In an attempt to fight back against claims from angry constituents, House Democrats have set up a war room.  The goal is to provide members with answers to policy questions while they’re home over August recess, as well as monitor and respond to any media attacks.

House Democratic leaders have set up a healthcare “war room” to help their rank-and-file members navigate a tumultuous August in which they find themselves on the defensive on their signature issue.

 

The effort is being run out of Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) office, but is being manned around the clock by a rotation of leadership and key committee staff members, according to leadership aides.

 

Although the war room, or “healthcare hotline,” is primarily designed to give members the ability to get immediate health policy answers and updates from leadership offices, top Democrats are also planning to use it to help their colleagues respond effectively to political and press attacks, if necessary.

 

“The news is being monitored very closely,” a leadership aide said in describing the various functions of the healthcare hotline.

On Monday, Sen. Chuck Schumer indicated Democrats would force through health reform with budget reconciliation if a compromise couldn’t be reached.  Sen. Harry Reid tried to back away from that today, but he essentially reaffirmed Schumer’s claim.

“We’re not even discussing [it],” Reid told reporters Thursday. “We believe health care should be bipartisan. We believe we have the opportunity to do that.”

…

But when asked whether the option was on the table, as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said earlier this week, Reid quipped: “I’ve never known Schumer to say anything wrong.”

 

“Get that down,” Schumer joked.

 

Reid added: “We don’t want to use reconciliation unless we have to. I hope we don’t have to.”

The town hall protests continue as Congressmen return to their districts.  Last night, Rep. Steve Kagen (D) faced tough criticism in Green Bay.

Kagen chose not to listen to his constituents.  He claims the insurance industry was behind the disruption at the meeting, and he plans to continue backing the public option.

Meanwhile, Sen. Barbara Boxer says the protesters are fakes.  She knows this because they’re too well dressed.  Apparently, only poor people with no fashion sense would ever question their elected officials at a town hall meeting. 

Watch closely in the Kagen video.  I think those folks look like average Americans who are angry that someone like Barbara Boxer wants to dictate where they get their medical care.  I can state with near certainly that no one was wearing Dolce & Gabbana.  Boxer, on the other hand…

On the heels of yesterday’s New York Times report on the possibility of reconciliation, Sen. Chuck Schumer says Democrats will consider that option if the GOP doesn’t back their bill.

Senate Democratic leaders are promising to push through a health care bill even if negotiations with Republicans fail.

 

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday there are contingency steps that will be considered as a last resort. Among the possible steps is invoking a legislative procedure known as reconciliation. Such as step is problematic because of its strict limits on what would be allowed in the bill and what wouldn’t.

Sen. Chuck Grassley believes it will be possible to get a bill through both houses of Congress this year, but it will certainly come well after Obama wanted it.

“If we get a bill on the senate floor by the third or fourth week of September, it’s probably going to take two weeks. Probably take a month to negotiate the difference between the house and senate provisions, so I would suggest the middle of November,” Grassley says.

The threat of reconciliation cooled after it was initially proposed earlier this year, but the New York Times reports today that Democrats may still use the tactic to push through health reform.

With bipartisan health care negotiations teetering, Democrats are talking reluctantly — and very, very quietly — about exploiting a procedural loophole they planted in this year’s budget to skirt Republican filibusters against a health care overhaul.

 

They are talking reluctantly because using the tactic, officially known as reconciliation, would present a variety of serious procedural and substantive obstacles that could result in a piecemeal health bill. And they are whispering because the mere mention of reconciliation touches partisan nerves and could be viewed as a threat by the three Republicans still engaged in the delicate talks, causing them to collapse.

 

Yet with the discussions so far failing to produce an agreement, Democrats are exploring whether they could use the tactic as a last resort to secure a health care victory if they have to go it alone. The answer: It would not be pretty and it would not be preferable, but it could be doable.

Amid the anger liberals have voiced over Rep. Henry Waxman’s agreement with the Blue Dogs on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, another deal has been worked out.  Liberals on the committee will now back the legislation.

Liberals on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have struck a deal with Blue Dogs that will restore some cuts by finding savings in other places, such as letting the government negotiate drug prices.

 

The deal would allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices and use the savings to lower insurance premiums in the exchanges that would be established in the bill, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The Hill.

 

Another amendment calls for finding additional savings through other methods by simplifying Medicare and Medicare administrative costs.

 

The cuts sought by the Blue Dogs would remain in place unless the drug negotiation and other initiatives yield savings. But any savings would be used to lower premiums.