A key House committee on Tuesday indefinitely postponed voting on health care reform legislation after Democratic leaders were unable to line up enough votes from moderate members of their own party.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee canceled the session as it faced serious concerns about the legislation from fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats, who hold a large number of seats on the panel. The Energy and Commerce Committee is the only House panel with jurisdiction over health care that has not completed writing its version of the reform bill.
President Obama plans to meet with those Democrats Tuesday. He stressed before going into the meeting that lawmakers have already forged unprecedented consensus on health care and expressed confidence that they could finish what they started.
"We are closer than ever before to the reform that the American people need and we're going to get the job done," Obama said, accusing some of his critics of trying to score "political points" at the expense of health care reform.
But he and his congressional allies still have a lot of Democrats to convince.
"We have ongoing discussions with members," committee Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said in a brief statement announcing that the markup set for Tuesday had been canceled. "I think we're making good progress, and I want to pursue those discussions further."
A markup is where the committee essentially finalizes the bill, going through it line-by-line and accepting or rejecting amendments.
The two other House committees with jurisdiction over health care legislation -- Ways and Means and Education and Labor -- approved their versions of the package last week.
But the Energy and Commerce Committee was considered the toughest lift for advocates of the bill on the table, which could carry a price tag of up to $1.5 trillion over 10 years. The Blue Dog Democrats on the committee say they are worried about the cost of the bill, tax increases that could be attached to it and the speed at which the House is trying to adopt it.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer suggested that deep divisions among Democrats could preclude the House from having enough votes to approve it before the August recess.
"We want to pass it next week," Hoyer said at his weekly meeting with reporters. "If we get consensus, we'll do it."
Next week is the final week the House is scheduled to be in session until September. But the Maryland Democrat said he didn't believe it would be productive to delay the break if the health bill isn't wrapped up.
“I don't think staying in session is necessarily necessary to getting consensus," Hoyer said.
Rep. Baron Hill, D-Ind., one of the lawmakers invited to the session with Obama, said his main concern is not having enough time to review the legislation before a House vote.
"We're just not there yet," he said. "We're getting there."
To secure his vote, Hill said he's seeking specific cuts in cost and wants a better understanding about how "bundling" health care dollars would work. Under the current fee-for-service system, health insurance companies currently divide up payments among doctors, technicians and nurses. Bundling would tie all payments together.
"They don't have the votes with the language they've got now," said Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., another so-called Blue Dog. Boyd said he'd like to see the House take a break on health care and punt to the Senate.
Since the political chasms in the Senate are considered wider, any bill that passes the Senate could be seen as more palatable in the House.
House Minority Leader John Boehner said Tuesday that it's time to hit the reset button in light of the problems on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
"It's time to scrap this bill. Let's start over in a bipartisan way," he said.
Despite Boyd's skepticism, he said he wasn't ready to throw in the towel on health care reform.
"Anything can happen," he said. "This place is known for miracles."
Many conservative Democrats on the committee are already reeling from criticism they've heard for voting for a landmark climate and energy bill in June. Many of those lawmakers are reluctant to take a tough vote again.
For days, Obama has hammered his desire for a bill this summer during public appearances and private meetings. He plans to hold a prime-time press conference Wednesday.
"I want this done now. If there are no deadlines, nothing gets done in this town," Obama said in an interview with PBS. But he suggested that he'd be willing to put off his deadline slightly for the sake of passing a bill.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Blue Dog Coalition
The Democratic Blue Dog Coalition is a group of currently 52 moderate and conservative Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives. The Blue Dogs promote, among other things, fiscal conservatism and accountability. In 2006, Blue Dog candidates such as Heath Shuler and Brad Ellsworth were elected in conservative-leaning districts, ending years of Republican dominance in these areas.
History
The Blue Dogs are the political descendants of a now defunct Southern Democratic group known as the Boll Weevils, who played a critical role in the early 1980s by supporting President Ronald Reagan's tax cut plan. The Boll weevils, in turn, may be considered the descendants of the "states' rights" Democrats of the 1940s through '60s.
"Blue Dog Democrat" is derived from the term "Yellow Dog Democrat." Former Texas Democrat Rep. Pete Geren is credited for coining the term, explaining that the members had been "choked blue" by "extreme" Democrats from the left. The term is also a reference to the "Blue Dog" paintings of Cajun artist George Rodrigue of Lafayette, Louisiana; the original members of the coalition would regularly meet in the offices of Louisiana representatives Billy Tauzin and Jimmy Hayes, both of whom had Rodrigue's paintings on their walls. Tauzin and Hayes later switched to the Republican Party. The Blue Dog Coalition was formed in 1994 during the 104th Congress to give more conservative members from the Democratic party a unified voice.
