Gang of Six negotiations on verge of collapse, Baucus: "sad part is a lot of politics have crept in"

[jefferson_dem]

Gang of Six healthcare reform negotiations on verge of collapse
By Alexander Bolton - 09/04/09 07:32 AM ET

Democrats say the Gang of Six negotiations are all but dead and they are ready to move ahead with only Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) when the Finance Committee hits a deadline at the end of next week.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has assured Democratic leaders that he will stick to a Sept. 15 deadline for talks among the Gang of Six, which includes Snowe and GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Mike Enzi (Wyo.), say Democratic aides.

Members of the gang, who all sit on the Finance Committee, have negotiated for months to reach a bipartisan agreement, delaying healthcare reform in the Senate beyond a deadline set by President Barack Obama.

The Gang of Six will hold a teleconference at 10:30 Friday morning in a last-minute effort to reach a deal. It is only the second time during the August recess all members of the group, which also includes Sens. Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), have met. Members have spoken one on one during the break and staffs have met regularly.

Sources close to the negotiation say that members of the group recognize they have only days left to work out a deal and that next week presents them with their last, best chance to reach an agreement.

Democratic sources say that Republicans have been given the extra time they requested and now have to make a decision. If an agreement is reached, Baucus, Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are prepared to give up on the Gang of Six and forge a deal with Snowe alone or pass legislation out of the Finance Committee with only Democratic votes.

After weeks of assuring reporters that the Gang of Six has made good progress, Baucus has sounded a different tone in recent days and begun to acknowledge the talks might fail because of political pressure on GOP negotiators from their colleagues and conservative activists.

“I talked to them and they all want to do healthcare reform,” Baucus told The Associated Press earlier this week. “But the sad part is a lot of politics have crept in. They’re being told by the Republican Party not to participate.”

A Democratic aide said that Baucus has begun sounding the death knell for the Gang of Six.

“If you look at Sen. Baucus’s public comments in recent weeks, he appears to be getting closer to acknowledging that this bipartisan process may not work out after all,” said the aide. “He’s done a great job conducting the negotiation, but Sens. Enzi and Grassley aren’t helping very much.”

<SNIP>

http://www.thehill.com/homenews/senate/57285-gang-of-six-negotiations-on-verge-of-collapse

[Jennicut]

1. So will Baucus finally give up on this farce and help his own party?

I doubt he would do half as much for Obama and the other Dems in Congress as he did for the Rethugs in his little gang.

[WeDidIt]

4. What are you talking about? He helped his party with these "negotiations" ~wink wink~

The Republican idea was to push back long enough to have the screamers get their day in the sun.

And Baucus is nothing more than a Republican mole.

[Jennicut]

9. LOL...its that obvious, isn't it?

[DevonRex]

10. Let's hope that this will be the tipping point for Max. Maybe he believed

he could negotiate with them. Maybe his ideas were closer to theirs than to ours. Or maybe not. Either way there comes a point at which he has to take a side and this appears to be it. I haven't seen anything come out of his office before now that names names about being difficult to deal with.

That gives me some small measure of very cautious hope. Especially since Obama basically called him out in his own state. :evilgrin:

[Captain Hilts]

2. The White House and DNC should have strong-armed Baucus from the get-go. nt

[tularetom]

3. And he's surprised at this because...?

"I talked to them and they all want to do healthcare reform,” Baucus told The Associated Press earlier this week. “But the sad part is a lot of politics have crept in. They’re being told by the Republican Party not to participate.”


1. How naive is Baucus?

2. Who do these assholes represent - their constituents or the republican party?

[TwilightGardener]

5. Gee, Baucus, you meet the GOPers more than halfway and they

still don't cooperate? Quelle surprise! They're normally so rational, with Americans' best interests at heart--and so easy to work with! Jesus, you'd think these Senate Dems are complete noobs to politics.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. R.I.P. "Gang of Six"

I'm not going to be shedding any tears and I hope that Max Baucus doesn't either. SIX people shouldn't be deciding the fate of major legislation like this anyway and most of the Republicans (except, I guess, Snowe) have admitted that they were purposely trying to stall and "water down" the legislation anyway, so they weren't even engaged in "good faith" negotiations. Anybody have a link to Grassley's hilarious Twitter postings on the subject?

[HamdenRice]

7. "deal with Snowe alone or pass legislation out of the Finance Committee with only Democratic votes"

Duh!!!!

SO FUCKING WHAT???

Only now these idiots are admitting they could do it with just Democrats plus Snowe???

[Joe Bacon]

8. Is Max a Masochist?

How many times does Max have to get kicked in the pants by the GOP before some common sense gets knocked into his head?

Is he really that stupid?

[kenny blankenship]

19. Max is an insurance industry agent. He "negotiates" with the GOP to make a shitty bill even shittier

He has permission sadly from Obama and Reid to give Republicans disproportionate representation in the negotiations. The gang of Sicks has 3 pukes and 3 dems on it - that doesn't represent the composition of the Senate or the Senate Finance Committee. He should have his chairmanship stripped for doing this. The fact that Obama directs insurance industry lobbyists to deal with Baucus tells you everything you need to know about Obama's sincerity in this health care debacle.

[backscatter712]

11. Good riddance to the Gang of Six.

Nothing but corrupt assclownery anyways. Time to move on to reconciliation.

[jefferson_dem]

12. We need consensus among Dems by Wed's address.

Max was a fuckwad who should have known from the beginning that the Repugs don't want to play. Time to ditch the gang after today's conference call, let everyone know it was due to Repug politics and obstructionism, and push ahead for real reform (solo if need be).

[NecklyTyler]

20. What we need is to just go it alone and govern without the Republicans. n/t

[Teaser]

13. thank effing gawd

this fraudulent "negotiation", more than anything else, is what has been distorting the healthcare debate.

[Clio the Leo]

14. I have a question....

.... is it a given that we have enough votes in the Senate for reconciliation? Or are we just presuming that we MAY?

[quiet.american]

15. What a farce. nt

[global1]

16. They’re Being Told By The Republican Party Not To Participate.".......

Who is the Republican party in this case? We keep hearing that they don't have a leader. Who are they getting their marching orders from?

Wouldn't it be good for a Repug to move out of the lock-step hold that the Repug party has on them and speak how they really feel about this? You can't tell me that every Repug in the House and Senate are non-caring, non-feeling spineless wimps. They have families and extended families as well. Some have to be experiencing the same things within their family circle and circle of friends that other American's are experiencing.

[northernlights]

17. Rush, obviously

you have to ask? :shrug:

[FlyByNight]

18. It's MONEY that's crept in

Okay, maybe not "crept" in but FLOODED in for quite some time now. Enzi, Grassley, etc., aren't Eisenhower Rs; there aren't any left. They simply don't give a shit about reform.

I realize it's the Senate and Baucus has to be collegial (and overly clubby) but it gets annoying paying the Rs so much respect when they've done nothing AT ALL to help. Reid hasn't helped either with his recent waffling public option statement and evident spinelessness.

:thumbsdown: