Red on Red! House "Progressive" Caucus Threatens Dems Over Healthcare

Remember when you were a kid and you thought a game was too hard? You changed the rules.

Enter the Progressive Caucus. The Far Left is getting a bit pissed at the Medium-Far Left for trying to get Republican cover on the healthcare boondoggle. Now they want to change the rules:

[Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max] Baucus, who is more conservative than most of the Democratic Conference, has frustrated many of his liberal colleagues by negotiating for weeks with Republicans over healthcare reform without producing a bill or even much detail about the policies he is considering.

“Every two years the caucus could have a secret ballot on whether a chairman should continue, yes or no,” said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “If the ‘no’s win, [the chairman’s] out.

“I’ve heard it talked about before,” he added.

Harkin did not mention Baucus, but his suggestion would likely resonate with the senior Montana Democrat, who has often clashed with his colleagues over important bills.

Liberals are also upset by reports that Baucus and other members of the Finance panel have tossed aside the proposal to create a robust government-run insurance program.

This is just an extension of the chaos on Capitol Hill we've been talking about for the past month.

Get your popcorn. This is getting good.

Oh, very good update: Commenter t-bird notes a bit of hypocrisy from the progressives:

Now, why would you want a secret ballot?

Why indeed? We're all friends here, right?

Red on Red! House "Progressive" Caucus Threatens Dems Over Healthcare&bodytext=Remember when you were a kid and you thought a game was too hard? You changed the rules. Enter the Progressive Caucus. The Far Left is getting a bit pissed at the Medium-Far Left for trying to get Republican cover...&topic=world_news"> posted by Gabriel Malor at 02:19 PM

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