Progressive Breakfast: Rock Dropped On Baucus Bill

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Rockefeller Leads Dem Opposition To Baucus Bill

Baucus bill greeted with Dem criticism and no GOP support. Bloomberg: "Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus is facing objections from Democrats over health-care legislation he plans to introduce today, with some lawmakers saying he’s conceded too much to try to win Republican support. Some Democrats on the panel want to boost subsidies to the poor who lack insurance, while others are pressing for a government program to compete against private insurers and for tougher standards on large companies self-insuring employees. 'If it stays the way it is now, or anything close to it, I’m going to vote no,' Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, told reporters yesterday on a conference call ... 'It’s not going to be the bill we’re going to vote on,' [Sen. John] Kerry told reporters."

Politico lists other Dem concerns: "Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who represents a state with one of the largest immigrant populations, opposes plans to block legal immigrants from receiving health care subsidies for five years and to prohibit illegal immigrants from purchasing insurance at full price in a new marketplace known as an exchange. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) has raised objections to billions of dollars in annual fees on industry players such as device manufacturers and insurers. And Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) dislikes a proposal to cut Medicare payments to private insurers that operate Medicare Advantage plans, which he says would adversely affect senior citizens."

The Treatment's Jonathan Cohn analyzes Rockefeller's stance: "A little over a month ago, right before the August recess, I spoke with Rockefeller at some length ... No living senator has done as much to promote health reform as he has. It's the cause of his life and, for the first time, the goal is within reach. He admitted that voting against a package, even a flawed one, was difficult to imagine. But Rockefeller also made clear his frustration with the compromises Baucus was making, whether it was replacing the public plan with a co-op or gradually reducing the subsidies to help people pay for insurance. He was particularly incensed about the changes to Medicaid and CHIP, programs to which he's devoted much of his time--and on which many West Virginians rely ... I got the feeling--that he was near the breaking point. Sometime since that interview, clearly, he's hit it."

Not even Snowe is on board, but Reid prepared to move without her. The Hill: "Senate Democrats are going to have to move forward on healthcare without a single Republican supporter after Sen. Olympia Snowe said Tuesday she could not back the Finance Committee’s bill ... 'I do have concerns and I’m not sure they can be addressed before [Baucus] issues [legislation] tomorrow,' Snowe said ... Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday that Democrats are prepared to use budget reconciliation as a last resort."

Pelosi digs in on public option. Wonk Room quotes: "[Without public option,] we will be passing the ‘Private Insurance Profit Perpetuation Act.’ We have no intention of doing that."

Conrad tries to wield CBO on Baucus' behalf, as separate govt panel challenges CBO. TPMDC's Brian Beutler: "...Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) ... has seen to it that health care proposals in the House and Senate be analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office over a 20 year window, instead of the usual 10. CBO chief Doug Elmendorf worked closely with the Finance Committee during the drafting of the proposal, and seems likely to project greater long-term cost savings from it than from the others ... Meanwhile, the Institute of Medicine--an organization that's part of the National Academies--is about to release a new study which confirms the view that the CBO's projections are stingy and that current reform proposals will likely yield hundreds of billions of dollars in savings that the CBO didn't account for."

Kaiser study has new numbers on rising insurance costs. Ezra Klein: "The average cost of a family health insurance policy in 2009 was $13,375. Over the past ten years, premiums have increased by 131 percent, while wages have grown 38 percent and inflation has grown 28 percent." Consumer Watchdog: "underscores the need for Congress to regulate health insurance premium increases, especially if Americans are required to buy health insurance policies." W. Post: "...many workers face an erosion of health benefits next year ... Forty percent of employers surveyed said they are likely to increase the amount their workers pay out of pocket for doctor visits. Almost as many said they are likely to raise annual deductibles and the amount workers pay for prescription drugs."

Politico Pulse reports that HHS will release state-by-state stats on the uninsured later today.

Senate Delay, White House Action, On Climate

ClimateWire on conflicting messages from Reid's office: "Jim Manley, a Reid spokesman, insisted last night that 'no decisions have been made' on floor timing for a comprehensive climate and energy bill. 'We still intend to deal with health care, [Wall Street regulatory] reform and cap and trade this year,' Manley added in an e-mail. But a few hours earlier, Reid had suggested that the global warming legislation could be tossed to the sidelines because of a packed legislative agenda that includes equally bruising battles over health care and Wall Street reform. 'So, you know, we are going to have a busy, busy time the rest of this year,' Reid said. 'And, of course, nothing terminates at the end of this year. We still have next year to complete things if we have to.'"

