Today in Washington D. C. - July 31, 2009 - Democrats Play The Blame Game

The Senate began consideration of H.R. 2997, the fiscal year 2010 Agriculture appropriations bill. The bill provides $124.5 billion for the USDA, the FDA, and farm programs. Yesterday, the Senate voted 79-17 to pass a bill that provides $7 billion to prevent the highway trust fund from going bankrupt (H.R. 3357). Prior to passage, the Senate voted down a series of Republican amendments designed to pay for the bill by using unspent stimulus funds.

Another day of trouble for Democrats’ health care efforts in Congress caps a week of bad news and bad polling for them. Last night, Roll Call reported, “Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Thursday night emerged from a meeting of the gang of six bipartisan health care negotiators to announce that there would be no markup of a bill next week, while stressing that the Senators were committed to seeing the ongoing talks to their conclusion.” Liberal House Democrats are venting their frustration at deals to bring moderate Democrats on board, it’s little wonder that Democrat leaders went casting about for someone to blame yesterday.

The LA Times writes, “In the House, liberals are furious at their leaders for striking a deal with conservative Democrats that would weaken the proposal to create a government insurance program, a dream long cherished on the left. . . . The rising tide of liberal anger sent the White House scrambling, with Obama calling at least one left-leaning lawmaker to offer reassurance before Congress leaves town for its August break.” And even more liberal Democrat senators were complaining yesterday, where Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) “took aim at a key part of the Baucus efforts to craft a bipartisan bill: a proposal to create a system of insurance cooperatives in place of a government plan.”

On top of all the problems among Democrats, Gallup reports another poll that doesn’t bode well for President Obama’s health reform plans. Gallup writes, “Seniors are the least likely of all age groups in the U.S. to say that healthcare reform will benefit their personal healthcare situation. By a margin of three to one, 36% to 12%, adults 65 and older are more likely to believe healthcare reform will reduce rather than expand their access to healthcare. And by 39% to 20%, they are more likely to say their own medical care will worsen rather than improve.”

It comes as no surprise that Democrats would be tempted to vent their frustration, and party leaders have lashed out at a series of targets they’ve attempted to dress up as villains. All in one day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blamed insurance companies, calling them “immoral” and “villains,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blamed Republicans, and then even blamed the media for setting an August deadline on health care (even though Obama had long since been touting such a timetable). Also, Democrats have been blaming “lobbyists and special interests,” Max Baucus, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Blue Dog Democrats, President Obama, and various unnamed “naysayers and cynics.”

Insurance companies seem to be a favorite target, though, with Pelosi calling them “villains,” saying they’re “carpet bombing” the health care debate. President Obama said in North Carolina yesterday, “The truth is, we have a system today that works well for the insurance industry, but it doesn't always work well for you.” And Roll Call’s Mort Kondracke noted, “Obama shows unremitting hostility toward one of them: the health insurance industry. In practically every speech he gives or town hall he hosts, there’s a slam at insurance profits and methods . . . .” Why insurers? According to The Washington Post, that’s who the president’s chief pollster is telling him to attack. Yet Democrats howled when GOP pollster Frank Luntz suggested ways for Republicans to talk about health care.

Given Democrats’ desperation to find a villain to blame for their internal problems on health care legislation, it seems that Americans are hearing the Republican message that a government takeover is not the right way to reform the health system. Certainly, all the polls this week suggest that.

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