“They can’t move forward on the Bill until the House passes the Senate version, and 205 votes won’t do it.”
That’s not true. There is nothing in the rules that would prevent the Senate from voting on the reconciliation conference report before the House votes on the Senate bill. The order that the bills pass is completely irrelevent. The only thing that matters is that the President signs them in the correct order. Pelosi can give the bills to the Pres in any order she wants.
That doesn't make sense. The senate bill could go into bicameral conference committee and add changes after the reconciliation bill passed in the senate. In that case, parts of the reconciliation bill could refer to nonexistent parts of the conference bill. How in the hell can a parliamentarian rule on changes if he is not sure what the original bill has in it?
Maybe this will spawn a new legal specialty: "Reconciliation interpretation."
You cannot reconcile a non-existent law. Don’t believe me?
Here is what Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee Chairman said:
“The general rule is, if there is reconciliation, you have to amend something that is passed [and signed into law]. You can’t amend nothing.”
The House must pass the Senate Bill first. San Fran Nan has 205 votes MAX. So sorry...No Obamacare for you.
Its dead Jim.