Extreme heat warning in effect through Sunday

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Abandoning the health care overhaul is not an
option, the top White House political adviser said Wednesday, after
President Barack Obama's signature issue took a devastating hit
with the Democratic loss of a Massachusetts Senate seat.


      Obama adviser David Axelrod said administration officials will
take into account the message voters delivered Tuesday in electing
Republican Scott Brown - and handing the GOP power to block the
Democratic agenda. But he declined to go farther.


      Questioned about the fate of health care legislation, Axelrod
said, "It's not an option simply to walk away from a problem
that's only going to get worse."


      Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky declared
the Democrats' ambitious remake of the health care system dead.


      Asked if the bill, as currently written, is dead, he responded:
"I sure hope so."


      But senior Democrats echoed Axelrod's determination to press
ahead, even as they acknowledged it's not clear just how they will
do that.


      "We're trying to come up with a strategy to pursue health care.
We're facing this new political reality" of the loss of their 60th
Senate seat, said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 Senate
Democratic leader.


      "The question is what will it take to move forward, and there
are various scenarios," he said.

      The quickest route is for the House to approve the Senate-passed
bill and send it to Obama. But it's not clear Democrats in the
House have the votes. 


Another alternative calls for the Senate
Democrats to promise changes later on, part of a deal to get the
House to pass the bill. But Senate Democrats may not be able to
deliver on such a promise.


      Some Democrats acknowledged their big hopes may have to be
scaled back, passing a pared-down bill.


      "That's one possibility," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
"But it's too early to say."


      "We are committed to health care reform," she added. "It's a
question of how we do it. We have to look at the practical
realities of Republicans being able to block whatever happens with
41 votes."


      The stinging loss Tuesday cost Obama the 60-vote Senate majority
he was counting on to block Republican delaying tactics and pass
the far-reaching legislation. 

The outcome splintered the rank and
file on how to salvage the bill, energized congressional
Republicans and left Obama and the Democrats with fallback options
that range from bad to worse.


      Obama met briefly at the White House early Tuesday night with
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid, D-Nev.


      Pelosi said Wednesday that Democrats have gotten the message
from Massachusetts voters - and it isn't to drop health care. 

"We
heard, we will heed, we will move forward with their considerations
in mind, but we will move forward" on health care, she said.


      She and others contend that because Massachusetts already has
near-universal health coverage under a state law, the upset victory
by GOP state Sen. Scott Brown to take the late Edward M. Kennedy's
seat could not be seen as a referendum on the issue.


      "Massachusetts has health care. ... The rest of the country
would like to have that too," said Pelosi. "So we don't say a
state that already has health care should determine whether the
rest of the country should."


      House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said Democrats
still don't get it.


      "While the American people continue to speak, the Democrat
leadership here in this House continues to ignore them," he said.
"It's that kind of arrogance that has the American people about
ready ... to throw every Democrat out of here."


      Some Democrats suggested reassessment and regrouping are in
order.


      "We shouldn't show the arrogance of not getting the message
here," said liberal Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., contending
independents had turned against the bill and the Democratic base
had lost its enthusiasm. "I don't think it would be the worst
thing to take a step back" and turn the focus to jobs, in
conjunction with scaled-back health care goals.


      Republicans said don't even bother: The election of Brown over
the once-favored Democrat Martha Coakley in the Democratic
stronghold sent a message that ambitious health legislation should
be scrapped altogether, in favor of more modest steps.


      Senate Democrats were scheduled to meet at midday Wednesday, and
a sign of their intentions could emerge then. Obama will have to
exert a mighty influence to keep jittery moderates from giving up
on the effort.


      Democrats don't appear to have enough time to resolve
differences between the two bills passed by the House and Senate -
and get cost and coverage estimates back from the Congressional
Budget Office - before Brown is sworn in.


      Moderate Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said the Senate should not hold
any further votes on health care until Brown is seated.


      The legislation would expand coverage to more than 30 million
Americans now uninsured, while attempting to rein in the growth of
health care costs. Democratic lawmakers will have to move in
virtual lockstep to enact the bill now, even as Republican
opposition intensifies.


      That could be too much to ask from rank-and-file Democrats
demoralized by losing a seat held in an almost unbroken line by a
Kennedy since 1953. 

Efforts to woo Maine Republican Sen. Olympia
Snowe as a convert could increase. But with polls showing voters
souring on health care legislation, the president could be
abandoned by lawmakers of his own party.

Gallery

In epic upset, GOP's Brown wins Mass. Senate race

Former Medtronic CEO says health reform will hinge on 'low-tech' solutions

Sen. Franken says Mass. election upset will shift health care debate

Health

Politics and Government News

Business and Economic News

Health Care Reform

Abandoning the health care overhaul is not an
option, the White House said Wednesday, after
President Barack Obama's signature issue took a devastating hit with the Democratic loss of a Massachusetts Senate seat.

Obama, Dems ponder next steps in health care debate

Go Deeper.

Like this?