Health Care Reform: Council of Economic Advisors Report, Kennedy and Baucus Potential Climate Change

With President Obama has been meeting with Senate Democrats to discuss health care, the rumoring of a health care bill being introduced, and conflicts among Senator Kennedy (D-MA) and Baucus (D-MT) mounting, Americans need to pay close attention over the next few days.

 The White House Council of Economic Advisers released their report titled "The Economic Case for Health Care Reform."

 Interestingly, this report comes at a strategic time for Democrats who are mounting a public relations offensive for health care this month and through direct talks between top White House officials and majority Democrats. According to Roll Call, “White House Communications Director Anita Dunn met with a group of Congressional staffers Friday and made clear that health care is atop President Barack Obama’s must-do list.”

 While the priority list for the Administration and Congress is not public, Obama has said he wants health care reform passed by the August recess, which begins for the Senate on Aug. 7 and the House on July 31. As a result, the President plans to start using his ‘celebrity’ and Cabinet officials to sell his future Congressional plan across the country.

 Accordingly, although draft health care bills haven’t even been released yet, several leading House Democrats have been urging a focus on health care first (over energy), arguing that it is easier to sell to the public in the middle of a recession and has broader support across the Caucus.

 Roll Call further acknowledged another House Democratic leadership aide who “said that having health care reform, climate change and the Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination all in the mix this summer helps the prospects for all three issues because there are too many targets for Republicans to focus on any one of them.”

 However, recent media coverage of health care reform has showed that Democratic heavyweight Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) could be destined for a battle. Each Senator, Chairs of the Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committees have set this month to mark up and attempt to compromise competing reform bills that are shaping up along many different legislative paths.

 As a result, Roll Call asserts that Baucus, is trying to prioritize crafting a bill that can garner significant Republican support, while Kennedy is writing a bill that is expected to more closely reflect liberals’ goals on health reform. Yet both Senators are hoping to smoothly negotiate their bills into one so that legislation can be considered on the Senate floor before the August recess. Yet, with all of the issues of how to pay for health care, what coverage should be used, and what role the government should play, this negotiation seems problematic.

 Moreover, even before the Democrats have to get Republican support, the Democrats must resolve differences among themselves. Seemingly, top Democrats contend that only Obama can ensure a successful negotiation, along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Roll Call further reported that:

 “in an attempt to tamp down speculation of a growing rift, Baucus and Kennedy on Saturday released a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to cooperate on health care, while pledging to “report similar and complementary legislation that can quickly be merged into one bill.”

 While it may be the case that committee staff are working together to reduce and resolve disagreements, the political orientation of HELP staff is very similar to Kennedy, and Senator Baucus over the years has been more bipartisan in legislation than Senator Kennedy.

 Other sources from Roll Call addressed that Kennedy’s panel appears to be writing legislation that is “much more expansive and costly” than the bill under development by Baucus. Consequently, although Baucus favors including a public plan — a government-run insurance option — almost all Republicans oppose this measure.

 “At the same time, Kennedy also is likely to push for a more politically tricky blend of government mandates and tax hikes to finance health care than Baucus is.”

 Accordingly, although both chairmen have plans to mark up a bill this month, the negotiating time required to between Baucus and Kennedy, and the Supreme Court confirmation process for 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor could prevent enough floor time to be considered before the Recess.

 One option Democrats could use is to tie the two bills together in the leadership bill route, in which Reid would introduce legislation on the floor, and then add components from the Baucus and Kennedy legislation as amendments. Only time will tell whether the forcefulness of Kennedy can overcome the bipartisan nature of Baucus and garner enough public and legislative support to even further bankrupt this country and our children’s future. Hopefully, Baucus can use some Republican support to temper down some of the liberal policies that have already cost this country trillions of dollars within the first three months of 2009.

 Americans should be extremely skeptical of this health care bill for one reason: history repeats itself. When the Recovery Act was finalized it was sent to Senators at 12am the morning before they had to vote on it, and it was thousands of pages that no human could read in enough time to make a conscious vote on. We cannot afford health care to do the same.