Six key Senate Centrists–Ben Nelson (D-NE), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Ron Wyden (D-OR)–are asking Democratic and Republican leaders to slow down the pace of health care reform efforts.
“[I]n the view of [CBO Director Doug Elmendorf's] statement, there is much heavy lifting ahead,” reads a letter the group signed today. “We look forward to working with you to develop legislation that is vital to the well-being of the American people and urge you to resist timelines which prevent us from achieving the best results.”
According to Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim, who first obtained the letter, “The organized effort to slow down the process is a blow to the reform effort.” And, indeed, there [sic] letter exemplifies a growing sense among centrists and health reform skeptics that the pace of reform should be slowed down. But it’s also a restatement of very publicly held views. Earlier today, Nelson himself appeared on CNN and suggested congressional health care leaders should not to move too quickly.
The President wants the Senate bill yesterday, and conventional wisdom says that if this process drags on past the August recess then there will be the possibility that it won’t pass this year. So? I would much rather see the right bill get passed at a later date than have the wrong bill passed immediately. The “Gang of Six” have asked for a little more time, not a hatchet.
President Obama gave his weekly address this morning on this subject. I read the transcript and there is no solid reason or justification that would back up the idea that this legislation has to be out of committee before the August recess. The video:
Here is the only part of the President’s address that speaks to the urgency of the bill:
(snip) This is the status quo. This is the system we have today. This is what the debate in Congress is all about: Whether we’ll keep talking and tinkering and letting this problem fester as more families and businesses go under, and more Americans lose their coverage. Or whether we’ll seize this opportunity – one we might not have again for generations – and finally pass health insurance reform this year, in 2009.
I agree. Health care reform must pass this year – and it must contain a public plan. But, in all honesty, will giving it a couple more weeks do irreparable harm?
In yet another attack on the liberal agenda, the ultra left-wing economist Paul Krugman penned an op-ed today harshly criticizing any notion of delay in the process of passing the health care reform bill. The op-ed is entitled, The Six Deadly Hypocrites.
What’s especially galling is the hypocrisy of their claimed reason for delaying progress — concern about the fiscal burden. After all, in the past most of them have shown no concern at all for the nation’s long-term fiscal outlook.
Case in point: the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which denied Medicare the right to bargain for lower drug prices, locked in overpayments to private insurance companies, and did nothing, nothing at all, to pay for its proposed outlays. How many of these six self-proclaimed defenders of solvency voted no on the crucial procedural vote? One. (Joe Lieberman, to my surprise.)
Well, Paul, the Bush administration never paid for any legislation at all, especially the most expensive – the Bush tax cuts of 2003 that cost over a trillion dollars. And you are right, there was no concern for fiscal responsibility at that time from these six Senators. But times have changed. Obama has taken full responsibility for today’s economy. He has opened his arms and has embraced this mess as if it were his own. President Obama is the one who has demanded fiscal responsibility, and yet he wants to hurry the process of health care reform without giving these conservative Democrats a chance to catch their breaths and consider the impact of the costs. It’s okay nowadays to talk about saving money in the long run.
And what is “especially galling” to me sometimes is how Krugman, Ryan Grim, and others can begin pouting and stomping their feet whenever some new event happens that upsets the progressive left’s apple cart. If we can make it through eight years of the most spendy administration ever, we can surely do the next few months without a major mishap. We’ll get the apple vendor safely to the hospital, so stop fretting.
President Obama’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, accused Senate Republicans on Sunday of trying to kill health care reform by dragging out the legislative process.
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, Orszag labeled the attempts to push back the health care reform timeline as a “typical Washington bureaucratic game of if you don’t have a better alternative just delay in hopes that that kills something.”
“We want to get this done by August and we think we can,” he added. “There are those that are advocating delay just as a desperation move to try and kill this.”
Orszag stressed that not everyone calling for delay had sinister motives. The moderate Democrats in the Senate and Blue Dog Democrats in the House, he said, were “actively participating in the debate and that is great.” This past week, Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) Mary Landrieu (La.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.), along with Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) and Maine Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins signed a letter asking to slow down the health care reform debate.
See? Not everyone calling for delay has sinister motives. Besides, Orszag accuses Republicans of trying to kill health care reform by slowing it down without ever offering any conclusive evidence that they are, in fact, doing that.
