Blue Dog Democrat: Health Care Negotiations Becoming "Very, Very Hard"

As the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s fiscally conscious Blue Dog Democrats and Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) continue to struggle for a compromise on the Committee’s draft of health care reform legislation, one Blue Dog shared her insight on the process.

“I think this is getting hard. Very, very hard,” Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) told reporters Tuesday. “The clock is ticking...but there are big differences over the view on the best way to get to health care reform.”

While Harman serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee, she is not one of the seven Blue Dogs currently involved in the negotiations. Harman stated that while she does sympathize with her fellow Blue Dogs over cost concerns, she favors a “robust public option”.

House Majority Whip Rebukes Waxman’s Proposal To Speed Up Health Care Vote

By Justin Duckham

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) does not appear to be moved by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman’s (D-Calif.) proposal to bypass his Committee’s process in order to bring health care reform legislation to the House floor sooner.

“I have said from day one that I would love to see us follow regular order,” Clyburn said during a press conference Friday, referencing the jurisdiction Waxman’s committee would typically have in the legislation’s formation. “I want us to follow the regular order and I am hoping that is what we will do here. I always advocate and support the regular order.”

Waxman posed the possibility Friday morning in response to continuing disagreements between his Committee’s fiscally conscious Blue Dog Democrats and other Democratic members of the Committee. According to Waxman, the Blue Dogs threatened to side with the Republican members, thus putting the Committee in minority control.

In recent weeks pro-life, blue dog, and progressive Democrats have threatened to oppose the Affordable Health Choices Act if it does not meet their respective requirements. Clyburn, who will ultimately be responsible for rallying the votes, dismissed his party’s infighting, noting that he expected passing health care reform to be “tough”.

“I recognize that we have seven distinct caucuses,” said Clyburn. “We will have these kind of passions being on display on a daily basis.”

While Clyburn could not say when the bill would be brought to the floor, he did stress his desire to see widespread support for the final draft of the bill.

“If we had the votes to pass this bill on Monday morning without consensus, I would much rather wait till the following Monday if I could yield consensus in the process.”

Markey : “This Country has sent so much red, white and blue CO2 into the atmosphere”

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Henry Waxman (D-CA), Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA) met with British Secretary of State Ed Milliband MP and Danish Minister for Environment, Connie Hedegaard today to discuss how to tackle environmental issues globally.

The meeting was the start of the new administrations environmental talks leading up to the “Climate Conference in Copenhagen” in December 2009.

In 2012 the Kyoto Protocol to prevent climate changes and global warming runs out. New targets will be set at the Copenhagen Conference.

Talking about America’s role, in the need for saving the environment, Chairman Waxman said: “The United States has to catch up and become a leader.”

Congressman Markey commented on the need to tackle the levels of CO2 emissions created from the United States. He said: “this country has sent so much red, white and blue, CO2 into the atmosphere....we need to fix this.”

Finding the dialogues throughout the day productive, Danish Minister Hedegaard stated: “We cannot tackle the global challenges like climate change without the United States...we have set ourselves an ambitious timeline and we must live up to it...a lot is at stake and it is important for the whole world to come together.”

Adding to these comments British Secretary of State Ed Milliband said: “Obama has shown in the economic stimulus and in his vision around the country that environmental issues are important...that despite the challenges we face, we can get an agreement globally.”

Chairman Waxman concluded with the statement that he hoped to pass legislation in December that will tackle energy independence, climate change and global warming.

Rep. Waxman: The story of the credit rating agencies is a story of colossal failure

“The leading credit rating agencies, Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch are the financial gatekeepers to the economy,” Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif) Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said during the hearing on credit rating agencies and the financial crisis.

Jerome Fons, former Executive of Moody’s Corporation, stated that the major rating agencies had missed the impact on subprime mortgages of falling house prices and declining underwriting standards. “A large part of the blame can be placed on the inherent conflicts of interest found in the issuer-pays business model and rating shopping by issuers of structured securities,” Fons said.

Raymond McDaniel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Moody’s Corporation, said that Moody’s published warnings about the increased risks and took action to adjust their assumptions for the portions of the residential mortgage banked securities market that were asked to rate. McDaniel went on to say that they did not anticipate the magnitude and speed of the deterioration in mortgage quality and quickness of restrictive lending.

Waxman concluded with “The credit rating agencies occupy a special place in our financial markets. Millions of investors rely on them for independent, objective assessments. The rating agencies broke this bond of trust, and federal regulators ignored the warning signs and did nothing t protect the public.”

Continuing the hearing process on the financial crisis,the members will hear from federal regulators, including SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, followed by a hearing with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on November 20th.