Associated Press
Athens Banner-Herald
January 21, 2010
WASHINGTON - Chastened by the Democratic Senate loss in Massachusetts, President Obama and congressional allies signaled Wednesday they will try to scale back his sweeping health care overhaul in an effort to at least keep parts of it alive.
A simpler, less ambitious bill emerged as an alternative only hours after the loss of the party's crucial 60th Senate seat forced the Democrats to slow their all-out drive to pass Obama's signature legislation despite fierce Republican opposition. The Democrats are now considering all options.
No decisions have been made, lawmakers said, but they laid out a new approach that could still include these provisions: limiting the ability of insurance companies to deny coverage to people with medical problems, allowing young adults to stay on their parents' policies, helping small businesses and low-income people pay premiums and changing Medicare to encourage payment for quality care instead of sheer volume of services.
Obama urged lawmakers not to try to jam a bill through, but scale the proposal down to what he called "those elements of the package that people agree on."
One potential Republican convert for health care legislation remained an enigma. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, who has been in regular contact with Obama, roundly criticized the Democrats' hard push to pass their bill. But she would not rule out voting for something in the end.
Asked if the Democratic bills are dead, Snowe responded, "I never say anything is dead, but clearly I think they have to revisit the entire issue."
Some Democrats weren't ready for that, despite the president's new words.
One option, still alive and stirring strong emotions, called for the House to try to quickly pass the Senate version of the broader bill - simply accepting it and therefore bypassing the Senate problem created by the loss of the Massachusetts seat to Republican Scott Brown. But that appeared to be losing favor.
"That's a bitter pill for the House to swallow," said the No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois.
"Full speed ahead is off the table," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, a moderate Democrat from North Dakota.
(Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Thursday, January 21, 2010)
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/012110/nat_552620477.shtml
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