And, he doesn’t tell us how slowing down the process will kill the bill. His explanation sounds a bit hokey. He speaks of Republican attempts to ask for more time as a, “typical Washington bureaucratic game of if you don’t have a better alternative just delay in hopes that that kills something.”
Weak.
Listen. If we are steadfast and continue to call, sign petitions, and generally push from our end then health care reform, with a public option, will pass Congress. If it is not done by the August recess, then it will be soon after. Obama told us during the campaign that change is up to us, not him, so keep up the pressure.
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Air sampling by NOAA over Colorado Finds 4% Methane Leakage, More Than Double Industry Claims Natural-gas operations could release far more methane into the atmosphere than previously thought. [Source: Nature] How much methane leaks during the entire lifecycle of unconventional gas has emerged as a key question in the fracking debate. Natural gas is mostly […]
After defeating multiple amendments designed to derail the bill — including one that would require a referendum — the Washington state House of Representative has passed marriage equality with a vote of 55-43. The bill now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire (D), who has promised to sign it. Opponents of marriage equality have already promised to challenge […]
A bill that would require all New Mexico voters to present certain forms of photo identification or be barred from voting died in committee today. The legislation was voted down along party lines — three Democrats opposed, two Republicans supported — in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. Though this was the fourth time […]
It’ll be very interesting to see the result of a lawsuit currently brewing in federal court that is trying to shut down ReDigi (a judge backed the service, but an appeal seems likely), a service that will let you resell music you purchased from iTunes after taking quite comprehensive efforts to keep owners from having […]
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A Second Look | Executive and Legislative Ambulance Chasing
Does slowing down the legislative process equate to “killing” health care? If so, how?
via Citing CBO-Director’s Statements, Senate Centrists Urge Slower Pace For Health Care Reform | TPMDC.
The President wants the Senate bill yesterday, and conventional wisdom says that if this process drags on past the August recess then there will be the possibility that it won’t pass this year. So? I would much rather see the right bill get passed at a later date than have the wrong bill passed immediately. The “Gang of Six” have asked for a little more time, not a hatchet.
President Obama gave his weekly address this morning on this subject. I read the transcript and there is no solid reason or justification that would back up the idea that this legislation has to be out of committee before the August recess. The video:
Here is the only part of the President’s address that speaks to the urgency of the bill:
I agree. Health care reform must pass this year – and it must contain a public plan. But, in all honesty, will giving it a couple more weeks do irreparable harm?
In yet another attack on the liberal agenda, the ultra left-wing economist Paul Krugman penned an op-ed today harshly criticizing any notion of delay in the process of passing the health care reform bill. The op-ed is entitled, The Six Deadly Hypocrites.
Well, Paul, the Bush administration never paid for any legislation at all, especially the most expensive – the Bush tax cuts of 2003 that cost over a trillion dollars. And you are right, there was no concern for fiscal responsibility at that time from these six Senators. But times have changed. Obama has taken full responsibility for today’s economy. He has opened his arms and has embraced this mess as if it were his own. President Obama is the one who has demanded fiscal responsibility, and yet he wants to hurry the process of health care reform without giving these conservative Democrats a chance to catch their breaths and consider the impact of the costs. It’s okay nowadays to talk about saving money in the long run.
And what is “especially galling” to me sometimes is how Krugman, Ryan Grim, and others can begin pouting and stomping their feet whenever some new event happens that upsets the progressive left’s apple cart. If we can make it through eight years of the most spendy administration ever, we can surely do the next few months without a major mishap. We’ll get the apple vendor safely to the hospital, so stop fretting.
UPDATE ,07/19/09:
via Orszag: Republicans Trying To Kill Health Care Reform Through Delay
See? Not everyone calling for delay has sinister motives. Besides, Orszag accuses Republicans of trying to kill health care reform by slowing it down without ever offering any conclusive evidence that they are, in fact, doing that.
And, he doesn’t tell us how slowing down the process will kill the bill. His explanation sounds a bit hokey. He speaks of Republican attempts to ask for more time as a, “typical Washington bureaucratic game of if you don’t have a better alternative just delay in hopes that that kills something.”
Weak.
Listen. If we are steadfast and continue to call, sign petitions, and generally push from our end then health care reform, with a public option, will pass Congress. If it is not done by the August recess, then it will be soon after. Obama told us during the campaign that change is up to us, not him, so keep up the pressure.