Posted on 12/22/2011 9:11:22 AM PST by 11th_VA
Democratic leaders on Wednesday said they are not interested in passing a standalone bill to delay scheduled Medicare reimbursement cuts for physicians, as some Republicans have suggested, The Hill reports. Instead, they urged House Republicans to pass a Senate-approved two-month extension of a payroll tax break that includes a two-month delay to the Medicare cuts (Bolton, The Hill, 12/21).
(snip)
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), an obstetrician and co-chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus, said House leaders should not accept any proposal without a two-year doc fix, but he acknowledged that if lawmakers cannot reach an agreement, they might consider a standalone bill to address the issue during the next session (California Healthline, 12/21). (snip)
Conference Committee Before Year's End Unlikely
CNN reported several reasons why a conference committee will not work to forge a compromise between the House and Senate on the payroll tax break and doc fix, including:
The process of establishing the committee includes procedural steps that can last for 10 days, leaving lawmakers no time to negotiate before the new year;
Conference committee rules restrict negotiations to the specific differences between the House and Senate proposals, blocking discussion of new measures that could entice agreement; and The final agreement cannot include measures that were not part of legislation from either chamber, again discouraging negotiation of potentially prolific ideas (Cohen, CNN, 12/21).
“CNN reported several reasons why a conference committee will not work “
... which can all be overcome by unanimous consent, and unanimous consent is the TYPICAL peocedure in the Senate.
The House is already ready, every reasonable thing to negotiate has been included in bills.
The negotiations can be done by phone, then two or three members of each chamber show up to pass it by voice vote. Happens often.
I hate our lying media.
Democrat intransigence.
Good, I hope Medicare implodes and providers exit Medicare en masse. We need private contracting for routine procedures and visits. Medicare can be used for catastrophic expenses.
There is nothing that can convince me that the Republicans in DC are not trying to give Obama a second term.
Nothing.
They are doing everything except actively campaigning for him.
I am sickened.
I am energized...to vote out every lib/rino/loser that I can all the way down to dogcatcher.
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