All week long the media has been covering — or rather trying to uncover — the specifics of a new Democratic ‘deal’ on health care legislation that supposedly is breathing new life into the beleaguered legislation. Democratic attempts to feed the press an encouraging storyline while pretending to hold their cards to their chest have been comical to say the least. In that regard, this quote from Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., in the New York Times is fairly typical:
“Any big agreement is progress,” said Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania. “Even if we do not know any of the details.”
Uh-huh. Let’s restate that: “Any agreement is good, even if I don’t know what it is I’m agreeing with.” Then today, The Hill reports:
Responding to a complaint by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that Republicans haven’t been told what’s in the new bill, Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, responded that he’s in the same position.
“I would say to the senator from Arizona that I’m in the dark almost as much as he is. And I’m in the leadership,” Durbin said on the Senate floor.
So the Assistant Majority Leader has no idea what ‘deal’ has been cut. Then who the heck does? If Durbin doesn’t know about it, does this deal even exist? It looks like there’s a good chance that it does not. Also reported by The Hill:
The supposed healthcare deal cut by Harry Reid is a “non-starter,” Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said today.
Reid announced this week that Democrats had reached a “broad agreement” on replacing the public option with a Medicare “buy-in” provision and a series of non-profit insurance plans similar to what federal employees are offered.
But apparently that “broad agreement” didn’t include Nelson.
So if there is a deal, the Senate leadership is “in the dark” about it and at least one Democratic senator says it doesn’t include him. It seems like Democrats may have expended a lot of credibility trying to maintain a facade.
“I think when we get the score back from CBO that it’s going to be too costly,” Nelson told Fox News Live today.
