(The above audio is the shortened version of the BLogger Conference call. You can find the full version here.)
I'm glad Congress is starting to heed our words and beginning to speak out against taking a vacation while health care takes a back seat to their barbecues and softball games.. Recess is for children at school playing on their swings and has no place in this debate. Rep. Clyburn is the newest member to say that Congress should not stop until a bill drops.
(Majority) Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told colleagues during a "contentious" closed-door session Thursday that they should postpone the August break until they pass a sweeping health care reform bill.
The Democratic whip says he told his colleagues they will be criticized in the press for leaving town without passing a bill. "I think it will affect our standing with the American people if we don't do this as a party," Clyburn said afterward.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) were both in attendance during the 90-minute session, but Clyburn would not say what their reactions were. The South Carolina Democrat thinks his colleagues will have more opportunities to work through disputes than they will if they leave town.
We salute Clyburn for taking the correct steps in trying to work this thing out and not be afraid what all Americans are thing. Recess, recess?
Americans are hearing our plea to make Congress work through August.
As Mr. Obama took questions from his audience in Shaker Heights, he was asked whether he intended to call on Democratic leaders in Congress to cancel their August recess to try to reach a compromise on health care. For now, he said, he had no plans to do so.
Keep up the heat. The more Americans put pressure on their precious month long play time the more willing they will be to get the legislation done.
We've just started making this a priority so the list has just begun.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Rep. James Clyburn
That's three more than we had before I asked the question. Great start.
You can use HCAN's tools to find info so you can contact your own representative. Please contact them and tell them no August recess without a health care bill.
UPDATE: Meanwhile the Blue Dogs are trying their best to kill health care in the HOUSE.
The negotiations between House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and seven conservative Democrats on his panel fell apart Friday afternoon after the chairman told reporters he could move the bill to the floor without a committee vote.
Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross, the top negotiator for conservative Democrats in the Blue Dog Coalition, told reporters Friday that the negotiations "pretty much fell apart this afternoon."
In a meeting with Blue Dogs Friday, Waxman rescinded two previous concessions to help cut health care costs over time and ensure the government-sponsored health care won't impede on the private market. Asked how this leaves the negotiations, Ross said it "leaves the chairman with not enough votes to get it out of committee."