More from ClimateWire on status of legislative drafting: "Boxer and Kerry had originally planned to release a draft cap-and-trade bill last week, but they punted on that schedule to continue negotiations with other senators over unfinished pieces to their proposal. Yesterday, Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he and Boxer still plan to get the draft legislation out by Sept. 30. 'We have a mental deadline,' Kerry said. 'We are aiming for this month.' The climate bill authors are 'making great progress' as they meet with other senators to map out key features of the bill, Kerry added. 'We are going to be working very, very hard, almost every night over the next two weeks,' he said. Kerry said he plans to hold a markup in the Foreign Relations Committee in October. Boxer said she too remains on schedule for passing the legislation out of her Environment and Public Works Committee next month ... Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) still plans to mark up allocation language at the center of the global warming bill. But Baucus said yesterday that he is waiting for a signal from Reid before he makes any move on climate change."

TreeHugger notes Reid hinted financial reform may take precedence over climate.

ClimateProgress' Joe Romm is not concerned with timing: "I’d say right now it’s about 50-50 we get a vote this year, and as readers know, I don’t think it matters terribly much. There’s gonna be a Senate vote on a climate bill ... We get one bit at this apple, so the key is to work hard and pick the best time to pass the damn thing. That said, I’d say the ideal time for a vote might be the first week in December, right before the international conference at Copenhagen. That’s when maximum attention and pressure can be brought to bear on this historical vote. But I do expect Copenhagen to 1) not have a final deal but 2) to move the negotiations forward, so having the debate and vote in January can also work."

White House pressuring Senate to act with more EPA moves. W. Post: "The Obama administration on Tuesday formally proposed new fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, a move that signals the first federal limits on greenhouse-gas pollution ... The net effect would be to require manufacturers to ratchet up fuel economy 5 percent per year. In 2016, new cars and trucks would have to achieve an average rating of 35.5 miles per gallon." CQ analyzes: "Experts speculated that the announcement was timed to remind lawmakers of the White House’s power to impose regulations unilaterally and to prod the Senate into passing a climate change bill before a United Nations conference in Copenhagen convenes in December."

Specter Predicts EFCA Passage

The Hill reports: "Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) on Tuesday told the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh that he has been working hard “for hours” on a deal with other key senators, such as Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), as well as labor leaders, on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). 'We have pounded out an Employees Choice bill which will meet labor’s objectives,' Specter said. 'I believe before the year is out, and I will join my colleague Sen. [Bob] Casey [Jr. (D-Pa.)] in predicting, that there will be passage of an Employees Free Choice Act which will be totally satisfactory to labor.'"

W. Post's Meyerson reflects on AFL-CIO changing of the guard: "No, Sweeney didn't increase labor's numbers the way he might have initially hoped. But give Sweeney credit where credit is due: Under his leadership, the unions' political program became so adept that labor was punching well above its weight. Trumka's task, should the Employee Free Choice Act prevail, will be to pack more weight -- more members -- onto American labor's slimmed-down frame."

Breakfast Sides

Michael Moore's latest previewed at AFL-CIO conference, hit Dems harder than GOP. W. Post: "Moore zeroes in less on Phil Gramm or other GOP string-pullers than he does on White House economic adviser Larry Summers, Robert Rubin and Sen. Chris Dodd."

Hoyer pushes passage of Panama and Colombia trade deals. CQ: "House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer is offering a carrot to business groups worried about the Democratic agenda on health care and other domestic issues: a promise to try to win approval during this Congress of trade deals with Panama and Colombia. Hoyer, D-Md., told 200 members of the National Association of Manufacturers during a private meeting last week that he hopes to move the trade pacts, which his party’s liberal wing opposes, after the House wraps up its health care overhaul bill..."

Direct government student lending looks strong in Congress. Time: "On its face, it would seem to be a gift to Barack Obama's conservative critics, who have spent the summer painting the new Democratic President as a socialist eager to nationalize the entire health-care system. After all, the Administration's proposal to restructure the student loan industry is, in many respects, much closer to an actual government takeover than its relatively tame market-driven health reform plan. But as the House holds hearings and looks likely to pass the plan this week, it's clear that the education overhaul is not going to be quite the high-pitched battle that both opponents and the White House once expected it to be."

Cash-for-clunkers boosted industrial output. Bloomberg: "Reports today will probably show the Obama administration’s “cash-for-clunkers” plan rippled through the economy in August, helping to boost production and restrain prices, economists said."

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