Research Briefing

Obama Repays Dodd’s Efforts At Secrecy And Partisanship In The Health Care Debate With A Fundraiser

OBAMA WILL RAISE MONEY FOR DODD TODAY

Today, Obama Will Attend A Fundraiser For Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT). “On Friday, the president heads to New England to attend fundraisers for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who is up for re-election in 2010, and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, also seeking another term next year.” (Darlene Superville, “Obama Hits Campaign Trail For NJ Gov Jon Corzine,” The Associated Press, 10/21/09)

DODD HAS BEEN A GOOD DEMOCRAT AND REFUSED TO DISCUSS SECRET HEALTH CARE MEETINGS

Dodd Won’t Talk About His Secret Meetings With Reid And Rahm. “‘I know this isn’t going to be easy.’ … Dodd said that he wouldn’t discuss what was said in the meeting, but he did illuminate the central tension between the Finance and Health Committee bills.” (Patrick O’Connor & Chris Frates, “No Snowementum: Centrist Democrats Still Not Sold On Health Care,” Politico, 10/14/09)

AND DODD HAS LOYALLY BLOCKED REPUBLICAN ATTEMPTS AT HEALTH CARE REFORM

Dodd Tries To Obscure The Fact That Republicans Have Alternatives To The Status Quo By Pretending That ObamaCare Is The Only Alternative. “What are the alternatives here if we do nothing, as some are suggesting? … [I]f you look in the next seven years, we could have premium costs go from $13,000 to $24,000. 3.5 million jobs could be lost in the process. The cost of business could double to nearly $1 trillion as a result of doing nothing. The impact of doing nothing is so much more costly than what we are talking here that my hope would be that we get together on this. The American public cannot withstand more years of rising costs, rising premiums and more unemployment.” (Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 10/18/09)

• Houston Chronicle: GOP Has Solutions To Fix America’s Health Care Which Are “Blessedly Free Of Loud Political Rhetoric.” "The Republican plan emphasizes preserving health care choices for individuals while bringing down costs, which have soared since 1993, the last time reform was attempted ... The plan is earnest and blessedly free of loud political rhetoric. GOP leaders appear to have received the message that most Americans really do want a workable solution to this problem, as does most of the nation's business community, which labors under competitive disadvantages internationally on its account." (Editorial, "Minority View: Give The Republican Proposal For Health Care Reform A Respectful Hearing," Houston Chronicle, 6/18/09)

DEMS PLEDGED TO WORK WITH REPUBLICANS ON HEALTH CARE

Candidate Obama Promised Transparency For The Health Care Reform Debate: “We’ll Have The Negotiations Televised On C-SPAN.” “I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We'll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies -- they'll get a seat at the table, they just won't be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process.” (Barack Obama, Remarks At A Town Hall Meeting, Chester, VA, 8/21/08)

President Obama Promised To Seek Common Ground, Keep His Door Open. “I will continue to seek common ground in the weeks ahead.  If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to listen.  My door is always open.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks To A Joint Session Of Congress On Health Care, Washington, DC, 9/9/09)

BUT DODD AND OTHER DEMS HAVE LOCKED REPUBLICANS OUT OF THE PROCESS DESPITE GOP ATTEMPTS TO FIX HEALTH CARE

When It Passed On A Party-Line Vote In Dodd’s HELP Committee, Only 160 Of 721 GOP Amendments Were Accepted And Most Of Those Were Technical, Not Substantive. “When the Senate health, education, labor, and pensions committee passed its health care bill Wednesday, the Obama administration hailed it as a ‘bipartisan’ effort. No matter that it passed the panel on a strictly party-line vote, with all 13 Democrats voting for and all 10 Republicans voting against. It was bipartisan, administration officials explained, because it contained 160 Republican amendments. Republican senators said that characterization was absurd. After all, they said, most of the 160 amendments were technical, rather than substantive, changes.” (Christopher Beam, “This Is What ‘Bipartisanship’ Looks Like,” Slate, 7/16/09)

The GOP Hasn’t Been Invited To The White House To Discuss Health Care Since The End Of April, Despite Requests. “Boehner told reporters that the president has not invited House GOP leaders to the White House for meetings on healthcare reform since the end of April. Earlier this year, GOP leaders sent a letter to the president in May stating that they would like to work with the administration to find ‘common ground’ on healthcare reform. But the administration responded with a tersely worded letter indicating that they had healthcare reform under control.” (Molly Hooper, “Boehner: GOP Leaders Haven’t Met Obama For Health Talks Since April,” The Hill’s “Briefing Room” Blog, 9/9/09)

And Now Obama Aides And A Small Group Of Dems Are With Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) And Dodd To Write Final Bill Behind Closed Doors. “It's the invite that every senator with an opinion on health care wants to get: a reserved seat at the conference table where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will merge two competing reform bills. But most of them won't get in. Reid's guest list will be an exclusive one. Reid has decided to keep the group intimate, limiting entree to Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.); Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who ushered the bill through the Senate health committee ... The merger, which will unfold across Reid's suite of offices, should take a week, sources said. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, White House Director of Health Reform Nancy-Ann DeParle and perhaps budget director Peter Orszag will represent the president, sources said.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, "Members Jockey For Seat At Reid's Table," Politico, 10/7/09)

Dodd, Rahm And Reid Are “Huddling Behind Closed Doors” To Plot Their Government-Run Health Care Bill. “White House officials and Senate Democrats are meeting in private to iron out differences on a health care overhaul that could affect every American… The inside game and the outside game are intersecting on Capitol Hill, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid testifying at a public hearing in favor of revoking health insurers' antitrust exemption — then huddling behind closed doors with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and committee chairmen to finalize the bill.” (Erica Werner, “Democrats Work To Finalize Health Legislation,” The Associated Press, 10/15/09)