House's Health-Care Duel

House Democrats are moving ahead more quickly than their Senate counterparts to deliver a complete health-care bill, but tensions between party liberals and moderates could prove hazardous. On Thursday, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the final House committee with jurisdiction over the bill, moved closer to approving compromise legislation that would grant some concessions to the more conservative Blue Dog caucus while retaining a government-run public insurance plan. But the negotiations with moderate Democrats may have gone too far to win broader support; liberal Democrats are threatening to scuttle the bill unless the public plan is strengthened and subsidies for purchasing health insurance receive a boost. Not helping the Blue Dogs' image, but certainly helping their campaigns: The Washington Post reports that the caucus is raking in large donations from the health care and insurance industry.