Democrats hint compromise to win Senate health care deal

Democrats hint compromise to win Senate health care deal
By Mary Agnes Carey and Eric Pianin
Kaiser Health News
June 11, 2009

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are offering to scrap a controversial government-sponsored health insurance provision in an effort to win more than a dozen moderate and conservative Republican votes to extend health care coverage to nearly 46 million uninsured Americans.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the chairman of the Finance Committee, signaled his willingness Thursday to compromise to attract enough GOP support to pass the legislation in the Senate this summer with as many as 70 votes.

Baucus emerged from a morning session with key Republicans and Democrats saying he was "inclined toward" jettisoning the proposed government insurance program, which President Barack Obama endorsed last week, in favor of a new proposal to create national, state and regional health care insurance cooperatives.

Republicans oppose the public insurance option, saying it would undermine the private insurance industry and lead to a national health insurance system. Some conservative Democrats also are skeptical of the public plan option, even as they and Baucus support Obama's goals.

Baucus and his longtime ally, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, frequently have asserted that a party-line vote would tarnish the legislation and undermine efforts to gain broad national acceptance of the health care changes.

Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine vote frequently with Democrats and are being wooed aggressively by Baucus and other Democratic leaders. They have strong knowledge of the health care system and have been major players in previous health care debates, including the creation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit and the recent expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Among the other senators being wooed by Democrats are Mike Enzi of Wyoming, a Finance Committee member and the ranking Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee who's signaled the potential for a deal, despite his recent sharp criticism of the Democrats' handling of the legislation; and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. Murkowski and Alexander are on the health panel, which with the Finance Committee is responsible for drafting Senate legislation.

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1093302.html

New Democratic era of "change:" Fail

and don't let up

Talk to your neighbors... these people listen to *constituents* first. So we need their constituents to flood them with calls.

option.

I am more concerned that they are more committed to passing a bill with Republican votes than to pass a bill with a public option. It is probably time to make clear to all that we WANT a public option MORE than a bipartisan vote. If Landrieu and Nelson do not want a public option, let them vote NO to it. Don't weaken the bill for them.

They can give lip service to "reform" and "change" til the cows come home, yet at the end of the day it will just be the government dumptruck of cash pouring into the insurance companies' trough. As long as they keep referring to the problem of "uninsured Americans" we will know that the "solution" will be to get more customers for our current twisted medical insurance system.

Democratic Senators, especially the ConservaDems.

They are going against the President.

In today's town hall in Green Bay, President Obama was telling the people to take action and tell their representatives in Congress that they want a government public option.

after all, it may be one of those "bipartisan compromises" he loves so much.

Obama did say he'd rather get some of what he wants with 60 votes than all of what he wants with 51. Apparently what we may want doesn't matter a whole lot.

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and pharma lobbyists. Baucus couldn't campaign without his blood money from the industry. http://www.opensecrets.org/races/contrib.php?cycle=2008&id=MTS2

Nothing more than 'legalized bribery.' It still astounds me it is perfectly legal for lobbyists to hold campaign treasurers and fundraisers for members of Congress.

Democrats are a bunch of weenies. They couldn't fight their way out of a paper sub-committee.

So it comes down to the same question we had about bushco. Are they just incompetent or are they just morally bankrupt? (Of course they can be both.)

They can take their compromised position and shove it up their .......

Hell, a truly huge national co-op might work. Not this tiny ass bullshit.

FUCK corporate health care.

At this point the senate is clearly just going through the motions. Nothing changes without a government option except even more money flows to the corporate insurance companies. This is not reform, it is a compounding of the problem.

the House can, and we can force a reconciliation of the House bill through the congress.

Keep fighting.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8464316


If there's really no point, why are we even here discussing it? If there's no point, shouldn't we all just take the blue pill and go back to sleep?

nt

to Compromise Underground. The party is rapidly becoming less democratic. Check Webster's for a definition and see how much the party is acting like its name. Maybe the Corporate Party.

to remind them something that works is more important than 70 votes.