|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Healthcare for Christmas: Reid under pressure to slow down reform debate
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Issue
|
| Contributor | particleman |
| Last Edited | particleman Oct 23, 2009 11:21pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | General |
| Author | Alexander Bolton |
| News Date | Friday, October 23, 2009 05:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The healthcare reform debate will be pushed deep into December and possibly beyond by a lengthy floor debate, several senators predicted Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is under pressure from a group of centrist Republicans and Democrats who are demanding a go-slow approach.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said last July that the healthcare debate could take until Christmas, but now some lawmakers think even that prediction is beginning to look optimistic. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), one of the centrists calling for the go-slow approach and the only Republican in either chamber to vote for a healthcare reform bill this year, said Thursday that a bill may not reach the president’s desk until next year.
Liberal Democrats in Congress are growing increasingly impatient and irritated with the slow pace, but a stunning defeat of a doctors’ payment bill due to the defections of 12 Democrats on Wednesday has underscored the need for Reid to move cautiously.
As the schedule now stands, it will be extremely difficult to wrap up the floor debate next month because Reid has given his colleagues days off on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, as well as the following Thursday and Friday. Reid has also scheduled a recess for the entire week of Thanksgiving, which falls on Nov. 26.
This means that Congress will blow through the Thanksgiving date that some members of the administration, such as Vice President Joe Biden, had targeted for finishing healthcare reform. President Barack Obama originally set an August deadline for healthcare reform to pass each chamber.
“We’ve had conversations about taking it slow,” Snowe said of talks with a group of centrist Democrats and Republicans. It is usually the exclusive role of the minority leader to negotiate floor time and the amendment process, but Snowe is taking advantage of her leverage to seek concessions on behalf of GOP colleagues. |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
