No-one here will be pleased that Senate Majority Leader Reid has assented to Republican and Blue Dog requests for a delay in passing a Healthcare Bill that would make Universal Coverage a reality
I think that the Democratic Leadership have been too soft all throughout this process - when we heard Rahm Emanuel was being appointed Chief of Staff, wasn't it precisely to knock heads together over things like this? Reid has proved to be the most ineffective of Senate Majority leaders, especially when one considers the size of the majority that he gets to lead.
With a clear majority in the House, the White House, and a filibuster-proof Senate, a public option before August should have been the bare minimum that was acceptable. With that set-up, I think the lack of a single payer bill is a little disappointing, but victories where they are possible...
I've called before for the Congressional Democrats to be whipped senseless (it's a pun). If Senator Reid won't do his job, then Rahm Emanuel should do it for him. President Obama should now invoke the powers granted him by Article II, Section 3, and bring back both Houses from their recess.
The Constitutional Clause states:
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
I am unaware of any legal precedent for determining what an 'extraordinary Occasion' is: to the best of my knowledge, the President determines whether it is necessary to bring them back.
The 'Waterloo' meme was designed to make the President look weak - it was, and still is, a self-fulilling prophecy. For the sake of Healthcare reform, for the sake of the President's image and relationship with Congress, and for the sake of the rest of his agenda in this first term, I think that a pre-emptive recall of both houses until this Bill is law should be announced.
There will be a backlash - Republicans will accuse him of rushing the legislation, or acting like a tyrant. Let them. Few if any are supportive of the Bill - if they don't show up, then it will be passed without them. The American people want this solved, they can barely forgive gridlock when the parties share power: they will be furious if the Democrats allow delay and inaction when they alone hold the reigns of power.
I think this is a no-brainer. Make it public that the President is keeping both chambers in Washington DC until this Bill is law, even if it means they don't have a recess until the end of his Presidency.
Reid has been weak beyond even our lowest expectations. Short of using cryogenic experiments to get LBJ back from the dead, I think Obama should suit up, and invoke Article II, Section 3. Today.