Gibbs: By next Sunday, healthcare reform will be 'law of the land'

By GottaLaff

Think positive:

"We'll have the votes when the House votes, I think, within the next week," Gibbs said on "Fox News Sunday."

Gibbs added that those on next week's Sunday talk shows "will be talking about healthcare not as a presidential proposal but I think as the law of the land."

President Barack Obama will look to campaign on the new healthcare law in midterm elections, Gibbs said.

"We believe healthcare reform is going to pass, and once it passes we're happy to have the 2010 elections be about the achievement of healthcare reform," Gibbs said.

Of course, it goes without saying that the GOP is thinking negative.

Hoyer: Dems have 2 weeks to decide healthcare reform game plan

By GottaLaff

First it was by summer. Then it was by Thanksgiving. Then it was by Christmas. Then it was by the new year. Now:

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Democrats have a two-week window to determine their next move on healthcare.

Don'tcha hate broken deadlines? So does Nancy Pelosi:

[...] Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) [...] said last week there was “no rush” to figure out how to pass healthcare after Democrats lost their 60th vote in the Senate.

You can't break a deadline if you don't have a deadline. Smart girl.

Earlier in day, Hoyer laid out what he and other Democratic leaders see as the four options available to them: Pass a smaller series of health reform measures; pass the Senate bill along with a companion bill to “fix” certain aspects of the Senate bill and have the Senate use the reconciliation process to pass the “fix”; pass the Senate bill in its current form; or abandon healthcare reform efforts altogether.

Hoyer said he agreed with Pelosi’s assessment that the House lacks the votes to pass the Senate bill as is, and said that passing no legislation isn’t viewed as a realistic option by “most of us.”

That's nice. Now do it.

UPDATE, the Rushpublics are threatening obstruction... again:

John Podesta tells TPM there is a growing "consensus" behind "having the House pass the Senate's health care bill but only with guarantees that it could later be amended through a reconciliation bill."

Meanwhile, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, told the New York Times that, of reconciliation, Republicans "would make it an extraordinarily difficult exercise."

The political cost of failure

By GottaLaff

Ezra Klein digs up something he wrote back in November, which is

Failure does not breed success. Obama's defeat will not mean that more ambitious reforms have "a better chance of trying again." It will mean that less ambitious reformers have a better chance of trying next time.

He traced the history of health care reform attempts, and that was his conclusion. Please go read the whole thing.

I fear he is right, especially based on his recap of past efforts.

I'm trying to stay optimistic, but not having much luck.

H/t: John Amussen

Baucus proposes dropping public option from health care bill

By GottaLaff

Many of you already knew about this, but I must do my duty, begrudgingly, and report the following:

A proposed health-care bill sent by the powerful chairman of the Senate Finance Committee to key Senate negotiators Saturday night does not include a government-run insurance plan, a source close to the discussions told CNN Monday.

While the proposal excludes a so-called "public option," it would allow for the creation of non-profit health care cooperatives — an idea which some moderate Democrats and Republicans have expressed possible interest in supporting.

The bill would cost less than $900 billion over ten years, according to the source.

It would be paid for, in part, by a new tax on health insurance companies that provide high-end "Cadillac" insurance plans, the source added.

Supporters of such a tax say will it help curb the cost of health care by discouraging employers from offering such plans. They also argue that consumers, in turn, will be discouraged from overusing the health care system.

Critics claim the new tax will cause insurance companies to raise rates on all of their customers, even those without more expensive plans.

Deep breathing exercises come in handy right about now. I am waiting for the Big Speech. I am repeating that to myself over and over... waiting... waiting...

Note to readers: I'll put up an interactive liveblog open thread for you to comment on before, during and after the speech.

Drop in Dem Polls = Health Care Failure Not An Option, Aides Say

By GottaLaff

Turn that frown upside down. Put on a happy face. Look for that silver lining. And after you do all of that, then.. and only then... you can whine and moan and cry your eyes out:

The poll slide Congressional Dems are enduring right now has increased pressure on Dems to succeed on health care this year, Democratic aides privately acknowledge, meaning health care failure is simply not an option, lest the party court electoral disaster.

If that's not encouraging, I don't know what is. ::sarcasm::

Dem strategists looking at the current numbers know that failure in the current environment would be nothing short of catastrophic — and that succeeding on health care reform is the best, and perhaps only, way to stave off the sort of losses that generally hits a party two years after grabbing control of Congress. [...]

Democratic aides acknowledge that failing on health care would trigger a revolt from the Dem base, perhaps depressing fundraising, and cement the view among independents that Dem rule has been ineffective.

There ya go. Always look at the bright side, right?

It’s a tougher cycle for the House, aides say, meaning they’d likely face bigger losses if Senate Dems can’t resolve their impasse with Republicans or if they don’t opt for reconciliation to get reform done.

Either way, if they look hard enough, liberals can locate something of a silver lining in all the bad news: It ups the pressure on Congressional Dems not just to do health care this year, but do it right.

A smile goes a mile, but a frown brings you down!