The latest—though likely not the last— Congressional Budget Office score for the Democrats health care overhaul is in, and after a harried week, it’s making Rep. James Clyburn, the House Democrats’ whip, “giddy.” What’s worth squealing about
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Gimme Gimmicks: Getting Giddy Over the CBO’s Latest Health Care Score
As I noted yesterday , Congressional Democrats hoping to pass a health care reform bill seem to be hitting snags with the Congressional Budget Office. Their problem isn’t the Senate bill, which is already set, but the language in the reconciliation legislation that would amend the Senate bill: As this helpful piece in the Post explains, reconciliation bills have special budgetary requirements that may be difficult to meet given the Democrats’ other goals: Because Democrats are using special budget rules, known as reconciliation, to protect the package from a Republican filibuster, the measure must reduce the deficit by at least $2 billion over the next five years and avoid increasing the deficit in any year thereafter. Under normal circumstances, that rule would require the bill simply to contain enough revenue-raising provisions to offset new spending.
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CBO Not As Easy As ABC, 1-2-3
Just got an upbeat personal email from my former governor and now DNC head Tim Kaine praising my efforts to pass Obamacare. It read in part: Ronald — I just met with the President, where I was proud to fill him in on all the great work that you’re doing to pass health reform. We spoke about the calls you’ve made, the letters you’ve written, and the terrific events you’ve organized on the ground
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DNC Chair Tim Kaine Congratulates Me For Helping Pass Health Care Reform
According to Congressional Quarterly , it looks like there’s a good chance that health care reform may be being held up by inconvenient scoring from the Congressional Budget Office. As it stands, the final text of the reconciliation bill—which would amend the Senate health reform bill—has yet to be released. Seems the reason why may be that the CBO is saying that the changes House Democrats want to make would cost too much
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C-B-Oh No! Budget Office Holds Up Health Reform?
While insurers may be having second thoughts about President Obama’s health care plan, Politico reports that drug manufacturers like what they see emerging from Congress enough to start planning commercials urging legislators to vote for it: The drug industry, which has held off running ads until officials sign off on the final reconciliation bill, is growing more comfortable with the emerging legislation and is preparing a substantial pro-reform ad buy in 43 Democratic districts, according to a senior industry source. The amount and timing of the buy have not yet been set and hinge largely on action in the House
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Drug Pushers for Health Care Reform
Episode 1, The Decline of a Once-Great City Sixty years ago, Cleveland was a booming city full of promise, opportunity, and people. Today, the city’s population is less half of what it was in its prime and it ranks as one of the poorest big cities in the United States. Hometown hero Drew Carey reflects on how the city became “the mistake on the lake” and wonders about the city’s future
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Recently at Reason.tv: Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey Episodes 1 & 2!
Should the police be able to apprehend someone who has committed no crime and take them in for a mental evaluation without judicial oversight or consultation with a mental health professional? Reason Senior Editor Radley Balko looks at the case of David Pyles, who was taken out of his home by two Oregon SWAT teams last week. Police described Pyles as a “disgruntled” employee of the Oregon Department of Transportation, and cited his recent purchases of five firearms as reason to suspect he may have been planning a mass shooting.
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New at Reason: Radley Balko on the Preventative Apprehension of David Pyles
The Washington Post economics columnist is none too impressed by the president’s contributions to the health care debate: One job of presidents is to educate Americans about crucial national problems. On health care, Barack Obama has failed.
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Robert Samuelson on Obamacare: “It’s not now, and it’s not ‘us’”
While Reason is busy saving Cleveland , the city’s native son, resident moonbat , and former mayor Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) is doing his part to save America. Kucinich says he refuses to vote for any of the current iterations of the healthcare reform bill, calling himself ” a firm no .” Kucinich, of course, opposes the bill from the left, lamenting the lack of a public option or protection for state level single payer plans
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Reason Saves Cleveland, Cleveland’s Kucinich Saves America
The New Republic ’s Jonathan Chait says the benefits that Obama’s health care plan would provide to insurers are all in my imagination . Apparently I have let my emotions cloud my judgment on this matter. You see, “libertarians really like to think of themselves as scrappy underdogs and are far less comfortable [than conservatives] with the idea that they’re aligned with powerful economic interests.” That’s why “libertarians have an unusually strong emotional investment in the idea that their opposition to health care reform is a way of standing up to powerful interests like the insurance industry.” By contrast, progressives like Chait have no emotional investment whatsoever in the idea that their support for health care reform is a way of standing up to powerful interests like the insurance industry
