This is the best news I’ve heard in a while. The Democrats have decided to go with a Democrat-only bill for health insurance reform. Republicans have made it painfully obvious that they are not interested in any type of reform. Grassley has even said that he will vote against a bill that had everything he wants in it. I knew this would happen eventually, it was just a matter of when. I guess we have to stop worrying about the Baucus committee talks – now it has to be a negotiation between Democrats. Hello again, public option!
Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority’s cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.
Top Democrats said Tuesday that their go-it-alone view was being shaped by what they saw as Republicans’ purposely strident tone against health care legislation during this month’s Congressional recess, as well as remarks by leading Republicans that current proposals were flawed beyond repair.
The White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said of Republican lawmakers, “Only a handful seem interested in the type of comprehensive reform that so many people believe is necessary to ensure the principles and the goals that the president has laid out.”