Key House Liberal: Senate Health Care Deal ‘Irreconcilable’ with House
EmailABC News’ Rick Klein reports: Even as Senate Democrats scramble to find a health care bill that can draw 60 votes, leading liberals in the House are voicing frustration with the direction of negotiations — and are threatening to sink the entire bill if the latest Senate compromise holds. On ABC’s “Top Line” today, Rep. Raul Grijalva, the co-chairman of the House Progressive Caucus, said he and his fellow progressives don’t support the idea of trading a “public option” for an expansion in the Medicare program. Even that compromise may have to get watered down, giving Sen. Joe Lieberman’s newly communicated opposition to the Medicare expansion. Of the House-passed version and the bill emerging out of the Senate, Grijalva said: “They are irreconcilable. And if we get something from the Senate that basically replicates what we have now in the [health care] system, I think it’s going to have a difficult time, if not an impossible time, getting through the House.” Grijalva, D-Ariz., said he sees little chance of finishing health care this year — and urged Democratic leaders to slow things down to allow all voices to be heard. “I don’t see that till after the new year, and after we return from our break, because I think there are too many questions,” he said. “And to try to steamroll something where there is no conference, where there is no real debate about the content, I think would be a serious mistake. And it’s something that I and many colleagues could not support.” Grijalva said the 80-plus members of the progressive caucus will insist on a conference committee to work out differences between the House and Senate bills, despite talk of using the so-called “ping-pong” legislative strategy that would send the Senate-passed bill directly to the House floor for an up-or-down vote. “We need to have a conference. This cannot occur without a conference,” he said. “And then, today, with the Lieberman announcement that basically guts any issue dealing with what pretends to be a public option or the Medicare buy-in basically challenges that and in fact threatens that, then any conference — anything that comes out of the Senate would be devoid of what was in the House bill, and so a conference is required. We’re concerned about taxing health benefits, we’re concerned about not having a public option that’s defined.” Watch the full interview with Rep. Raul Grijalva HERE. We also chatted with Christina Bellantoni of Talking Points Memo on today’s “Top Line” about the latest in the health care debate, plus President Obama’s meeting with some of the nation’s top bankers.
Bellantoni called Lieberman’s announcement a “huge deal,” and said it’s amplifying calls among Democrats for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to essentially cut Lieberman off moving forward: “I think that a lot of people wanted to see Harry Reid give up on him a long time ago.” Watch the full interview with Christina Bellantoni HERE.
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Now if you want to kill medicare you let people as young 55 to come in then you can really claim it is too expensive and you have to raise taxes or eliminate Social Security altogether. That is probably the plan all along this administration seems to hate senior citizens WHY???
Posted by: earl | December 14, 2009, 1:58 pm 1:58 pm
If they can’t blame Bush, they blame Lieberman. Why am I not surprised?
Posted by: Shane | December 14, 2009, 2:30 pm 2:30 pm
“it’s amplifying calls among Democrats for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to essentially cut Lieberman off moving forward”
It is well past time for Lieberman to be expelled from the Democrat’s Senate caucus. He didn’t get elected as a Democrat, he didn’t support the Democratic presidential nominee, and now he is opposing the keystone of the Democratic agenda. If healthcare fails, it needs to be made very clear it is because the documented reality is that Democrats do NOT have 60 votes in the Senate, not by name or action.
Posted by: jhw539 | December 14, 2009, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
If they can’t blame Bush, they blame Lieberman. Why am I not surprised?
Shane | Dec 14, 2009 2:30:44 PM
Is this what the overindulgence of kids, “no such thing as a stupid question,” parenting fad of the 80′s has resulted in? People who don’t understand the most basic concepts of causality, aka blame?
Yes, if Lieberman blocks health care reform he is to blame for it failing. Arguing that it failing is good is one thing, but arguing that Lieberman isn’t to blame for it failing when he actively votes and works to make it fail… Think!
Posted by: jhw539 | December 14, 2009, 3:17 pm 3:17 pm
That Lieberman continues to be included in the discussion points to the unfortunate desperation of the Democrats because of their insufficient vote tally. His recent comments that suggest that stripping the public option and early Medicare enrollment would leave a good bill essentially indicates he has little interest in the Democrat agenda. Really, his complete unwillingness to compromise would seem to indicate that he is largely content with the status quo.
Posted by: Wellescent Health Blog | December 14, 2009, 4:35 pm 4:35 pm
Yes, if Lieberman blocks health care reform he is to blame for it failing… Think!
Posted by: jhw539 | Dec 14, 2009 3:17:13 PM
Last I checked, our Senate consisted of more than just one person. And more than one is voting to block this montrosity of a bill that I doubt you have read or could explain… THINK!
Posted by: Shane | December 14, 2009, 4:49 pm 4:49 pm
To really understand why the present Health Care system is “Unsustainable” with No Health Care Reform, in Eight (8) years – in the Year 2018 a family of 4 would be Charged $24,000 Per Year for their Health Care Insurance Premiums. (It’s $12,000 Per Year today.)
You may find knowledge of the following helpful. The causes of Health Care being “Unsustainable” going forward is Republicans are in “lock-step” related to the following; Their Philosophy, Value System, Financial considerations and their relationship to the HEALTH CARE INSURANCE INDUSTRY WHOSE CONTROL AFFECTS EACH & EVERY ASPECT OF THE AMERICAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. This includes; Doctors, Physician Assistants, Nurses, Hospitals, Clinics, Nursing Homes, Rehab Centers, Labs, Pharmaceutical / Drug Industry, Medical Equipment and Medical Supplies. From R&D to Advertisement, Marketing, Wholesale and Retail sales to the consumer. (……. Picture “an animal eating its’ own.”)
The following are Statistics from the 2008 Annual Rankings of Fortune 500. The Supporting information follows; Seven (7) of the Top fifty (50) Fortune 500 companies in America are either Health Care Insurance Companies or they are entities in the Health Care industry. While it’s suggested that the Health Care “Parasites” ONLY earn 2% – 4% Profit annually. The Truth is “Quite Different”. Here are some “Thumbnail Averages” of the top 8 Health Care company averages, compared to the “Same Average Size” Fortune 500 Company. For comparison, below is the Actual Profit, as a percentage of Revenue, which is comprised of Revenue (earned), Assets (retained) and Share Holder Equity (to be paid to investor’s.)
H/C Revenue Comparative Co.
$26Billion Yr. $26 Billion Yr.
H/C Profit Comparative Co.
5.3% plus 55.9% 3.4%
H/C Assets Comparative Co.
7.0% plus 118.8% 3.2%
H/C Inv. Equity Comparative Co.
19.5% plus 116.7% 9.0%
H/C Tot. Profit Comparative Co.
31.8% plus 103.9% 15.6%
Hope you find this information helpful. The CBO has yet to “Cost Out” the 123 AMERICAN CITIZENS WHO DIE EACH DAY – FROM HAVING NO HEALTH CARE INSURANCE.
Posted by: bobj72 | December 15, 2009, 12:46 pm 12:46 pm