Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Did the Senate Parliamentarian Just Kill Obamacare?
Weekly Standard ^

Posted on 03/11/2010 1:03:57 PM PST by Sub-Driver

Did the Senate Parliamentarian Just Kill Obamacare? BY John McCormack March 11, 2010 3:39 PM

This is big, big news (if true):

The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.

The Senate Parliamentarian’s Office was responding to questions posed by the Republican leadership. The answers were provided verbally, sources said.

House Democratic leaders have been searching for a way to ensure that any move they make to approve the Senate-passed $871 billion health care reform bill is followed by Senate action on a reconciliation package of adjustments to the original bill. One idea is to have the House and Senate act on reconciliation prior to House action on the Senate’s original health care bill.

Information Republicans say they have received from the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office eliminates that option. House Democratic leaders last week began looking at crafting a legislative rule that would allow the House to approve the Senate health care bill, but not forward it to Obama for his signature until the Senate clears the reconciliation package.

House Democrats do not trust the Senate; they do not want to pass the Senate bill--with all the special deals in it--and hope the Senate will fix these problems and others later. Even Democrat Michael Capuano of Massachusetts is expressing very grave concerns about passing the Senate bill unamended.

If this report is true, the parliamentarian's ruling seems to nix the "Slaughter Solution," whereby the House would deem the Senate bill passed only after the reconciliation bill is passed by both the House and the Senate.

So where do Democrats go from here? One possibility is that Harry Reid will fire the Senate parliamentarian.

If Democrats really think they can get away with such a heavy-handed move in the first place, they might as well replace the parliamentarian with Rahm Emanuel and kill two birds with one stone.


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last
Sure is confusing.........
1 posted on 03/11/2010 1:03:57 PM PST by Sub-Driver
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Can Joe Biden overrule this?


2 posted on 03/11/2010 1:05:51 PM PST by paudio (Are you better off today than in 2006, when the Democrats took over the Congress?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Do you suppose Karl Rove or Newt Gingrich (Dick Morris)? will be on tonight to explain it? They can usually put things in a way that is easier to understand (IMHO)...


3 posted on 03/11/2010 1:06:44 PM PST by NEMDF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Anything on the news about this yet??


4 posted on 03/11/2010 1:07:19 PM PST by acoulterfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paudio

Yes but his ruling can be overturned by a Senate vote. Also, Biden overturning this decision goes against the tradition of how the Senate is run but these days that might not count for much.


5 posted on 03/11/2010 1:09:43 PM PST by C19fan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

I don’t care how bad a RINO Scott Brown is for the rest of his term, he’s got my vote...


6 posted on 03/11/2010 1:09:48 PM PST by neodad (USS Vincennes (CG 49) "Freedom's Fortress")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Good for the Parliamentarian...these people are evil criminals.


7 posted on 03/11/2010 1:09:57 PM PST by BreezyDog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

No it’s not.

He will sign it.

They will never get around to reconciling it.

Remember there’s a deficit of trust for a good reason...


8 posted on 03/11/2010 1:12:05 PM PST by Freddd (CNN is down to Three Hundred Thousand viewers. But they worked for it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
One possibility is that Harry Reid will fire the Senate parliamentarian.

I wouldn't put it past him.

9 posted on 03/11/2010 1:13:07 PM PST by CharacterCounts (November 4, 2008 - the day America drank the Kool-Aid)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CharacterCounts

I don’t wish Robert Byrd any ill but wouldn’t it cap off his career and this Health Care round if he fell over dead on the Senate floor defending Senate rules.


10 posted on 03/11/2010 1:25:37 PM PST by dblshot (Insanity - electing the same people over and over and expecting different results.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

“One possibility is that Harry Reid will fire the Senate parliamentarian.”

OR, they could send him to Arkansas and have the Clintons’ pals take care of him.


11 posted on 03/11/2010 1:30:33 PM PST by ZULU (Non nobis, non nobis, Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. God, Guts and Guns made America great.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dblshot

If we could put that older than dirt fellow on Obamacare, this mess would be over by Friday afternoon. ;>)


12 posted on 03/11/2010 1:40:22 PM PST by Gator113 (I do not want Obama IMPEACHED... I want him IMPRISONED.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Did the Senate Parliamentarian Just Kill Obamacare?

This week’s version...


13 posted on 03/11/2010 1:48:17 PM PST by Common Sense 101
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Nah...the democRATS will just ignore rules and decorum and protocol. They believe “all means justify the end”.


14 posted on 03/11/2010 1:51:35 PM PST by ajay_kumar (Need more Republicans of all stripes in congress to stop Obama's socialist agenda)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

This ought to stop them for about 5 minutes. They’ll do it any way they can, and damn the rules or the consequences. The only question is whether they still have enough support even for that.

As Steyn and others have pointed out, if they manage to ram healthcare through, it will be a game changer, and the left will profit immensely in the long run.

But in the short run, these guys are going to lose their jobs, and it’s not clear how many will be willing to do that. Or will Obama just buy them all off?


15 posted on 03/11/2010 1:58:39 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Fun to watch the Obama machine screw away their 2nd year, on this issue.

Possessing better political instincts, the Clintons dropped it once it went bad.


16 posted on 03/11/2010 2:03:00 PM PST by truth_seeker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

17 posted on 03/11/2010 2:24:22 PM PST by Bean Counter (I keeps mah feathers numbered, for just such an emergency...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: paudio
Can Joe Biden overrule this?

Yes.

18 posted on 03/11/2010 2:42:26 PM PST by InterceptPoint
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: paudio

I thought biden (pres of the senate) could overrule anything he did or said too.


19 posted on 03/11/2010 2:59:09 PM PST by Cheapskate (Play loud and carry BIG sticks!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
So where do Democrats go from here? One possibility is that Harry Reid will fire the Senate parliamentarian.

Or they could have a virtual reconciliation bill, sort of like a virtual fence at the border that doesn't stop anyone. Obama can just pretend it passed and direct his czars to start enforcing it.

20 posted on 03/11/2010 3:44:34 PM PST by Reaganwuzthebest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson