Rolls eyes...That's all you got?? Here, this is a report from the GBO's office...and this just deals with ONE of his lies!



    Rank-and-file House Democrats resist health care reform plan

Democrats' triumphant rollout of a sweeping health care reform bill earlier this week already feels like a distant memory.

Rank-and-file Democrats don't like it — and aren't afraid to say so. The speaker has already backpedaled on a key tax increase — putting her in a weaker negotiating position. And one outspoken Democratic critic doesn't think his leaders are "even close" to the votes they need to pass it.

But perhaps the biggest blow came from Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf, who told a Senate committee Thursday that legislation offered in both chambers "significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs." In other words, it doesn't fix the problem of runaway cost.

If Tuesday's unveiling was a celebration, Thursday was the expected hangover. And the discontent in the House stands in contrast to the possibility of a long-awaited breakthrough in the Senate, where Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) claims to be close to a bipartisan deal.

The grumbling is reminiscent of an internal fight earlier this summer over climate change, one that produced landmark legislation, despite heavy foot-dragging by rank-and-file Democrats. But finding the votes on health care is a much greater challenge. Because this is viewed as the must-pass bill for President Barack Obama's first year in the White House, lawmakers have a much greater incentive to shape this legislation and challenge their leaders.

But if Democrats have more days like Thursday, they're in trouble.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) kicked off the day by pulling back on the highly controversial surtax, saying she might be open to reducing the special tax on the wealthy. Democrats have proposed an extra levy on individuals who make more than $280,000 and couples who make more than $350,000 to raise $544 billion.

Later Thursday, Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross, a key negotiator for the Democrats' 52-member Blue Dog Coalition, blasted away at his party's bill, saying, "There's no way [party leaders] can pass the current bill on the House floor" unless they make major changes.

And then a collection of Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee criticized the bill within earshot of their chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a principal author.

All this bickering came on the heels of complaints from a group of first-year Democrats, led by Colorado Rep. Jared Polis, who sent Pelosi a letter complaining the surtax would impose an onerous burden on small businesses.

"This process is fluid," a senior leadership aide said Thursday. "Things continue to change minute to minute. But the one thing that remains the same is that we will pass health care reform."

Despite the obvious hurdles, the three committees with jurisdiction over the bill have no plans to delay its consideration, with the Education and Labor and Ways and Means committees both expected to approve the bill by the weekend.



The Energy and Commerce Committee will continue to be the trouble spot. Ross has said the seven Blue Dogs on the committee are all planning to vote against it unless Waxman and party leaders make major concessions. That would give them just the votes they need to defeat it because Democrats have a 13-vote advantage on the panel.

The group picked up at least one more "no" vote when Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak told Waxman and the rest of the committee, "I cannot support the bill in its current form." Virginia Rep. Rick Boucher also gave the bill lukewarm support during the first round of comments.

Asked if there was enough time to change the bill to his liking, Ross said, "I suspect we'll have all the time we need, given they don't have the votes to get it out of committee."

So where does that leave Democratic leaders, with the August recess deadline looming?

"All of these issues will be worked out through the legislative process," Pelosi said.

If that's the case, fundamental changes will have to be made, several Democrats said.

"We have to have real reform," said Wisconsin Rep. Ron Kind, a Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee who is pushing leaders to revisit Medicare's complicated funding formula.

With dissension growing among House Democrats, the Obama administration is now getting much more involved.

During a Thursday meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, members of the moderate New Democrat Coalition told her the legislation needs to reward health care providers who get the best results for the least amount of money, not the other way around, and scale back costs wherever possible — simple concepts with very complex solutions.

"She wanted to hear our ideas," New Democrat Coalition Chairman Joseph Crowley said afterward. "She was receptive."

And Pelosi reviewed the bill with her freshmen Thursday afternoon. Those same rookies are headed to the White House on Friday to build up their confidence before taking such a tough vote.

But despite all the behind-the-scenes meetings and legislative wrangling, the critical CBO cost estimate was perhaps the most damaging development for Democrats.

"In the legislation that has been reported, we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount," CBO Director Elmendorf said in his testimony for Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). "And on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs."

Pelosi was dismissive: "Is he the same person saying we are not giving any credit for prevention or negotiating for a lower cost for pharmaceutical drugs?"

But Ross and the Blue Dogs are looking increasingly powerful.

"Director Elmendorf's comments today only underscore what the Blue Dogs have been saying all along," Ross said. "We have to take steps to hold health care costs to the rate of inflation, or we will never balance our federal budget again, and health insurance costs will continue to become less and less affordable for the American people."


I told you I could have made it longer..............(next)!
GfS