Dogfight in House ugly but ongoing; Update: Dem dispute takes on 'racial overtones'

*Scroll down for update. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Georgia) attacks Blue Dogs for being "non-diverse." Have at it, kids. This will really help your cause.


The Blue Dogs were lied to and walked out:

“I’ve been lied to,” Blue Dog Coalition Co-Chairman Charlie Melancon (D-La.) said on Friday. “We have not had legitimate negotiations.

But all the snarls and mean words have been retracted and Waxman's Energy and Commerce committee has agreed to keep talking.

According to Waxman, it was the rest of the members of the committee that helped the two sides agree to resume working out their differences, mainly out of a fear of having Democratic leaders feel forced to bypass the committee and bring the bill directly to the floor.

“Our colleagues on the committee don’t want our committee passed over,” Waxman said.

The fact that talks have resumed, however, do not mean that any additional agreements have been reached. And as they stood by each other’s side, both Waxman and Ross alluded to the fact that, substantively, talks haven’t budged from where they have been stuck for days.

“We basically agreed to keep talking,” Ross said.

Speaker Pelosi has given some mixed signals on the deadline, such as,

"I am not afraid of August. It's a month."

But it appears that rumors of the bill's demise were greatly exaggerated, though there's still plenty of trouble in paradise.

Pelosi and Steny Hoyer differ on the deadline, and the latest reports are that the Speaker remains "intent on hammering it through" before the recess. But some believe her aggressive approach may be counterproductive:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set the legislative throttle at full-speed-ahead as she plans to bring health care reform to a floor vote by the August recess, a move that could inflame tensions in the party and imperil the bill's passage since fiscally conservative Democrats say they're still not satisfied.

Some even say the Dems would be better off without her.

*Update: Just read this from Robert Verdi, quoting the NYT:

The intraparty dispute had racial overtones. One African-American Democrat, Representative Hank Johnson of Georgia, pointed out that the seven Blue Dog Democrats holding up the health care bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee were “a nondiverse group” of white men.

Oh boy. Is Rep. Johnson implying that has tried to join the Blue Dogs but they turned him down because he's black? Get a grip, Hank! You're not making sense here. The Blue Dogs would welcome you with open arms.

Mr. Verdi comments:

Are you freaking kidding me, a Democrat accusing fellow Democrats of being racist. These bridges are close to being burnt. On a personal note I have followed the politics of this issue all year and this is the first time race has been injected into the issue, its ugly and whoever attacked these guys for racism better knock it off.

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