While Activists Hold A D.C. Tea Party, Dems Try To Clear Health Bill Hurdles

• Sean Higgins And David Hogberg
• On 6:48 pm EST, Thursday November 5, 2009

Anti-tax tea party activists flexed their muscle on Capitol Hill Thursday as thousands marched to protest the Democrats' health care bill. Inside, tensions remained over abortion and labor issues as House leaders pushed for a vote on their health care bill by this weekend.

The tea party activists were warmly greeted by most of the House Republican caucus during a rousing event on the Capitol steps. For a minority that has had little impact on policy of late, it was a welcome infusion of populist energy.

"Do not leave this city until your voice permeates these thick walls," urged Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas.

The event was a kind of coming-out party for a movement that had been derided by many earlier this year as a fringe. After Tuesday's GOP victories in Virginia and New Jersey, they can now claim an actual impact. And Republican lawmakers want a piece of the action.

Every little bit helps, says Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich.

"You've got the elections on Tuesday night. You've got the town hall meetings back home and the tea parties back home. All of them send a clear signal to folks in this building," Hoekstra said.

But it could backfire on the GOP establishment. Tea partiers have shown little patience with Republicans who won't get in line.

The activists were also involved in the GOP's only high-profile loss Tuesday. Their support for conservative activist Doug Hoffman over liberal GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava in an upstate New York congressional race led her to drop out and endorse Democrat Bill Owens, who ultimately won.

But nobody mentioned that Thursday as GOP lawmakers pumped up the thousands of attendees.

"It was Thomas Jefferson who said that a revolution every now and then is a good thing. What do you say?" asked Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., a key organizer for the event.

Other speakers included actors Jon Voight and John Ratzenberger (Cliff from TV's "Cheers"). Activists came from as far away as Texas and many carried the colonial-era "Don't Tread On Me" flags.

Others signs with slogans included "In God We Trust -- Not Government" and "You Can't Fix Stupid."

A Long Way To Go

Tina McGowan had come all the way from Long Island, N.Y., for the event, but said she might be going even farther if her representatives supported the health care bill.

"I'm from New York but I'm going to be moving to Texas if New York doesn't open its eyes," she said.

But no matter how many people gather outside the Capitol steps, it's the votes inside that count. The rules of the House allow a simple majority to roll over the minority. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., predicted no Republican would support the bill and said they were reaching out to as many "common sense Democrats" as they could.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, was philosophical about the GOP's chances to stop the bill after the Tuesday elections.

"Who knows? On a bill that is going to be this close, perhaps," Bishop said. "There are a lot of people who are rethinking what before Tuesday was perhaps a foregone conclusion. It was climate-changing."

Earlier, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer predicted the House would narrowly pass the health bill.

But fissures remain over abortion and labor issues.

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich, has threatened to vote against any bill that does not bar federal funding for abortions. He says about 40 other Democrats support him.

House Leaders have been pushing a compromise put forward by Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind., that would prevent federal funds being used to provide abortions through the public option. It would also ensure that no public subsidies for buying insurance via the exchange would go toward any abortion in any health plan offered.

A spokeswoman for Stupak said he was sticking with his own amendment and had neither endorsed nor opposed the Ellsworth proposal.

Pro-life groups weren't mollified. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops claimed "the Ellsworth amendment addresses no substantive criticism" of the House bill. USCCB opposes the House legislation because they say it violates the Hyde amendment and other federal provisions that bar any federal money going to any plan that pays for abortion -- regardless of how the abortion is paid for.

Sections 110 and 534 of the bill have raised the ire of the AFL-CIO. Section 110 bars employers from cutting health care benefits to retirees and section 534 ends the 28% tax deduction employers receive for providing prescription drug coverage to retirees.

While the AFL-CIO has publicly praised the House bill, in a letter obtained by IBD that was sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday, the AFL-CIO urged that sections 110 and 534 "not be included in legislation approved by Congress. ... Both provisions would likely have the unintended effect of discouraging the provision of employer-sponsored retiree health coverage thereby ... placing the cost and burden of providing this vital coverage onto the federal government." The letter was also signed by the American Benefits Council.

The "manager's amendment" to the House bill that was released Wednesday delays the implementation of section 534 for two years. It's not clear if that was a response to the letter. Speaker Pelosi's office did not return requests for comment.

The House bill is an "excellent model" that will get even better according to Bill Samuel, AFL-CIO's director of government affairs.

"While there are a few provisions including a provision on retiree health care that we would like to see modified, we are confident that we can resolve these through the conference committee process," he said.

Buzz up!