Republicans are preparing to use Thursday’s White House health-care summit to sell their own ideas for using the private marketplace to expand coverage and reduce costs, but they remain wary of fumbling away what they believe is an advantage on the issue heading into this year’s critical midterm elections.
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But Republicans are not prepared to match every Democratic provision with one of their own. “You will not see from us a 2,700-page comprehensive rewrite of one-sixth of our economy,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.). “We don’t think that ought to be done.”
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Their goal is to present voters with a clear choice between a Democratic approach that seeks to expand the government role in health care, and the Republican aim of finding solutions in the private marketplace. “There’ll be no question as to where Republicans stand,” said House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.). “It is with a much more common-sense, modest approach to health-care reform.”
Read more at www.washingtonpost.com |
| Democrats Change
Health-Care Tack |
With their sweeping health-care bill on hold, House Democrats plan to revive a sliver of the legislation as soon as next week that would repeal an antitrust exemption for insurance companies.
The move underscores growing doubts on Capitol Hill that Democrats can pass their ambitious plan to expand health insurance to more than 30 million Americans.
After focusing intensely on health care for months, Democratic leaders have removed completion of the overhaul from their agenda indefinitely, and even talk of the subject is scarce. |
| Top Democrats said Tuesday they remained confident they would pass a broader health bill, but they acknowledged they had no time frame for doing so and no feasible strategy in sight. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, when reminded that he said last week Democrats would have a plan by now, responded: “Did I say that? I was in error.”Read more at online.wsj.com |
| Democrats Ponder Triage on Health Care |
Congressional Democrats faced only unpalatable options for salvaging their health-care overhaul after Republicans clinched the additional Senate vote they need to thwart the legislation—a turn that had some Democrats suggesting they abandon the health effort. |
By late Tuesday, House Democrats signaled that would be a tall order. Liberal Rep. Anthony Weiner (D., N.Y.) said Democrats should hold off on pushing ahead with health care for now. “I don’t think I can vote for the Senate bill, and I don’t think there are the votes in the House for the Senate bill,” he said. |
For the White House and congressional Democrats, failing to pass a health-care bill would leave them without a significant accomplishment to tout despite their wide majorities in the House and Senate. Despite the perils of pushing a bill, some Democrats said Tuesday that they would be worse off politically with nothing. Read more at online.wsj.com |
| Obama presses Democrats on health-care bill |
| President Obama made a rare Sunday visit to the Capitol to urge a fractious Democratic caucus to pull together to pass landmark health-care legislation.
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| Obama made no mention of a government-run insurance plan, abortion or other key issues that lawmakers are attempting to resolve in closed-door meetings, including a Sunday evening gathering to address the public option.Read more at www.washingtonpost.com |
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