Nice try to defend your fuck-up, but no cigar. That’s not a blue dog holding things up. The health care bill got out of every single House committee. It’s being held up in the senate because Max Baucus is holding a conference with a select group of republicans. There is no “Blue Dog Coalition” in the Senate. You can point to metaphorical “Blue Dog” Senator, but none in the senate have said they’re against the bill or even want to hold it up. At least none on record.

Uh huh, experience.

Can you name the Blue Dogs that are holding up the bill? Specifically, I mean. Who are they? Because the Senate bill is currently in the finance committee, and I was wondering if there were any specific blue dogs you could name there who said they opposed the bill.

You really have no idea what you’re talking about. The Blue Dog Coalition is a subgroup within the House of Representatives. The House bill passed out of its relevant committees and is not known to face any risk of defeat on a floor vote.

We past month has been wrangling over the Senate bill, and there is no “blue dog” coalition in the senate bill. Insofar as the senate bill is being held up by Bill Nelson, it’s because he spent time waiting on the Republicans to agree to something. Now that the Republicans have said they won’t agree to anything, it’s time to go it alone.

This is what happens when you elect someone with no experience into the Oval Office.

I mean… yeah, keep worrying about the Republicans, please.

I don’t follow you on this one. But I agree that Obama needs to listen to the American people, not the dead-ender Republicans in Congress.

I can’t imagine Obama hasn’t learned his lesson. Republicans have been gunning for him since day one, and he made an effort to reach across the aisle. He won’t make the same mistake again, and this is a very good thing for America.

“The lead Republican senator in bipartisan health care negotiations said Tuesday that he urged President Obama this month to make clear he would accept a bill without a government-funded public insurance option.”

Obama, again, got punked by Grassley and Republicans and did just that…only to have it explode in his face. Sorry, but Obama, and I campaigned for him and sent him money and made calls for him and went door-to-door for him; sorry, but Obama just doesn’t have the weight and courage to be president. He is too quick to concede anything and everything to anybody…just as he did on the stimulus and just as he did with pharma. The GOP is making him look the flippity-floppity, timid compromiser that he is. I know Oliver won’t post this comment, but hey, a guy’s gotta try.

The math isn’t there for a Republican takeover of congress. I know the Republicans are fantasizing about 1994 all over again, but it isn’t going to happen…

The Republicans could have had a bill that ceded to most of there demands. There would have been no public option and co-ops only. The problem was that the Republicans had already unleashed the crazy and were boxed into their “no reform EVER” platform. And now they’ve given away the entire farm: looks like there will be no republican input on the health care bill.

The American people have spoken overwhelmingly that HR 3200 is a pile of manure that needs to be jettisoned into space, not passed on a party-line vote. Republicans found out in 2006 and 2008 what happens when you stop listening to your constituents. Looks like Democrats didn’t learn that lesson.