Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) fired up the political chattering class Wednesday, telling a radio station he would approve a plan to appoint an interim successor to the late-Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) until a special election could be held.
Currently, Massachusetts requires a special election to be held between 145 and 160 days after a Senate seat becomes vacant. The law was first enacted in 2004 by Democrats who wanted to prevent then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R) from appointing a successor to Sen. John Kerry (D), should he have won the presidential election.
Kennedy first pitched the idea in a letter to state lawmakers last week, failing to cull significant political support. Democrats, including Patrick, remained silent on the proposed revision, while Republicans excoriated Kennedy for using the succession rule to advance a partisan agenda.
Despite Patrick's now-vocal support, it remains unclear whether the revision will clear the state legislature. Among other obstacles, the governor's approval ratings have reached record lows, and some lawmakers seem fearful of extending the Kennedy dynasty, even if by proxy.
Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR), a group that has aired ads against the current healthcare reform proposals, announced on Wednesday that it would suspend its campaign in the wake of Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-Mass.) death.
CPR's decision demonstrates the respect Kennedy, a long standing proponent of health reform, garners in the debate over the legislation now being considered by Congress.
Here is CPR's statement:
With the sad news of Senator Kennedy's passing Conservatives for Patients Rights is immediately suspending our ad campaign for health care reform out of respect to the Kennedy family as well as the Senator's colleagues and supporters, to whom we extend our condolences. We know the debate will continue - a debate Senator Kennedy embraced with vigor - and we look forward to engaging in the debate in the months ahead. But now is a time for respect, reflection and remembrance. Senator Kennedy's lifetime of dedicated public service transcended multiple generations. His devotion to many issues and his relentless passion made him a hero to his supporters and worthy adversary to his opponents. His voice and presence will be missed.
Lawmakers and advocacy groups have already recognized the significant impact of Kennedy's death on healthcare reform. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who took over Kennedy's spot on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said "he fought to the very end for the cause of his life -- ensuring that all Americans have the health care they need."
Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern said "let us continue his cause. Let us take action this year to pass healthcare reform. And let us continue to build Kennedy's vision of America."
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) slammed on Tuesday President Obama's mid-year budget review for making "assumptions that defy logic as much as his spending defies gravity."
The administration announced today that it increased the projected budget deficit to $9 trillion over the next decade from $7.1 trillion and estimated unemployment would pass 10 percent.
The fifth-term Republican implied that the estimate could be even worse, accusing the White House of using faulty assumptions to draft its estimate.
"Adding insult to gimmickry, President Obama's budget continues to assume that Congressional Democrats will allow 'stimulus' pet projects to expire, that a government take-over of health care will be budget neutral and that the economy will return to a roaring 3.2 percent growth next year," Issa said in a release.
He also hit at the administration's economic policies, saying that the Obama administration "vastly underestimated every aspect of our financial crisis: from unemployment to deficits, from mythical 'jobs saved or created' to projected economic growth."
The head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) said on Tuesday that Democratic lawmakers should go it alone to pass healthcare legislation because Republicans are opposed to any real reform.
"Let's call it like it is. Most of what the Republicans want in the health care reform bill represents a victory for well-financed, private-interest greed. It's a gift to corporations, not consumers," wrote CPC co-chairman Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) in a USA Today op-ed.
" I am not in favor of bipartisanship when the other side's principal intention is to delay progress and undermine a bill," he added.
Grijalva called the GOP's push for malpractice reform a "Trojan horse" to destroy the public option.
The fourth-term Democrat accused Republicans of engaging in "doublespeak" on a public health insurance plan; saying that they have claimed the government would run it poorly or that it would run too efficiently and drive private insurers out of business.
Grijalva instead claimed the public option "is what will end the insurance companies' monopoly and control over our individual health."
Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) said on Wednesday that providing healthcare to uninsured Americans is "not what this healthcare reform debate is about."
In making his comments, Ross, who is the centrist Blue Dogs' health reform point man, questioned one of the primary healthcare goals of the White House and Democratic leaders.
"That is a side benefit to healthcare reform and an important one," Ross told the Arkansas Educational Television Network. Instead, the fifth-term congressman said the bill should focus on "cost containment."
The Energy and Commerce Committee member reiterated that he wants to pass a health reform bill by the end of this year, a desire that may irk some Republicans who supported his effort to slow the bill before August recess.
"The extreme right had a two-week love affair with me," Ross said. "The extreme right, simply, they do not want healthcare reform. And so, they saw me as killing healthcare reform because I put the brakes on
healthcare reform."
The influential fifth-term Democrat identified several provisions that would prevent him from voting for the bill.
On the public option, Ross said he would not vote for a plan that would "force government-run healthcare on anyone. Period." But he also said that the House bill contained a public plan that is "strictly...an option."
Providing government subsides for abortions, coverage for illegal immigrants, rationing of care, and deficit increases comprised Ross' deal-breakers.
"I've got the extreme right and the extreme left angry with me so I must be doing something right," he said.
Ross said the bill should reduce costs by allowing the Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies and by dropping co-pays for preventitive doctors' visits.
