According to this article in the Hill, so-called Blue Dog Democrats have issued this ultimatum to Harry Reid:

Democratic centrists have informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) they will accept few changes in the final healthcare bill negotiated between the House and Senate. Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) have made clear there is little room to deviate from the bill the Senate passed on Christmas Eve.

They are the most vocal of nearly two-dozen senators who have indicated they see little wiggle room in the conference talks. Centrists have said they will not vote for a healthcare reform bill that imposes a tax surcharge on the nation’s highest income earners or reduces the tax burden on so-called Cadillac health insurance plans, which are held by many unionized workers.

TRANSLATION: BLAH, BLAH BLAH, YADA, YADA, YADA.

These buffoons haven’t figured it out that their credibility disappeared the minute they accepted their 30 pieces of silver from Reid the first time. Nobody’s taking their threats of voting against cloture seriously because they made the same bravado-filled statements before accepting their payoffs.

The era of fiscally responsible Democrats officially ended with these spineless wimps sold their votes for a couple trinkets while saddling their constitiuents with higher taxes, higher insurance premiums, an exploding deficit and higher health care costs.

Landrieu said she would not support the final legislation if negotiators tinkered with the Senate proposal for taxing high-cost insurance plans. “I can only support a bill if the Cadillac plans are taxed at the level they are in the Senate [bill,]” said Landrieu. “It’s not because I’m thrilled about taxing those plans, which I’m not, but it is the No. 1 cost-containment measure in the bill. It’s what is going to drive costs down over time.”

I’ve studied the various moving parts within the health care system fairly closely but I can’t figure out how taxing health insurance policies contains health care costs.

Nelson said he would not support the final bill if it included the House proposal to impose a tax surcharge on individuals earning more than $500,000 and families earning more than $1 million. “I’ve already said that would be a deal-breaker,” said Nelson.

Sen. Nelson has said a number of things were dealbreakers…until he voted for the legislation with the deal-breaking provisions in it.

The reality is that these spineless wimps won’t say no to their leadership when it matters. They’d rather catch hell from their constituents than from Chuck Schumer. That’s gotten them by thus far but that’s changing. That’ll change the instant that they face the voters. By then, it’ll be too late to do the right thing. By then, it’ll be too late to undo the damage to their individual and collective reputations.

This past summer, the American people told politicians what they didn’t want. Throughout the fall, in poll after poll, the same American people said that they didn’t want government-run health care. The American people didn’t just quietly voice their opinions, either. Their objections were concise and unflinching in consistency. You couldn’t send a message any clearer.

This past week, the message that Blue Dogs sent their constituents was equally concise and consistent. Unfortunately, their message was that they’d be supporting their party’s leadership, not their constituents.

The Blue Dogs’ message was received. This November, the Blue Dogs that ignored us will hear from all of the frustrated voters whose refrain is an emphatic “NO MORE!!!”

Technorati: Blue Dogs, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, Health Care, Premiums, Townhall Meetings, Democrats, TEA Parties, We The People, Election 2010

Cross-posted at California Conservative