'There's a lot of anger at the Senate'
House Democrats think they've figured out the problem with healthcare reform: The Senate
By Mike Madden
Salon
WASHINGTON -- As House Democrats gathered Thursday morning in the basement of the Capitol Visitor's Center, one lawmaker stood up and started quoting ancient House wisdom. The meeting had been a little tense; leadership, by most accounts, sat quietly and listened as members vented about the Massachusetts Senate election, their own looming elections and the seemingly endless process involved in passing a healthcare reform bill. But the old saying the lawmaker quoted (without knowing quite who said it first) managed to unite the caucus, from Blue Dogs to liberals, at least briefly: The Republicans? Don't worry about the Republicans -- they're just the opposition. The enemy is the Senate.
A year's worth of frustration with slow progress in Congress is on the verge of boiling over as Democrats try to figure out what Tuesday's election means. (And that's just among the lawmakers -- the voters, clearly, are plenty angry already.) Senate Democrats still outnumber Republicans by 18, and yet they're hamstrung by the arrival of the GOP's Scott Brown, unable to finish action on the healthcare bill the chamber passed less than a month ago. The House, meanwhile, can't round up the votes to pass the Senate bill unchanged, which would send it to President Obama to sign -- albeit without fixes that both sides, and the administration, agree are needed. Which leaves things at something of a stalemate, though lawmakers swear they'll still find a way to move forward.
"There's a lot of anger at the Senate," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., a liberal who wants to push ahead with healthcare reform, but loathes some of the Senate bill's provisions, especially a tax on expensive health benefits packages. "They've wasted six months and done nothing, and they subject themselves to undemocratic rules that frustrate the will of the majority of the American people and of them. And we can do all kinds of things but in the end, it doesn't matter what we do if they don't go along with it. We pass a lot of good things, and it goes over there to die."
Watching Washington since Tuesday night might give the impression that Brown had given the Republicans total control of the Senate; as the Village Voice put it in a headline, "Scott Brown wins Mass. race, giving GOP 41-59 majority." Senate Democrats have been practically groveling to get the House to save healthcare by adopting their chamber's version of the legislation, and when they're not demanding that the House act, they're wailing about their inability to do much themselves without Republican cooperation (which is all but certainly not forthcoming).
(More here.)
By Mike Madden
Salon
WASHINGTON -- As House Democrats gathered Thursday morning in the basement of the Capitol Visitor's Center, one lawmaker stood up and started quoting ancient House wisdom. The meeting had been a little tense; leadership, by most accounts, sat quietly and listened as members vented about the Massachusetts Senate election, their own looming elections and the seemingly endless process involved in passing a healthcare reform bill. But the old saying the lawmaker quoted (without knowing quite who said it first) managed to unite the caucus, from Blue Dogs to liberals, at least briefly: The Republicans? Don't worry about the Republicans -- they're just the opposition. The enemy is the Senate.
A year's worth of frustration with slow progress in Congress is on the verge of boiling over as Democrats try to figure out what Tuesday's election means. (And that's just among the lawmakers -- the voters, clearly, are plenty angry already.) Senate Democrats still outnumber Republicans by 18, and yet they're hamstrung by the arrival of the GOP's Scott Brown, unable to finish action on the healthcare bill the chamber passed less than a month ago. The House, meanwhile, can't round up the votes to pass the Senate bill unchanged, which would send it to President Obama to sign -- albeit without fixes that both sides, and the administration, agree are needed. Which leaves things at something of a stalemate, though lawmakers swear they'll still find a way to move forward.
"There's a lot of anger at the Senate," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., a liberal who wants to push ahead with healthcare reform, but loathes some of the Senate bill's provisions, especially a tax on expensive health benefits packages. "They've wasted six months and done nothing, and they subject themselves to undemocratic rules that frustrate the will of the majority of the American people and of them. And we can do all kinds of things but in the end, it doesn't matter what we do if they don't go along with it. We pass a lot of good things, and it goes over there to die."
Watching Washington since Tuesday night might give the impression that Brown had given the Republicans total control of the Senate; as the Village Voice put it in a headline, "Scott Brown wins Mass. race, giving GOP 41-59 majority." Senate Democrats have been practically groveling to get the House to save healthcare by adopting their chamber's version of the legislation, and when they're not demanding that the House act, they're wailing about their inability to do much themselves without Republican cooperation (which is all but certainly not forthcoming).
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home