Dems Say They Won't Give Up on Health Care Bill
One thing is certain, Democratic leadership got the message that they cannot pass a bill before Brown is seated as the forty-first Senator.
"We're not going to rush into anything," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "We're going to wait until the new senator arrives before we do anything more on health care."
But Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the U.S. Conference of Mayors today that they won't give up.
"Heeding the particular concerns of the voters of Mass. last night -- We heard, we will heed, we will move forward with their considerations in mind," she said. "But we will move forward for health care."
Pelosi has been meeting all afternoon with different members of the Democratic Caucus on health care. She met with progressives and fiscally conservative Blue Dogs, many who voted against the house health care bill.
CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care
They were described by Blue Dog leader Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) as "preliminary discussions."
There are many ideas on how to move forward floating in the House right now, but no decisions, according to aides and members.
One idea is to take popular items in the health care bill and trying to separate them completely into a series of paired down bills -- especially the insurance reforms that are popular among most Democrats and, they hope, at least one Republican in the Senate.
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) emerged from the speaker's office and told a crowd of reporters that "there's a lot of interest" in this option.
"Reconciliation" is another idea being discussed on both sides of Capitol Hill. Using reconciliation would allow the Senate to pass a bill with just fifty-one votes, but the only provisions that could remain would have to have some impact on the budget. That means policy items like forcing insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions and mandating that individuals purchase insurance could not stay in the bill.
The other problem is that it's complicated and difficult for the public to understand. House Democrats have expressed concerns that it would look like legislative trickery to push health care through.
Senate Democrats raised the idea of the House passing the Senate bill and then they could correct the fiscal items right after using reconciliation. But House Democrats are wary about passing a bill that they consider flawed and then trust that the Senate can fix it.
"With all that Nebraska junk in there," said Rep. Mary Louise Slaughter referring to Sen. Ben Nelson's "cornhusker kickback" deal that would have the Federal government pay for his state's Medicaid expansion forever.
"It would have to be cleaned up," she added.
But that's the problem. Any change or, even a tweak, to the policy items in the Senate bill and it would have to go back to that chamber. Where Senate Democrats will not have the sixty votes they'd need to pass a revised bill.
More Coverage:
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GOP Win in Mass. Puts Dems on Defensive
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Scott Brown: Win Sends "Powerful Message"
Political Lessons from Brown's Victory
Win Shows It's Not a Good Time to Be a Democrat
Scott Brown's Keys to Success
GOP Win Shakes Up Health Care Fight
White House Downplays Scott Brown Victory
David Plouffe: Dems Need to Step up and Lead
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Washington Unplugged: Brown's Win Spells Trouble For Dems
