Dems Admit ObamaCare Likely Dead

They tried, they really did, but Democrats are now faced with the reality that they won't be able to push ObamaCare through Congress at this time. Pelosi doesn't have the votes in the House to pass the Senate bill, and even the 51-vote threshold for passing a budget reconciliation bill in the Senate is in doubt... they may or may not have those votes.

Faced with these realities, Democrats are "taking it slow" on health care reform. Which means unless there is a major change in the political landscape, this version of ObamaCare is dead.

Here are some articles on this subject for you to read.

Congressional leaders are taking health care legislation off the fast track as rank-and-file Democrats, wary of unhappy midterm election voters, look to President Barack Obama for guidance in his State of the Union address.

House and Senate leaders said Tuesday they need time to determine the best way forward on health care in the wake of last week's special election loss in Massachusetts, which cost Democrats their filibuster-proof Senate majority.

The option attracting the most attention is for the House to pass the Senate bill with changes. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat, told reporters Tuesday he thinks the House could do so if lawmakers get rid of provisions like special Medicaid deals for Louisiana and Nebraska and dial back a tax on high-cost insurance plans opposed by labor unions.

But two centrist senators threw up a roadblock to the approach, because it would require using a special budget-related procedure to go around Republican opponents in the Senate, a calculated risk sure to inflame critics on the political right. Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., who both face re-election this year in Republican-leaning states, said they would oppose taking that step.

The strategy requires only 51 votes to advance, but Senate leaders may not be able to round up the support. Even if they do, final action could stretch into late next month or beyond. And a number of Democrats sounded Tuesday like health care was the last thing they wanted to be dealing with.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul;_ylt=AsSbTtib0ujF.1UWR8w1.AVh24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTNjbG84azV2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMTI3L3VzX2hlYWx0aF9jYXJlX292ZXJoYXVsBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2RlbW9jcmF0c3B1bA--

Speaker Pelosi has said House Democrats will not simply vote to approve the health care bill adopted by the Senate on Dec. 24, and send it directly to Mr. Obama for his signature.

Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said, “We are not passing the Senate bill period.”

Asked if there was a way forward, a Congressional aide who worked closely on the bill replied, “If you find it, let me know.”

But a plan to win over House members by making changes to the Senate bill in the budget reconciliation process ran into substantial resistance on Tuesday.

Mrs. Lincoln, who faces one of the toughest re-election bids among Democrats, said, “I am opposed to and will fight against any attempts to push through changes to the Senate health insurance reform legislation by using budget reconciliation tactics that would allow the Senate to pass a package of changes to our original bill with 51 votes.”

Mr. Bayh said, “It would destroy the opportunity, if there is one, for any bipartisan cooperation the rest of this year on anything else.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/health/policy/27health.html

Two centrist senators Tuesday threw up a roadblock to salvaging President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, as Democrats agonized over whether to push forward or shift to idle until political resistance subsides.

Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. — both face re-election this year in Republican-leaning states — said they would oppose the strategy Democratic leaders are considering to reconcile the House and Senate bills and put comprehensive legislation on Obama's desk.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2010/Jan/26/democrats_place_new_roadblock_to_health_care_bill.html

So, it doesn't look like they have a viable option for pushing this monstrosity through, but it also doesn't look like they'll be giving up on it any time soon.

In other words, they STILL aren't listening to the American people, and they're still operating from a position of overbearing arrogance.

UPDATE: And here's another.

Democrats searching for a way to resuscitate health reform ran into a wall of opposition from party moderates Tuesday — throwing into doubt whether congressional leadership can salvage the sweeping reform plan that once was President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

Signs were everywhere that Democrats were quickly shifting their focus from health reform that dominated 2009 to a jobs-and-economy agenda they believe must dominate this midterm election year, with congressional leaders saying they doubted Obama will gave any clear guidance on how to proceed during Wednesday’s State of the Union address.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32056.html