With the GOP line against President Obama's health care plan hardening, Dems see little hope of cooperation and are now poised to set out on their own, drawing a final plan solely from within their own party, the New York Times reports. The White House will still face the challenge of wooing conservative Dems, but the bill could move more quickly without negotiations across the aisle.
The White House has taken recent attacks by Jon Kyl, Chuck Grassley, and others on the co-op option as evidence that Republicans aren't serious about negotiating. Says Rahm Emanuel, the GOP has made a political calculation that "defeating President Obama's health care proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that Americans face every day."
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