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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Blue Dog Democrats

Blue Dog Democrats stories: 40 news summaries

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ROBERT REICH

Hey Blue Dogs, We Need a Second Stimulus

Rising unemployment makes it essential

Nov 4, 09 5:51 PM CST
(Newser) - The ever-worsening employment situation demands a second stimulus, writes former Labor Secretary Robert Reich . Yes, the first stimulus is only half-spent, but the remaining programs won’t affect mounting job losses. Blue Dog Democrats, worried about the deficit and 2010 elections, will be hard-pressed to support a second round, but... More »

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Barack Obama • employment • deficit • unemployment • Robert Reich • Blue Dog Democrats

ANALYSIS

 Obama Can't Save Democrats 

NJ, Va. votes show that president's popularity isn't catching

Nov 4, 09 4:17 AM CST
(Newser) - The message to Democratic candidates from yesterday's GOP wins in New Jersey and Virginia should be loud and clear: they're on their own, writes Dan McLaughlin . Jon Corzine and Creigh Deeds tied themselves as closely to possible to President Obama and lost, demonstrating that the president's continued personal popularity isn't... More »

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Jon Corzine • Democrat • Democratic Party • Democratic candidates • Blue Dog Democrats • President Obama • Election 2010 • Creigh Deeds • Election 09 • election day November 2009

Pelosi Fighting for Stronger Public Option

Plan with Medicare-linked option would
cost only $871B

Oct 21, 09 7:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi is on a mission to pass the strongest public option on the table in the House—a plan that would pay doctors the same rates as Medicare—and she's close to having enough votes, she told fellow Dems last night. The plan would cost just $871 billion, according... More »

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Nancy Pelosi • Medicare • House of Representatives • Congressional Budget Office • health care reform • James Clyburn • Blue Dog Democrats • public option

House Dems Fear Senate,
WH Steamroll on Health Care

Moderates don't want to spend risky votes on legless progressive bill

Oct 6, 09 11:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - House Democrats on both ends of the spectrum are feeling sorry for themselves as they struggle to shape a final health care reform bill. The bill is widely expected—based in no small part on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s proclamations—to include a public option, a tax on wealthy Americans,... More »

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Nancy Pelosi • Congress • Senate • House of Representatives • legislation • health care reform • Blue Dog Democrats • public option • progressives

Blue Dogs Offer Own Spin on Finance Reform

Float alternative to Obama's financial protection agency

Sep 21, 09 1:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Blue Dogs are digging in against the idea of creating a “consumer financial protection agency,” a key provision in Barack Obama’s financial regulatory reform plan, Politico reports. Instead, they want existing regulators to collaborate by way of a “consumer financial protection council.” “We’re... More »

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consumer protection • Barney Frank • Obama administration • Blue Dog Democrats • financial reform

OPINION

Obama Neglects a Powerful Presidential Tool: Fear

Opponents' ability to criticize with impunity hinders the president's effectiveness

Sep 13, 09 3:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama has been praised for bringing a more conciliatory tone to the presidency after the with-us-or-against-us swagger of George W. Bush. But Obama’s preference for gentle negotiation and compromise leaves him less able to use an effective presidential tool: fear, writes Ben Smith for Politico. Obama has failed... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • health care reform • moderate • conservatives • Obama administration • Blue Dog Democrats • President Obama

(Newser) - When top Blue Dog Dem Mike Ross came out against the public option, he said that “an overwhelming number” of his constituents opposed it. Maybe he's gotten emails to that effect, but if he’d actually bothered to poll his district, he’d probably get a different story, writes... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care reform • Mike Ross • Blue Dog Democrats • Nate Silver • public option

(Newser) - One of Barack Obama's top advisers during the campaign tells Politico he's "losing patience" with the White House and wants more "bold" leadership from the president on a host of issues including health care and gay rights. “I’m not going to just sit by the curb... More »

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Congress • gay rights • presidential campaign • health care reform • Democratic Party • Election 2008 • moderate • Obama administration • Blue Dog Democrats • President Obama • Steve Hildebrand

House Dems Back to Work
in Same Quagmire

Public health insurance option still splitting party after hectic summer break

Sep 8, 09 4:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - House Democrats returned to work yesterday in the same position they were in before they spent their summer break getting an earful from the public, the Washington Post reports. House lawmakers are still expected to move first on the health care bill. But while broad support remains for some kind... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • Congress • House of Representatives • Steny Hoyer • health care reform • town hall meeting • House Democrats • Blue Dog Democrats • Blue Dog Coalition

OPINION

Privatize Abortion Funding to Save Health Care Reform

Independent fund could finance procedures, diffuse criticisms of govt. plan

Aug 13, 09 6:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - Abortion threatens to derail the push for health care reform, as opponents use the prospect of subsidized procedures to turn pro-life Americans against the whole plan, writes Meredith Simmons for Slate. Progressives are indignant—abortion is a health procedure, they argue, and should be covered like any other. But excluding... More »

