23 September 2009

Pelosi Backs-Off Deal with Blue Dogs... and Makes a Hard Left


I
n
a pending act of mass political suicide,
SanFranNan appears prepared to try and ram-through the increasingly unpopular ObamaCare proposal... even including the highly-controversial "public option"-a de facto nationalization of the US health insurance industry. Such an overreaching, hubristic move in the face of surging public opposition will ensure the 100-seat loss that some are already predicting in November 2010.



Might she be under pressure from the WH to shove this proposal -with zero compromise- through the House... so Dingy Harry can use reconciliation in the Senate to foist this statist monstrosity upon us? Perhaps it's the only way they feel it'll ever pass now, but even if Pelosi could get enought moderates to stick-out-their-necks on this bill -and there's plenty of question there- it is far from certain that Reid can even get the 50 votes needed for this dubious parliamentary maneuver... so much for that cock-a-hoop 60-seat super-majority.

Mike Soroghan reports in The Hill that
Speaker Pelosi is backing away from a deal she cut with centrists to advance health reform, said a source familiar with talks.
Pelosi’s decision to move away from the agreement that was made with a group of Blue Dogs to get the bill out of committee would steer the healthcare legislation back to the left as she prepares for a floor vote.
Pelosi is planning to include a government-run public option in the House version of the healthcare bill. She wants to model it on Medicare, with providers getting reimbursed on a scale pegged to Medicare rates.
"The speaker is full-steam-ahead," said a senior Democratic aide.
...Blue Dog Democrats, many of whom represent rural districts where Medicare reimbursement rates are low, vehemently oppose tying the public option to Medicare.
Read more -here-

The Hill

Memeorandum

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