News broke overnight that Billy Tauzin, the Democratic congressman turned Republican turned lobbyist, was stepping down as head of the the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Tauzin led the group when it struck a mid-2009 backroom deal with President Obama and the chair of the Senate Finance Committee. The deal, according to published reports, would have limited the pharmaceutical industry to $80 billion in losses over 10 years under Democratic health care reform. In exchange, drug companies agreed to support reform and the lobby spent some $100 million on a pro-reform push that included lots of television advertisements. What Democrats really got in exchange for the deal with Tauzin, however, was a promise from PhRMA not to oppose reform.
If you are out there somewhere reading the Congressional Budget Office’s preliminary analysis of the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill (and, really, aren’t we all?), I am sure you have already noticed an intriguing line-item under SUBTITLE I-MATERNAL, INFANT AND EARLY CHILDHOOD VISITATION. It says “Assisted Suicide.” Have we finally found where they have [...]
Although the prospects of a public option finding its way into the Senate Finance Committee health reform bill are bleak, Chairman Max Baucus seems ready to devote the bulk of today’s markup to the topic. The committee spent most of its morning session rehashing the arguments for and against the creation of a public health [...]
Chairman Max Baucus just warned the committee that he is prepared to work all night. I would take this more seriously if it hadn’t been for the fact that he made this announcement to four Democrats, five Republicans … and 10 empty chairs. UPDATE: Commenter Rustyreturns asks: Who are the “missing” Senators, Karen?
A few minutes after the scheduled 9 a.m. start, and Max Baucus has launched into his opening statement, declaring, “This is a balanced package.” At each place on the press tables is a stack of papers several inches deep. I got here about a half-hour early and was not surprised to see what looked to [...]
It starts–finally–in just a few hours. With the bang of a gavel in the high-tech cavern that is the conference room of the Senate Hart Office Building, the Senate Finance Committee will sit down around a table and confront the question of whether it can actually produce a health reform bill.
I noted yesterday that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has signaled he is open to making adjustments to his bill, even before it gets to its first formal drafting session on Tuesday. (Stay tuned to Swampland, by the way, to follow the progress of the markup. We have some special plans for coverage in [...]
I talked to Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus last night after what sounded like a pretty stormy meeting with his fellow committee Democrats last night. Baucus is still sounding confident about the prospects for his bill, but also suggests he is open to some significant changes in it, particularly on the question of making insurance [...]