The coalition was notably successful in a special election of February 2004 in Kentucky to fill a vacant seat in the House of Representatives. They were also successful in the November 2004 elections, when three of the five races in which a Democrat won a formerly Republican House seat were won by Blue Dogs. Freshman Blue Dogs in the House are sometimes nicknamed "Blue Pups."
In 2005, the members of the Blue Dog Coalition voted 32 to 4 in favor of the bill to limit access to bankruptcy protection (S 256).
History
The Blue Dogs are the political descendants of a now defunct Southern Democratic group known as the Boll Weevils, who played a critical role in the early 1980s by supporting President Ronald Reagan's tax cut plan. The Boll weevils, in turn, may be considered the descendants of the "states' rights" Democrats of the 1940s through '60s.
"Blue Dog Democrat" is derived from the term "Yellow Dog Democrat." Former Texas Democrat Rep. Pete Geren is credited for coining the term, explaining that the members had been "choked blue" by "extreme" Democrats from the left. The term is also a reference to the "Blue Dog" paintings of Cajun artist George Rodrigue of Lafayette, Louisiana; the original members of the coalition would regularly meet in the offices of Louisiana representatives Billy Tauzin and Jimmy Hayes, both of whom had Rodrigue's paintings on their walls. Tauzin and Hayes later switched to the Republican Party. The Blue Dog Coalition was formed in 1994 during the 104th Congress to give more conservative members from the Democratic party a unified voice.
The coalition was notably successful in a special election of February 2004 in Kentucky to fill a vacant seat in the House of Representatives. They were also successful in the November 2004 elections, when three of the five races in which a Democrat won a formerly Republican House seat were won by Blue Dogs. Freshman Blue Dogs in the House are sometimes nicknamed "Blue Pups."
In 2005, the members of the Blue Dog Coalition voted 32 to 4 in favor of the bill to limit access to bankruptcy protection (S 256).
Blue Dog Democrats
A leader of the conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats told CNN Wednesday he and other group members may vote to block House Democrats' health care bill from passing a key committee if they don't get some of the changes they want.
"We remain opposed to the current bill, and we continue to meet several times a day to decide how we're going to proceed and what amendments we will be offering as Blue Dogs on the committees," said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Arkansas.
Ross said the bill unveiled Tuesday by House Democratic leaders did not address concerns he and other conservative Democrats outlined in a letter late last week to Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The conservative Democrats don't believe the legislation contains sufficient reforms to control costs in the health care system and believe additional savings can be found. Their letter to leaders raised concerns about new mandates on small businesses. Blue Dogs also say the bill fails to fix the inequities in the current system for health care costs for rural doctors and hospitals.
The Energy and Commerce committee, along with two other House committees, is scheduled to take up the bill Thursday.
Democrats outnumber Republicans 36-23 on the Energy and Commerce committee, which contains eight Blue Dogs, including Ross. If seven Democrats vote with Republicans against the bill, it would fail to advance to the House floor.
Asked whether the Blue Dogs on Energy and Commerce are considering voting as a group against the bill if it remains unchanged, Ross replied, "absolutely."
He didn't give details on changes the Blue Dogs want. But he did say he wasn't satisfied with the penalty exemption for small businesses that don't provide health insurance for employees. An earlier draft of the Democrats' bill exempted businesses from paying a penalty if their payrolls were less than $100,000. Democratic leaders raised that payroll amount to $250,000.
"We remain opposed to the current bill, and we continue to meet several times a day to decide how we're going to proceed and what amendments we will be offering as Blue Dogs on the committees," said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Arkansas.
Ross said the bill unveiled Tuesday by House Democratic leaders did not address concerns he and other conservative Democrats outlined in a letter late last week to Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The conservative Democrats don't believe the legislation contains sufficient reforms to control costs in the health care system and believe additional savings can be found. Their letter to leaders raised concerns about new mandates on small businesses. Blue Dogs also say the bill fails to fix the inequities in the current system for health care costs for rural doctors and hospitals.
The Energy and Commerce committee, along with two other House committees, is scheduled to take up the bill Thursday.
Democrats outnumber Republicans 36-23 on the Energy and Commerce committee, which contains eight Blue Dogs, including Ross. If seven Democrats vote with Republicans against the bill, it would fail to advance to the House floor.
Asked whether the Blue Dogs on Energy and Commerce are considering voting as a group against the bill if it remains unchanged, Ross replied, "absolutely."
He didn't give details on changes the Blue Dogs want. But he did say he wasn't satisfied with the penalty exemption for small businesses that don't provide health insurance for employees. An earlier draft of the Democrats' bill exempted businesses from paying a penalty if their payrolls were less than $100,000. Democratic leaders raised that payroll amount to $250,000.
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