Bill Clinton came to House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski's committee hearing room last week to give House Democrats a pep talk, but no one was in a cheering mood. A health reform deal was elusive and Rosty was deep in negotiations over a possible indictment for the misuse of congressional and campaign funds. As Clinton railed against gridlock, eyes wandered to the chairman, whose trauma was clear: Either he would have to accept a plea bargain that would cost him his seat in Congress and a short jail term. Or he could tough it out, fighting an expected multicount indictment that could involve much stiffer jail time. In either case, Rosty would no longer be chairman.
That's bad news: Rostenkowski was the one leader large enough to force a deal on health care. Sam Gibbons, his likely successor, has no such sway. Energy and Commerce baron John Dingell is a vote away from compromise; Senate Finance Chairman Pat Moynihan is under fire for reaching out to the GOP too soon. GOP leader Bob Dole was peddling a list of items they might agree on. "I don't have the votes, you don't have the votes, and they don't have the votes in the House," he told Clinton. In fact, House leaders tally about 170 votes for any Clinton-like plan. So Sen. Bob Packwood, finance's ranking Republican, proposed a deal: "Let us do what we can and not make this a partisan fight."
That goes to the political heart of health reform: How much are the Democrats willing to give, and how many Republicans will work for a deal? Dole's areas of agreement include insurance reforms so coverage can be portable, malpractice reforms, subsidies for low-income Americans, reforms of Medicare and Medicaid, even a general benefits package. The controversy is over how to pay for universal coverage. The administration sees employer mandates -- employers paying for 80 percent of the coverage -- as the only way, although the Democrats are willing to phase in mandates, or carve out exceptions for very small businesses.
Most Republicans oppose mandates. Yet one floating compromise involves a mandate that gets triggered only if the plan's finance mechanisms are not working -- allowing Republicans not to vote for mandates and Democrats to claim they have.
What the Democrats want is leadership. If the administration wants to blame the GOP for thwarting reform rather than accept a modified plan, they say, tell us. After all, the midterm election is only five months away.
