Democrats Prepare To Abandon “Government Option”

There’s no question about it, this August recess so far has been TOUGH on liberal supporters of the health care “reform” bill in Congress. This may be why they wanted so badly to pass it before the recess… they were afraid of us in August. Take, for example, the influential Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Grassley.

After an intimate White House lunch last week, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said he was confident President Barack Obama was working toward a truly bipartisan health care reform bill.

But then he went home to Iowa, and the message changed. In a series of tough town halls, he fueled fears of death panels and benefits for illegal immigrants. He suggested the White House would push a purely partisan bill. And he proclaimed himself an outsider in health care negotiations.

"I'm not walking away from the table; I'm being pushed away from the table," Grassley said in Afton, Iowa, warning that Democrats might go it alone on health care.

Grassley's Iowa road show shows just why Democrats feared this August recess.

The “Blue Dogs” are the key. United, the Democrats have the votes in the House to pass anything they want. But there are 52 conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats, and without their support they can’t pass anything. And they’re not getting that support.

An IBD survey, combined with news reports, of all the Blue Dogs reveals only four definite supporters: John Salazar of Colorado, Ohio's Zack Space, and Mike Thompson and Adam Schiff, both from California.

Based on the survey and previous press reports, at least 13 Blue Dogs are opposed to the bill as it now stands.

Many of those who are undecided or did not respond have expressed reservations about various aspects of the bill, including the public plan option, the cost and tax increases.

That's bad news for the Democratic leadership, which was counting on the August recess to firm up support for House passage of the bill.

And now the Democrats seem to be laying the groundwork for a health plan WITHOUT a “government option” included. In other words, they’re acknowledging they probably can’t push their radical-liberal agenda through, so they’re signaling they may need to settle for half-a-loaf. But it’s a solution that may not even work, if liberal Democrats oppose a plan without a “government option” included.

After the toughest week yet for health reform, leading Democrats are warning that the party likely will have to accept major compromises to get a bill passed this year – perhaps even dropping a proposal to create a government-run plan that is almost an article of faith among some liberals.

With August dominated by angry faces and raised voices at town hall meetings, influential Democrats began laying the groundwork for the fall, particularly with the party's liberal base, saying they may need to accept a less-than-perfect bill to achieve health reform this year.

"Trying to hold the president's feet to the fire is fine, but first we have to win the big argument," former President Bill Clinton said Thursday at the Netroots Nation convention, a gathering of liberal activists and bloggers who will prove most difficult to convince. "I am pleading with you. It is OK with me if you want to keep everybody honest. . . . But try to keep this thing in the lane of getting something done. We need to pass a bill and move this thing forward."

“I want us to be mindful we may need to take less than a full loaf,” he said after recounting the political troubles that followed his failed reform effort in 1994.

It won’t be an easy sell. Even former national party chairman Howard Dean this week threatened Democrats who don’t support the public insurance plan with the prospect of primary challenges – the first rumblings of what could devolve into a Democratic civil war over health care.

There is no guarantee, either, that progressive House and Senate members wouldn't make good on their promise to oppose a bill without a public insurance plan.

Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, this means that they are losing and they know it. The extreme-liberal attempt to shove a government-controlled health care plan down our throats is failing, and now they want to salvage SOMETHING that they can call a victory. They know that if no plan is passed, it severely hurts Obama’s “mandate” and damages the Democrats' ability to pursue other extreme agenda items such as cap & trade. They need a bill, ANY bill to pass in order to claim victory.

I do not consider any of the bills I have seen so far to be “good” bills that will have a positive effect on health care availability and costs. And I do not feel a need to pass some bill, regardless of it’s quality, in order that the Democrats can point to a “success.” If a bill fails to pass, then maybe we can start looking at meaningful and effective methods of reform, instead of the government seizure favored by the radical liberal wing of the Democrat party.