Today in Washington D. C. - Sept 8, 2009 - Congress Back in Session - Lord Help Us!

Congress returns from its August recess today. Its members will plunge right back in to a debate over a massive health care overhaul that has seen little change legislatively from July but has seen public support steadily drop. The Senate reconvene at 2 PM. At 4:30, the Senate will resume consideration of the tourism promotion bill, S. 1023. At 5:30 the Senate will vote on cloture on the Dorgan substitute amendment. If cloture is agreed to, there will then be a vote on final passage of the bill.

Tomorrow night the Senate will join the House for a joint session of Congress to listen to President Obama’s (AGAIN) speak on health care reform. Later this week, the Senate is expected to consider cloture on the nomination of radical Cass Sunstein [articles referenced below ]to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB.

In their Road Map section this week, Roll Call looks at what is likely to be on Congress’ agenda through the fall, including health care, appropriations, and an extension of the highway bill. Also possible is cap-and-trade legislation.

In respect to the drop in public support for nationalized health care, a new Gallup poll out today sums up the August recess and the situation Democrats find themselves in: only 37% want their member of Congress to vote for a health care reform bill, while 39% want their member to vote against one. Thus the remaining 24% are not asking for a vote for based on skepticism and concern. Importantly, 44% of independents oppose such a bill, while only 29% support.

It’s also important to note that the Gallup poll used the most popular term for their question, a “healthcare reform bill,” and listed no negatives about the bill. Yet even with this phrasing dropped 19 points since mid-July when 56% favored passing similarly-described legislation. Gallup noted that 64% of Americans say their representative's position on health care reform will be a major factor in their vote in the next 2010 congressional elections; 82% of opponents of reform who want their member of Congress to vote against health care reform say the issue will be a major factor in their vote in 2010.

The polling and passionate opposition to government-run health care many members of Congress encountered at home certainly explains the continued divisions among Democrats on the subject. The Washington Post writes today, “After a nearly 40-day recess that was anything but restful, House Democrats are returning to work Tuesday still unsettled over pending health-care legislation. . . They are in almost the exact position they were in when they left the Capitol in late July. Conservatives are still leery of supporting a government-funded, or public, insurance option. . . . And progressives, who are demanding the most far-reaching reform since the Great Depression, are still threatening to bring down the legislation if it does not contain a robust version of the public option.” And The Hill notes, “At least 23 House Democrats already have told constituents or hometown media that they oppose the massive healthcare overhaul touted by President Barack Obama.”

In the Senate, many Democrats have expressed their unease or outright opposition to a government-run health care plan. Sen. Blanche Lincoln told constituents, “[I] certainly would not support a public government-funded plan,” Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said, “I don't favor a public option,” and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) called its pursuit “just a wasted effort.”

While President Obama may seek to reassure nervous Democrats during his address to a joint session of Congress tomorrow night by removing a government-run health care plan from the discussion, experience to date leaves little room for trust. Even better would be signaling an interest in truly bipartisan reforms that could address Americans’ health care concerns without inserting the government into Americans’ health care plans and taking our country further into additions trillions of dollars of debt.
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Referenced articles on Cass Sunstein:
Senate to Vote on Anti-gun Kook for "Regulatory Czar"
Obama Regulation Czar Advocated Removing People’s Organs Without Explicit Consent
Farmers and Cattlemen Need to Stand Against Sunstein

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