Max Baucus will apparently in a few moments come out and basically put the kibosh on the Gang of Six. Not formally ruling out a bipartisan agreement but signaling that realizes it’s not in the cards and is going to move on with a Dem only bill.
As we noted yesterday, where the Dems seem to want to get this is to ditch the Gang of Six, but hold on to Olympia Snowe and then try to hold on to 60 votes and thus avoid reconciliation, which Senate Dems really want to avoid. Baucus is telling colleagues today that he thinks he can still get Snowe to sign on.
CA rep caught on mic bragging about his sexploits: I really shouldn’t have said what I said where I could be overheard.
That didn’t take long. State Rep. Mike “The Drip” Duvall (R-CA) resigns his seat to spend more time learning to distinguish hot and cold microphones.
As you’ve seen, Michael Duvall, family values state Rep. from California, has now resigned his office after a live mic picked him up bragging in raunchy detail about cheating on his wife with his lobbyist mistress and cheating on his lobbyist mistress with a second mistress.
But the best part of the story for me was Duvall’s first response, before he realized it was over and he had no choice but resign. His original line was: I thought it was a “private conversation.”
I mean, yeah, presumably so, right?
Rush Limbaugh tells listeners you’re better off not having insurance at all and simply paying out of pocket. You can make the best choices about cost and which doctors to use.
Late Update: Sigh. I think this has to win the prize for best reader comment of the day: “If it’s one thing I trust Rush Limbaugh to do, it’s doctor shop.”
Schumer on reconciliation (i.e., 50 vote rules): Let’s use it whenever we can.
In his response to the President’s speech, Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) is apparently going to attack Dem proposals and declare that it’s time to start over with a new reform plan, presumably while eliding the fact that the Republicans have offered no plan at all.
It’s a point that can’t be made often enough, especially when Republicans are going around claiming to have a plan.
8:08 PM: Can you really say you believe in democracy if you pass a bill with only 51 votes?
8:20 PM: Health care reform has been around so long you even have health care reform nostalgia.
8:22 PM: Key to see Obama focusing on the insecurity of those who have coverage. Politically, that’s what this is about.
8:23 PM: Did some reporting over the last couple weeks, found a large number of major corporations planning big cuts in their health care coverage in the fall, moving a lot of employees into high-deductible coverage with option of health savings accounts.
8:25 PM: Not sure ‘Our health care problem is our deficit problem’ really rolls off the tongue.
8:26 PM: I’m in the middle on this. Freaks to the left and right, out of my way!
8:28 PM: The key passage …
Well the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care.