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abortion • privatization • charity • funding • health care reform • Blue Dog Democrats • poverty line

(Newser) - Only a week ago, it seemed that conservatives had all the momentum in the fight against health care reform. Now, it's clear "they ramped up too quickly," writes Marc Ambinder in the Atlantic. The first town hall activists were "itching for a fight," and "the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care costs • health care reform • town hall meeting • Blue Dog Democrats • Republicans

(Newser) - Blue Dog Democrats might represent more socially conservative constituencies than their liberal brethren, but that's no reason to take pro-corporate stances on everything from the mortgage market to health care reform. Thomas Frank has a simpler explanation: They're in it for the cash. The Blue Dogs are "champion fundraisers,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Jack Abramoff • Tom DeLay • health care reform • Democratic Party • Blue Dog Democrats • Blue Dog Coalition

ANALYSIS

House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker

But slim margin could vanish if bill moves left or right: Silver

Aug 2, 09 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - A compromise health care bill will likely squeak through the House by about two dozen votes, Nate Silver writes on FiveThirtyEight.com. The Energy and Commerce Committee’s Friday night 31-28 vote is a good model, with its similar balance of Republicans, liberal and Blue Dog Democrats. The committee passed... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • House of Representatives • statistics • health care reform • House Energy and Commerce Committee • Blue Dog Democrats • Republicans

(Newser) - The Blue Dogs—the 52 fiscally conservative Democrats who have been fighting to kill health care reform proposals the industry doesn’t like—receive far more money from that industry than their non-coalition-member counterparts, the Washington Post reports. The reform push has been a boon for the lawmakers' ledgers;... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • Arkansas • House of Representatives • health care industry • lobbyists • health care reform • Mike Ross • House Democrats • special interests • moderate • insurance industry • Blue Dog Democrats • Blue Dog Coalition

(Newser) - Blue Dogs had a good day, but now liberals are howling. After the conservative Democrats managed to shift health care legislation to the center, progressive Democrats say they might mount a rebellion of their own, report Politico and the Hill. They're mostly upset that Henry Waxman agreed to water down... More »

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Nancy Pelosi • Congress • liberals • health care reform • Max Baucus • Blue Dog Democrats • progressives

Blue Dog Deal Means No Vote on Health
Before Recess

Dems also agree on $100B trim: Waxman

Jul 29, 09 1:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - The House will not vote on a health care bill before the August recess, the Hill reports. Rep. Henry Waxman agreed to the delay as part of a deal with “Blue Dog” Democrats on his Energy and Commerce Committee, who had been threatening to block the bill. Waxman now... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health care costs • Henry Waxman • House of Representatives • health care reform • House Energy and Commerce Committee • Blue Dog Democrats • public option

Blue Dogs Stand Firm as Dems Get Panicky

Marathon sessions fail to reach a deal as tempers fray

Jul 29, 09 4:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Democratic leadership is scrambling to make progress on health care reform before Congress breaks for its August recess, but last night's marathon negotiations failed to break the stalemate—and may even have increased the number of issues up for debate.  "We're making progress," Nancy Pelosi said... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Nancy Pelosi • health care • Congress • Henry Waxman • Harry Reid • Senate Democrats • Rahm Emanuel • health care reform • House Democrats • Blue Dog Democrats • public option

Waxman
Offers Secret Health Deal
to Blue Dogs

Dem: 'Don't think failure is a reasonable option'

Jul 28, 09 10:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rep. Henry Waxman is optimistic he can get a health care bill out of his committee after pitching Blue Dog Democrats a compromise late last night, the Hill reports. After three hours of negotiations, the Dogs asked Waxman to get a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office before they... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • Henry Waxman • Steny Hoyer • health care reform • House Energy and Commerce Committee • House Democrats • Blue Dog Democrats

ANALYSIS

 5 Barriers to Obamacare 


Jul 27, 09 12:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - Both chambers of Congress will likely miss President Obama’s August deadline for a health care reform bill, slowing “the momentum behind the president's top priority,” Jay Newton-Small writes in Time. “Why can't a popular president with poll numbers in the 60s and super majorities in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • health insurance • Medicare • Senate Republicans • health care reform • Obama administration • Blue Dog Democrats • President Obama

(Newser) - The Blue Dogs are threatening to sink health care reform in the House for reasons that don't seem to add up, Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times. The coalition of conservative Democrats—whose support President Obama needs—is crying loudly about fiscal responsibility, Krugman writes, while at the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • House of Representatives • health care industry • Democrat • health care reform • Obama administration • Blue Dog Democrats • President Obama

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