Mission Accomplished: The Hill reports Blue Dogs Strike Deal. No Health Vote Before Recess

[flpoljunkie]

Blue Dogs strike deal: No health vote before recess
By Jared Allen

Posted: 07/29/09 12:08 PM

The Blue Dogs and House leaders have struck a deal to guarantee that the House will not vote on a healthcare bill before August, a leading Blue Dog said on Wednesday.

In exchange for putting off a floor vote until after Labor Day, the Energy and Commerce Committee may be allowed to continue its markup of the healthcare bill this week even if an agreement has not been reached between Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and seven Energy and Commerce Committee Blue Dogs over the content of the bill.

Asked if House leaders had told Democrats that there will be no House vote on healthcare before Friday, Blue Dog Co-Chairwoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) said, “I don’t think made public statements to that regard, but my understanding is that that would be part of an agreement, if they actually do move forward with an Energy and Commerce markup that there will be no vote on the House floor until after Labor Day.”

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) – who has been deeply involved in negotiations between Waxman and the seven Blue Dogs – was not immediately available for comment through spokeswomen.

more...

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/blue-dogs-strike-deal-no-health-vote-before-recess-2009-07-29.html

[Serial Mom]

1. So they will allow repukes and insurance companies a lot of time to talk LIES

and spend MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to fight saving 'murkicans money on their healthcare costs.

Makes sense - NOT

[Akoto]

5. Yep, that's exactly it. The entire vacation to slam it in commercials/media. nt

[Teaser]

2. at least they'll finish the markup

man, these clowns move so slow.

[flpoljunkie]

That would be a positive.

[Cleita]

3. Well, time to make lemonade out of lemons.

I for one intend on bugging my Senators, who are Democrats, every day on this issue and my Republican Congressman. Every one should hound their Congressional Reps and Senators on this on a daily basis so they come back to Washington with our interests in mind and not that of their bribers, er campaign contributors, in the health care industry.

[flpoljunkie]

4. CNN's Dana Bash is now reporting this as a 'breakthrough.' Will get committee vote before recess.

The Blue Dogs say they succeeded in cutting the cost of the bill by $100 billion. No details.

I totally agree with you. If we do not demand real health care reform, it won't happen. We are up against some very deep pockets in the health care industry.

[Teaser]

7. cost of the bill to 100 million?

how? that doesn't seem possible.

[flpoljunkie]

8. It's a cut of $100 billion in the projected cost.

Thanks. Have corrected the earlier post.

[EC]

6. We all have to make sure we disrupt their townhalls

and make it known what we want...through their little vacations...

[flpoljunkie]

9. More on the details of the deal from Talkingpointsmemo's Beutler, including how they save $100B

House Retains Public Option In Compromise, But Delays Vote Until September

By Brian Beutler - July 29, 2009, 1:12PM

Ok, here's some late breaking detail on the nature of the compromise between House Blue Dogs and Democratic leadrs.

I'll fill in more blanks as I get more information, but here's my immediate read on the situation: Substantively, leadership seems to have given up very little, but, Blue Dogs succeeded at slow walking the bill, which won't get a vote until after the August recess.

After a week or so of canceled hearings, the Energy and Commerce Committee will continue to mark up House health care legislation this afternoon, and pass a bill by the end of the week. On substance, the exemption from penalties for small businesses that do not provide health care to workers has been raised slightly to include small businesses with payrolls of $500,000 per year or less.

The public option hasn't gone away, and remains in tact. Now, though, instead of being directly tied to Medicare, the rates will be negotiated by the Health and Human Services secretary--a provision which at a glance seems similar to the public option the Senate HELP Committee endorsed. States will be able to erect health care co-operatives if they choose, but that would be in addition to the public option.

The Blue Dogs managed to pull $100 billion in savings from the bill by lowering by one percent the rate at which people living between 300 and 400 percent of the poverty level will be subsidized to buy health care in insurance exchanges--they had originally tried to eliminate that bracket entirely.

As before, it's hard to know what will happen to the politics of this over the August recess. But there will almost certainly be a bill ready for a vote when the House comes back into session in September. That bill will have been endorsed in preliminary votes by a significant number of Blue Dogs. And in the House, where there's no filibuster, that makes its prospects for ultimate passage look very solid.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/house-retains-public-option-in-compromise.php?ref=fpa