Posted on 02/23/2010 1:20:08 PM PST by OldDeckHand
Now that the White House and Democrats are making a last push to pass their so-far-unpassable national health care bills, the only thing that matters is whether they can get 217 votes for victory in the House and 50 votes (plus the vice-president's tie-breaker) for reconciliation in the Senate. Good policy doesn't matter. Bad policy doesn't matter. All that matters is votes.
The White House and Democrats have lost sight of the essential insanity of the process -- desperately searching for corners to cut so they can pass an enormous re-ordering of the American economy that Americans don't want -- because all they can think about now is passing something. It could be anything, as long as it is "comprehensive."
So where are the votes? Start in the House. House Democrats have to do two things. First, they have to pass the health care bill that Senate Democrats passed on December 24 -- Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase and all. They could stop there and send the bill to the president's desk, but that, of course, is not going to happen. So they then have to pass a set of agreed-upon "fixes" to the Senate bill that the Senate would then pass by using the reconciliation process. (The fixes will start in the House; reconciliation bills have to originate in the House because all revenue measures have to originate in the House.)
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
That's the $64K question. It's also possible that Obama's version is just a stalking horse or sacrificial lamb, to be intended to be disposed in favor of the original Senate bill married to a Reconciliation Bill passed by both Houses.
It's anyone's guess as to what their real strategy is here, and it might be presumptive to believe that they actually have a strategy.
No. He signs a bill only after it passes both houses of Congress in identical form.
It doesn't contain the strong anti-abortion language and therefore won't pass.
Reconcilation bills only deals with the budget.
What Obama needs is the money from the taxes he has already put into his budget.
So, they may pass the reconcilation bill without passing the health care bill.
Adding money into the Senate Bill won't get it passed.
thehill.com
President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform proposal released Monday eliminates controversial funds given to Nebraska as part of a deal to win the support of centrist Sen. Ben Nelson (D).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) offered the $100 million in Medicaid funding, also known as the “Cornhusker Kickback,” to Nelson to help win him over* as the 60th vote on the Senate’s healthcare reform bill last December.
But the deal eventually backfired. During merger negotiations with the Senate, House leaders said the “kickback” was an unfair deal struck for Nebraska that was not available to other states and was given only to attract Nelson’s support.
Byron York just about always makes good, cogent arguments. I’d go out of my way to read his stuff.
If they have the votes, they’d call for the floor vote.
it is not making any sense unless it is a misdirection play (suck all of the oxygen out of the room and keep us fixated on health care while Obamba slides in a bunch of other stuff behind the scenes)
So, they may pass the reconcilation bill without passing the health care bill.
Barry doesnt give a crap about people and insurance. He wants the money. If he can just get that.
Remember, the original Senate bill becomes nothing more than window dressing after the Reconciliation Bill passes. IOWs, forget about the original Senate bill, and whatever problems that original Senate bill contains, for anyone. - the abortion language, the Cadillac Tax etc, all become moot with the passage of the Reconciliation Bill.
The fight will be over the Reconciliation Bill. If Pelosi/Reid can get the Reconciliation Bill passed first, then the passing of the original Senate bill becomes inevitable, as a practical matter.
An Executive Order only applies to the Executive Branch. It is not a general law.
Let us remember that without this government take over of 20% of our economy, all of nobama's other Marxist schemes will never happen.
For nobama, this is "must pass" legislation. I suspect if he can't get it through Congress that he will try something through an Exceutive Order. And that's where things will get real interesting.
I don't believe that's the question he was asking. He was asking, in which order must Obama pass these two pieces of legislation - the original Senate bill (passed by the House) and the Reconciliation Bill (passed by both Houses).
Short answer: No. No need for "reconciliation" if the House rubber-stamps the bill and sends it straight to the President's desk.
There will be no "reconciliation bill" because it will be piecemeal. The dodge will be when they try to make serious policy using a maneuver that's designed for strictly fiscal matters, which is what they're trying to do. The Parliamentarian of the Senate will have to rule if that's what's going on (which is improper and against the rules). It is Biden's option, as President of the Senate, to overrule the Parliamentarian.
Not exactly accurate. Some Executive Orders do have full force of law. IOW, they become US law. Others, do not.
Remember, in one of the most famous and controversial application of an Executive Order, Truman tried to nationalize the Steel industry in 1952. If the Supreme Court hadn't ruled such a order unconstitutional, it would have been US law.
Also, Congress can undo Executive Orders with bills they pass in both Houses. If the President were to Veto such a bill, the Congress would have to override the Veto with a 2/3rds vote.
So in essence, the Speaker is holding the passed unsigned not real bill hostage until the Senate signs off on the reconciliation of a non-existent program.
Lies are easy to understand ...
Article 1 Section 7:
All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.So as I see it, since the Senate passed the bill first, the taxes contained within are un-Constitutional. Followed by the un-Constitutional procedure of not allowing the bill to be signed by the Pres, but held hostage to insure the Senate acts.Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States;
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States;
And so who in the Senate is going to stop this un-Constitutional procedure? And what can we do ... we should not allow this clearly un-Constitutional procedure to take place. We should squawk most loudly against this clear Constitutional violation.
Yes, no ??
No, it isn't that simple.
The Reconciliation Bill only deals with budget issues.
For comprehensive care to exist, it must be voted on a major Bill, not just a reconciliation Bill.
The fight will be over the Reconciliation Bill. If Pelosi/Reid can get the Reconciliation Bill passed first, then the passing of the original Senate bill becomes inevitable, as a practical matter.
No, the passing of the Senate version would not be inevitable.
The Reconciliation bill is not going to contain most of the provisions of the Senate version and that Bill would be defeated.
I realized after I posted that's what he was asking. Sorry for the confusion.
No, it's Biden's prerogative to call for a vote to override the Parliamentarian. It still takes 60 votes (or, it could be 2/3rd - I can't remember which) in the Senate to overrule the Parliamentarian.
I agree!
He knows the major provisions of the Health Care Bill are dead, but he still wants to get that money he was counting on for collecting the first 3 years before the health care 'benefits' kicked in!
What a scam!
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