Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama will “own the pulpit” during the August congressional recess, giving Democrats a chance to sell a health-care overhaul to American voters, the U.S. Senate’s No. 2 Democrat said.

Dick Durbin, of Illinois, urged lawmakers to be flexible on the details so Congress can seize a “once-in-a-political- lifetime opportunity” to revamp the nation’s medical-care system. He predicted the Senate Finance Committee would approve a bipartisan measure when Congress returns in September.

The task of making sure “the best isn’t the enemy of the good” is made more difficult by the absence of Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, 77, who is battling brain cancer, Durbin said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing today. Kennedy’s “voice at this moment would make such a difference” by “gathering us together and moving us forward.”

On the issue of trimming health-care costs, there was some confusion over what the White House was telling Congress about whether drugmakers would have to absorb cuts beyond the $80 billion the industry agreed to earlier this year.

Durbin said Obama adviser David Axelrod told Democratic senators the agreement doesn’t bar Congress from requiring further cuts, disputing a New York Times report yesterday.

Durbin aides later said the senator was mistaken in quoting Axelrod. Still, spokesman Joe Shoemaker said another Obama aide, Jim Messina, told the lawmakers the deal didn’t protect the drug industry from congressionally imposed rules on negotiating prices for a Medicare drug benefit.

‘Dominate the News’

Durbin, 64, said Congress’s August break is a good time for Obama to sell the health-care overhaul to the Americans.

“Most presidents can’t wait for Congress to leave town,” he said. “They own the pulpit” and can “really dominate the news.”

Lawmakers will go back to their home states and districts to discuss the issue with voters, among whom polls show a rising disapproval of the way Obama has handled health care.

“Although there’s been a lot of misinformation out there, when the voters across America, all stripes, hear the basic goals of health-care reform, they come back,” Durbin said.

Durbin said he would be willing to accept compromises with Republicans to win Senate passage of legislation because “I don’t want this process to stop.”

Insurance Cooperatives

One possible compromise would be a health-insurance-buying cooperative instead of creating a public insurance company to compete with private health insurers. Durbin said he “might support” such an alternative, which is being considered in the finance committee as Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, seeks support from Republican senators.

Even though he prefers that the legislation include a more robust public insurance plan, Durbin said, “I don’t want to see it die in the Senate if it isn’t perfect by every senator’s standards.”

Durbin opposes taxing health-care benefits provided to individuals by employers. Still, he said that to help finance the plan he may support taxing insurance companies that offer expensive plans.

“The number is important in terms of what the value of the plan is,” Durbin said. “And whether it is a tax on the insurance companies, or the person being insured makes a big difference. If it’s on the companies and the level of the tax is one that I can live with, I think that’s an appropriate way to push.”

Levy on Insurers

Durbin said he could support a levy on plans valued “a little bit higher” than $21,000, a figure being discussed in the Senate Finance Committee.

If they can’t get a bipartisan agreement, Senate leaders have threatened to invoke a procedure called “reconciliation” to pass legislation with just a 51-vote margin instead of the 60 votes normally needed to move legislation in the Senate.

“I wouldn’t put it at the probable status, but I would put it in the possible status” because the Senate “left that opening” when it passed a budget resolution earlier this year, Durbin said.

Quoting Obama, Durbin said “obviously we’re going to keep reconciliation as an option. We’d rather not go that route.”

Durbin was less optimistic that the Senate could pass its version of climate-change legislation before December, when Obama attends the world global-warming conference in Denmark.

“The president has urged us to do to this so we’ll have credibility at Copenhagen,” Durbin said. “This is not an easy lift,” because of the Senate’s workload and the limited time to consider climate legislation already passed by the House.

“We can still do it, but it’s a question of timing,” he said.

Probe Into Abuses

On the treatment of suspected terrorists detained after the Sept. 11 attacks, Durbin said Attorney General Eric Holder should consider further action depending on the outcome of investigations into alleged Bush administration abuses in fighting terrorism.

“As this information comes in from the Bush-era investigations, it will be an opportunity to judge whether we should go forward,” Durbin said. “I don’t think we should rule it out.”

Prosecutors are completing an investigation of the Central Intelligence Agency’s destruction of videotapes of interrogations of suspected terrorists. The agency has also reviewed whether Justice Department lawyers violated ethical duties or department regulations in approving harsh interrogation techniques.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 6, 2009 22:37 EDT