What the White House is thinkingJosh Marshall, among others, has been very tough on the White House for not pushing the House harder to pass the Senate bill. After talking to insiders my sense is that the procedural issues at play are extremely complex, and White House advisers and Dem leaders really want to understand the full range of options before them, as limited as they appear to be, before leaning hard one way or another.
I’m also told that reports that Rahm Emanuel is pushing for a scaled-down bill are false. Rahm is actively involved in sounding out Congressional leaders to determine what’s possible, but hasn’t stated a preference, for the above reasons. This may not amount to a satisfactory explanation for many, but this, as best as I can determine, is what’s happening.
Top House liberal Raul Grijalva, who’s taken a fair amount of abuse since telling me yesterday that he and other liberals won’t vote for the Senate bill, issues a lengthy statement defending his position and articulating another way forward:
I favor a two-part approach. Part one would be to pass a clean reconciliation bill requiring only 51 Senate votes that would include many important budget-related elements. This would not merely amend the Senate bill; it would pull the best budget-related items supported by the vast majority of American people from the existing reform bills and create a single transparent piece of legislation. Part two would be to send a separate handful of popular regulatory measures to the Senate, where they enjoy bipartisan support.Read the whole thing. Bottom line: He appears unmoved by appeals that he support the Senate bill.
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/happy-hour-roundup-148/ 
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