Pelosi reacts to Blue Dogs breaking their own deal.

[SirNitram]

Link

Speaker Pelosi is backing away from a deal she cut with centrists to advance health reform, said a source familiar with talks.

Pelosi’s decision to move away from the agreement that was made with a group of Blue Dogs to get the bill out of committee would steer the healthcare legislation back to the left as she prepares for a floor vote.

Pelosi is planning to include a government-run public option in the House version of the healthcare bill. She wants to model it on Medicare, with providers getting reimbursed on a scale pegged to Medicare rates.

"The speaker is full-steam-ahead," said a senior Democratic aide.

But a Pelosi aide said nothing is final, and the proposal to revert to the more left-leaning version of the language would be vetted before the entire Democratic Caucus.

Blue Dog Democrats, many of whom represent rural districts where Medicare reimbursement rates are low, vehemently oppose tying the public option to Medicare.

Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and a group of fellow Blue Dogs had negotiated a deal with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in July that would remove the link to Medicare. Under that plan, officials with the government-run plan would negotiate individually with providers.

That move, which drew howls of protest from liberal members, prevented the bill from getting stuck in committee. But Ross returned from the August break saying he couldn't support a public option under any circumstances, essentially withdrawing his support for the deal.

Pelosi is now effectively withdrawing her support. In leadership meetings last week, she said the public option in the House bill should be linked to Medicare.

Other Blue Dogs involved in the deal have said they realized the public option they negotiated was likely to change before it went to the floor.

Pelosi has also told her fellow leaders she still wants an income surtax on the wealthy, rather than a tax on "Cadillac" health plans, as a means to help pay the $1 trillion cost of the bill. The rest is to be made up with savings in Medicare by eliminating wasteful spending.

That will worry many members who led the charge against the surtax when it was rolled out.

Pelosi wants decisions on the public option and tax this week. She wants to produce a bill that will be a starting point for negotiations among the disparate and, at times, warring factions of the Democratic Caucus.

"The Speaker is committed to having a strong public option in the House bill because it is the best way to promote competition, control cost and keep the insurance companies honest," said Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami. "The caucus continues to meet to discuss the legislation and its provisions."

Democrats are to discuss the public option at a caucus meeting Thursday. That discussion will include replacing the public option with nonprofit "cooperatives" that would compete with private insurers but would not be run by the government. A Senate Finance Committee bill has a similar provision.

The Blue Dogs chose the member who will present the co-op proposal.

Both the public option and cooperatives are intended to compete with private insurers in an attempt to drive down costs. Blue Dogs have also supported making the government-run plan a fallback option if other reforms in the bill don't lower healthcare costs.

The language and headline made me remember the great truth of political media: The 'Centrists'(Read, those who want to screw as many little guys as possible) are ALWAYS right. PELOSI backed out, because the Blue Dogs breaking it doesn't count.

[The Yosemite Bear]

man we are having heated debate between employees, redneck employees, and managers over this stuff. I should point out, that most of our managers would love to be covered by the union's health care package.

[Glocksman]

man we are having heated debate between employees, redneck employees, and managers over this stuff. I should point out, that most of our managers would love to be covered by the union's health care package.

I don't doubt it.
Where I work, the maintenance staff are non-union and I've had several of them bitch to me about the company both charging them more for health insurance and scaling back on coverage.

The bitching is accompanied by 'you guys have it lucky in that they can't touch you until 2011'.

My employer (TJ Maxx Evansville DC) is using the shitty economy as an excuse to cut back on benefits without needing the cuts to survive.
At the risk of giving out 'insider information', we're both hiring full time and working as much overtime as we can.
These aren't the actions of an employer on the brink of bankruptcy.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

Swing left, w00t! Besides, aren't American 'Centrists' firmly on the right by the International Political Scale? Good for Pelosi, she needs to listen to what we the people want, not they the corporations.

My employer (TJ Maxx Evansville DC) is using the shitty economy as an excuse to cut back on benefits without needing the cuts to survive.
At the risk of giving out 'insider information', we're both hiring full time and working as much overtime as we can.
These aren't the actions of an employer on the brink of bankruptcy.

As a TJX customer (I like the cut-rate spandex shirts; $5 Under Armour FTW), I've noticed their business is up as well. I bet Jim Cramer's about to tell everyone to sell their TJX stock, but we all know what a contra-indicator he is

[Anguirus]

Pelosi is not my favorite person in government, but I'll be pretty happy if she makes this happen.

So yeah Ross, you want to vote against a public option due to the wishes of your constituents, fine, but as far as I'm concerned you have no right to complain about Pelosi's actions, or about the final health care bill period.

[Thanas]

Did Pelosi finally find a backbone? Where was this Nancy Pelosi during the Bush years?

[The Yosemite Bear]

Did Pelosi finally find a backbone? Where was this Nancy Pelosi during the Bush years?

Sucking Isreal's cock, if I recall correctly.

[Glocksman]

Swing left, w00t! Besides, aren't American 'Centrists' firmly on the right by the International Political Scale? Good for Pelosi, she needs to listen to what we the people want, not they the corporations.

My employer (TJ Maxx Evansville DC) is using the shitty economy as an excuse to cut back on benefits without needing the cuts to survive.
At the risk of giving out 'insider information', we're both hiring full time and working as much overtime as we can.
These aren't the actions of an employer on the brink of bankruptcy.

As a TJX customer (I like the cut-rate spandex shirts; $5 Under Armour FTW), I've noticed their business is up as well. I bet Jim Cramer's about to tell everyone to sell their TJX stock, but we all know what a contra-indicator he is

No kidding.
If I relied on Jim Cramer's advice, my $10,000 401(k) would be worth about $1500 today.

That said, at work we've adopted an informal barometer of how the company is doing.
The barometer is how often they announce '20% discount days' for employees.

If we're doing well, the company has no interest in motivating us to help clear out inventory at a reduced margin.
If sales are dragging, that 20% discount (10% is the normal one for employees) may be enough to motivate the bargain hunters among us to shop.

Though I've never bought anything at the local TJ Maxx because their merchandise mix is heavily skewed to women and normal sized men.

As a somewhat 'plus sized' male, the local Marshall's has a much better selection and since TJX owns Marshall's, I get the same employee discounts.