The Associated Press and New York Times are reporting tonight that the 10 senators tapped to negotiate an alternative to or compromise on the Senate health reform bill’s public option have dropped the idea of a government-run health insurance plan altogether. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters that the group is sending …
Senate
The Freshman Class and Health Reform Cost Containment
Lately, there has been no shortage of criticism that the Democratic health care bill doesn’t do enough to cut health care spending. My colleague Karen Tumulty had a great story in the magazine recently about how cost-containment provisions in health reform legislation have been whittled down. Right now, on the Senate floor, a group of …
It’s election time, again!
Tomorrow, Massachusetts voters will go to the polls for primaries to fill Teddy Kennedy’s Senate seat. Bet on whomever can survive on the lowest turnout. No, seriously, having lived in Massachusetts for six bitter winters, I can attest: ain’t nobody gonna be lining up outside in the cold for any of these virtually unheard of …
What Happens If Liberal Senators Cash In Their Public Option Chips?
The scuttle around Capitol Hill today is that public option devotees in the Senate are considering giving up the fight – in exchange for some rather hefty parting gifts. But before we get too far, let’s clear one thing up – again. The public option “alternative” – which would replace the opt-out public plan currently in the …
Economists Growing More Wary of the Senate Health Bill
A few weeks back, the White House was jubilant when 23 prominent economists sent a letter to President Obama endorsing key elements of the Senate health care bill. Today, nearly all of those same economists and a few others–among this group, Nobel prize winners, former presidents of the American Economic Association and former directors …
A “Public Option Compromise” That’s Not?
If the weekend is any guide, the Senate health reform bill is not likely to undergo much tweaking. Between Friday and Sunday, despite hours of debate on the Senate floor, the only amendments that passed were those from Democrats simply reiterating things the bill already calls for. One sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse was a “sense …
Obama’s “Pep Talk”
President Barack Obama journeyed to Capitol Hill for a rare Sunday visit as the Senate pushed through the weekend on health care reform. The president spent more than 40 minutes rallying the Senate Democratic caucus, underlining to them the importance of passing a bill not only to the economy, but to the 2010 elections and “the …
Baucus’s Legal Affairs
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus found himself the center of a scrum of reporters Saturday as the Senate worked through the weekend on health care reform, though not for the usual reasons. The topics did not include the public option, abortion, health care affordability or his hearings on global warming legislation but, …
Obama’s Human Resources
As the White House jobs summit gets under way today, here’s a story looking at congressional efforts for a jobs stimulus bill. Given the GOP tarnish on the last stimulus bill, members have pushed back hard at the suggestion that any future efforts might be labeled a stimulus. “I wouldn’t characterize it as a second
stimulus,” House …
Congress’s Tepid Reaction to Obama’s Afghanistan Plan
Congressional reaction to the 30,000-troop surge in Afganistan was as tepid as President Obama’s West Point speech. As details of the plan leaked out throughout the day — with more than 30 members traveling to the White House to be personally briefed — few spoke with passion: no one – including Obama – mentioned human rights, the …
Health Bill: What Would It Cost Me?
That has been one of the hardest questions to answer, in part because everyone’s situation with regard to health care is so different.
Today, the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Taxation Committee issued an analysis that is pretty dense to read, but suggests the Senate version of the bill would, overall, be a good thing for …
UPDATE: A Toothless Task Force? Hardly.
UPDATE: Since publishing this post about the US Preventive Services Task Force around 2 p.m., I have been told by the White House that my interpretation of the Senate legislative language is off. This was, incidentally, the interpretation of several non-partisan policy experts I spoke to as well, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is …
Casey, and the Next Chapter of His Family’s Pro-Life Legacy
Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey will tell you that he doesn’t get many more calls from fundraisers or constituents about abortion than he does the public plan, death panels or immigration. “We’re getting a lot of inquiries from lots of different groups on several differnet topics,” he demurrs. “I don’t think it’s any different or …