kent conrad

It’s not looking good for Senate Democratic leaders hoping next week to pass a $245 billion proposal to give Medicare doctors pay raises over the next decade. That’s because there are a number of Democratic moderates lining up to oppose the proposal because it’s not paid for. The New York Times points out this morning [...]

The Senate Finance Committee just voted down the second and last public option amendment expected to be offered during the panel’s markup of health reform legislation. The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), would have created a public plan to compete with private insurers on a newly formed marketplace, called the exchange.
The vote was [...]

Smelling blood in the water as Democrats made contradictory statements about what a Senate health care reform bill might contain, Republicans are pushing back against a possible compromise.

The New York Times today does a nice job pointing out some of the limitations of the co-op coverage model being pushed by “Gang of Six” member Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) as an alternative to the government-backed option preferred by the White House and Democratic leaders. Conrad says the public plan proposal simply doesn’t have [...]

Tough to say if this is good news or bad news for public plan fans. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) apparently “doesn’t have an opinion on the public option, because he believes the issue is ‘moot,’” according to TPMDC, citing Conrad’s office.
This revelation might be unremarkable, except that the public plan is only the most contentious [...]

The timing here isn’t coincidental, nor are the players.
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who head the Senate Ethics Committee, introduced legislation Thursday to force lawmakers to disclose the “full and complete” details of their mortgage arrangements — including dates, rates, the range of the amount and the creditor’s name and location.
The bill [...]

Melanie Sloan, executive director of the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, just responded to the Senate Ethics Committee’s decision to clear Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) of any wrongdoing in relation to their preferential treatment from Countrywide Financial Corp.
Apparently, clearing the senators was insufficient penance for the committee for having [...]

It’s no news that the Obama administration has pushed hard for the creation of a public-plan option to accompany whatever health care reform overhaul the Democrats come up with this year. But Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, has just softened that stand.
In an interview with Bloomberg Television airing Friday, [...]

As select members of the Senate Finance Committee race to finalize their health reform bill before August recess, it’s worth noting just how few Americans those lawmakers represent.

When the news broke that they’d received special deals on loans furnished by Countrywide Financial Corp., Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) both denied wrongdoing, saying they had no idea they’d gotten preferential treatment. Today, The Associated Press reports a different version of the tale, citing statements from a Countrywide employee claiming that [...]