Progressive Caucus Whip Diane Watson Will “Hold Her Nose” and Vote for Senate Bill

[jefferson_dem]

FDL link below, so only click if you want a puppy to die.

Progressive Caucus Whip Diane Watson Will “Hold Her Nose” and Vote for Senate Bill
By: Michael Whitney Saturday January 23, 2010 1:09 pm

The whip operation of Diane Watson (CA-33), chief Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus was AWOL this summer when it came to lining up members of the progressive caucus to vote for only a public plan.

FDL activists started calling her offices yesterday, and again we find out Rep. Watson is off the progressive reservation.

Caucus whip Diane Watson’s office tells her constituents that she’s “willing to hold her nose and vote for a bill that had an individual mandate but no public option,” according to a FDL activist call report. This, while Raul Grijalva, leader of the progressive caucus, is being called a “monster” for standing up against passing the Senate’s insurance industry giveaway bill as-is.

The caller from Los Angeles reports:

I got to speak with Congresswoman Watson’s staffer Charles Stewart. He was very gracious and took quite a bit of time to deal with my arguments, but found them unpersuasive. He said she would be willing to hold her nose and vote for a bill that had an individual mandate but no public option and hope that things can be somehow patched up in conference.

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http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/01/23/progressive-caucus-whip-diane-watson-will-hold-her-nose-and-vote-for-senate-bill/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CampaignSilo+%28Jane+Hamsher+Campaign+Silo%29

[Jennicut]

1. There will be no other alternative. It is patch it up or nothing.

[jefferson_dem]

2. The other (less desirable) options are either a pared-down bill or piecemeal reforms

I sure as hell hope we take the tack Watson recommends.

[akel21]

3. as

Lawerence O'donnell said if the senate bill passes as final law, it will ruin liberals for generations

[jefferson_dem]

5. Really? IF it passes as final law is a bad thing?

Would he argue no bill? That's...stupid.

Deal is, the Senate Bill will only provide the framework needed to fix some of the more shitty pieces ... via reconciliation in the Senate.

[leveymg]

26. You don't understandt Reconciliation. The Senate Bill gets reconciled to the House, not the other

way around. The Senate Bill is a framework for electoral disaster for the Democrats in November, as VA, NJ and MA have already shown.

[leveymg]

8. That is utter nonsense. Current Senate Bill is poison. Chop it, change it, or forget it.

If the House votes for the present Bill, it won't get anything but the most superficial fixes, just signed. It needs to be reengineered in reconciliation. Can't believe that anyone is so naive as to believe otherwise.

[jefferson_dem]

15. How do we "chop it, change it" without having obstructionist Repugs filibuster any chops or changes?

Here it is. Our absolute last chance for meaningful reform.

[leveymg]

17. You only need 51 votes in reconciliation.

[bornskeptic]

22. You cannot forbid rescission through reconciliation, or pre-existing conditions

discrimination. You can't eliminate annual or lifetime limits on coverage through reconciliation. All you can get through reconciliation alone is is taxes and subsidies. I'm sure the insurance companies would love to have healthcare reform which provided subsidies without regulation, but I don't know why anyone else would want that.

[leveymg]

25. That makes no sense.

There's effectively no subject-matter restriction - the Byrd Amendment has no power unless 60 Senators vote to uphold the objection Senate Parliamentarian, whose role is advisory not binding.

[Jennicut]

18. I am for signing it and changing it through reconciliation.

[leveymg]

21. Reconciliation is the other way around. Change the Senate Bill to match House, and then sign it.

The choice boils down to Reconciliation -- changing the Senate Bill to match the better parts of the House Bill, and restoring Medicare for All, drug re-importation, and antitrust -- or getting punished by the voters in November.

Passing the present Senate Bill in the House is not a choice - it's political suicide for the Democratic Party.

[Armstead]

4. "Holding noses" for what should have been an important step forward is a sad commentary

Jeezus -- This bill is so awful it's become like the crazy uncle who can't be left outside to freeze to death, but who nobody wants to take in.

[last1standing]

6. Say hello to Majority Leader McConnell.

And Speaker of the House Boener, of course.

If this bill goes through there will be no need to fix it. The republican majority will just cancel it.

What a waste of all the energy, time and money that went into getting where we are today. the Democrats just proved they don't deserve to be in power.

:shrug:

[Mass]

7. So, let's people die for 20 more years? Is that your solution?

If preexisting conditions and rescission are still allowed in November, they can forget my support and many other ones, so welcome Majority Leader McConnell as well, because the Democrats will have shown they cant govern. ANd, of course, it needs to be changed in reconciliation, but do something, because if not, good bye democrats.

I hope your insurance is as good as mine.

[last1standing]

14. I used to have exactly what will be provided in many states (if not all).

Catastrophic insurance. The deal with this is that I could see my doctor or have medical procedures done; I just had a co-pay of 40% each time. So please tell me what people living at the edge of their means will do when faced with a 40% co-pay. My opinion is they will do what they do now - wait till the sickness to so bad they have to go to the ER where they will often die leaving their families in bankruptcy because they can't afford 40% of an ER visit.

I'd accept just about anything else if they'd repair that before pushing this bill through because they sure as Hell won't do it after.

[jefferson_dem]

10. Have you considered the alternative?

That is... nothing? Defeatist much?

Instead, pass this bill then fix what we can with a majority vote in the House and reconciliation in the Senate. How the hell is that not HEAPS better than nothing - in terms of BOTH politics and policy?

[last1standing]

16. Defeatist would be saying nothing.

I've been explaining my objections to this bill are due to the fact that many, if not most, will receive "health care" they can't afford to use and there's nothing in the senate bill to fix that. It won't get fixed later, anyone who has heard "We'll fix it later" from a president should know that, so we'll be stuck funneling money into corporate bank accounts for no real service.

Or we would if it actually made it to fruition. There's no way the republican majority will allow this to happen. It will be their first order of business.

So no, it's not HEAPS better, its a plan for failure, nothing more.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

23. are you?

not a Democrat then?

[JVS]

9. This is a bad move. We are going to get slaughtered this fall.

[Pirate Smile]

11. Good! What the hell does FDL want now? Senate Bill plus Reconcilliation is our best option.

They always try to f#$k up everything.

[jefferson_dem]

13. You know what FDL wants!

She/They want firebaggers and teabaggers to unite and have big ugly babies. Um... :puke:

[Jennicut]

19. There will be no "going back". When will we pick up health care again....15 years from now?

Hamsher is naive to think Dems will restart right away. It will be done for a long, long time.
There are some good things in this bill as well as some bad things. Some things can be fixed in reconciliation. I have a preexisting condition and am not willing to just hope for reform down the line.

[ProSense]

12. Excellent.

Since everyone is going to ignore that the plan being reported is for the House to pass the Senate bill, the Senate to pass a reconciliation bill and the two be combined.

Great news.

FDL of course isn't going to report the entire picture.

[Tom Rinaldo]

20. "and hope that things can be somehow patched up in conference."

Conference, what conference? There won't be one now that the Dems only have 59 votes in the Senate, the House is potentially being asked to pass the Senate bill as is, so that it is ready for Obama to sign into law - as is. Another measure may or may not be pursued in the Senate through Reconciliation, but far as I know there is nothing specific that has been promised yet in that regard.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

24. It's just unfortunately one of the more solid ways forward, if it exapnds the Senate 3 seats we can

fix it next year.

[depakid]

27. What a shitty position to be placed in

Voting for the very sort of deal that may well contribute to the loss of your party's majority- and associating yourself with two of the most popular groups in America to boot.

Votes like these are one of the reasons that progressives lose policy fights.