Posted on 11/11/2015 5:51:52 AM PST by wagglebee
WASHINGTON, D.C., November 10, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- Senate Republicans have "no desire" to pull a Planned Parenthood defunding measure but they may have no choice, a GOP aide told LifeSiteNews.
Last month, House Republicans passed a bill to repeal several components of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through reconciliation, a budget process that avoids a Senate filibuster and requires a simple majority vote instead of the normal 60.
That bill also included a measure to defund Planned Parenthood, which may need to be pulled if the Senate Parliamentarian rules it is not a budgetary measure.
Earlier this year, Elizabeth MacDonough indicated she would hold a repeal of the ACA up to a high standard for reconciliation. That bar may mean that a defunding measure won't pass muster because its intent is more about the effect on Planned Parenthood, not budget savings.
The Hill cited numerous Senate aides and others who say the language is likely to be pulled, though a GOP aide told LifeSiteNews that "there’s no desire to pull the provision," and that "The Hill got ahead of the parliamentarian."
A Senate GOP aide likewise clarified to LifeSiteNews that Members "don’t know how the parliamentarian will rule on the bill. That will impact how the bill text will look."
The bill is also running into political problems: Several moderate GOP senators may not vote for the Planned Parenthood defunding measure. Last month, one of those senators -- Alaskan Lisa Murkowski -- said she is "a supporter of Planned Parenthood."
And three conservative lawmakers running for president of the United States -- Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Ted Cruz of Texas -- say the House bill doesn't go far enough, which may cause the Senate to make the bill more expansive in terms of repealing portions of the ACA.
The Hill reports that the House's bill maintains several tax increases, health insurance subsidies, and Medicaid expansion. It repeals the so-called "Cadillac tax" on high-end employer-provided health plans, the medical device tax, and mandates to purchase and provide insurance plans.
Regardless of what the final legislation includes, it is considered dead on arrival in the White House, given the president's support for Planned Parenthood and the ACA.
Phone number to call your senator: (202) 224-3121
The sum total of the GOP's attitude toward conservatives is that they "want" to help, but just can't.
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Murkowski R Al supports PP. Too bad her mother did not feel the same way.
Goodbye GOP...
One can ALWAYS trust the GOP (undocumented Democrats)
to remain EXEMPT and lie, lie, lie.
It is the GOP way.
What they're doing...and it's not all PP facilities...can likely be stopped by the courts...and they could be fined.
The obvious is that after we get the House, Senate & the White House...no more funding PP in any way, shape or form. All their benefits are obtainable through Obamacare doctors.
How could the Senate Parliamentarian rule that it is not a ‘budgetary measure’?? It is money in the budget, isn’t it? Oh wait, is the Senate Parliamentarian a Dem??
Planned Parenthood = Baby Butchers, Inc.
Defund them NOW.
The ‘Bend Over And Spread Your Cheeks’ party.
Our leaders continue to bring down the curse of Baal upon us.
Leave it in. They’re looking for excuses not to defund.
Tell me again why we need these worthless t*rds up in Washington spending out money?
I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.
Just called Cruz’s office, it is true.
The gop is just as much of a plantation for conservatives as the rat party is for libs. If they actually accomplished what they set out to do, the need for them would disappear.
I say cut to the chase: there is no need for either. Stay home and do something useful rather than play their rigged election games.
Somebody remind me who elects the Senate Parliamentarian.
Withdrawing a budget measure on the opinion of an unelected individual is outrageous. But then in Mitch McConnell’s Senate, “outrageous” is sort of the order of the day.
I thought they already stabbed us in the back on this one. Who knew?
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