First Read : Congress

Congress: Lieberman, the public option

Domenico Montanaro — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:14:00 GMT

The Wall Street Journal writes how Joe Lieberman says he’s opposed to ANY kind of public option -- whether it’s opt in, opt out, or a trigger. “Probe for a catch or caveat in that opposition, and none is visible. Can he support a public option if states could opt out of the plan, as the current bill provides? ‘The answer is no,’ he says in an interview from his Senate office. ‘I feel very strongly about this.’ How about a trigger, a mechanism for including a public option along with a provision saying it won't be used unless private insurance plans aren't spreading coverage far and fast enough? No again.”

More: “Maybe the Lieberman stance is posturing, or a maneuver to force a watering down of the public option into something he and like-minded Democratic conservatives can swallow. In any case, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tries to solve the Rubik's Cube that is health legislation, Mr. Lieberman just might represent the hardest piece to flip into place.”

The Hill adds, “If Lieberman stands in the way of the Democrats’ effort to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system, Reid will be second-guessed for not stripping Lieberman of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee."

The New York Times notes how the abortion issue in the health-care debate has a become a fundraising boon to anti-abortion and pro-choice organizations.

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Kennedy flap reveals old Catholic divide

Domenico Montanaro — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:48:00 GMT

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
The news of Rep. Patrick Kennedy's Communion flap with Rhode Island's hard-line bishop is yet another chapter in the long history of the divide between Kennedy social justice Catholics and more hard-line conservatives, whose overarching issue is abortion.

Remember that the St. Louis Archbishop said he would deny Rudy Giuliani and John Kerry communion. Kerry was also rebuked by the Boston Archbishop, who stopped short of calling for him to not receive the eucharist.

Kerry, Giuliani and Patrick Kennedy may be the most recent but they are two in a long line of politicians who have clashed with the church over their views on abortion. New York Democrats Mario Cuomo and Geraldine Ferraro, for example, have drawn the church's ire for their public views on abortion.

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Dems search for public option fix

Mark Murray — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:22:00 GMT

From NBC's Ken Strickland
Senate Democratic aides say that Majority Leader Harry Reid and his leadership team have begun searching for a fix on the public option. At least four Democratic Senate moderates made it clear this weekend they would block the final passage if it included the current version of a government-run insurance program.

As Reid needed 60 votes to get the bill on the floor, he'll also need 60 votes to pass it -- every member of his Democratic caucus. But drawing his moderate members into the fold may simultaneously push out liberals.

After Sen. Mary Landrieu gave a speech on Senate floor Saturday voicing her support to start debating the bill, she told a small gaggle of reporters the failure to find a compromise with centrists could "blow up the whole effort."

"I believe it's going to be very clear at some point very soon that there are not 60 votes for the current [public option] provision in the bill," she said. "And that the leader and the leadership are going to have to make a decision. And I trust they will figure out how to do that."

Democratic sources say the leadership has started feeling out the caucus for two possible compromises.

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Whining over whining

Domenico Montanaro — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:53:00 GMT

From NBC's Domenico MontanaroRep. Emanuel Cleaver's legislation to dub the day before Thanksgiving "Complaint-Free Wednesday" has flown largely under the radar. But as the L.A. Times reports this morning, the Missouri Democrat has heard lots of complaining for trying to curb complaining. "Now, this is a Congress that has given us National Ice Cream Month and found time to praise the plumbing industry," The Times writes. "Surely, then, the notion that on Thanksgiving eve, people might stop whining...(read more)

Congress: Little maneuvering room

Mark Murray — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:13:00 GMT

“Moderate Senate Democrats threatened Sunday to scuttle health-care legislation if their demands aren't met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend,” the AP reports. “The dispute among Democrats foretells of a rowdy floor debate next month on legislation that would extend health care coverage to roughly 31 million Americans. Republicans have already made clear they aren't supporting the bill.”

Video: Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., discuss the debate that awaits the Senate after Democratic health legislation cleared a key hurdle.

The New York Times: “Anxious that Saturday’s party-line Senate vote to open debate on a health care overhaul gives them little maneuvering room, Obama administration officials and their Congressional allies are stepping up overtures to select Senate Republicans” – especially Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins -- in hopes of winning their ultimate support.”

"The contentious public option is one thing that may likely change, Reid acknowledged. He said that Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu, one of the final three Democratic holdouts before tonight’s vote, is working with Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Carper (D-DE) to come up with an 'alternative' public option, one that would be 'acceptable' to all Democrats."

The Washington Post adds, “With less than a year until the 2010 midterm elections -- and with Reid himself facing a potentially tough race at home in Nevada -- senators are eager to vote on health care before Christmas and complete negotiations with the House no later than the end of January, so they can turn their attention to legislation aimed at creating jobs.”

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Reid's 'Louisiana Purchase'?

Domenico Montanaro — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:17:00 GMT

From NBC's Domenico MontanaroThere's been a lot of talk about the $300 million Medicaid "fix" that Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu got for her home state just before voting in favor of cloture last night, thereby putting the Senate health bill on the floor for conisderation. Republicans have derisively called this Harry Reid's Louisiana Purchase. We talked about it this morning on MSNBC. A clip is below. HERE'S THE FULL DISCUSSION. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about...(read more)

Reid: 'We can see the finish line'

Domenico Montanaro — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:52:00 GMT

From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
After tonight’s vote to put a health reform bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate for the first time in American history, Senate Democrats vowed to pass it, but acknowledged there would be changes.

“We can see the finish line, but we’re not there yet,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

The contentious public option is one thing that may likely change, Reid acknowledged. He said that Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu, one of the final three Democratic holdouts before tonight’s vote, is working with Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Carper (D-DE) to come up with an “alternative” public option, one that would be “acceptable” to all Democrats."

“It’s going to be a long stretch,” Reid said, but he declared, “We have the momentum."

He said that not all 60 Democrats agree on the bill as it is now, “but they agree on the vast majority.” Reid said they agreed on more than 90 percent of the bill.

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Senate health bill moves forward

Domenico Montanaro — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:55:00 GMT

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
After hours of debating whether to allow debate to begin on a health reform bill, the Senate voted in favor of letting that happen tonight along strictly partisan lines, 60-39.

The outcome had become all but assured earlier today when Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a moderate Democrat from Arkansas, the last Democratic holdout, said she would vote with her caucus.

It is important to realize that this is just the beginning, the opening kickoff if you will. Lincoln, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) have all said they would not vote for a bill that in the end that includes a public option. And more importantly Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has said he would join a Republican filibuster on the back end if a public option is included.

The other wild card: Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Snowe, who voted against cloture tonight, is against the "opt out" version of the public option. But, of course, she is in favor of her "Trigger" option.

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Nelson's a 'yes'

Domenico Montanaro — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:37:00 GMT

From NBC's Ken Strickland
As was expected after Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) statement yesterday explaining what a vote for cloture would mean, he has now released a statement saying that he will vote with Democrats.

His full written statement after the jump:

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Lincoln 'still reviewing' health bill

Domenico Montanaro — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:33:00 GMT

From NBC's Ken StricklandAfter reading reports that Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has already told Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) how she'll vote tomorrow on issue of whether to bring the healthcare bill to the floor, Lincoln's office was quick respond. "No other Senator speaks for Senator Lincoln," Lincoln's spokeswoman told NBC in an email. "She is still reviewing the bill." Earlier in the day, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat Dick Durbin told several reporters that Lincoln had already...(read more)