Blue Dog Democrats

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Blue Dogs Offer Own Spin on Finance Reform

Float alternative to Obama's financial protection agency

(Newser) - Blue Dogs are digging in against the idea of creating a “consumer financial protection agency,” a key provision in Barack Obama’s financial regulatory reform plan, Politico reports. Instead, they want existing regulators to collaborate by way of a “consumer financial protection council.” “We’re...

Obama Neglects a Powerful Presidential Tool: Fear

Opponents' ability to criticize with impunity hinders the president's effectiveness

(Newser) - Barack Obama has been praised for bringing a more conciliatory tone to the presidency after the with-us-or-against-us swagger of George W. Bush. But Obama’s preference for gentle negotiation and compromise leaves him less able to use an effective presidential tool: fear, writes Ben Smith for Politico. Obama has failed...

Hold On, Blue Dogs: Your Voters Like the Public Option

(Newser) - When top Blue Dog Dem Mike Ross came out against the public option, he said that “an overwhelming number” of his constituents opposed it. Maybe he's gotten emails to that effect, but if he’d actually bothered to poll his district, he’d probably get a different story, writes...

Ex-Adviser: Obama Not Bold Enough

(Newser) - One of Barack Obama's top advisers during the campaign tells Politico he's "losing patience" with the White House and wants more "bold" leadership from the president on a host of issues including health care and gay rights. “I’m not going to just sit by the curb...

House Dems Back to Work in Same Quagmire

Public health insurance option still splitting party after hectic summer break

(Newser) - House Democrats returned to work yesterday in the same position they were in before they spent their summer break getting an earful from the public, the Washington Post reports. House lawmakers are still expected to move first on the health care bill. But while broad support remains for some kind...

Privatize Abortion Funding to Save Health Care Reform

Independent fund could finance procedures, diffuse criticisms of govt. plan

(Newser) - Abortion threatens to derail the push for health care reform, as opponents use the prospect of subsidized procedures to turn pro-life Americans against the whole plan, writes Meredith Simmons for Slate. Progressives are indignant—abortion is a health procedure, they argue, and should be covered like any other. But excluding...

Ambinder: Town Halls Backfiring on Conservatives

(Newser) - Only a week ago, it seemed that conservatives had all the momentum in the fight against health care reform. Now, it's clear "they ramped up too quickly," writes Marc Ambinder in the Atlantic. The first town hall activists were "itching for a fight," and "the...

Blue Dogs Aren't Centrists, They're Greedy

(Newser) - Blue Dog Democrats might represent more socially conservative constituencies than their liberal brethren, but that's no reason to take pro-corporate stances on everything from the mortgage market to health care reform. Thomas Frank has a simpler explanation: They're in it for the cash. The Blue Dogs are "champion fundraisers,...

House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker
House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker
ANALYSIS
Aug 2, 2009 10:00 AM CDT

House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker

But slim margin could vanish if bill moves left or right: Silver

(Newser) - A compromise health care bill will likely squeak through the House by about two dozen votes, Nate Silver writes on FiveThirtyEight.com. The Energy and Commerce Committee’s Friday night 31-28 vote is a good model, with its similar balance of Republicans, liberal and Blue Dog Democrats. The committee passed...

Health Industry Rains Cash on Blue Dog Dems

(Newser) - The Blue Dogs—the 52 fiscally conservative Democrats who have been fighting to kill health care reform proposals the industry doesn’t like—receive far more money from that industry than their non-coalition-member counterparts, the Washington Post reports. The reform push has been a boon for the lawmakers' ledgers; the...

Liberals Near Revolt Over Health Care Deal

(Newser) - Blue Dogs had a good day, but now liberals are howling. After the conservative Democrats managed to shift health care legislation to the center, progressive Democrats say they might mount a rebellion of their own, report Politico and the Hill. They're mostly upset that Henry Waxman agreed to water down...

Blue Dog Deal Means No Vote on Health Before Recess

Dems also agree on $100B trim: Waxman

(Newser) - The House will not vote on a health care bill before the August recess, the Hill reports. Rep. Henry Waxman agreed to the delay as part of a deal with “Blue Dog” Democrats on his Energy and Commerce Committee, who had been threatening to block the bill. Waxman now...

Blue Dogs Stand Firm as Dems Get Panicky

Marathon sessions fail to reach a deal as tempers fray

(Newser) - The Democratic leadership is scrambling to make progress on health care reform before Congress breaks for its August recess, but last night's marathon negotiations failed to break the stalemate—and may even have increased the number of issues up for debate.  "We're making progress," Nancy Pelosi said...

Waxman Offers Secret Health Deal to Blue Dogs

Dem: 'Don't think failure is a reasonable option'

(Newser) - Rep. Henry Waxman is optimistic he can get a health care bill out of his committee after pitching Blue Dog Democrats a compromise late last night, the Hill reports. After three hours of negotiations, the Dogs asked Waxman to get a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office before they...

5 Barriers to Obamacare
 5 Barriers to Obamacare 
ANALYSIS
Jul 27, 2009 12:35 PM CDT

5 Barriers to Obamacare

(Newser) - Both chambers of Congress will likely miss President Obama’s August deadline for a health care reform bill, slowing “the momentum behind the president's top priority,” Jay Newton-Small writes in Time. “Why can't a popular president with poll numbers in the 60s and super majorities in both...

Why Are Blue Dogs Derailing Health Reform?

(Newser) - The Blue Dogs are threatening to sink health care reform in the House for reasons that don't seem to add up, Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times. The coalition of conservative Democrats—whose support President Obama needs—is crying loudly about fiscal responsibility, Krugman writes, while at the...

CBO Slams Dem Move to Lower Health Costs

Nonpartisan group says Medicare panel would save little cash

(Newser) - A White House proposal to give an independent panel the power to rein in Medicare spending would save the country almost no money over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office declared today. The nonpartisan group’s findings—that savings would total only $2 billion from the $1 trillion program—dealt...

Democrats Bicker While Health Care Reform Stalls

(Newser) - House Democrats looked on the verge of inter-party warfare yesterday, as they openly battled over health care, the Washington Post reports. Tempers ran especially hot in the Energy and Commerce Committee, where Chairman Henry Waxman accused Blue Dog Democrats of “empowering Republicans,” and suggested the bill bypass his...

Blue Dogs Raking In Campaign Donations

(Newser) - Blue Dog Democrats may be ticking off President Obama and party leaders with their opposition to health care overhaul, but the move is doing wonders for their campaign coffers, reports CQ Politics. The Blue Dog Political Action Committee has pulled in $1.1 million for the 2010 races, more than...

Health Care Debate Cements US as Can't-Do Nation
Health Care Debate Cements US as Can't-Do Nation
OPINION
Jul 22, 2009 10:14 AM CDT

Health Care Debate Cements US as Can't-Do Nation

(Newser) - As centrist Democrats concoct yet more reasons the US can’t do what every other advanced economy has done—provide universal health care—Harold Meyerson had a disturbing thought: “Suppose our collective lack of response to Hurricane Katrina wasn’t exceptional, but rather the new normal in America,”...

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