My Blog
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Scott Brown Criticizes Obama’s Obsession With Health Care Has Wasted the Last Year
Sun. Mar. 14, 01:55am EST
Here’s Scott Brown’s answer to Obama’s Saturday address to the Nation:
original post on www.offmyfrontporch.com » Mike, Sun. Mar. 14, 01:42am EST -
Senator Robert Byrd on Using Reconciliation for Health Care Reform
Sat. Mar. 13, 01:30am EST
Here’s what Mr. Byrd said in April 2009,
“I oppose using the budget reconciliation process to pass health care reform and climate change legislation…. As one of the authors of the reconciliation process, I can tell you that the ironclad parliamentary procedures it authorizes were never intended for this purpose.”
But in March 2010 Byrd is saying, “
I believed then (April 2009) , as now, that the Senate should debate the health reform bill under regular rules, which it did. The result of that debate was the passing of a comprehensive health care reform bill in the Senate by a 60-vote supermajority.
I continue to support the budget reconciliation process for deficit reduction. The entire Senate- or House- passed health care bill could not and would not pass muster under the current reconciliation rules, which were established under my watch.
Yet a bill structured to reduce deficits by, for example, finding savings in Medicare or lowering health care costs, may be consistent with the Budget Act, and appropriately considered under reconciliation.”
Byrd’s statements, although tepid and a bit vague, suggest he would not take a strong public stand against the Democratic plan. Aides had viewed Byrd as a wildcard in the process until they read the letter to the editor, and it was greeted with a sigh of relief.
Byrd is only a single vote. But by signaling comfort with reconciliation to finish health care reform, he provides cover for Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats to argue that their plan is procedurally sound. (Guess you could say in the end Senator Robert Byrd is a true politician in that he flip flops like all the rest depending on the circumstances.)
original post on www.offmyfrontporch.com » Mike, Fri. Mar. 12, 11:32pm EST -
The Louise Slaughter House Solution to Pass Health Care Without Voting On It
Fri. Mar. 12, 01:20pm EST
What? Yes you read the title right, Louise Slaughterhouse has devised a way to get the Health Care Bill passed without voting on it. This is a sign of a desperate Democratic legislature, that doesn’t have the votes to pass the much wanted Health Care Bill.
The Louise Slaughter House Solution
As reported yesterday on HUMAN EVENTS, Pelosi has a new health care bill scheme to bypass a vote on the Senate health care bill. The House would simply “deem” the Senate health care bill as passed as part of the House budget reconciliation “fix” bill vote.
National Journal is reporting that Pelosi buddy and House Rules Committee Chairman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) is devising what Republicans have termed the “Slaughter Solution” — a special rule trick that would seek to bypass a vote on the Senate health care bill “deeming” it passed by in the voting rules for the reconciliation bill.
(Slaughter spoke at the President’s health care “summit” of the dire need for health care reform because people are being forced to wear dead people’s dentures.)
House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was asked about the “deeming” issue at a pen and pad session with print reporters.
“The public has been outraged by a lack of transparency in this bill,” Cantor said. “If the majority and the Speaker can just deem this bill passed in the rule — that means no one has the right to even vote on it in the House and to see their level of support. That is certainly unprecedented in a bill of this size and scope.”
The tyranny of the majority. Slaughter is playing precisely the “rules be damned” game Pelosi has since becoming Speaker. She should be getting calls from every voter across America.
Conrad Says Reconciliation “Hard to See”
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) yesterday told The New York Times that reconciliation cannot be used on a bill: it can only be invoked on an existing law. (That’s also what the parliamentarian said yesterday as well….reconciliation can only be used on “existing law”. Right now the health care bill is just that, “a bill”….not “law.”)
“It’s very hard to see how you draft, and hard to see how you score, a reconciliation bill to another bill that has not been passed and become law,” Conrad said.
Translation: The Senate health care bill must first be passed by the House and signed into law by the President before reconciliation could be used.
Senate parliamentarian Alan Frumin is set to rule on this issue at any time. He met last night with Senate Democrat leaders and representatives from the White House.
original post on www.offmyfrontporch.com » Mike, Fri. Mar. 12, 12:00pm EST -
Senate Parliamentarian has ruled Reconciliation Can’t Be Used For Passing Health Care into Law
Fri. Mar. 12, 01:05am EST
Oops! Now the Senate Parliamentarian tells Republicans that reconciliation can’t be used to pass health care into law. He says the bill must first “be law” before reconciliation can be used to “tweak” it.
Ruling Kills an Option for Moving Health Bill
The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill (into law) before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday. (Oops!)
The Senate Parliamentarian’s Office was responding to questions posed by the Republican leadership. The answers were provided verbally, sources said.
House Democratic leaders have been searching for a way to ensure that any move they make to approve the Senate-passed $871 billion health care reform bill is followed by Senate action on a reconciliation package of adjustments to the original bill. One idea is to have the House and Senate act on reconciliation prior to House action on the Senate’s original health care bill.
Information Republicans say they have received from the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office eliminates that option. House Democratic leaders last week began looking at crafting a legislative rule that would allow the House to approve the Senate health care bill, but not forward it to Obama for his signature until the Senate clears the reconciliation package.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) moved Thursday to put Senate Republicans on the defensive over health care, sending a letter to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in which he dared the GOP to vote against reform.
