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Posted on 03/20/2010 12:58:15 PM PDT by Steelfish
'Deem and Pass' Out, Overhaul To Get Direct Vote Obama making final pitch for health care overhaul on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON - With a showdown vote on health care legislation set for Sunday in the House, Democrats have dropped a controversial plan to indirectly approve the bill, choosing instead to hold a direct vote on the Senate’s version of the overhaul.
NBC News confirmed the decision on Saturday afternoon, shortly before President Barack Obama arrived on Capitol Hill to meet with the House Democratic caucus. "We are going to get this done," insisted Obama as he walked into the Congressional Visitor Center, the site of Saturday's caucus gathering.
The “deem and pass” procedure would have allowed House Democrats to avoid an up-or-down vote on the Senate bill, which many members dislike because of the bill’s carve-out provisions for individual states. Conservative critics questioned the constitutionality of using the strategy to pass the legislation. Republicans dubbed it “the Slaughter solution” after House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y.
The House is now expected to vote directly on the Senate bill Sunday. Democratic leaders are still seeking the 216 “yes” votes needed to pass the bill and a package of “fixes” to amend some of its unpopular provisions.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., suggested that the decision to scrub the "deem and pass" strategy was in response to the heavy criticism brought on by the GOP. "There was no reason to allow the misinformation campaign to continue," he said. "Despite the fact that Republicans used it, we wanted to make the process absolutely clear."
House Democratic leaders appeared confident Saturday that they had overcome a flare-up within their ranks over abortion funding restrictions in the legislation.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
The president made a final personal appeal during his Saturday afternoon visit to the Capitol. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was also on hand to reassure House rank and file that his chamber would complete the legislation.
Hey Barry! If your commiecare is so fabulous, why the hell do you talk about it as though we’re about to shovel a year’s worth of horse**** out of a corral?
MSNBC - the last to figure it out, I guess.
Oh, that explains why you wanted to hide the votes and voted against the republican request to have them all recorded. I see.
We have the votes yet we need the president to continue to bash heads? Is it any wonder I’m not a progressive?
What does it tell you, that:
1. The Dems. are still having trouble rounding up a majority to vote for this thing.
2. After over a year of back and forth speeches and debates and town halls and all the rest, Democrats and the president are still out there giving campaign style speeches trying to make the case for their bill. They have not made the case to the people or even enough of their own fellow Democrats. So they are still at it, at the 11th hour.
Passed in whatever fashion it may be, this bill will drive the economy permanently to its knees and have a catastrophic effect on Democracy, as Americans come to expect the government to do everything for them save wipe their b*tts while accepting that the same government has the right to select for them which brand of toilet paper they will employ. And to decide everything else in their lives, as well.
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