Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) asserted that an "interesting development" is taking place underway that, if true, could effectively remove Democratic leadership from the driver's seat on healthcare reform legislation in the House.



"There's an interesting development occurring behind the scenes, wherein moderate Democrats-- so-called "Blue Dog" Democrats-- and business-friendly new Democrats are actually starting to have conversations with us to build a coalition from the center outward, to actually really come up with substantive and well-founded healthcare reform," Boustany said during an appearance on Fox News. "And that's the only way to do this."

In other words, Sherrod Brown and Sheldon Whitehouse won't themselves join a plan that "will offer benefits that are as good as those available through private insurance plans -- or better," as the Ohio and Rhode Island liberals put it in a recent op-ed. And even a self-described socialist like Vermont's Bernie Sanders, who supports a government-only system, wouldn't sign himself up.



Of course, they also qualify now for generous Congressional coverage. Most Americans won't have the same choice. Some will be transferred to the new entitlement as it uses its taxpayer bankroll to dominate insurance markets. Others work for businesses that will find it easier to dump their policies and move employees to the federal rolls. Democrats also know that the public option will try to control health spending by squeezing payments made to doctors and hospitals, and by not paying for treatments that Washington decides are too expensive, which will result in inferior care.



No doubt Mr. Dodd acceded to the Coburn amendment to blunt such objections, and in any case he'll strip it out later in some backroom. Judd Gregg was the only GOP Senator to oppose it, on humanitarian grounds. As he told us in an interview, the public option "will be so bad that I don't think anyone should be forced to join."

When I was growing up there were always enough powerful Democrats in the South-- many of them committee chairmen-- to prevent progressive legislation, particularly when it came to race relations, despite large Democratic majorities in Congress. Sound familiar? Look at this ad. It's being run by the DNC-- to pressure conservative Democrats who are trying to water down health care reform on behalf of special interests who donate to their campaigns and want them to work with the Republican minority to sabotage the public option.It's amild ad and it doesn't name any names-- unlike the Blue America ads targeting corrupt Arkansas reactionary Blanche Lincoln. But the ad is running in 15 media markets all of which target members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who are seen as likely to vote with Big Insurance instead of with working American families. 12 of the 15 markets are represented by Democrats! Here are the markets and the targets:Savannah- John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)Palm Springs- Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) who, ironically, is being opposed by Steve Pougnet, a Democrat who seems to have an ugly Blue Dog bent and is possibly not much more reliable when it comes to representing working families than she is!Seattle- Jay Inslee (D-WA)Nashville- Bart Gordon (Blue Dog-TN), although this also serves notice on the slimiest of the House Democrats conspiring with the GOP, Nashville Blue Dog Jim CooperBloomington- Baron Hill (Blue Dog-IN)Sacramento- Jerry McNerney (D-CA)Salt Lake City- Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)New Orleans- Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA)Pittsburgh- Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Tim Murphy (R-PA)Charlotte- G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)Little Rock- Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)Columbus- Zach Space (Blue Dog-OH)Marquette- Bart Stupak (D-MI)Grand Rapids- Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Fred Upton (R-MI)Medford- Greg Walden (R-OR)Reactionary Democrats are not taking this lying down and some are joining the GOP We Hate Obama Team . Blue Dog Zack Space has responded to the DNC TV spots by sending out an extremely misleading newsletter to his constituents claiming that he "has been targeted by right wing extremists who want to block health care reform. The Congressman is hearing from them this week." We need to get him some clown makeup. Several of the worst and most corrupt of the Blue Dogs are conspiring with the Republicans to work together to completely wreck Obama's health care agenda. According to yesterday'sIs it? Today'sran an interesting Op-Ed on their shockingly right-wing editorial page about how one of their heroes, Oklahoma nutcase Tom Coburn managed to win narrow approval for an admendment in the Senate health committee (12-11) "that would require all Members and their staffs to enroll in any new government-run health plan."Thepoint was that even some of the best progressives on the committee voted against it. (Among Dems only Chris Dodd, Barbara Mikulski and Ted Kennedy voted yes.) Sounds like a lot of game playing on all sides and it also sounds like Congress should lose all health care for themselves and their families until they pass a bill for all Americans-- and that their health care should be part of that bill, just like everyone else's. I bet this is the first time I'd be agreeing with Tom Coburn on anything-- except he's just being a big ole drama queen and he doesn't agree with any of this anyway; he just wants to embarrass Democrats, not a bad idea in this case either.

Labels: health insurance, public option, Tom Coburn