Research Briefing

Dems Flee Obama’s Government-Run Health Care Experiment After Its Rejection In Bluest Of Blue States

“‘My Message To My Clients [after Scott Brown’s win]? Jump Ship Now,’ Said One Democratic Operative Who Advises A Number Of Targeted Members Of Congress. ‘Obama Can't Help You.’” (Chris Cillizza, “Scott Brown Wins Massachusetts Senate Special Election Race,” The Washington Post, 1/19/10)

HOUSE DEMS ARE TRIPPING ALL OVER EACH OTHER TO GET OFF SINKING HEALTH CARE SHIP

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA): “If It Comes Down To That Senate Bill Or Nothing, I Think We Are Going To End With Nothing Because I Don't Hear A Lot Of Support On Our Side For That Bill.” (Chris Frates, “Lynch: Don't Pass The Senate Bill,” Politico’s “Live Pulse” Blog, 1/19/10)

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI): “House Members Will Not Vote For The Senate Bill. There’s No Interest In That.” (David M. Herszenhorn And Robert Pear, “Democrats May Seek To Push Health Bill Through The House,” The New York Times, 1/19/10)

House Dem Caucus Chairman Rep. John Larson (D-CT): “I Don't Think You Can Find A Member In Here, Prior To Or After, Who Supports The Senate Bill.” (Brian Beutler, “Determined or Delusional? House Leadership Sounds Optimistic on HCR,” Talking Points Memo, 1/19/10)

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) Says Dem Leadership Is Not Recognizing The Situation Is Now Different And House Dems Don’t Want Health Care. “But Weiner said that Democrats have ‘got to recognize we're in an entirely different scenario.’ The last line of the caucus briefing, might as well been ‘pigs fly out of my ass’ because the situation will be so different tomorrow, Weiner said.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, "Weiner: Dems Should Take A Step Back From Health Care," Politico's "Live Pulse" Blog, 1/19/10)

• "If There Isn't Any Recognition That We Got The Message And We Are Trying To Recalibrate And Do Things Differently, We Are Not Only Going To Risk Looking Ignorant But Arrogant." (Carrie Budoff Brown, "Weiner: Dems Should Take A Step Back From Health Care," Politico's "Live Pulse" Blog, 1/19/10)

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): “We Are Back To Where We Were Maybe Even Years Ago. That Is, There Is Now No Bill That I Believe Can Pass Or Should Pass.” (Reid Wilson, “Frank: Health Care Compromise ‘Dead,’” The Hotline’s “On Call” Blog, 1/20/10)

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) Wants To Stop The Current Effort And Try A Piece By Piece Strategy. “What probably would be the best, at least from my perspective, for us to do, the best thing on health care, would be send pieces of the program -- pass them here, send them to the senate. Let the American people digest this bit by bit, bite by bite, because it is a very full plate and it's very complicated.” (Brian Beutler, “House Leadership Scrambles To Contain Fallout, Right Course On Health Care,” Talking Points Memo, 1/20/10)

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) Says House Members Don’t Want To Pass The Senate Bill.  “‘It's a tough sell for a lot of members,’ Courtney told reporters before a meeting of the Democratic caucus. ‘It's hard for me to image that they can convince the caucus to move on the Senate bill without some plan, an immediate, concurrent fix whether it’s a reconciliation bill or whatever.’” (Jordan Fabian, “Rep. Courtney: Senate Bill Would Be A 'Tough Sell' In The House,” The Hill, 1/19/10)

Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA): Costa Calls For An Incremental Approach.  "I've maintained for months now that incremental reform in the health care package would make much more sense from my perspective," said California Rep. Jim Costa, one of the last Democrats to vote "yes" on the House bill.  He said he'd like to see Obama tell voters that "we may have been overreaching" and then push for a scaled-back bill that focuses on things more people can agree on, like insurance reforms. He said it's not just a question of the House bill versus the Senate bill. "For me, it's broader than that," Costa said.  (Carrie Budoff Brown and Patrick O'Connor, “The Fallout: Democrats Rethinking Health Bill,” Politico 1/19/10)

Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) Opposes The Senate Bill Because Of Its Corrupt Special Deals. “Conservative Indiana Democrat Brad Ellsworth, like Weiner, predicted the Senate bill couldn't pass. He told reporters he opposed it mainly because he objected to the inclusion of a special deal for Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson to cover all of that state's costs for expanding Medicaid coverage.” (Dana Bash And Deirdre Walsh, “House Dems Largely Reject Idea Of Passing Senate Health Care Bill,” CNN.com’s “Political Ticker” Blog, 1/19/10)

Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA) Wants Dems To Stop Their Approach Of Trying Comprehensive Reform Bills. “‘I think that we would get a good policy out of a series of bills that were brought up over the next several months,’ Delahunt said during an appearance on MSNBC. ‘What I think we should do is have discrete votes on all of the issues.’” (Michael O'Brien, “Dem Rep. Delahunt: Break Up Healthcare Bill In Wake Of MA Loss,” The Hill, 1/20/10)

AND SENATE DEMS SHOW NO MORE INTEREST IN CONTINUING WITH REFORM

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) Says Dems Should Work On Jobs, Doesn’t Mention Health Care: “The country is speaking to us, and we will show we hear them in the agenda we pursue over the next year. Our focus must be on jobs, the economy and delivering for the middle class.” (Susan Davis, “Scott Brown Wins in Massachusetts: A Reaction Round-Up,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Washington Wire” Blog, 1/19/10)

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) Thinks Health Care Headed “Back To The Drawing Board.” “Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) told a local reporter ‘it’s probably back to the drawing board on health care, which is unfortunate.’” (Jim Vandehei And Mike Allen, “Dazed Democrats Rethink Entire Strategy,” Politico, 1/20/10)

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO):  “As I Said To Somebody Last Night, Everybody Needs To Get The Washington Wax Out Of Their Ears And Listen And Pay Attention That People Out There Believe That We Are Going Too Far, Too Fast.”  (Manu Raju, “McCaskill: No Forced Senate Bill,” Politico, 1/20/10)

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN): “There's Going To Be A Tendency On The Part Of Our People To Be In Denial About All This... If You Lose Massachusetts And That's Not A Wake-Up Call, There's No Hope Of Waking Up.” (Jonathan Karl, "Bayh Warns "Catastrophe" If Dems Ignore Massachusetts Senate Race Lessons," ABC News, 1/19/10)

Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) Emphasizes How Strongly Independents Oppose Reform. “[Massachusetts voters are] anxious about the economy, the continued high unemployment. They don't like all the partisanship and deal-making here in Washington. And they're skeptical about the healthcare bill… So this is going to be a loud message from Massachusetts and whether it's right or wrong, I was impressed by one of the national polls I saw yesterday that said two things. One is, opposition to the healthcare reform is very large among independents, unregistered with the party voters.” (Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Fox News Channel’s “Your World With Neil Cavuto,” 1/19/10)

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) Says To Slow Down On Health Care Reform.  “I think we do go slower on health care. People do not understand it. It is so big it is beyond their comprehension. And if you don’t understand it when somebody tells you it does this or it does that and it’s not true, you tend to believe it, even though it isn’t true.” (Z. Byron Wolf, “Feinstein: “Slow Down” On Health Reform; Mass Election Part Of A “Sweep Across The Country,” ABC News’ “The Note” Blog, 1/20/10)

Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) Wants To Delay Further Health Care Votes. “In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process… To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated.” (Christina Bellantoni, “Health Care Comes To Screeching Halt: Sen. Webb: No HCR Votes Until Brown Seated,” Talking Points Memo, 1/19/10)

“Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) And Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) Said It Was Unclear How The Leaders Would - Or Should - Process. ‘Everybody Ought To Take A Deep Breath Today And Figure Out What The Next Step Ought To Be,’ Pryor Said.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, “No Decisions By Senate Dem Leadership On How To Proceed,” Politico 1/20/10)