That's the invitation to a party for conservative Democrat Mike Ross, thrown by the Alpine Group, a lobbying firm who represents several private health care interests. As I've pointed out previously, it is Blue Dog Democrats such as Ross who are the biggest obstacle to real change in our health care system.
From NASDAQ.com:
U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., a leader of fiscally conservative House Democrats, said Wednesday a House plan to overhaul the U.S. health-care system is losing support and will be stuck in committee without changes.
"Last time I checked, it takes seven Democrats to stop a bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee," Ross told reporters after a House vote. "We had seven against it last Friday; we have 10 today."
Three House committees are slated to begin considering the $1 trillion-plus bill this week, but the Energy and Commerce looms as the biggest challenge. That's because it counts among its 36 Democratic members seven members of the Blue Dog Coalition, a fiscally conservative bloc that is opposing the House Democrats' effort.
Ross said the bill, introduced Wednesday by House Democratic leaders, doesn't include provisions adequate to curb rising health care costs, including what the government spends on healthcare.
"The current bill would have to be substantially amended before we could consider supporting it," Ross said.
The Energy and Commerce panel is scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon to kick off its review of the legislation, but its session is expected to stretch into late next week.
Ross said Blue Dogs have been meeting every day to craft amendments that will be offered during that meeting, but offered no details on what those amendments are. He said those amendments could number in the dozens.
Ross said he expects Blue Dogs will meet with the panel's chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., soon to discuss their specific proposed changes.
Call me cynical, but I visited the Sunlight Foundation's "The Party" blog to check out Ross's campaign contributions from the health industry over the years. That's where I saw this about Ross's Alpine shindig:
Several lobbyists working for the Alpine Group–Rhod Shaw, Greg Means, Jim Massie, and Charles Barnett, planned a dinner on May 20 for Rep. Mike Ross, a Democrat from Arkansas. Their clients include the Biotechnology Industry Association, the Medical Imaging Contrast Agent Association, and the Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals. Ross has collected more than $833,000 in campaign contributions from health care interests over his years in Congress.
The kennel doors are swung wide open, and Blue Dog Democrats could leave their party chasing its tail over real health care reform.
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