Reid also defended the Democrats’ use of reconciliation to get a final health care reform bill to the president’s desk, noting that the bulk of health care reform was approved under regular order via the package that cleared the Senate on Christmas Eve. Reid also emphasized that Republicans have used the procedure several times over the years.
However, Reid also promised in the letter that Republicans would have ample opportunity to amend the reconciliation package.
“Reconciliation is designed to deal with budget-related matters, and some have expressed doubt that it could be used for comprehensive health care reform that includes many policies with no budget implications. But the reconciliation bill now under consideration would not be the vehicle for comprehensive reform — that bill already passed outside of reconciliation with 60 votes,” Reid wrote to McConnell.
“Reconciliation will not exclude Republicans from the legislative process. You will continue to have an opportunity to offer amendments and change the shape of the legislation. In addition, at the end of the process, the bill can pass only if it wins a democratic, up-or-down majority vote. If Republicans want to vote against a bill that reduces health care costs, fills the prescription drug ‘donut hole’ for seniors and reduces the deficit, you will have every right to do so,” he said.
original post on www.offmyfrontporch.com » Mike, Fri. Mar. 12, 12:46am EST -
Pelosi goes over health bill, leaves March 18 vote possibility open
Thu. Mar. 11, 09:00pm EST
Translation: We don’t have the votes to pass this right now.
Pelosi goes over health bill, leaves March 18 vote possibility open
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her caucus discussed President Barack Obama’s proposed changes to the Senate healthcare bill on Thursday as she aimed for a vote as early as next week.
Pelosi and Democrats are struggling to garner the 216 votes necessary for approval, with members divided on abortion and deep, caucus-wide mistrust of the Senate. A survey by The Hill shows at least 25 Democrats are either firm or likely “no” votes on healthcare.
Despite a pledge to give members a week to study a bill prior to any vote, Pelosi held open the possibility of a vote by the March 18 deadline set by the White House.
“It may take longer, but we’ll take up the bill when we’re ready to take up the bill,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters after the first caucus meeting. “The March 18 [deadline] is an interesting date, as I say.”
In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) acknowledged much work was left, but said no “arbitrary deadlines” would be set. (Again, because they don’t have the votes!!)
“We’ve made significant progress the last week. We had a very good day yesterday,” he said at a Thursday press conference. “We feel that this is something that we can do. It’s not done yet — and that’s an understatement.”
The strategy adopted by Democrats would have the upper chamber consider a package of changes to the Senate bill under budget reconciliation rules that would prevent a GOP filibuster. But- the Senate will only take this action after the House approves the Senate bill.
That’s a problem, since many House members don’t trust the Senate to act. (I can’t blame them, I wouldn’t either.Just look who they’re asked to trust!)
“We’re in the process of trying to make the Senate bill acceptable to as many House members as possible,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.). “But even the most trusting member, I think, is skeptical of the Senate.”Reid, who huddled with his conference early Thursday afternoon on healthcare, said Senate leaders will “try to do everything we can to satisfy them and any questions they have.”
Members in both chambers hope to see a Congressional Budget Office score of the president’s plan as early as Thursday night. House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-S.C.) said he would convene members of his panel today to prepare for a markup, the final stop for the legislation before it is readied for the floor.
The next stop would be the Rules Committee, where Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) is mulling an arcane maneuver that would allow House Democrats to avoid actually voting on the Senate-passed bill. Slaughter is considering a rule for floor debate that would have the House “deem” the Senate measure as adopted by approving the smaller package. (What the heck?…..these people are getting very desperate to pass this bill any way they can)
Slaughter told reporters no decisions had been made on how to proceed.Democrats at a Thursday caucus meeting expressed frustration over the lack of legislative text (That’s because the new Health Care Bill hasn’t been written yet and that’s why the CBO hasn’t scored it yet as well) , but their leaders said a White House outline and question-and-answer session with White House Director of Health Reform Nancy-Ann DeParle gave the caucus a good idea of the final reconciliation language.
Abortion continues to be a huge problem for House Democrats.
Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill) an anti-abortion-rights Democrat, said as many as a dozen Democrats will vote against the Senate bill unless language matching Rep. Bart Stupak’s (D-Mich.) amendment to the House bill is either attached to the Senate bill or added to the reconciliation legislation.
Stupak wants tougher language to prevent federal funds from being used to pay for abortion services.
Lipinski said those dozen Democrats have rejected a compromise floated by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) that would let the House settle the abortion issue separate from the healthcare bill.
Complicating matters is Pelosi’s own admission that she does not see a way to address the abortion issue through reconciliation.
“Reconciliation is a very narrow discipline and that was emphasized to the members this morning,” she said. “Unless a provision is central to the budget, it cannot be considered.”
Waxman, the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, said all sides are continuing to look for a solution, even though he confessed he doesn’t see one on the immediate horizon.
“I don’t know how we’ll resolve it, but we’ll keep looking,” Waxman said. “We just have to all stay open and keep talking until we see where we end up.”
Another outstanding issue is whether to attach a student-lending bill to the reconciliation vehicle.
original post on www.offmyfrontporch.com » Mike, Thu. Mar. 11, 06:24pm EST
