Blue Dog Democrats supposedly oppose the House health care reform bill. After they caved on the National Energy Tax, why shouldn’t we think that they’ll cave like a house of cards the minute Speaker Pelosi cracks her whip?

A leader of the conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats told CNN Wednesday he and other group members may vote to block House Democrats’ health care bill from passing a key committee if they don’t get some of the changes they want.

“We remain opposed to the current bill, and we continue to meet several times a day to decide how we’re going to proceed and what amendments we will be offering as Blue Dogs on the committees,” said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Arkansas. Ross said the bill unveiled Tuesday by House Democratic leaders did not address concerns he and other conservative Democrats outlined in a letter late last week to Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The conservative Democrats don’t believe the legislation contains sufficient reforms to control costs in the health care system and believe additional savings can be found. Their letter to leaders raised concerns about new mandates on small businesses. Blue Dogs also say the bill fails to fix the inequities in the current system for health care costs for rural doctors and hospitals.

You’ll notice that Ross didn’t object to the public option. FYI- From now on, I won’t call it the public option. I’ll either refer to it as the government option or as the price control option.

It’s also important to notice that the Blue Dogs didn’t object to the Democrats’ health care price controls.

Democrats outnumber Republicans 36-23 on the Energy and Commerce committee, which contains eight Blue Dogs, including Ross. If seven Democrats vote with Republicans against the bill, it would fail to advance to the House floor. Asked whether the Blue Dogs on Energy and Commerce are considering voting as a group against the bill if it remains unchanged, Ross replied, “absolutely.”

I’m still skeptical. I still think Pelosi will try to provide them with something that they can use as political cover during the August recess, at which point the Blue Dogs will turn into Blue Puppies. These people shouldn’t be confused with principled legislators. They also shouldn’t be thought of as profiles in courage. They’re more accurately characterized as profiles in political cowardice.

Technorati: Blue Dogs, Democrats, Mike Ross, Speaker Pelosi, Health Care, Reform, Public Option, Price Controls, National Energy Tax