Posted on 08/19/2009 11:06:38 AM PDT by BGHater
The Obama administration is looking hard at pushing through a health care reform bill without Republican backing, top Democrats close to the White House told CNN.
The Democratic majority in the Senate has been stymied in the health care debate by Republicans and conservative Democrats, leaving them short of the 60-vote filibuster-proof margin needed to pass the bill.
Democratic success could depend on an obscure tactic called reconciliation, a type of budget maneuver that requires only a simple majority -- 51 votes -- to pass.
Congressional Democrats authorized the maneuver specifically for health care reform legislation during the debate over the 2010 budget, which passed in April.
One top Senate Republican warned at the time that using reconciliation to pass such a measure would be "like a declaration of war."
Going it alone could be risky for Democrats, not because they couldn't raise the votes, but because Republicans could cast it as a power play, accusing them of failing to win bipartisan support. A Quinnipiac University survey released two weeks ago showed that 59 percent of registered voters nationwide oppose passage of health care legislation if the bill fails to win bipartisan support.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs insisted Wednesday that President Obama has not yet given up hope for a bipartisan plan.
"The president has said countless times he will work with anybody and everybody who wants to work constructively on health care reform," Gibbs said. "We continue to be hopeful that we can get bipartisan support, and we'll continue to work with those that are interested in doing that."
But moving ahead on a more partisan basis might ultimately be a strategy Democrats are willing to employ.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
No problem GPO!
Doh, that’s GOP, GOP, GPO!
Doh!
;-)
Don’t do a GOP_Lady there now, CSM. ;-)
LOL.
Thanks , I put more at #42
That was what I am getting at. He needs us now, not vice versa. So let Obama do the heavy lifting and lead a NEW Blue Dog/Republican bill excluding liberals socialists, or he can go down and his presidency with the liberal nutjobs. ;
Watch MSNBC Maddow, Schulz and Olbermann every night plead with Obama to cut off Senate liberal republicans, it's gold. I get more enjoyment out of this in a week than the last 3 years of Bush
Glad Mccain is NOT president! Glad, Glad, Glad!
The Blue Dogs were only holding up the process because of cost and how quickly the agenda was proceeding. I don’t recall them having concerns over content or government control. Also, they reached agreement, apparently, before the August recess. I’m not sure how much in “play” they are, unless they took their constituent’s concerns to heart. I’m not holding my breath.
Lets get this straight.
Obamas health care plan will be written by a committee whose head says he doesnt understand it and advised by a guy that doesnt believe in the Hippocratic oath, passed by a Congress that hasnt read it and whose members will exempt themselves from it, signed by a president who smokes, funded by a treasury chief who did not pay his taxes, overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that is broke.
What could possibly go wrong?
Nothing. He's going to get the revolt he wants so he can put us under martial law.
Glad Mccain is NOT president! Glad, Glad, Glad!”
It is funny watching this Communist twisting in the wind.
Microsoft National Broadcasting Corporation...
Bill Gates needs to start feeling the heat. Boycott? Maybe we demand Microsoft get out of politics or we start looking for alternatives to the crappy products they sell.
Windows Vista, anyone?
Kicking RINOs out of the R party is easy, the near impossible challenge is to have the Rs be in charge of congress without RINOs winning in liberal areas. Jim DeMint would not win in North East states.
Now personally I would be happy if we had enough seats in house in Senate to block everything, but still be in minority(so they still get the heat). I am not looking forward to republicans in charge again, especially the White House. The fun has just started.
We need a conservative that can communicate conservative ideas clearly and convince voters leaning democrat of freedom. And Iraq invasion type adventures are a lose, cant be sold by any skills.
“Bill Gates needs to start feeling the heat. Boycott? Maybe we demand Microsoft get out of politics or we start looking for alternatives to the crappy products they sell.
Windows Vista, anyone?”
Yes like the holes in his software for starters.
They're looking at polls, and growing discontent. I'm not holding my breath, either, since it's still a matter of the stronger influence -- threats that they will be dumped by Emanuel (who basically controls the DNC purse strings), or whether they can swim on their own. Who the Republican competion is (if any), and whether they can maintain the seat without the support of the DNC are major factors. (And the DNC can always come up with an alternate liar in their place, come the primaries.)
This is very important. MSNBC is Microsoft and they need to feel the heat for sponsoring/creating this liberal propaganda machine. Let Microsoft know that we support busting up the monopoly!
“This is very important. MSNBC is Microsoft and they need to feel the heat for sponsoring/creating this liberal propaganda machine. Let Microsoft know that we support busting up the monopoly!”
Good start there was a time back in the Impeached Rapist days when I was against that but not anymore they have proved to be our enemy.
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