Obama Healthcare Plan May Lack Democratic Votes.

The AP (6/22, Elliott) reports a Republican senator "seeking a bipartisan health deal spoke Sunday of 'dialing down' expectations while one of President Barack Obama's Democratic allies questioned whether the White House had the votes necessary for a such a costly and comprehensive plan during a recession."

The New York Times (6/22, Henry) reports Sen. Grassley said the Finance Committee "would consider revisiting its version of healthcare legislation to gain more support." An "initial price tag for the Senate Finance Committee's proposal came to $1.6 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That figure caused enough consternation that the chairman, Senator Max Baucus of Montana, postponed a drafting session that was to have begun this week." The Finance Committee's plan "is expected to attract more bipartisan support than legislation being written by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut."

The Los Angeles Times (6/22, Parsons) reports Republicans "questioned the cost of healthcare reform plans, and even" Sen. Feinstein "acknowledged similar concerns and said she wasn't sure there are enough votes among President Obama's fellow Democrats to pass a plan at the moment." The "back-and-forth echoed over the airwaves throughout the day."

The AP (6/22) reports Sen. Lindsey Graham "says the Senate will not let the US 'go down the government-run healthcare road.'" On ABC's This Week, Graham "said Obama's plan would let a government bureaucrat stand between people needing treatment and their doctors." Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) "who is heading the reform effort in the Senate, reminded Graham that a new poll showed the 72 percent of Americans want a government role in healthcare and expressed a willingness to pay higher taxes for that."

In a separate article, the AP (6/22, Babington) notes President Obama "is seeing the downside of his light touch on revamping the nation's healthcare system." Congressional Democrats "are off to a halting start, blindsided by a high cost estimate and divided over how to proceed. The confusion has emboldened Republican critics of the administration's approach to its top domestic priority." But presidential adviser David Axelrod "defended Obama's decision to let Congress work its way through the process rather than 'delivering stone tablets' with directives from the White House."

FOX News (6/21), Bloomberg News (6/22, Ratnam), and CongressDaily (6/21, Strohm, subscription required) also cover the story.