Healthcare

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is using "Sopranos-style" tactics to intimidate health insurance companies, Newt Gingrich claimed today.

Referring to Waxman's new investigation into health insurance companies' lavish spending, Gingrich argued that the California Democrat is trying to force insurance companies to accept Democratic healthcare reform.

"Like a mafia underboss trying to face down a rival crime family, the powerful California Democratic chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has resorted to ugly intimidation tactics with opponents of government-run health care," Gingrich wrote in the Washington Examiner.

Gingrich said Waxman's "not-so-veiled threat" was "in the spirit of Joe McCarthy."

"Americans know the public option is declining rapidly in support, and Waxman and Stupak know that we know it," Gingrich continued. "That's why they've resorted to Sopranos-style tactics with health insurance companies."

President Obama will meet today with Tom Daschle, the man the President originally wanted as his healthcare point man.

Daschle's nomination, of course, was derailed by questions about taxes.

Daschle's known as much for his knowledge of Senate intricacies as the details of healthcare policy, so it's not coincidence that the former Senate Majority Leader is meeting with the White House just as Democrats are deciding whether to use budget reconciliation to pass a reform package.

Appearing on Meet the Press last Sunday, Daschle said the chances of reform were 50-50.

It was unacceptable for Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to shout down a constituent at a town hall meeting who compared President Obama to Nazi leader Adolph Hitler, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said Friday.

Blackburn told CNBC in an interview that while it is not okay for the protester, a reported Lyndon LaRouche supporter to compare the president to the fascist leader, members of Congress should be held to a higher standard when conducting their town hall meetings.

"No it does not mean that it is okay to walk in with a poster like that, nor does it mean that it is okay or acceptable for Congressman Frank to respond in that way," Blackburn said.

"I think that it is imperative that we, as members of Congress, conduct our town halls in a way that ensures individuals that they are going to be heard," she added. "And that is what I think most members of Congress have sought to do during this recess."

The famously abrasive Frank exploded at the town hall participant who made the comparison, asking her what planet she lives on, and told her, "Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table."

Blackburn said that while protesters have often been boisterous in disrupting town hall meetings during the August recess, lawmakers must be "respectful of the American people."

The prospects for Senate Democrats to use the so-called "nuclear option" to bypass a filibuster on healthcare reform legislation are doubtful, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said late Thursday.

Kyl, the second-ranking Senate Republican who is in charge of counting votes, asserted that Democrats have too many dissenters within their own ranks to pass healthcare reform legislation with only a simple majority.

"I don't know whether they will or not," Kyl said on Fox News when asked if Democrats would use budget reconciliation rules (the "nuclear option") to pass healthcare, meaning only a simple majority of the Senate would be needed, instead of the normal 60 votes needed to end a filibuster.

"Perhaps out of frustration they will, but I kind of doubt it because the reason that they're having trouble even among the Democratic majority -- and remember, in the Senate they have 60, Republicans only have 40," Kyl added.

Kyl said that as far as the bill from the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee goes -- which includes the public (or "government-run") healthcare option -- no Republicans and as many as a dozen Democrats might not support that proposal.

"Frankly, there are 10, 12 at least Democrats who I don't think would support it," Kyl said.

"Clearly, they have a problem within the Democratic ranks," the whip said of Senate Democrats. "They are not together on how far they want to go with this."

It would be in the GOP's interest to see President Obama suffer politically by defeating the healthcare reform bill the president has pushed, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) acknowledged Thursday.

Shelby, during an appearance of Fox News Radio, concurred with host Brian Kilmeade's suggestion that it would open up opportunities for Republicans on issues to let Obama "go down with the healthcare ship."

"I think it's always in our interest to let anybody go down when we think they're philosophically wrong, and I believe he's totally wrong on this healthcare," Shelby said.

Democrats had pounced on suggestions by Republican lawmakers that defeating the bill would be to their political benefit. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) was most notably castigated for saying that defeating healthcare would be Obama's "Waterloo."

The president suggested himself that Republicans are consciously looking to oppose any legislation he puts forth on healthcare.

"I think early on a decision was made by the Republican leadership that said, 'Look, let's not give them a victory. Maybe we can have a replay of 1993-'94 when Clinton came in,'" Obama said during an appearance on the Michael Smerconish radio show this afternoon. "And I think there are some folks who are taking a page out of that playbook."

Shelby said "it would be wise" for Republicans to make an aggressive push on healthcare when the Senate reconvenes in September.

"I believe that things are running our way -- that is, against the government takeover of healthcare -- at the moment, but things could shift," Shelby stated. "We cannot let that happen."

Two influential Republican Senators seemed to raise the bar for bipartisanship today, saying that a healthcare bill will need 80 votes to be considered successful.

"We need to get a bill that 75 or 80 senators can support," Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) told the Wall Street Journal. "If the Democrats choose to shut out Republicans and moderate Democrats, their plan will fail because the American people will have no confidence in it."

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Finance Committee, echoed those thoughts in the Washington Post.

"It's not about getting a lot of Republicans. It's about getting a lot of Democrats and Republicans," said Grassley "We ought to be focusing on getting 80 votes."

Both Grassley and Enzi and in the "Group of Six" Senators who are working on hammering out a bipartisan bill.

For a bill to get 80 votes, exactly half the Republican caucus would need to get on board. That's an extremely high hurdle if the legislation is to remain palatable to liberals in the House.

(h/t: Matt Yglesias)

President Obama is betting on a more successful September than August, when it comes to his bid for healthcare reform.

At an online forum on healthcare held Thursday at the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Obama drew on his own political experience to predict better fortunes next month.

"There's something about August going into September where everyone in Washington gets all 'wee-weed' up," the president said.

He pointed to last August's selection of then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) to join the Republican ticket as the GOP's vice presidential nominee.

"'Obama's lost his mojo,'" the president said the media were saying after Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) campaign received a short-lived bump from palin.

"You remember all that?" Obama added.

Democrats are choosing to "go it alone" without the country if they opt to pass healthcare reform on a party-lines basis, one Republican congressman accused Thursday.

"If they go it alone without the Republicans, it also sounds like they want to go it alone without the American people," Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told a conservative news radio program in an interview.

Democrats in Congress have mulled whether or not to seek to force through healthcare reform legislation containing a public (or "government-run") option using legislative techniques to bypass procedural rules.

"I think they'd better beware, because the American people do not want to be left out of this process," Cassidy warned.

The Co-Chairman of the Blue Dog Democrats had some strong words yesterday for conservative opponents of healthcare reform.

Speaking at a town hall in his district, Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) said reform opponents are simply lying about the House bill.

"The [American Medical Association] has endorsed this plan," said Hill, according to the Corydon Democrat. "You'll have choices, regardless of what the detractors tell you. They are lying. That's a strong word, but it's true."

To be fair, Hill may have been riled up by this exchange with a constituent:

"I'm not a Democrat or a Republican," the man said. "I consider myself a political atheist. But from what I've heard about the plan on TV, there's a lot about it that I disagree with."

"What part do you not like?" Hill asked.

"Well, just some of the stuff they have been talking about on TV," the man responded.

"OK, and what was that?" Hill asked.

But the person couldn't come up with an example of what he disagreed with.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) is willing to start from scratch on healthcare to cobble together a bipartisan bill.

From the Kansas City Star:

"I'm willing to push the reset button," Cleaver said, although he appeared skeptical about the prospects for any new legislation from a restart of the process. The Missouri Democrat also said health care reform is "too important" to be passed with only Democratic votes, as White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has recently suggested.

So far this is only one Democrat's opinion, but this could spell trouble for the White House if other lawmakers jump on board