Rangel: Health Care Talks Stalled, Facing Serious Problem

Health care negotiators are facing “a serious problem” in resolving their differences and are not likely to have a final bill until February, according to key House Democrats involved in ongoing talks.

“We’ve got a problem on both sides of the Capitol. A serious problem,” Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday evening.

The difficulty in hashing out an agreement between the two chambers is largely due to there being so many different factions with a stake in the matter, Rangel said. “Normally you’re just dealing with the Senate and they talk about 60 votes and you listen to them and cave in, but this is entirely different,” he said. “I’m telling you that never has 218 been so important to me in the House.”

Another senior House Democrat familiar with negotiations on the bill said no progress has been made this week on any of the key sticking points in the House and Senate bills, despite steady meetings with union leaders and the White House.

“There’s no agreement. No deal on anything. Nothing,” the lawmaker said.

SOURCE: Hot Air

Obama and health care: Quiet meetings

Another congressional delegation went to the White House today to talk with President Obama about a health care bill -- and another congressional delegation left without talking to reporters.

What this means for the fate of Obama's health care initiative we can't say. As has been reported, these health care negotiations are very secret.

SOURCE: USA Today

Race for Kennedy's seat may affect health care reform

A contentious special election to fill late Sen. Ted Kennedy's Senate seat could have an effect on the cause he championed -- health care.

Republican candidate Scott Brown, a state senator, is facing off against Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. Election Day is January 19.

Recent polls suggest the race may be closer than expected in its final days, though the Democrat still holds a 15-point advantage in the overwhelmingly Democratic state.
No Republican has won a Senate seat in Massachusetts since 1972.

CNN political analyst David Gergen, who moderated a debate between Brown and Coakley Monday night, said part of the closeness of the race is tied to the health care reform bill in Congress.

"And his campaign has gotten a lot of traction suddenly, unexpectedly in the last few weeks by exactly that campaign pledge: 'I will send this bill back,'" Gergen said.

SOURCE: CNN Politics