Obama, Pelosi and the Blue Dog Dems Clash



Not the infomercial hosted by ABC News last month nor the prime time press conference President Obama gave this week has swayed the opponents of Obama's health care plan.  In fact, twenty-one freshman Democratic House members have signed a letter opposing their leadership’s plan to raise taxes to finance a healthcare overhaul.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) circulated the letter, saying that the income surtax on the wealthy would place an undue burden on small businesses, some of which pay taxes in the same way as an individual. The letter had 22 signers, all freshmen except for Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.), who is in his second term.

“Especially in a recession, we need to make sure not to kill the goose that will lay the golden eggs of our recovery,” the letter said. “We are concerned that this will discourage entrepreneurial activity.”

Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid said the other day that the Senate would wait until after recess to bring the bill to a vote, and President Obama said it was "OK" to miss his deadline so long as lawmakers are working in earnest to reach a compromise.

However, as usual House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set the legislative throttle at full-speed-ahead as she plans to bring health care reform to a floor vote by the August recess, a move that could inflame tensions in the party and imperil the bill's passage since fiscally conservative Democrats say they're still not satisfied. She has been insistent that the recess be delayed to get this bill done.

How ironic, does anyone remember last year at this time when we were living through the gas crisis, when gas over $4.00 a gallon and the Republicans begged Speaker Pelosi to work through the break to get some relief to the people of the United States and Nancy Pelosi shut them right down and closed for recess?

What comes around goes around.......

The Blue Dog Democrats who have been the holdouts for the bill are still not comfortable in how this health care plan will be paid for and they have been very upfront about their opposition to it. They also feel they have not been dealt with honestly. "We don't have a deal yet," a senior Blue Dog source said. "Negotiations continue," said another. A third said no details of a pact have been worked out.

As usual Speaker Pelosi thinks it is best to rush everything through that way people won't know what hit them. She has done this numerous times so it comes as no surprise whatsoever that her popularity rating is in the basement at 24-26% which means only 24-26% trust her.

That is now extending past the public and onto the floor, amid the intra-party struggle, Democratic consultant Dan Gerstein penned a column this week calling for Pelosi's ouster.

He told FOX News that on issue after issue, the speaker has hurt the president's efforts to set a new post-partisan tone in Congress.The $787 billion stimulus, he said, was "too focused on paying Democratic constituencies and not enough on creating jobs." The cap-and-trade climate bill that recently passed out of the House and is now in the Senate is a "Frankenstein monster." and the final stake, he said, is her guidance of a House health care bill that the Congressional Budget Office says will not control costs.

"That to me is a pretty strong record that she is not capable of moving his agenda," said Gerstein,

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel states that Pelosi has told her caucus that she intends to move forward with a vote next week and is "working toward that goal."

In desparation to get the health care bill passed at any cost here has been discussion with the White House this week, and a tentative deal has been struck with top Obama aides and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) to add the proposal to health legislation pending on Capitol Hill.

Such a bypass can cause a party revolt. Stay tuned for the next chapter it will no doubt become even more heated.

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