CPC chairman indicates liberals will support health bill

[ProSense]

CPC chairman indicates liberals will support health bill

By Jordan Fabian - 03/04/10

The chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) suggested that Thursday that House liberals are

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) spoke to reporters in the Capitol after returning from a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House. Representatives of other Democratic constituencies also met with the president Thursday as the party is starting to whip votes for the final proposal.

The support of House liberals is not guaranteed due to their support for the public health insurance option, which was not included in the president's fixes to the bill released last week. CPC members have also expressed concern with voting for the Senate bill before the package of fixes because it contains measures they oppose, such as the so-called "Cornhusker Kickback" Medicaid funds for Nebraska.

Asked if members of his caucus, by-and-large, will support the healthcare proposal, Grijalva said "It's becoming that way, yes."

more

But Woolsey says she’s now a definite Yes on the Senate bill, provided the reconciliation fix is adequate, even if it lacks a public option.

[jefferson_dem]

1. That's great news.

I was hoping the wavering ones would come to their senses.

I guess Saint Kooch is not included and determined to continue carrying the cross.

[CreekDog]

2. I'm as liberal as they are and I don't see a better option right now

Weighed against nothing, these bills are better than that.

I like both of these congress members. Grijalva was my favorite on the Pima County Board of Supervisors and Woolsey was a worthy, if not even better replacement for Barbara Boxer when she left her Marin/Sonoma house seat for the Senate seat in 1993. I would hate to see them voting against this legislation especially if the ultimate outcome was that no health care reform was passed in this congress.

[Yuugal]

3. CPC is useless then

We need people with a spine. The dive artists of the CPC don't even deserve to get their way until they grow one. We need to throw everyone out on their ear and start over.

[FrenchieCat]

4. Yeah......ok, Mr. Spine!

[Uzybone]

5. Grijalva got some calls :)

[Clio the Leo]

12. He sure did.

Of course ONE of them was from the President .... but either way, this is VERY good news.

[jenmito]

6. WHEW! Grijalva was "leaning against it" earlier. n/t

[ShortnFiery]

7. Then IMO, my fellow LIBERAL congress critters are IDIOTS.

You don't vote for a shitty Senate Bill when there's a possibility that that is ALL WE WILL GET.

Damn any democratic congress-critter who votes for the Senate Bill, as is.

REMEMBER TARP?!?

We're being punked again. :grr: :puke: :grr:

[denimgirly]

8. Agreed. Shame Liberals will always, ALWAYS Buckle!

Most of them that is. Shameful since the senate bill is a disaster and it is clear America will lose and so will the democrats this Nov.

Get ready for the Tsunami this fall. Imagine if nothing passes and the republicans using that against them.

For 2010 it is a win-win for republicans...it is only a matter of how many demcrats will lose their seats.

[ShortnFiery]

10. We must rebuild our party with true, dyed in the wool, LIBERALS.

Scrappy ones who will stand together for the benefit of working people. :thumbsup:

We will come back when we shed these Corporate Conservative Democrats from our ranks.

They honestly belong in the GOP ... not with us ... our values differ greatly.

[ProSense]

11. Meet Al Franken

The Senate-passed bill includes a Franken provision, co-authored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), that would require insurance companies to use 85 percent of customer premiums on medical costs.

But Franken’s big push has been on the public insurance option, a controversial liberal priority that dominated the debate last year and caused Republicans to charge that it was the first step to socialized medicine.

Franken said he supports health care legislation that does not include the public option, but he said the public option is still his preference for reform. He signed on to a letter penned by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) pushing for the public option through budget reconciliation rules that would allow the Senate to sidestep a GOP filibuster.

“I really think the public option is the right thing to do. Now, whether we can get it through reconciliation is a whole other story,” Franken said. “I know that Sen. Jay Rockefeller is someone who’s for the public option but doesn’t think that it will be able to go through reconciliation because, I think, of the rules. It doesn’t fit under the rules. I think it does, but we’ll see.”

link

[ShortnFiery]

15. Al Franken is not a liberal. eom

[jenmito]

16. Yeah, right!

:rofl:

[ShortnFiery]

19. Honestly, he's not. He supports liberal social justice but is a CORPORATIST not

unlike our senators Warner and Webb (D-VA).

[amborin]

9. we're being punked! the senate bill is a disaster, on so many levels

[Clio the Leo]

13. And to highlight one very important passage from this article...

.... which flies right in the face of the "this bill is crap and we'd be worse off to pass it!" BS.

"My personal commitment and the commitment of the White House to continue to work because these issues are important," he said. "In the long term, need to be part of an overall reform as we move forward."

But he said that the overriding need to pass a baseline overhaul was too important for his caucus to oppose it. Obama emphasized that the existing bill will cover 31 million people and that it's needed as part of a liberal agenda.

"This is a building block and time is of the urgency and it won't come around for a long time," he said. "It would be difficult or impossible for another generation to get back to this issue."

[Cha]

20. Thank you..it bears repeating..

"My personal commitment and the commitment of the White House to continue to work because these issues are important," he said. "In the long term, need to be part of an overall reform as we move forward."

But he said that the overriding need to pass a baseline overhaul was too important for his caucus to oppose it. Obama emphasized that the existing bill will cover 31 million people and that it's needed as part of a liberal agenda.

"This is a building block and time is of the urgency and it won't come around for a long time," he said. "It would be difficult or impossible for another generation to get back to this issue."

[IndianaGreen]

14. Liberals were also seduced by Clinton to vote for NAFTA

This misguided party loyalty always ends up as a loss to the working class.

[ProSense]

17. Say anything.

Bernie Sanders supports this health care bill.

[DFLforever]

18. I'm not surprised

They are not self-immolating types. They know they'd never see another, let alone a better, health care bill.