Let's start with the House, where the storyline is clearer. On Wednesday, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman announced that he had reached an agreement with four Blue Dog Democrats on his committee.Short form:The precise terms of that agreement are still not public. But it appears that Waxman promised to trim the outlays in the bill by $100 billion overall and to change the public plan so that it would no longer pay at rates pegged to Medicare. (This is important, because paying at rates pegged to Medicare would make the plan less expensive--and, naturally, less remunerative for those who provide medical services.)
Waxman also obtained a guarantee from leadership that a full floor vote would wait until after the August recess, so that Democrats wouldn't have to take "tough" votes--to raise taxes, cut back payments to industry, whatever--without first seeing what the Senate decides to do.
The agremeent, if it holds, should allow Waxman to move legislation out of his committee. That would mean all three of the House committees working on health reform legislation will have produced bills--a historic achievement, particularly given that the three bills will remain very similar even after the amendments. And, yes, they are pretty good bills, all things considered.
But word of the compromise angered many liberals. My colleague Suzy Khimm has a dispatch from a Thursday press conference, which we'll be posting shortly. In the meantime, though, some liberals are suggesting they might not vote for a bill at all if it contains all of those compromises. Of particular concern are the changes to the public plan.
Over in the Senate, meanwhile, the Finance Committee remains the center of attention--although not, it seems, the center of productive activity.
Earlier this week, chairman Max Baucus promised (for what I believe is the ninety-seventh time) that his committee was on the verge of producing legislation. It's now became apparent (again, for the ninety-seventh time) that his committee is not on the verge of anything except, perhaps, a breakdown.
Baucus, as you may know, has been trying to hammer out a deal with a bipartisan group of six members. But on Thursday the most conservative member of the bunch, Republican Mike Enzi of Wyoming, made it clear he didn't think it possible to get legislation ready for the August recess.
By all accounts, Enzi has been under enormous pressure from Republican leadership, which wants no bill at all and sees time as its ally. Whether Enzi was responding to their pressure or simply following his own conscience is anybody's guess. But ranking Republican Charles Grassley has made it clear he does not want to be the only Republican not from Maine voting for the bill.
And so, like Enzi, Grassley on Thursday indicated he doesn't think it's possible to get a deal in time for the recess (although neither walked away from the table). Not long after, Baucus announced publicly that there would be no markup before the recess. That's where things stand now, pending further announcements.
The House is basically waiting on the Senate to pass stuff out of the Finance Committee, and the Senate Finance Committee basically consists of Max Baucus getting repeatedly pimpslapped by Mike Enzi.
Ladies and gentlemen, your 111th United States Congress in action. Enzi knows right now he's in prime "standing athwart history yelling stop" position, and will basically do it for as long as Harry Reid lets him do it, which will be until the end of the 111th Congress.
60 votes in the Senate, and Mike Enzi is basically holding up the entire deal with a little help from Chuck Grassley. At what point does Obama start calling Max Baucus out? (At what point does any other Democratic Senator take a swing at Harry Reid's position?)
If there is any one positive thing that should come from Obamacare going gurney wheels up, it's the end of Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader.
We've got an entire month to see.
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