Posted on 07/24/2009 2:52:45 PM PDT by jazusamo
Hours after calling their chairman a liar, Blue Dogs on the Energy and Commerce Committee stood by that chairman’s side and announced together that the once-collapsed healthcare negotiations are back on track.
“The chairman and I would like to retract some of the things that we said earlier today,” Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), the chairman of the Blue Dog healthcare task force said while standing beside Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) after the two emerged from an emergency meeting of the Democrats on the committee.
“Our group of seven has always believed that we want to be a constructive part of the legislative process,” Ross said. “Earlier today it appeared that those negotiations had reached a standstill. The chairman has now invited us to sit back down with him again and continue those negotiations.
“Talks are back on,” Ross added.
That statement was a remarkable turn from just hours earlier on Friday, when Ross and other Energy and Commerce Blue Dogs angrily stormed out of a negotiating session, with one Blue Dog denouncing Waxman as having lied to them about agreeing to the inclusion of a independent commission to examine and recommend Medicare rates.
“I’ve been lied to,” Blue Dog Coalition Co-Chairman Charlie Melancon (D-La.) said earlier on Friday. “We have not had legitimate negotiations.
“Mr. Waxman has decided to sever discussions with the Blue Dogs who are trying to make this bill work for America,” Melancon said.
But Waxman immediately called those Blue Dogs, and the other Democrats on the committee, into a meeting.
According to Waxman, it was the rest of the members of the committee that helped the two sides agree to resume working out their differences, mainly out of a fear of having Democratic leaders feel forced to bypass the committee and bring the bill directly to the floor.
“Our colleagues on the committee don’t want our committee passed over,” Waxman said.
The fact that talks have resumed, however, do not mean that any additional agreements have been reached. And as they stood by each other’s side, both Waxman and Ross alluded to the fact that, substantively, talks haven’t budged from where they have been stuck for days.
“We basically agreed to keep talking,” Ross said.
“Nothing is irreconcilable,” Waxman added, “unless you decide it’s irreconcilable.”
Waxman said staff would work through the weekend in the hopes of having the committee resume its markup on Monday.
As Waxman and Ross were publicly making up, House leaders gathered to announce that the committee would keep working.
"We are looking forward to the Energy and Commerce Committee working its will and reporting a bill," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
Even with Waxman’s hope for a Monday resurrection of the markup, Hoyer acknowledged that the House is unlikely to meet its deadline of passing a bill by Friday. He said the House session may extend to Saturday or even the first two days of the next week.
And he held open the possibility that the House may break for its summer recess without passing a bill.
Hoyer said that the agreement announced Friday morning to resolve the thorny and complex issue of "regional disparity" shows that Democrats can bridge their differences.
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said that agreement probably won 20 to 25 Caucus votes for the bill.
Yet that deal was one of the items that unnerved the Blue Dogs earlier on Friday.
Melancon, for one, said he felt the deal was cut to undermine the Blue Dogs, so their votes wouldn't be needed.
Although he reportedly attended the emergency Energy and Commerce meeting, Melancon did not appear afterwards.
As the Waxman-Blue Dog drama played out, House Democratic liberals warned that they should not be taken for granted.
In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said they had significant concerns about the one deal that had been struck by Waxman and the Blue Dogs -- namely, the creation of an independent commission to set reimbursement rates for Medicare and the so-called "public option."
The liberals, whose main issue is creation of the public option, warned against giving in to Blue Dog demands that the public option exist only as a fallback option, triggered if other reforms fail to ensure competition.
"We want to assure you that for our continued support, the public option must not be based on any trigger and must be available immediately," said the letter, dated Friday.
How many billions did this cost?
The Blue Dogs sound like Republican RINOs. Always trying to make deals with the hard left. Gutless wonders, all of them.
I'm just waiting for CW2.
Did they all have make-up sex, too? Ewwww.
“Democrats can bridge their differences.
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said that agreement probably won 20 to 25 Caucus votes for the bill.”
To say the fascists don’t want to kill millions is patently, absolutely false. Old, young, infirm, seriously ill of any age. Finkelstein’s tweet is proof and is provable in the bill.
Being in control of key elements of the US is critical when the state collapses.
I’m more inclined to believe it’s damage control after the earlier reports hit FR, Drudge, and other sites.
“The chairman and I would like to retract some of the things that we said earlier today,”
After having successfully held out for my payoff.
Anyone who thinks the Blue Dogs are going to buck their elders is dreaming. They went with Cap and Trade. They will eventually break and vote for this Socialist Health Care order.
This has more twists and turns than a Mexican Telenovela or a reality show.
The Blue Dogs are getting their ears scratched and their bellies rubbed. The fix is in...Rush was right.
You make a good point. There’s been a ton of bad PR for the Dems.
I have been saying that all along about the Blue Dogs because they did vote for Pelosi for Speaker twice so how much integrity can they have. They will get enough votes to pass the bill and then allow others to vote against it.
I have heard the Republicans are 100% against the bill but we shall see.
Threatened or bought off? Flip a coin...
hh
Just an evil trick the traitors are playing on America.
We must not let up on the pressure. They are putting stuff like this out to test our resolve and the voters’ attention span on this subject.
FReepers who live in Blue Dog or Rino led states need to keep holding their feet to the fire.
Buyout envelopes must have finally been passed out.
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