White House orders Harry Reid to cut a deal with Joe Lieberman

obama-care5Chicago style! Politico reports that the Obama White House is encouraging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to cut a deal with Sen. Joe Lieberman. This would mean eliminating the proposed Medicare expansion in the health reform bill, according to an official close to the negotiations. Last week when flaming liberals like Anthony Weiner of New York were creaming their pants at the thought of this back door government option for ObamaCARE, its starting to blow up in their face.

But Reid is described as so frustrated with Lieberman that he is not ready to sacrifice a key element of the health care bill, and first wants to see the Congressional Budget Office cost analysis of the Medicare buy-in. The analysis is expected early this week.

“There is a weariness and a lot of frustration that one person is holding up the will of 59 others,” the official said. “There is still too much anger and confusion at one particular senator’s reversal.”

The White House denied that it was pressuring Reid to cut a deal with Lieberman and said there was no difference of opinion about how to move forward on reform.

“The report is inaccurate,” said White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer in a statement. “The White House is not pushing Senator Reid in any direction. We are working hand-in-hand with the Senate leadership to work through the various issues and pass health reform as soon as possible.”

Lieberman threw health care reform into doubt Sunday when he told Reid that he would filibuster the bill if it allowed Americans ages 55 to 64 to purchase coverage in Medicare. His comments on CBS’s “Face the Nation” set off a series of private meetings Sunday between the Senate leadership and top White House aides, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who recommended that Reid to cut the deal with Lieberman, the official said.

Reid has called a special Democratic caucus meeting for 5:30 p.m. Monday. And President Barack Obama invited the caucus to a meeting Tuesday at the White House.

If they still hope to pass a bill by Christmas – which is still a top consideration at the moment — Democrats have only limited options:

Reconciliation, a procedural maneuver to get around a filibuster, remains on the table, but it’s not a viable option at the moment, the official said. It would push the issue into next year with no guarantee of success.

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December 14, 2009 · Filed Under ObamaCARE


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