In the end, Ross acknowledged that the House version may not make up the bulk of the final bill. He estimated that 90 percent of the conference committee bill would come from the Senate Finance Committee's version.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) accused House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) of engaging in "intimidation tactics" in reaction to a letter he sent to several private insurance companies requesting financial data.
The second-term senator made his comments using Twitter on Wednesday:
Timing of Waxman demand letter to insurance industry smacks of intimidation tactics. What's next? An IRS audit?
The letter dated Monday said that the committee is investigating "executive compensation and other business practices in the health insurance industry." Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chairman Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) co-signed the letter with Waxman.
A Stupak spokesman said 52 letters were sent to the nation's largest health insurance companies, some of which oppose the current healthcare reform legislation, the AP reported.
After an audience member at his town hall criticized him for saying a prayer before the meeting, Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) said, "well I can tell you this, ma'am, David Scott's gonna pray wherever I want to."
During the meeting, a woman said that Scott and the audience "broke a federal law" by saying a prayer because the town hall was held in a public school. The Georgia Democrat's forceful response elicited a loud round of applause from the crowd.
For the record, there is no federal law prohibiting prayer from taking place in a public school. Laws, however, do restrict government-sanctioned prayer.
At the beginning of the meeting, Scott asked everyone to stand and pray so that "we're starting it off right."
Here is an excerpt from the prayer:
We pray, dear God, that you have us be respectful to one another, that we have a civil discussion, and most importantly dear God, that we leave here much wiser, more knowledgeable and better informed than we were when we came in.
Scott concluded the prayer by saying "and all of these blessings we answer your son Jesus Christ's name, and we all say amen."
The fourth-term Blue Dog from Georgia has not shied away town hall controversy. Earlier this month, Scott accused one of his constituents of "hijacking" a healthcare meeting. A few days later a vandal painted a four-foot swastika on Scott's office.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) claimed on Wednesday that Democratic leaders have not yet decided to go it alone on healthcare reform legislation, but that "patience is not unlimited" and that Democrats are determined to pass the bill this year "by any legislative means necessary."
The White House still prefers a bipartisan bill, and neither the White House nor the Democratic leadership has made a decision to pursue reconciliation...We will not make a decision to pursue reconciliation until we have exhausted efforts to produce a bipartisan bill. However, patience is not unlimited and we are determined to get something done this year by any legislative means necessary
Reports surfaced this morning that the White House and Democratic leaders are prepared to force a party line vote in order to pass healthcare reform legislation.
Liberal Democrats applauded the strategy while House Republican leader John Boehner (Ohio) said "from day one, the White House has taken a go it alone approach on health care."
The ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and lead healthcare negotiator Chuck Grassley (Iowa) stood behind the bipartisan talks in his committee today in light of the reports.
A liberal House leader on Wednesday said that President Barack Obama has "earned the right to go it alone" in order to pass healthcare reform legislation.
"[Republican] leadership has demonstrated that they really don't want reform. Every opportunity he's taken to reach out to Republicans, he's been rebuffed," Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.), who is vice-chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told The Hill.
This morning, reports indicated that the Obama administration was ready to pass the bill with a party line vote.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel told the New York Times that "The Republican leadership has made a strategic decision that defeating President Obama's health care proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that Americans face every day."
Liberals in the House have thrown their support behind President Obama in recent days after the administration reaffirmed its support for a public health insurance option.
Congressional Progressive Caucus chairwoman Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) yesterday said she would "take the administration at its word" that "nothing has changed" on White House's position on the public plan.
Some liberal House members earlier in the week reacted negatively to statements made by two administration officials on Sunday that seemed to back away from the public option. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said that abandoning the public option could cost the bill 100 votes in the House.
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) reacted defiantly to calls for Democrats to "go it alone" on healthcare reform.
"From day one, the White House has taken a go it alone approach on health care," Boehner said in a statment.
"The Administration rejected our efforts to work together, choosing instead to craft a costly government takeover of health care and to march forward on a partisan basis solely with Democrats in Congress," he added.
It turns out Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) made more waves at the Netroots Nation conference on Saturday, accusing Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) of "treason" for saying that health reform would result in doctors "pulling the plug on grandma."
"I mean what Grassley said the other day was an act of treason. I'm sorry. It's not being called on," the outspoken Democrat said to a group of liberal activists.
The Senate Finance Committee ranking member made his claims about the end-of-life provisions in the House healthcare bill last Wednesday, but retracted his claims later in the week.
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) also slammed Grassley for his comments last week, asking the Iowa Republican to stop spreading "myths" about "death panels."
Grassley said on Thursday that the Finance Committee would drop the end-of-life clause from its version of the bill.
Massa also criticized limited-government conservatives in colorful terms.
"Throw your hand grenade, pull the pin out, toss it back, let it blow up in their hands," he said at the event in Pittsburgh. "You think government's bad? Great! Let's stop all funding for NASA tomorrow."
In the same conversation, Massa said that he was prepared to "vote against my district" on the healthcare reform bill and expressed support for single-payer health insurance. Massa hails from a conservative, upstate New York district.
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