Dems Split On ObamaCare

Okay, here's what the current situation looks like on ObamaCare. The leadership wants it to pass and is maintaining a public position that ObamaCare will pass... no matter how they have to accomplish it. Pelosi was crystal clear on that...
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/01/28/pelosi_on_passing_health_care_well_parachute_in.html

“We’ll go through the gate. If the gate’s closed, we’ll go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we’ll pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we’ll parachute in but we're going to get health care reform passed for the America people."

The words are there, but not the deeds. When the Dems met to plan their priorities after the SOTU speech, health care wasn't even mentioned.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32191.html

But listen more closely, and it’s clear health care is already falling to the back of the legislative line, behind the Democrats’ feverish new focus on jobs and the economy.

Health care reform didn’t even make the cut when New York Sen. Chuck Schumer ticked off the party’s priorities Thursday.

“The president said jobs is the No. 1 issue before us in 2010,” Schumer said at a news conference. “In fact, the three top issues on our agenda this year are jobs, jobs and jobs.”

The bottom line is that the Democrat leadership is still determined to do something, though they don't have any idea what, exactly. The rest of the Congressional Democrats, however, aren't so taken with the idea.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

President Barack Obama's health care appeal failed to break the congressional gridlock Thursday, dimming hopes for millions of uninsured Americans. Democrats stared down a political nightmare — getting clobbered for voting last year for ambitious, politically risky bills, yet having nothing to show for it in November.

The grim reality opened a divide between the rank and file and congressional leaders, who insisted health care would get done, even though last week's special election in Massachusetts denied Democrats the 60-vote majority they need to deliver in the Senate. Many Democrats saw a problem with no clear solution.

"It's very possible that health care is just a stalemate and you can't solve it this year," said Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.

What we're seeing is a serious split in the Democrats' party... the leadership wants something that the rank-and-file members view as too politically risky and therefore won't support.

This is good news, but remember that this kind of thing can change over time. They have ONE YEAR from the passage of the Senate bill to reach a deal and get the bill reconciled. If they manage to reach an agreement in that time frame, they can still pass it.

But for now, ObamaCare isn't going anywhere.