There were unconfirmed reports floating around this week that Cuban doctors providing aid in Haiti had run out of anesthesia and that the U.S. embargo of Cuba prevented the U.S. military from replenishing their supplies. Considering the number of amputations being performed down there on trauma victims, it’s a gruesome scenario to contemplate.
We’ve not been able to confirm that the embargo ever got in the way of resupplying the Cubans. But we did call the State Department, which says the U.S. stands ready to help and has communicated that fact, though to whom is not clear: “The United States has communicated its readiness to make medical relief supplies available to Cuban doctors working on the ground in Haiti as part of the international relief effort.”
Justin Elliott has been tracking this down for us.
Paul gets it …
So, House Democrats have a choice: do they pass the Senate bill, or do they go back to the drawing board and spend several months cobbling together a plan that’s worse in almost every dimension, generating thousands of stories about hapless Democrats — and almost surely find that Senate Republicans block the new plan, too.
This is quite a commentary. Here’s a description of the pared down approach being considered on Capitol Hill …
The consensus measure would be less ambitious than the bills approved last year. It would extend insurance coverage to perhaps 12 million to 15 million people — and provide political cover to Democrats, who said they could not simply drop the issue after spending so much time and effort on it.
The pared-back approach would cover fewer than half of those who, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would gain coverage under the House and Senate bills. But it would not put the government on the hook for what critics say is a new entitlement, a change that would appeal to some Republicans.
So the House won’t pass the current senate bill because it’s not progressive enough. So the solution is to come up with a new bill that will cover half as many people. And lots of Republicans are going to vote for it. Even better.
The “scaled-back” version of health care reform under discussion would cover less than half the uninsured people that the current bills would. That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.
Shorter Congressional Dems: Rather than hang together, let’s hang separately.
Martha Coakley and her campaign have been roundly, mercilessly and rightly ridiculed for getting caught off guard by Scott Brown’s rapid ascent in the Massachusetts senate race. What’s the excuse of the White House and congressional leadership for having no plan in place for what to do if Coakley lost — a live possibility going back almost three weeks?
Former GOP staffer TPM Reader JB thinks Wednesday’s the day …
Not to make predictions about what President Obama will do about health care — I really don’t know what his thinking is right now — but hypothetically speaking, the best forum for him to respond to recent developments would be the State of the Union address next
Tuesday[Wednesday].
One thing that is always important to remember is that you cannot holder a Member of Congress responsible for something a staffer says on the phone. Actually, you can’t even necessarily hold the staffer responsible. Because it’s not an easy situation to be in in a vexed and contentious moment like this. But this must have been a fun moment …
TL here in Stevens Point, WI. I called David Obey’s office to ask about the Senate bill. I couldn’t get a straight answer. The best the staffer could say was the other representatives have said ‘no’ so it’s not on Obey anyway.