Research Briefing

With Judgment Day Approaching On His Government-Run Health Care Bill, Obama Now “Reversing His Position” On Backroom Deals For Senate Dems

ROBERT GIBBS YESTERDAY: “I Think Whoever Sits Here This Time Next Week, You Will Be Talking About Healthcare Reform Not As A Presidential Proposal, But As Something That Will Soon Be The Law Of The Land.” (Robert Gibbs, Fox News’s “Fox News Sunday,” 3/14/10)

DESPITE PREVIOUS PLEDGE, OBAMA NOW WANTS SENATE DEMS’ BACKROOM DEALS TO BE “LAW OF THE LAND”

Last Wednesday, Obama Pledged “To Cut Special Deals From Health Bill.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, Politico, 3/10/10)

And Obama’s Press Secretary Singled Out Deals For Connecticut And Montana That Would Be Taken Out In Final Bill. “Massachusetts and Vermont I’m told are not in there.  The Medicare Advantage stuff for New York and Florida is not in there.  There’s a provision I think that benefited Michigan that is not in there, and I think as the story said today, and as I’ve said earlier, there are additional things like maybe Montana and Connecticut that we’ve asked the Senate to take out.” (Robert Gibbs, Press Briefing, White House, 3/11/10)

But Yesterday, Obama’s Senior Advisor David Axelrod Said Obama Will Now Allow Some Deals To Stay. “Axelrod also indicated the White House was backing down on an attempt to get senators to rid the legislation of a number of lawmakers’ special deals. Taking a new position, he said the White House only objects to state-specific arrangements, such as an increase in Medicaid funding for Nebraska, ridiculed as the ‘Cornhusker Kickback.’ That’s being cut, but provisions that could affect more than one state are OK, Axelrod said.” (Libby Quaid, “Dem House Vote-Counter Lacks Health Care Votes Now,” The Associated Press, 3/14/10)

Which Means Deals For Montana And Connecticut Are Fine. “That means deals sought by senators from Montana and Connecticut would be fine — even though Gibbs last week singled them out as items Obama wanted removed. There was resistance, however, from two powerful committee chairman, Democratic Sens. Max Baucus of Montana and Chris Dodd of Connecticut, and the White House has apparently backed down.” (Libby Quaid, “Dem House Vote-Counter Lacks Health Care Votes Now,” The Associated Press, 3/14/10)

“Obama Appears Ready To Reverse His Position And Allow Unpopular Deal-Sweetening Measures In The Hopes Of Finding Democratic Support For Legislation Whose Future Will Be Decided In Coming Days.” (Ben Feller, “Obama Heads To Ohio Looking For Health Care Votes,” The Associated Press, 3/15/10)

AND ON JUDGMENT DAY, HOUSE DEMS WILL HAVE TO VOTE ON THOSE BACKROOM DEALS

Senate Parliamentarian Ruled House Dems Will Have To Pass The Unchanged Senate Bill Before Starting A Second Bill To Fix It. “[T]he Senate parliamentarian is now saying that President Obama would have to sign a health care bill into law before Congress can amend it with a reconciliation measure. ... The parliamentarian ruling could foil Democrats’ plans to avoid signing into law the ‘sweetheart deals’ that have tainted the Senate bill... Democrats are divided over a number of other issues, such as the Senate bill’s tax on high-end insurance plans, which they planned to revolve through the reconciliation bill.” (Stephanie Condon, “Dems Dealt Blow On Health Care Reconciliation,” CBS News’s “Political Hotsheet” Blog, 3/11/10)

• That Includes The “Cornhusker Kickback,” An 11^th Hour Deal To Pay For Nebraska’s Additional Medicaid Costs Forever In Exchange For Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D-NE) Vote. (“Concessions Lawmakers Won In The Health Bill,” The Associated Press, 12/22/09)
  
  
• The “Louisiana Purchase,” Which Gives Louisiana An Extra $300 Million In Medicaid Funding, And Brought Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) On Board. (Dana Milbank, Op-Ed, “Sweeteners For The South,” The Washington Post, 11/22/09)
  
  
• The “U Con” Where Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) Added $100 Million For A Hospital That He’d Like To Get For His State. (“Concessions Lawmakers Won In The Health Bill,” The Associated Press, 12/22/09)
  
  
• The “Gator Aid” Where Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) Had Florida Seniors Held Exempt From Certain Medicare Cuts. (“Concessions Lawmakers Won In The Health Bill,” The Associated Press, 12/22/09)
  
  
• The “Handout Montana” Which Gave Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) A Provision To Give Special Benefits To The Citizens Of A Small Town. (“Concessions Lawmakers Won In The Health Bill,” The Associated Press, 12/22/09)
  
  
• Hawaii’s Special Exemption For Higher Medicaid Payments. (Sec. 10201, Manager’s Amendment, H.R. 3950 “The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act,” Introduced 11/19/09)
  
  
• North Dakota’s Special Provision For Doctor Reimbursements.  (Dana Milbank, “On Health-Care Bill, Democratic Senators Are In States Of Denial,” The Washington Post, 12/22/09)
  
  
• And Sen. Jeff Merkley’s (D-OR) Special Treatment For Longshoremen, The Union Workers In His State. (“Concessions Lawmakers Won In The Health Bill,” The Associated Press, 12/22/09)