July 27th, 2009

Here’s the latest on what U.S. legislators and others from Pennsylvania are saying and doing about national healthcare reform.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a story about how five PA House Democrats aren’t supporting the current healthcare bill:

The tortuous congressional wrangling over health care reform has enhanced the public profile and the clout of the band of Democratic House moderates known as Blue Dogs.

The coalition, formed in 1994 in the wake of a Republican takeover of the House — and another attempt at health care overhaul — was formed by Democrats from the South and is still widely thought of as a Southern phenomenon. But five Pennsylvania Democrats, nearly half of the state’s Democratic congressional delegation, are members of the increasingly powerful caucus.

…

Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, met on Capitol Hill with some Blue Dog leaders on Thursday but did not overcome their objections to the health bill gestating in the House. On Friday, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, continued efforts to get the agreement of leading members of the Blue Dogs.

His committee, one of those with jurisdiction over the legislation, is a key leverage point for the moderate group because it has enough members on the panel, combined with the Republican opponents, to block the measure there.

Under House rules, it would be possible to bypass the committee and bring the measure to the floor without a positive vote from Mr. Waxman’s panel. But that would run the risk of further estranging Democratic moderates whose votes may be needed for a majority in the entire House.

Opponents of the House bill and the overall Obama administration effort on the issue have been cheered by the Blue Dogs’ role. Members of the group, however, insist that their goal is not to obstruct the reform effort but to rein in its costs.

Read the rest of the Post-Gazettes article on the Blue Dogs here.
…Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Joseph Mistick says that the Blue Dogs are doing us a disservice.  He writes:

If you come from a working-class community, take a good, hard look at your member of Congress. If he or she is not leading the charge for health-care reform, you should start shopping for a new member of Congress.

But even worse than not leading the charge, those who have joined the disingenuous call for more time and additional delay are doing a disservice to the nation and their constituents. An issue this important calls for honest brokers.

Responsible public servants will vote it up or vote it down, be judged by the voters in either case, and abandon the anti-reform choreography of the Republican National Committee and those members of Congress from both parties who are in the pockets of the health-care industry.

Honorable public servants will not insult our collective intelligence with transparent calls for “more time,” which is “Politics 101″ code language for an attempt to kill health-care reform.

…

…those calling for more time to consider health-care reform are either not paying attention or trying to bamboozle us. Health-care reform has been a central part of our national dialogue for at least 64 years.

If you need more time to consider it, there may be something wrong with you or maybe you are trying to pull a fast one. And even though delay is a central talking point of the Republican opposition, there are scoundrels among the Democrats who are part of that chorus.

Read the rest of what Mistick has to say at the Tribune-Review.