Hillarysworld

Jay Cost is keeping a running update of where the House Dems stand on the HCR.  He seems to be keeping this page updated with stories and reports as he receives them.. so a great source.


March 05, 2010

Update, 7:15 PM 3/11: More bad news for reform advocates. Henry Cuellar (TX-27) appears to be a Stupak Democrat, according to Investor's Business Daily:

"I want to make sure that the Henry Hyde amendment that federal funds not being used for abortion is adhered to," said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, who says he's a Stupak supporter.

I had Cuellar on my list of Democrats who had voted yes but who had since signaled they might not stay on board. I had also suspected that he might be a Stupak Democrat, but the public documentation I had did not suggest that. The previous report emphasized his concerns about the bill's impact on rural people. The comments from Cuellar today are much stronger and more pointed, even though it doesn't change the overall counts. I'll update the documentation below with this new piece of data.

That IBD report also has harsh comments from Marion Berry (AR-1). He voted for the bill in November, and he had already signaled that he was part of the Stupak bloc, but today he had some very negative things to say about the bill:

"The way it treats Medicare is not fair to states like mine...And it treats pharmacists like the trash of health care providers."

Ouch. Like I said, bad day for reform advocates.

Update, 7 PM 3/11: The Hill reports the following about Luis Gutierrez (IL-4):

The healthcare bill's immigration provisions are enough to spur Hispanic members of Congress to vote against it, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said Thursday.

Gutierrez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) in which he serves as chairman of its Immigration Task Force, said the caucus still has concerns over the extent to which the healthcare bill excludes illegal immigrants as well as legal residents from receiving benefits in the healthcare plan.

"They are enough to say I can't support this bill," Gutierrez said during an appearance on MSNBC."

As I mentioned earlier in the day, I've decided not to include on this count liberal members whose objections come from the left. I think two points of amplification are appropriate to make:

(a) When push comes to shove, will Gutierrez choose to vote down a bill that insures 30 million additional people? I'm skeptical.

(b) Gutierrez comes from a one-party district, meaning that there's nobody to run attack ads on him for saying negative things about the bill that he ultimately votes for. This distinguishes him from a guy like Heath Shuler, who has made negative comments about using reconciliation. Shuler is somewhat locked in now - at the least, he can expect that if he supports a reconciliation process, his opponents will attack him. Gutierrez does not have that kind of worry (neither does Capuano), which in turn makes me suspect that he and Capuano might be trying to bargain.

Nevertheless, to have liberals like Gutierrez and Capuano talking negatively about the bill is a bad sign for the Democratic leadership as they try to push this through. If Gutierrez and Capuano are articulating a common sentiment among the progressive and minority factions in the caucus, that is really not a good thing.

All in all, today seemed like a bad news day for reform advocates. You have comments from Gutierrez and Capuano. You have the suggestion from Chairman Waxman that they're abandoning an attempt to strike a deal with Stupak. You have the decision of the Senate parliamentarian that the Senate bill has to become law. A rough day. The silver lining for reform advocates was that Vic Snyder (AR-2) has signaled that he is still on boar. Snyder voted for the bill in November. He is also retiring, so the leadership really has no excuse not to get him. But still, a bright spot on a cloudy day for reform proponents.

More @ RCP

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-- Edited by Sanders on Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:05:16 PM