"Left eases kill-bill threat." - Democratic Underground

Clio the Leo

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Wed Dec-16-09 10:12 PM
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"Left eases kill-bill threat."

Ok, this one contains ACTUALS opinions from people who think Obama has screwed the pooch .... so can you read it before you start screaming this time. That's all I'm asking. lol

Left eases kill-bill threat.

Left eases kill-bill threat
By Alexander Bolton - 12/16/09 08:22 PM ET

Liberal groups and labor unions have pulled back from calls to kill the Senate healthcare bill.

Left-leaning senators are coalescing behind the legislation, tailored to centrist demands, that would expand healthcare coverage to more than 30 million Americans but would neither create a government-run insurance program nor expand Medicare to people younger than 65.

House Democrats and liberal interest groups are hoping to win a few concessions in conference, which is expected to wrap up in time for Obama to tout the completed bill during his first State of the Union address in January.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who will participate in bicameral healthcare negotiations, said he was glad the party’s base is putting pressure on lawmakers.

"We need that left pressure,” said Waxman, who added that senators need to understand that “we’re not just going to take their bill but we’re going to work to make it better.”

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An official at one union said labor leaders were still trying to decide how they would respond publicly to the latest developments in the Senate bill.

But while labor unions are holding back support, they are not inclined to launch a campaign to scuttle the legislation.

Richard Kirsch, the national campaign manager of Healthcare for America Now, a coalition of groups including SEIU, the AFL-CIO and MoveOn.org, said the goal now is to improve the legislation in Senate-House negotiations.

“We’re looking for the conference committee to make improvements on a host of issues,” he said.

Senate Democrats have talked about a short conference with the House to speed final passage of the healthcare reform bill and give Obama something to tout at his State of the Union address. They expect to have enough votes to pass the bill through their chamber because of the concessions made to centrists.

But strong pushback from the base signals that talks between the chambers will be more complicated and time-consuming than expected.

Some leading liberals acknowledge that a government-run insurance program is unlikely to win 60 votes in the Senate, but they think many other provisions they favor in the House bill can pass the Senate.

They are pushing for Senate negotiators to accept the higher subsidies the House has set aside for people earning below 400 percent of the federal poverty level.

They would also like the Senate to reduce the tax liabilities posed to middle-class families by accepting more of the House’s plan for raising revenues, which shifts a greater share to the nation’s highest income earners.

Liberals would also like the Senate to accept the House plan for establishing a national insurance exchange. The Senate bill would set up insurance exchanges at the state —instead of the national — level.

Another demand is for the Senate to accept the employer mandate contained in the House bill, which would impose a broad requirement on businesses to provide healthcare benefits to employees.

Liberals are also calling for the Senate to accept more stringent prohibitions on insurance companies imposing coverage caps on customers and match the House proposal to expand Medicaid to cover people earning up to 150 percent of the federal poverty line.

“A lot of progressives in the House are inclined to vote no,” said Mike Lux, a political strategist for liberal groups. “If progressives bargain hard and push back, things in the healthcare bill could be improved.”

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/72685-left-eases-kill-bill-threat

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.