NEWS

Senate Democrats Consider Tactic to Push Through Government Health Plan – New York Times

Senate Democrats said Sunday that they were fleshing out plans to pass health legislation, particularly the option of a new government-run insurance program, with a simple majority, instead of the 60 votes that would ordinarily be needed to overcome a filibuster.

Lieberman: ‘There’s No Reason’ To Deal With The Uninsured Until After The Recession – Think Progress

Last week, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), the most conservative member of the so-called bipartisan “Gang of Six” working on the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill, stated that he preferred that Congress deal with reform incrementally. “I think the only way it will happen is we need to break it down into smaller parts than we have now and put it through one at a time,” he said.

Rep. Maxine Waters a hard-liner for public healthcare option – Los Angeles Times

At a town hall at L.A. Southwest College, the congresswoman says she’ll back a package only if it includes a government-run insurance plan. The issue seems to be dividing lawmakers in Washington.

Daschle Has Ear of White House and Industry - New York Times

Six months have passed since the morning when Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader, under fire for not paying certain taxes, called President Obama in his study off the Oval Office to withdraw his nomination as health secretary and reform czar.

Health care plan tests Pelosi’s leadership – Associated Press

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent her 256 caucus members home for the August recess armed with pocket cards listing Democratic health care talking points, then started stumping herself, working to convince Americans of what they’d gain under the plan.

Republican National Committee Unveils ‘Seniors’ Health Care Bill of Rights’ – ABC

GOP Targets Seniors and Medicare, Renews Opposition to Public Option in Health Care Overhaul

Henry Waxman’s insurance probe began in July – Politico

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman raised eyebrows this week when he launched a financial probe into the nation’s largest insurance companies, which are at the center of the health reform battle.

OPINION

Public option is critical to reform - Denver Post

Without strong competition for the insurance industry, the health care overhaul we need will fall far short of the mark.

Why Women Need Healthcare Reform – The Nation

To be sure, no group is doing well under our network of private insurers, which is more holes than net. But women fare particularly badly in terms of health, being more likely than men to leave a prescription unfilled; forgo seeing a needed specialist; and skip a medical test, treatment or follow-up. Financially, women are worse off, too, in large part because they earn less money. Despite the fact that they skimp on their care to cut costs, three in five women are still unable to pay their medical bills. All of which makes it surprising that men and women support health reform in almost equal numbers (38 versus 40 percent consider it a top priority, according to a recent Kaiser poll). Odder and ickier still is the sight of Sarah Palin, Betsy McCaughey and other women leading, or sometimes blindly following, the wacko town hall movement against reform.

Scaling Back Reform: Dumb Policy, Dumber Politics – The New Republic

Senator Kent Conrad was back on television Sunday morning. This time the venue was "Face the Nation." But the message was the same one he’s been delivering for a while: It’s time to scale back health care reform. "It’s going to have to be significantly less than what we’ve heard talked about," Conrad said.

Betsy McCaughey, Paid Shill – Media Matters

Besty McCaughey – the original source of the mandatory euthanasia counseling nonsense – simply won’t give up the ghost. She showed up on the Daily Show last night and tried, unsuccessfully, to convince Jon Stewart that the House bill says what she says it does instead of what is actually written in black and white.

Considered Forthwith: Budget Committees and reconciliation – Congress Matters

Since we are all interested in passing the public option through reconciliation, this seems an opportune time to look at the House and Senate Budget committees that have jurisdiction over reconciliation. This process, which has existed since 1974, is not used every year, but is being actively considered this year. The major function of the budget committees, however, is to handle the budget resolution, which was done months ago. (CF regrettably missed that opportunity to discuss the Budget Committees.)