Top Democrats Differ on Health Care

Pelosi whose primary contribution to the debate was to launch a broad side against the CBO for putting forward numbers she didn't like came out yesterday predicting a win. She didn't give a hard date on when the health care vote would be, just that she had the votes. False bravado based on the Democratic majorities is hardly the way run the House and the argument that something has to pass is a bit of a red herring. Reform in her mind is massive taxes and a new entitlement, the other issues such as mandates and exchanges are modest shifts and hardly what she and her base are aiming for:

July 26 (Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will pass legislation to overhaul the U.S. health-care system through her chamber even as members of her own Democratic Party expressed skepticism after days of discord and delays.

“When I take this bill to the floor, it will win,” Pelosi said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” program that aired today. “This will happen.”

President Barack Obama is fighting to save his top domestic priority after disagreements over cost and methods of funding bogged down legislation in Congress. The Senate last week postponed a vote until September, while House leaders are trying to mollify members seeking more savings in the system.

When this vote will be is an interesting question as time is getting surprisingly short:

House Schedule

August 3 - September 4	Summer District Work Period
September 7	Labor Day
September 18	Rosh Hashanah Begins
September 27	Yom Kippur Begins
October 12	Columbus Day
October 30	Target Adjournment

Unless Congress extends their recess date this the last week she could get a bill passed, an unlikely event considering the state of Democrat caucus in the house. Additionally they have two months of being in Washington to draw up a plan that could make it through the House and survive the Senate, that is a very tall order considering the obstacles facing the Democrats. Kent Conrad, an ally of Baucus in this debate acknowledges the problems yesterday:

Not Enough Votes

“We’ll be ready when we’re ready,” Conrad said on ABC’s “This Week.” Conrad said Democrats need Republican support. “There are not the votes for Democrats to do this just on our side of the aisle,” he said.

So far, two of the three House committees and one of the two Senate panels with jurisdiction over health care have completed their work. When the last two committees finish debate, the House and Senate need to pass their separate versions, then find a compromise for final passage in both chambers that can go to Obama’s desk.

With the current plans being rejected both Pelosi and Conrad floated different ideas on paying for the legislation. Conrad pushed taxing employee health benefits, an idea Harry Reid nixed and Charles Rangel said is dead in the water, while Pelosi true to her liberal self wished to squeeze more out of pharmaceutical companies and hospitals. Of course these groups had made deals with the Obama admin and its questionable how much more they can be squeezed until they leave the table and opt for total opposition.