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July
24th, 2009
Dear Liberty Activist, It looks like Nancy
Pelosi and Henry Waxman's gamble to go over the Blue Dog Democrats'
heads on the Energy and Commerce committee has completely backfired. According to Roll Call, talks
between seven key Blue Dogs and Waxman have completely broken down: By Steven T. Dennis Closed-door negotiations
over health care reform between House Energy and Commerce Chairman
Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and conservative Blue Dog Democrats broke down
Friday afternoon and appeared dead. A visibly angry Rep. Mike
Ross (D-Ark.), the Blue Dog health care task force chairman, said
Waxman reneged on deals the two sides had previously agreed on: an
independent Medicare commission and adopting Senate language on a
public insurance option. He also said Waxman's threats to bring the
bill straight to the floor — and bypass a markup in Energy and Commerce
— were not helpful. "We are actually trying to
save the bill and we are trying to save our party," Ross said after the
meeting ended. He said it's his understanding that the two sides would
not have any additional meetings. "It's my understanding that
will be the last meeting we have," Ross said. All of which does not bode
well for Barack Obama's efforts to get his government-run, socialized
medicine bill out of the House any time soon, let alone before the
summer recess. According
to Reuters, Waxman said "we are going to have to look at perhaps
bypassing the committee" if no agreement could be reached with the Blue
Dogs on the committee that have held up the legislation because of its
high price tag, which
will cost more than $1.5 trillion according to Kaiser Health News. Now that talks have
completely collapsed, Waxman and Pelosi appear poised to bring the bill
directly to the floor for a vote next week without any committee markup. All of which leaves the
question: Why should the Blue Dogs—who describe themselves as "fiscal
conservatives"—vote for legislation that they now have no input in? That's the question we
should be asking Congressman Mike Ross (AR-CD4), who was the leading
Blue Dog negotiator on the embattled ObamaCare bill. Let's
give him a call at (202) 225-3772 and tell him to stay strong. He needs to be told that if
he stands with the American people in preserving their private health
options, then the American people stand with him and his coalition. For Liberty, Robert Romano ALG Senior News Editor ###
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