy and make them heroes among their constituents for improving the health and well-being of all Americans. Be patient---sadly, it could take some of 'em a while to decide.
Posted by: Kathy | July 23, 2009 3:02 PM
Republican Jim Demint's recent 'Waterloo" comment shows exactly how self serving and shallow the average right-wing politician is.
Most of us already knew this but it sure was nice of Demint to bleet it out in public and remind everyone exactly what the goons on the right are all about - themselves and their rich pals.
Thanks Jimmy Demented, see ya at the healthcare signing ceremony in Sept!
Posted by: Teresa | July 23, 2009 3:06 PM
101,000 Americans die UNNECESSARILY each year because of lack of access to basic medical care that they would get in most other industrialized nations.
.
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/In-the-Literature/2008/Jan/Measuring-the-Health-of-Nations--Updating-an-Earlier-Analysis.aspx
I keep asking my "Canada bashing" kool-aid drinking Wingnut friends to find me just ONE comprehensive poll in Canada showing that Canadians would swap their health care system, warts and all, for ours...Haven't seen any yet.
And believe me, if there were any polls favorable to the Republican cause of denying healthcare to everyone, the Republican minions would be linking to them all day long. Instead, all they have is a handfull of anecdotes that they got from Druggy Limbaugh and Glenn Beck etc.
Posted by: K | July 23, 2009 3:08 PM
WaPo/ABC poll:
54% of Americans support a government run option paid for by taxes on the rich (the very same rich people whom the BushCo Republicans gave tax cuts to the last eight years while everyone else was left to drown in debt).
.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postpoll_072009.html
That's a damning statistic and indictment against any claim that the Republican party is a national party. They only act in the narrow interests of their own small, local electorate, never what's in the best interests of the national party.
And the interests of the national party and the interests of those rigid, ideologue, conservative Republicans are opposed to each other.
The only Republicans left are extremists in extremely Republican states (excepting perhaps Maine) and their extremely Republican, conservative electorate doesn't line up with the American electorate.
Posted by: Devil's Advocate | July 23, 2009 3:10 PM
I guess I can't say "Harry Reid is a little puddy cat" on this blog. Okay, can I say Reid is a Wussie? Because he is.
Posted by: Tim | July 23, 2009 3:17 PM
Republicans are right about healthcare in America. Who cares if some people don't have access to healthcare?!?!
We don't need to concern ourselves with that. Poor and Middle-Class people simply do not matter. Forget about them.
We should only be concerned about what is best for the wealthy business owner. If 15% of the population don't have health insurance it only makes things better for the wealthy old Republican white guys, that's a small price to pay. I'm sure Rush Limbaugh is with me in saying that if the number of uninsured went up to 30% or even 50% that simply is nothing any of us should be bothered by. It is, in fact probably a goal we pasty white Republican rich guys should be working toward. Why should your employer pay for you to have health insurance? The big business CEO's would do better if they didn't, and that's all that matters. I'm sure those guys, like me, have demanded that their employer terminate their health insurance coverage, for the good of the company. We must all join with them in our sacred goal: healthcare for the few white rich guys, sacrifice for everyone else.
Posted by: Be a good little Republican - Sacrifice your life for a Health Insurance CEO | July 23, 2009 3:46 PM
A little light reading over the August recess for Congress.
Most people would call it vacation, wonder why Congress calls it a recess? Just like first-graders at lunchtime.
Posted by: Terry | July 23, 2009 4:40 PM
Now I just heard that both sides will be wasting lots of bucks on COMMERCIALS!!! for and against this legislation.
Get it done...I guess they don't realize they could have a relative depending on someone to help them and get the care they need. All they can think about is making sure the CEO's have enough to visit their money in their offshore accounts in Aruba in their Italian loafers after they get their multi-million dollar bonuses.
Posted by: lochnesssmonster | July 23, 2009 5:24 PM
A little light reading over the August recess for Congress.
Most people would call it vacation, wonder why Congress calls it a recess? Just like first-graders at lunchtime.
Posted by: Terry | July 23, 2009 4:40 PM
A little light reading my eye, good time to tally up their political donations.
Posted by: Inky | July 23, 2009 5:24 PM
Bon Voyage!!
Posted by: whatever | July 23, 2009 6:07 PM
Poll Still Finds Public Support for Health-Care Reform: While a majority of Americans still think health-care reform is needed now, some of that support has wavered slightly as Congress wrestles with the details of producing a reform package, according to the July Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. Fifty-six percent of Americans continue to believe that health reform is more important than ever, despite the country's economic problems. And by a better than two-to-one margin (51 percent to 23 percent), Americans think the country would be better off if Congress and President Barack Obama enacted health reform, the poll found.
Aside from the savings created by the prevention and wellness program, medical IT, foreseeable potential stem cell effect, mental stress relief and massive job creation, ending subsidies for the private insurers (on reducing ER visits) and payment reform and so on could be enough to meet the goal of deficit-neutral.
Public school, public insurance policy, and public clean energy act are the natural parts of life in the free nations.
Thank You !
Posted by: hsr0601 | July 24, 2009 2:53 AM