What's Next For Health Care Reform? Can The Dems Still Pull It Off Now That Sen Kennedy's Gone?

Huffington Post, Politico, NY Times, Washington Post, MSNBC----

(Politicians and Pundits weigh in on Health Care Reform now that Sen. Kennedy's is gone.)



(Prior to Sen Kennedy's death, recently on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Sen John McCain had a few words to say about Sen Kennedy's noticeable absence at the Health Care Reform roundtable, "Ted Kennedy is as close to being indispensable as any individual I've ever known in the Senate." "So it's huge that he's absent, not only because of my personal affection for him, but because I think the health care reform might be in a very different place today.")



(Meet the Press moderator David Gregory reports on what's to come in the health care battle without Sen. Ted Kennedy at the helm.)

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Health care legislation would be in a "very different place today," if Senator Ted Kennedy, (D-Mass) were healthy enough to participate in negotiations, Kennedy's longtime colleague and occasional foe, Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.), said on Sunday.

In an appearance on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," McCain said that the Massachusetts Democrat, stricken by brain cancer, was "as close to being indispensable as any individual I've ever known in the Senate." Without him, McCain added, the health care debate had stagnated far more than had he been in the chamber.

"He had a unique way of sitting down with the parties at a table and making the right concessions, which really are the essence of successful negotiations," McCain said. "So it's huge that he's absent, not only because of my personal affection for him, but because I think the health care reform might be in a very different place today."

Kennedy has reportedly kept on top of health care legislation's progress in Congress from his family compound in Hyannis Port. This past week, the longtime Senator wrote a letter to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and the state legislature, urging the institution of a succession process whereby the Governor would be allowed to make an immediate Senate replacement until the state could hold a special election. The Boston Globe reported that state lawmakers have coolly received the proposal, with Republicans claiming it to be a partisan power grab.

Kennedy Death Adds Volatile Element to Health Fight


The death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy has quickly become a rallying point for Democratic advocates of a broad health care overhaul, a signature Kennedy issue that became mired in partisanship while he fought his illness away from the Capitol.

“The passion of his life was health care reform,” said Representative David R. Obey, the liberal Wisconsin Democrat who is chairman of the Appropriations Committee. “Above all else, he would want us to redouble our efforts to achieve it.”

Yet Democrats have serious internal differences on how to approach health care, and Republicans and Democrats remain deeply divided on the policy proposals — a gulf some say Mr. Kennedy was uniquely equipped to bridge.

It seemed unlikely that Republicans would suddenly soften their firm opposition in the aftermath of Mr. Kennedy’s death or that Democrats would relent on their push for substantial change, especially for a government-run insurance plan, which Mr. Kennedy endorsed.

But Democrats and others said the senator’s death should provide at least a temporary respite from the angry denunciations that flowed this summer, putting Democrats on the defensive as they met with voters back home. One advocacy group opposed to the Democratic proposals, Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, announced that it was suspending its advertising out of respect for the senator and his family.

Some lawmakers used the moment to appeal for a new tone in the discussion of the volatile issue. “Let us stop the shouting and name calling and have a civilized debate on health care reform which I hope, when legislation has been signed into law, will bear his name for his commitment to insuring the health of every American,” Senator Robert C. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, said in a statement on Mr. Kennedy’s death.

Some, however, expressed little hope for a permanent cease-fire. “We’ll pause out of respect for our fallen comrade, but nothing seems to have any effect on the partisanship,” said Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who recently switched parties and became a Democrat.

Whether the loss of health reform’s longtime champion will substantially alter the dynamic or the outcome of the Congressional fight will be determined only when Congress returns in September. Mr. Kennedy’s colleagues said they hoped his example would provide new inspiration.

“Maybe Teddy’s passing will remind people once again that we are there to get a job done as he would do,” said Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat and close friend of Mr. Kennedy who filled in for him as chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Republicans said they did not ultimately expect much change in the health debate.

