Adding to the uncertainty about the fate of the Democratic agenda in the wake of the party's defeat in Massachusetts on Tuesday, top officials of two of the nation's most powerful union groups have taken firm but slightly differing positions over how to move forward with health care reform.
SEIU President Andy Stern is urging the House to pass the Senate version of the bill, while AFL-CIO Legislative Director Bill Samuel is calling for additional negotiations. Both men said the Senate's bill needed to be fixed, but differed on the timing.
Writing on The Huffington Post, Stern pushed for swift passage of the bill:
The House should pass the Senate's health insurance reform bill - with an agreement that it will be fixed, fixed right, and fixed right away through a parallel process.Reform can work - the Senate bill can serve as the foundation for reform and include at minimum the improvements the Administration, House, and Senate have negotiated. We cannot squander the opportunity to make real progress. The House and Senate must move forward together. And, there is no reason they cannot move forward together to make those changes through any means possible - whether through reconciliation or other pieces of moving legislation.
Some in Washington may want to throw their hands up and walk away; others may call for walking back reform by passing something smaller. So let's just say it: the Democrats own health reform. They own the votes they already took. And, they own what health reform will stand for. Most importantly, it will be a major achievement the American people need and deserve. There is no turning back. There is no running away. There is no reset button.
There is a right choice: Break the political paralysis and go big.
By contrast, in an interview with Greg Sargent on The Plum Line blog, Samuel called for making the needed fixes first.
AFL-CIO legislative director Bill Samuel tells me in an interview that labor won't support any efforts by the House to pass the Senate health bill in its current form -- creating major complications for one of the key solutions Dems are contemplating in the wake of their huge loss last night.
"We don't want the House to pass the Senate bill," Samuel said a few moments ago by phone. "We would not be in favor of passing the Senate bill without fixing the problems that we've identified."
The two unions are, essentially, hoping for the same end game: an amended Senate health care bill. But there is a slight divergence between how the two view the process getting there. It is a reflection of the sharp debate currently being waged among Democrats on the Hill who are seeking to get their policy agenda back on track after the electoral loss in Massachusetts.