Will The Hispanic Caucus Object To Health Care Reform? (Over "harsh immigration provisions")

Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership projected confidence last night that they could finish off their health care bill, claiming progress on key issues and even procedural hurdles. For instance, there is more talk about a “self-executing rule,” allowing the House to take on the Senate bill and the fixes within the same vote, although parliamentary questions have been raised over the tactic.

However, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, quiet until now despite the probability of the Senate’s bill becoming the baseline product, has now spoken up, threatening to take down the bill over the harsh immigration provisions in the Senate version. These provisions include the banning of undocumented workers from the exchanges, even to purchase health insurance with their own money.

Hispanic Democrats say they haven’t moved from their stance that they will not vote for a healthcare bill containing the Senate’s prohibitions.

They claim that while it may be politically popular in some parts of the country to ban illegal immigrants from using their own money to buy coverage, it is not good policy. Illegal immigrants will, one way or another, need medical attention in the United States, and it would be cheaper and more humane to provide them coverage if they pay for it. Otherwise, they will seek treatments in the nation’s emergency rooms, effectively increasing medical costs [...]

On Wednesday, members of the CHC privately acknowledged they’ve told their leaders that anyone who is assuming they’ve backed away from their position is in for a rude awakening.

“The [Hispanic] Caucus didn’t want to raise it as an issue too early,” one Hispanic Democrat said Wednesday. “But it’s real. It’s a problem.”

Pelosi has met with Hispanic Caucus members recently to try and assuage concerns. And the President is doing the same today.

There’s no path to 216 votes without the Hispanic Caucus on board, and that means every member. But they are stymied in much the way Bart Stupak and his abortion caucus are stymied. There’s no way for the immigration provisions to change through reconciliation, leading to the need for a side bill. And I can’t count to 60 votes for any loosening of the restrictions in a standalone bill in the Senate.

Let me say that I don’t actually believe that Hispanic Caucus members will pull the trigger on this and sink the bill. This is the negotiation phase, and they’ll probably be content to secure future changes. The President has conspicuously been meeting with Senate leaders about an immigration bill this week; offer a path to citizenship for everyone in the country and the provision affecting undocumented workers suddenly has no meaning. Maybe the CHC will bargain to drop this absurd biometric ID card provision in the immigration reform bill. Maybe they’ll secure some other future promise. But I don’t see the hardcore rhetoric or credible threats coming from this group.

One thing you do get from this article – Henry Cuellar is a yes on the bill. Some whip counts had him as a maybe.

If I understood Paul Ryan today, the gimmick now is that, starting Monday the Budget Committee will start marking up the House Reconciliation provisions in a separate bill, which will be sent then to the Rules Committee. Once there, It will be doctored up with all of the provisions either added or subtracted that all the Democrats have issues with. That will move to the floor behind the Senate Health Care Bill which has to be voted on FIRST and then signed into law by Zerobama. When he does, Pelosi is going to give the House Dems the opportunity to pass their “Reconciliation” provisions to send to the Senate. Only..the Senate will have ZERO reason to take up any changes to their bill once the House passes it.

So it comes down to this: how many House Democrats are stupid enough to think we can be fooled by this procedure designed to give them cover against voter wrath in November; or stupid enough to think the Senate will actually address their “Reconciliation”?

Do I have that about right, factually speaking?

Defeat Obamacare call list: List now contains the new MAYBES culled from FR posts.
PLEASE CALL! DC OFFICE LOCAL OFFICE State District

Code Red” - House Target List on Health Care

The National Republican Congressional Committee has published a target list on health care. In addition to continuing to contact the five Tennessee Democrat Congressmen, you can go http://www.votervoice.net/link/clickthrough/ext/94697.aspx to contact some of these targets. Much of the talk following Obama’s announcement has focused on how to defeat this second bill through reconciliation, but that is misleading because the first step to defeating Obamacare is not by concentrating on defeating the “fixer” bill but by defeating the Senate bill in the House when it goes to the floor for an up-or-down vote on Thursday, March 18th.

Rep. Lincoln Davis 202-225-6831 Columbia office: 931-490-8699
Rep. Jim Cooper 202-225-4311 Nashville office: 615-736-5295
Rep. Bart Gordon 202-225-4231 Murfreesboro office: 615-896-1986
John Tanner (202) 225-4714, Union City, (731) 885-7070, Jackson Phone: (731) 423-4848, Millington (901) 873-5690 TN (MAYBE)
Rep. Steve Cohen 202-225-3265 Memphis office: 901-544-4131
Harry Mitchell (202) 225-2190 (480) 946-2411 AZ 5th District
Gabrielle Giffords (202) 225-2542 (520) 881-3588 AZ 8th District
Ann Kirkpatrick (202) 225-2315 (928) 226-6914 AZ 1st District
Jerry McNerney (202) 225-1947 925-833-0643 CA 11th District
John Salazar 202-225-4761 970-245-7107 CO 3rd District
Jim Himes (202) 225-5541 (866) 453-0028 CT 4th District
Alan Grayson (202) 225-2176 (407) 841-1757 FL 8th District
Bill Foster (202) 225-2976 630-406-1114 IL 14th District
Baron Hill 202 225 5315 812 288 3999 IN 9th District
Mark Schauer (202) 225-6276 (517) 780-9075 MI 7th District
Gary Peters (202) 225-5802 (248) 273-4227 MI 9th District
Dina Titus (202) 225-3252 702-256-DINA (3462) NV 3rd District
Carol Shea-Porter (202) 225-5456 (603) 743-4813 NH 1st District
Tim Bishop (202) 225-3826 (631) 696-6500 NY 1st District
John Hall (202) 225-5441 (845) 225-3641 x49371 NY 19th District
Bill Owens (202) 225-4611 (315) 782-3150 NY 23rd District
Mike Arcuri (202)225-3665 (315)793-8146 NY 24th District
Dan Maffei (202) 225-3701 (315) 423-5657 NY 25th District
Earl Pomeroy (202) 225-2611 (701) 224-0355 ND At-Large District
Steven Driehaus (202) 225-2216 (513) 684-2723 OH 1st District
Mary Jo Kilroy (202) 225-2015 (614) 294-2196 OH 15th District
Zach Space (202) 225-6265 (330) 364-4300 OH 18th District
Kathy Dahlkemper (202) 225-5406 (814) 456-2038 PA 3rd District
Patrick Murphy (202) 225-4276 (215) 826-1963 PA 8th District
Christopher Carney (202) 225-3731 (570) 585-9988 PA 10th District
Paul Kanjorski (202) 225-6511 (570) 825-2200 PA 11th District
John Spratt (202) 225-5501 (803)327-1114 SC 5th District
Tom Perriello (202) 225-4711 (276) 656-2291 VA 5th District
Alan Mollohan (202) 225-4172 (304) 623-4422 WVA 1st District
Nick Rahall (202) 225-3452 (304) 252-5000 WVA 3rd District
Steve Kagen (202) 225-5665 (920) 437-1954 WI 8th District

Bart Stupak (202) 225 4735 MI (MAYBE)
Brian Baird (202) 225-3536, Vancouver, (360) 695-6292. Olympia, (360) 352-9768, (MAYBE)
senator mark begich (202) 224-3004 toll free. (877) 501 - 6275 just became a MAYBE
Jason Altmire 202-225-2565, Aliquippa, 724-378-0928,
Natrona Heights, 724-226-1304 (MAYBE)

On the Bubble (Major developments from the “yes” and “no” columns in the House)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2467046/posts

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