So today the Blue Dogs had a big meeting with Obama at the White House to demand a slowdown on health care reform, along with significant changes and cuts to the bill. They went into it on a fairly bullish note:
An aide to one of the Blue Dogs, seven of which are on the committee, told Reuters the group may ask for a slowdown on the health care push. Obama wants health care legislation before the August recess.
"The landscape will change after that meeting," the aide said.
Well, the meeting's over now, so let's just see how dynamited that landscape is. The Hill, an hour ago:
Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), a Blue Dog who has led the charge to reduce the bill’s costs, said after the meeting that "no final decisions have been made." He said he and others want to wait for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to score the bill and potential cost-cutting measures.
Ross said the president laid out what he wants to see in healthcare legislation, including that it be deficit-neutral. House members discussed "about 10 issues we're concerned with," he said. "Obviously, cost-cutting is first on that list," Ross said.
No decisions and let's wait and see? Wow, there's been a seismic shift here! Clearly the Blue Dogs have changed everything!
Judging from the utter lack of tough talk and failure to commit to any strong position, why do I have the feeling that whatever they said to Obama, it didn't have the desired effect? If they'd scored any kind of victory in that meeting, they'd be crowing about it non-stop. I suspect some of the Dogs will be very quiet in days to come. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out, regardless.
Holy shit, go to the gym and come back to being on the Rec List. Thanks, everyone. Nice view up here.