United Liberty

Yesterday, Democrats decided to press foward on ObamaCare without GOP, killing any hope of a “bi-partisan” bill. Of course, the problem hasn’t been Republicans, and that has been reiterated by Rep. Jim Cooper, a Blue Dog Democrat from Tennessee:

Democrats will not be able to “go it alone” on healthcare legislation and force through a bill with a public option on a party-lines vote, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said Wednesday.

“It’s numerically not possible,” Cooper, a centrist Blue Dog Democrat who has long focused on healthcare issues, said in an interview on MSNBC. “We don’t have enough votes.”

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Democratic leaders in Congress, along with the White House, had less faith in continuing to work with Republicans to craft a bipartisan health bill containing a public (or “government-run”) option.

Cooper said that just as a matter of procedure, there is no way that Democrats would be able to accomplish such a thing.

“It’s really not an ideological question; it’s a question of how you pass a bill,” he explained. “We don’t have 60 Democratic votes in the Senate.”

The problem for Democrats isn’t just with Blue Dogs, which “conservative” and moderate Democrats. Liberals are refusing to vote for a bill without a “public option.”