Washington in 60 Seconds: Dick Armey's Army 'Storming' to Defeat Health Reform
Patricia Murphy
Capitol Hill Bureau Chief
Posted:
03/15/10
Good morning, Capitolists! Great news for the adrenaline junkies among you -- March Madness has come to the Capitol dome in the form of health care reform. The nail-biting, buzzer-beating sprint to a vote starts in the House today, to be followed by Senate action, and a huge victory lap by President Obama if Nancy Pelosi can wrangle up a few more yes votes between now and then.
If she can't, Democrats will have a lot of explaining to do as to why they couldn't get their top priority through the House and Senate with huge majorities in both chambers.
Who wins in the end? Nobody knows, but here's what's making news in Washington in the meantime:
- Dick Armey's Army. Former House Majority Leader and current Tea Party patriarch Dick Armey lays out his Tea-infused battle plan against heath care reform in a speech to the National Press Club today. Armey's army of Tea Party protesters will be back on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, putting the hurt on Democrats likely to vote for the measure. They're planning a nine-hour "storming" of the House office buildings.
- Running the Numbers on Health Care. The first step of the health care end-game happens today when the House Budget Committee takes out its calculators and green eye-shades to see if the House and Senate's compromise proposal on health care reform passes the reduce-the-deficit-in-five-years requirement for bills coming through the House under reconciliation rules. Anyone confused by that statement can read our primer on the process HERE, or watch it all go down on C-SPAN3 at 3 p.m. EST.
- Is the Price Right? Speaking of health care reform, the Congressional Budget Office is expected to release its cost estimate for the latest health care compromise sometime today. The price tag should fall somewhere between the Senate bill, which cost $871 billion, and the House's $1.3 trillion measure. Look for a number under $1 trillion, since that's the cut-off point for a bill that moderate Democrats say they could approve.
- Too Big to Bail. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) will unveil his proposal today to overhaul the financial services industry and how it's regulated (or not regulated, as the case may be). After a month of negotiations, Republican Sen. Bob Corker announced last week he won't put his name on Dodd's bill, but Dodd forged ahead without Republican support. The Wall Street Journal writes up the details of his plan that would put the Federal Reserve in charge of reining in Wall Street's funny business on derivatives, massive risk taking and the off-the-books accounting gimmicks that brought the American economy to the brink 18 months ago.
- POTUS Road Show Goes to Ohio. It's another day and another trip to a swing state as President Obama talks about passing health care reform. After a 1 p.m. speech in Strongsville, POTUS will head back to D.C. for meetings with senior advisers.
- Crazy Town Express Stops at GQ. The train wreck of John Edwards' personal life gets the full GQ treatment with a 10,000-word Q&A and glossy photo spread of his mistress, Rielle Hunter. In the magazine feature, obtained by the Reliable Source gals at The Washington Post, we see Ms. Hunter posing half-dressed among stuffed animals, and learn details of the affair we wish we didn't know. The strong among you can click HERE for the Post's excerpts.
If she can't, Democrats will have a lot of explaining to do as to why they couldn't get their top priority through the House and Senate with huge majorities in both chambers.
Who wins in the end? Nobody knows, but here's what's making news in Washington in the meantime:
- Dick Armey's Army. Former House Majority Leader and current Tea Party patriarch Dick Armey lays out his Tea-infused battle plan against heath care reform in a speech to the National Press Club today. Armey's army of Tea Party protesters will be back on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, putting the hurt on Democrats likely to vote for the measure. They're planning a nine-hour "storming" of the House office buildings.
- Running the Numbers on Health Care. The first step of the health care end-game happens today when the House Budget Committee takes out its calculators and green eye-shades to see if the House and Senate's compromise proposal on health care reform passes the reduce-the-deficit-in-five-years requirement for bills coming through the House under reconciliation rules. Anyone confused by that statement can read our primer on the process HERE, or watch it all go down on C-SPAN3 at 3 p.m. EST.
- Is the Price Right? Speaking of health care reform, the Congressional Budget Office is expected to release its cost estimate for the latest health care compromise sometime today. The price tag should fall somewhere between the Senate bill, which cost $871 billion, and the House's $1.3 trillion measure. Look for a number under $1 trillion, since that's the cut-off point for a bill that moderate Democrats say they could approve.
- Too Big to Bail. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) will unveil his proposal today to overhaul the financial services industry and how it's regulated (or not regulated, as the case may be). After a month of negotiations, Republican Sen. Bob Corker announced last week he won't put his name on Dodd's bill, but Dodd forged ahead without Republican support. The Wall Street Journal writes up the details of his plan that would put the Federal Reserve in charge of reining in Wall Street's funny business on derivatives, massive risk taking and the off-the-books accounting gimmicks that brought the American economy to the brink 18 months ago.
- POTUS Road Show Goes to Ohio. It's another day and another trip to a swing state as President Obama talks about passing health care reform. After a 1 p.m. speech in Strongsville, POTUS will head back to D.C. for meetings with senior advisers.
- Crazy Town Express Stops at GQ. The train wreck of John Edwards' personal life gets the full GQ treatment with a 10,000-word Q&A and glossy photo spread of his mistress, Rielle Hunter. In the magazine feature, obtained by the Reliable Source gals at The Washington Post, we see Ms. Hunter posing half-dressed among stuffed animals, and learn details of the affair we wish we didn't know. The strong among you can click HERE for the Post's excerpts.