THE PLANK JULY 29, 2009
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A couple days ago I argued that, contrary to much of what you were hearing, House Blue Dogs did not pose a threat to the passage of health care reform:
This isn't a fundamental clash over ideology.
It's a skirmish over the timing of a vote. The Blue Dogs don't want to
have to vote for a more liberal bill than what ultimately becomes law.
A lot of the fighting we're seeing a a result is probably kabuki
theater. The real bounds of reform will beset by the Senate.
And, indeed, the House now seems to have an agreement, and the primary Blue Dog concession is... the timing of the vote:
Substantively, leadership seems to have given up very little, but, Blue
Dogs succeeded at slow walking the bill, which won't get a vote until
after the August recess.
Like I said, the bottleneck is the Senate.
--Jonathan Chait