“Democrats will rally, but they still have to come up with a bill that works,” said one senior Republican official who did not want to be identified when talking about the delicate subject of how Mr. Kennedy’s death would play out in the policy fight. Another top Republican said the fight was already somewhat suspended with President Obama on vacation and would most likely “pick up right where we left off in a week or two.”

Republicans also noted that Mr. Kennedy, though an ideological liberal, was a legislative pragmatist who worked with Republicans to strike compromises on difficult subjects like health care, education and immigration. They said they saw little such reaching across the aisle in his absence.

Several Republicans also said they believed Congress would be closer to a health deal than it is now if Mr. Kennedy had regularly been on hand in the Senate, working face-to-face with his colleagues and using his prestige and credibility to advance the issue.

In a recent interview, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, said Mr. Kennedy was “the only Democrat who could really move all the Democrats’ special interests into coming along” with a bipartisan approach. Mr. Hatch said that in his absence, Mr. Kennedy’s staff members had written a “one-sided, partisan bill,” approved by the health committee on July 15. But Democrats say Mr. Kennedy had been deeply involved in putting together the legislation, had been consulted regularly on even the fine points and had been elated when the health committee approved its measure.

“He felt confident that we were on track even though there is a lot of ranting and raving going on right now,” Mr. Dodd said.

Howard Dean, the former presidential contender and national Democratic chairman, said it was “conjecture” to imagine how the course of health legislation might have changed had Mr. Kennedy lived. But, he said, “his death absolutely will stiffen the spine of the Democrats to get something this year for this extraordinary giant in Senate history.”

Other Democrats and health care advocates said they also viewed enacting health care legislation as the best tribute they could pay to the senator who had pursued accessible health coverage for every American for decades.

“Ted Kennedy’s dream of quality health care for all Americans will be made real this year because of his leadership and his inspiration,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

In the most concrete effect of Mr. Kennedy’s death on Capitol Hill, the Democratic majority in the Senate will be reduced to 59 for at least the coming weeks, since Massachusetts law requires a special election to fill the seat and one might not be held until early next year. But Senate Democrats had for weeks accepted the fact that Mr. Kennedy would not be able to return to the floor even for a critical filibuster-breaking vote.

With only 59 seats, the Democrats are one short of the number they need to overcome procedural tactics that prevent a vote; if they face a filibuster, the leadership would have to hold its own members together and attract at least one Republican supporter beyond that. The math may lead Democrats to look more closely at considering health care under a procedural shortcut that could avert filibusters but also leave them with a health plan far reduced in scope.

The White House declined to comment Wednesday about what impact — if any — Mr. Kennedy’s death would have on the health care debate. Mr. Obama did not mention the health care debate in a written statement about Mr. Kennedy’s death or in brief televised remarks delivered from Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday morning. He did, however, recall the bipartisan manner in which Mr. Kennedy often approached legislative fights.

“He could passionately battle others, and do so peerlessly, on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintain warm friendships across party lines,” Mr. Obama said.



Democrats: Win one for Ted Kennedy on Health Care Reform


“Let’s win one for Teddy” became the new health care reform rallying cry Wednesday, as Democrats hoped an emotional outpouring over Sen. Ted Kennedy’s death would give reform efforts a badly needed boost.

But the political reality is more stark – as insiders predict the impact of Kennedy’s death is likely to be felt most in the legislative math. Democrats no longer have the 60 votes they need to pass a reform bill.

And without the 60-vote margin, Democrats are hard-pressed to move legislation without picking up at least one Republican, diminishing their power to negotiate a bill that includes the coverage-for-all that Kennedy long championed.

Even before Kennedy’s death, Democrats would have had a hard time wrestling their 60 members together to pass reform, which is why Senate Democratic leadership has toyed with the idea of passing chunks of the reform measures by using a procedural move that only requires 51 votes. It’s an idea that’s likely to get more attention now.

But most analysts said they didn’t foresee the sort of Hollywood ending that would have Republicans and Democrats coming together to pass a bill to honor Kennedy’s memory. The battle lines are too sharply drawn between the parties, and remaking the American health system is too big and too important to do on a sentimental basis, these experts said.

Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor at the Cook Political Report, said the news will strengthen Democrats’ resolve to get a bill passed. But it’s unclear whether they will work harder to get a bipartisan bill that can pass the Senate or decide to go it alone.

“Maybe, at least within the Senate, it takes on a more civilized and bit more somber tone,” Duffy said.

But even before Kennedy died, several senators said his absence from the debate due to illness has diminished Democratic efforts to get a bill passed, because its most forceful champion had been on the sidelines.

Kennedy was one of the few senators with the influence and gravitas to wrangle the 60 votes to pass a bill. Kennedy could have brought his four decades of experience to bear on wavering members to shame, cajole or smooth talk them into voting to move the historic legislation forward because Kennedy embodied the historical importance of the effort.

Now, it’s possible congressional negotiators could invoke his memory to convince some of those wavering senators.

“I’m sure this is going to come down to cloture votes,” said a health care source. “That is one place where his ghost, so to speak, in the chamber could have enormous impact.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday, “Ted Kennedy’s dream of quality health care for all Americans will be made real this year.”

Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California echoed Pelosi. “He did not spend his whole career trying to pass a bill that would tweak health care. Sen. Kennedy wanted universal health care, and certainly progressives want universal health care. We need to have a good robust public plan,” she said.

One outcome is being predicted by both sides – that Kennedy’s death is likely to turn down the temperature on the debate, which was highlighted during August by scenes of opponents angry over the health reform effort shouting at lawmakers at town halls. But with Washington’s short attention span, the battle may well be back at fever pitch by the time lawmakers return Sept. 8.

“This will cause everyone to step back for a week and calm down and cool the rhetoric but at the end of the day the stakes are so high, the dollars are so vast, the pre-existing battle lines will re-emerge,” said another health care source.

And even invoking Kennedy’s name is a double-edge sword for supporters. The Kennedy name is a sort of Good Housekeeping seal for Democrats, but for conservative Republicans and even some independents, it can conjure up images of liberal policies that they oppose.

“Ironically we may see his name and legacy invoked by both sides by Democrats who will use his legacy to rally people behind the idea of universal coverage and social justice, and by Republicans who will rally people behind pragmatism and bipartisanship and getting something done,” the health care source said.

Already, one of the leading groups opposing the Democratic reform effort, Conservatives for Patients Rights, announced Wednesday that it was suspending its ad campaign in light of Kennedy’s death. “We know the debate will continue – a debate Senator Kennedy embraced with vigor – and we look forward to engaging in the debate in the months ahead. But now is a time for respect, reflection and remembrance,” the group said in a statement.

Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, a progressive pushing for a public plan, thinks that Kennedy’s death may personally impact Republicans who served with him for a long time and liked him personally.

“Ted Kennedy is a transcendent figure. That’s one of the things death does,” Ellison said. “If you look at John McCain’s town hall meeting this week, he said doing nothing in health care is not an option. McCain, having served with Ted Kennedy for so long, he might be able to lead his party. We can’t look at health care as an opportunity for one side or the other to improve its chances in next year’s election.”

It wasn’t clear even before Kennedy’s death whether Sen. Orrin Hatch, one of Kennedy’s closest friends, would have honored a request from his friend to support the legislation. “I would like to work with him on it and have a legacy issue for him,” Hatch told the New York Times last month, adding that it would have been more likely had Kennedy been more involved in the legislative process.

Still, a former Democratic Senate staffer turned health care lobbyist said Kennedy’s death could bring Hatch back to the Senate Finance Committee’s negotiating table that he recently left.

But invoking Kennedy’s name outside the Beltway to appeal to voters is not a winning strategy, an insider said.

“People would be miscalculating that invoking his name over the remainder of this debate would be helpful to getting something passed,” said a health reform supporter.


Sources: Washington Post, Huffington Post, Politico, NY Times, MSNBC