Senior congressional Democrats told ABC News today that getting health care done by the end of the year is unlikely. This, of course, would be a blow to the White House and to Democratic leaders trying to get their bill done before another blown deadline--first it was August, then it was the end of the year, and now...
But who, exactly, is saying there won't be reform by the end of the year?
ABC quotes a senior Democratic leadership aide on background as saying, "Getting this done by the end of the year is a no-go," plus two other "key Congressional Democrats," without specifying which chamber any of the three work in.
It's not coming from the Democratic leaders themselves: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were both quoted as saying they still planned to pass legislation by the end of the year.
Conventional wisdom says it's coming from the Senate, where votes in favor of Reid's "opt-out" public option proposal will be harder to come by, with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) saying he'll oppose it.
I suggested as much to a Democratic House leadership aide, who agreed that the Senate is probably the source. "We still want to get a bill to the president," the aide said.
Just yesterday, Reid was very deliberate in telling reporters that he did not intend to rush health care legislation. Centrists have long said that there's no reason to rush a bill, indicating they're uncomfortable with an end-of-the-year deadline.
"We're not going to be bound by any timelines," Reid told reporters at a press conference yesterday.
The House, meanwhile, hasn't been so time-sensitive. It's expected to pass the legislation Pelosi rolled out last week, with her fellow Democratic leaders in tow at a press conference at the Capitol.
Reid's comment was a far cry from "it's a no-go," and he reiterated to ABC that he still plans to pass reform by the end of the year.
It's a delicate balancing act for him. His centrist colleagues are uncomfortable with passing a bill before the end of the year; the White House is uncomfortable with waiting; and progressives in Reid's home state are pressing him to force a bill through the Senate.
So ABC's headline is both good news and bad news for him: it takes some of the pressure off, allows centrists some room to breathe, and makes it look like there's no rush for health care after all. At the same time, it looks like the White House has failed, and it makes supporters of health reform unhappy.
But one has to consider the source: one senior leadership aide and two lawmakers. "Key congressional Democrats" can mean just about anyone--including Joe Lieberman and any other senator who may be hesitating, plus any prominent member of the Blue Dog coalition in the House.
This is not to knock ABC for reporting what they said. But it doesn't necessarily mean health reform is over in '09.
In an interview last week on MSNBC, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), the bellwether to end all bellwethers in the Senate these days, indicated that health reform could pass, if it came back from conference in the right condition.
It very well could be that health care doesn't happen before the end of the year. But with momentum swaying weekly, it's hard to imagine that anyone can say for certain that it will or won't, almost until Obama either has the pen in his hand or the entire process falls apart.
Anonymous senior Congressional Democrats? Everyone would like to know who the cowards are. And why would ABC News grant anonymity for such a banal and statement - without the source name it's hardly news. This is double fail.
No Democrat should ever wonder about the growing "Independent" party identification.
Never really cottoned to the Republican "cut taxes" argument, but at least THEY knew how to pass legislation.
Jeez.
Democrats must lead by leading and accomplishing reform -- like health care which is tied to the defici and the bankrupting of businesses. Those timid Dems who refuse to take issue with the insurance companies will lose their seats in the coming elections. Those who stand firm for the people will be re-elected to fight on! It is interesting to note that the three Democrats who won houseseats in Tuesday's elections which had previously been held by Republicans in New York and California, all embraced the current health plan and a Public Option!
Democratic congressmen should not be led astray by the Party of No and Fear....
GOP politicians and operatives continue to dishonestly and deceptively say that they cannot support a public option, they claim that they want to keep costs down for the American people! Really? They claim this all the while knowing that a public option/competition is the only way to really control cost and to bring about true reform thereby putting a definite Halt to the “out of control” medical costs and premiums crippling people and businesses today, making it harder and harder for average Americans and young people to realize and take advantage of the American Dream. One must ask themselves, If you happen to lose your job today or tomorrow during this time when we do not have healthcare reform for all, who will pay you or your familiy's health care bills, that is if you are lucky enough to be able to see a doctor without insurance? This American Dream, which has slowly been slipping away, is in the last throes of dying, if we do not forge a new path ahead on toward inclusion and cooperation for all. This dream of America will die to be replaced with just another third world country -- becoming another failed experiment and promise, only to go by the wayside.
There is a reason that GOP always say Gov’t is the problem. They know that when you have a party of men and women in power who do Nothing for Main Street but say no or complain, who stimie reform, then goverment is a problem! And so it becomes a self-fulliling prophecy. Whenever GOP are in power or in control, the goverment has been a do nothing, problematic government for Average Americans and a big Boom and Bonus for the Rich and well connected. We must remember, this is Bush & the GOP’s recession. They had the power for 8 years and did nothing to uplift this country, only to rape it from Main Street, to add it to Wall Street. The GOP does not even like to raise the Minimum Wage! They care nothing if you are making it. People we must wake up now! Because look around, assess the United States’ situation that we are in and ask yourself over the last 10 years of GOP rule, what have they done for you lately? Or this country? Do you like what the United States has become? And ask yourself this, if we let them get power again, how much more further will this country be destroyed until the United States will no longer be. That is a very frightening thought!