The Blue Dogs Make Their Move

Jane Hamsher gleefully reports the "end of the health care bill" as she claims that at a press conference this morning that Bart Stupak will announce he will get a separate vote on tying his amendment to the Senate bill, making the Stupak language will be the law of the land if it passes a simple majority in the House and Senate.  Republicans will be eager to ensure this happens, forcing the Dems to codify the effective end of abortion coverage in all but the most expensive "Cadillac" insurance plans.

Hamsher is betting that this deal and the Republican eagerness to pass the Stupak language means that pro-choice Dems now have to scuttle the entire bill.

There's a catch, however...it depends when the vote is held, before or after the main health care bill vote.  If it's after, it's vulnerable to a filibuster and could unravel the entire deal.  If it's before, however, pro-choice House Dems may indeed kill the measure.

Leaders of the Pro-Choice Caucus, some 30 minutes after storming into Pelosi’s office, renewed that threat.

“This concurrent resolution which Congressman Stupak and several others have filed, from the position of the people who signed my letter back in November, is a non-starter,” said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), a Pro-Choice Caucus co-chairwoman. “We compromised to the concept 'no federal funding for abortion,' which is current law -- we don't like that. And so if Mr. Stupak and a few members, along with the Republicans, decide to use this to take healthcare down, then that loss on healthcare coverage is going to be on their hands.”

DeGette said a move allowing the enrollment resolution to go forward would put “somewhere between 40 and 55” pro-abortion rights votes at stake.

This would lead to a massive and embarassing defeat, which is exactly what the Republicans want.  That "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" thing that the Dems have all but perfected may be back in play again.

Stupak plans a press conference at 11 AM this morning eastern time.  If this is all true, things just got very, very bad for this bill, Obama, and for the Dems in November.

If the Blue Dogs kill this bill, I'm not sure what will happen to this party anymore.  And I may not care.

[UPDATE 12:05 PM] Stupak has canceled his presser without an explanation why.  It appears his deal may have fallen through...certainly, the parameters have changed.  It has not been rescheduled.  Things just got very curious.

[UPDATE 12:30 PM] Nancy Pelosi just confirmed that there will be no separate vote on abortion language.  The deal that Hamsher was talking about is dead.  What will Stupak's reaction be?