Great News from the Not-Spineless House

Posted on 06/25/2009 at 7:32 pm by Bob Cesca

From the Congressional Progressive Caucus:

(Washington DC) – Members of the Congressional TriCaucus – comprised of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus – along with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which together make up nearly 120 Members of the House and Senate, today held a press conference to reiterate their call that any Health Care reform must include a public health plan option.

The TriCaucus insists that it won’t vote for any legislation that doesn’t include a strong public option for health insurance. Basically, then, nothing will pass the House without a public option included. Without the 120, there are only 131 Democratic votes. They need 218 votes to pass the House. The only way to get there would be to badly compromise the bill in order to pick up 87 Republicans — almost half of them.* But then, with a GOP-leaning bill, they’d surely lose more Democrats.

What this means is the White House and the Senate, if they’re serious about healthcare reform, have to jettison any talk of compromise and embrace the public option. Or let the thing die — which I doubt they’ll do.

Thank goodness there are some members of Congress who have a spine — or who at least know how to read a goddamn poll.

(*I calculated the votes based on the current House seats. 256 Democrats minus 5 non-voting members, and 178 Republicans. Total House seats: 434.)

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  • http://CMLA CMLA

    Can I pinch myself yet?

  • Gottverdammt Klaus

    Thanks for posting this, Bob. I’ve been disheartened of late with respect to the public option. If the House can whip the Senate into shape, so much the better.Obama can’t afford to let healthcare die/fail. If the House takes the lead, I think he’ll have their back.

  • Gottverdammt Klaus

    Come to think of it, Obama ought to schedule a sit-down with Dem leaders. Gently lead them in a corner for a chat, like he did with Joe Lieberman.I’m shocked, shocked that Kerry would backpedal. He’s been so much better since losing in ’04. I thought he learned.

  • MrBrink

    Great post, Bob.(*I calculated the votes based on the current House seats. 256 Democrats minus 5 non-voting members, and 178 Republicans. Total House seats: 434.)Watch out Nate Silver! =)

  • El Mystico

    I’d like to issue a full woohoo!**Woohoo subject to recission. Any one of 1400 conditions (including but not limited to Democratic Spinelessness, Soul Rot, and Chronic Douchiness) may trigger a recission review.

  • http://politicalpartypooper.wordpress.com/ Political Party Pooper

    Or let the thing die — which I doubt they’ll do.

    Or, that may have been their plan all along. What better ay to raise campaign and party funding than to scare the shit out of a particular industry?Senators and Congresspeople should be forced to wear uniforms everywhere they go, like NASCAR drivers, so we can see who their sponsors are.

  • http://muchrejoicing.net Sir Robin

    Do you seriously want us to look like the Ring wing Republicans? No. So we should keep talking about compromise, but do what we want behind the scenes. So in the end, we get want we want, and the Republicans complain we “didn’t talk to them enough.” And they’ll look like whiners, and we’ll look good. Americans (independents at least) want their government to compromise. Only the Right wing idiots love it when the President gets all “God told me to do this, so this is what we’re doing period.”