Healthcare Reform Thread II

[DanS]

If Stupak sticks to his guns (and I don't see why he wouldn't at this point), what's the point of this farce other than to further shame the Democratic majority?

I don't know that the Dems are even expecting the bill to pass. Maybe at this point, they are already trying to dress up the failure -- although this seems like a strange way to do it. Today, Hoyer said that the abortion provision in the Senate bill won't be revisited. So it's take it or leave it for Stupak, et al.

Also, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Friday that Democratic leaders are not discussing a third way to placate Democratic opponents of abortion in an effort to win their votes on the final bill.

Outside the closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting, he brushed aside concerns that Democrats cannot pass a bill without the votes of Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and his cohort.

“We have not discussed a third way,” Hoyer told reporters. “I’ve talked to Mr. Stupak, but I made it clear I wasn’t negotiating. It is clear that that matter cannot be dealt with per se in the reconciliation bill. We’ll have to deal with it pretty much as it is at this point in time.”

He suggested that some anti-abortion Democrats may support the health care bill with the current language.

“We don’t want to go without their votes, but we do want to forge ahead,” Hoyer added. “As you know, Mr. Stupak has made it very, very clear that he’s very strongly in favor of achieving health care reform in this Congress. And I think that a lot of his colleagues feel the same way.”

Hoyer said Democrats “are hopeful that we’ll get the majority, and we believe we’ll get the majority.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34335.html

[Drake Tungsten]

Pelosi is going to come very close to passing this; it sounds like she's close to flipping the members of the Stupak bloc that she needs.

[DaShi]

That's a lot of sex for her.

[Drake Tungsten]

Wow. It looks like Pelosi doesn't even need to get enough votes, as they're going to skip voting on the Senate bill altogether...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her members Friday to brace themselves for a climatic health care vote as early as next week, warning them to clear their schedules for next weekend and promising to stay in session until the landmark vote, people present said afterwards.

President Barack Obama has postponed an overseas trip until March 21 presumably so he can be in Washington for the climactic vote. Asked about the scheduling change, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "I am delighted the president will be here for the passage of the bill. It is going to be historic."

In addition, it looks like House Democrats won't have to vote directly on a Senate bill they really don't like. The speaker hasn't made a final decision, but she told her rank-and-file during the meeting that the plan now is to craft a rule that would "deem" the Senate bill passed once they approve the package of fixes.

That means they would vote on the rule and the so-called reconciliation package, which would make changes to the Senate bill and only requires 51 votes to pass in the Upper Chamber. In addition, the package of changes would also include a student lending bill that was paired with health care through the reconciliation process, leaders told their members on Friday.

All of this could change if the speaker faces major resistance from her rank-and-file, but it would mean Democrats won't be forced to cast a vote specifically in favor of the Senate bill, which included a series of controversial deals.

http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0310/House_Democrats_told_to_stick_around_next_weekend.html

I'm actually shocked at how brazen this is.

[DaShi]

I knew she was a tease.

[DanS]

The WaPo is coming out against these shenanigans. Here's the editorial.

Health-reform vote deserves a reasonable process

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

WE UNDERSTAND the administration's sense of urgency on health-care reform. But what is intended as a final sprint threatens to turn into something unseemly and, more important, contrary to Democrats' promises of transparency and time for deliberation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Monday that she is leaning toward a parliamentary maneuver under which the House would vote on a package of changes to the Senate-approved reform bill, and the underlying Senate bill would then be "deemed" to have passed, even though the House had never voted on it. That may help some House members dodge a politically difficult decision, but it strikes us as a dodgy way to reform the health-care system. Democrats who vote for the package will be tagged with supporting the Senate bill in any event. Why not be straightforward about it?

More worrying is that Congress and the country have yet to see the changes, for which Democrats hope to win quick House approval and which they then hope to speed through the Senate under a procedure that would bar filibusters. These changes -- the so-called reconciliation bill -- are not all minor "fixes"; some could have far-reaching consequences. Such changes deserve to be fully understood and debated before they are voted on. The speaker's office says the week-long "conversation" that Nancy Pelosi promised to have with members is taking place and that they are waiting for the final word from the Congressional Budget Office before releasing the package; in any event, they say, lawmakers and the public will have 72 hours to consider the changes. But why be so secretive about it? Any number of measures -- including versions of the health-care bill itself -- have been unveiled without CBO scores.

The health-care debate has been going on longer than a year, and House members want to get it over with. They don't want it hanging over them during the Easter recess. President Obama wants progress to have been made before he leaves for Indonesia on Sunday. These are understandable desires, but they don't outweigh the need for a reasonable process on a matter of such importance.

[DaShi]

Sadly, the otherside has shown that reason is impossible. The Dems are left with their only option. A pity that they wasted so much time and allowed so many compromises to begin with.

[rah]

I assumed that "otherside" included some dem or they wouldn't have to do it the sleazy way.

[MrFun]

He better have meant that - the issue of health care is more complicated than just "Democrats versus Republicans."

[DinoDoc]

I assumed that "otherside" included some dem or they wouldn't have to do it the sleazy way.

The otherside seems to be the American people themselves at this point.

[rah]

Yes, the american people will get screwed just because OBAMA wants to claim any type of victory on health care at this point. Unfortunately he's going to screw us for decades for that victory.

[Jon Miller]

We are already screwed.

JM

[DaShi]

Wow, you guys are ignorant.

[MrFun]

Wow, I am ignorant.

We'll do our best to educate you.

[DaShi]

Thank you for proving my point. You people don't even know what part of the health bill you aren't supposed to like.