Democratic Leaders Plan Secret Health Reform Deliberations

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Despite their claims to the contrary, the way that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have handled the healthcare bill has been anything but transparent. And, if the left-wing blogosphere is to be believed, the two congressional leaders intend to keep the deliberations secret as they try to merge the House and Senate versions of the legislation into something that will pass both chambers.

The Talking Points Memo website reported Monday that Democrats in both the House and Senate are saying the process will likely follow the path of the House taking up the Senate-passed legislation, amending it and sending it back to the Senate, which will have to pass it again. "This process cuts out the Republicans," a House Democratic aide told TPM, indicating the congressional majority intended to make sure the Republican minority would "not have a motion to recommit opportunity."

It also, say those who are following the issue, allows Pelosi to avoid having to cut deals with problematic House Democrats like Michigan's Bart Stupak, who has promised to do what he can to scuttle the final bill if it provides for federal funding of abortions.

Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is saying much the same thing, according to David Dayen at FireDogLake, another prominent left-wing website.

Dayen reported that the powerful California Democrat told constituents he would be coming back to Washington Tuesday to begin negotiations with Senate leaders and the White House about what a final healthcare bill will look like—even though the House doesn't come back into session until January 12.

According to Waxman, the process for moving will not include the standard House/Senate conference committee, because the motions to select and instruct conferees in the Senate "would need 60 votes all over again." Instead, whatever agreements made could be packaged in an amendment to the bills passed by the House and Senate.

By blocking out the Republicans—not to mention House Democrats who object to what the Senate passed—Pelosi and Reid are setting up a protracted game of "ping-pong," in which the legislation goes back and forth from the Senate to the House and back to the Senate again. They may be able to prevail as far as the legislation goes, ultimately, but at enormous cost to their majorities. And that may be the biggest secret of all as far as the healthcare debate is concerned, or at least the one Pelosi and Reid are most concerned about.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/peter-roff/201...iberations.html

[Danno 1,228]

There must be some mistake, I heard with my own ears Obama pledge he was going to "fundamentally change the way business in done in Washington.

Of course many snickered but did you see those dolts with "tears in their eyes" on election night..... it was like they actually believed, sheesh, Hopes for this democracy grow dimmer by the day.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Oh man your so TRANSPARENT!

[JimandChristy 1,689]

Looks like they've taken a page out of the Republicans book in how to get legislation through the house and the senate.

[Danno 1,228]

Looks like they've taken a page out of the Chicago play-book in how to get legislation through the house and the senate.

Here let me fix that for you.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Looks like they've taken a page out of the Republicans book in how to get legislation through the house and the senate.

Takin what you can get? Love IT! Beggars cant be a choosin!

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

HONEST LEADERSHIP

Open Government

democrats.gov

[JimandChristy 1,689]

Takin what you can get? Love IT! Beggars cant be a choosin!

What I'm saying is politics in this country is getting more and more polarised, us vs them, we vs everyone else, both parties over the past decade have a lot to answer for. Doesn't matter whether you're a Democrat, Independent or Republican, Bipartisanship on Capitol Hill is non-existent. The whole Health Care debate has brought out the worst in both parties and it's looking like it will be the first major piece of social legislation in US History where little or no support was attained from the opposition party.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The Republicans stripped themselves of any participation in this important effort making it clear time and again that the one and only goal they have in the health care reform effort is to kill it. Now they want to sit there and complain about having been stripped of participation? That's funny.

[peejay 327]

What I'm saying is politics in this country is getting more and more polarised, us vs them, we vs everyone else, both parties over the past decade have a lot to answer for. Doesn't matter whether you're a Democrat, Independent or Republican, Bipartisanship on Capitol Hill is non-existent. The whole Health Care debate has brought out the worst in both parties and it's looking like it will be the first major piece of social legislation in US History where little or no support was attained from the opposition party.

Not to mention that huge portions of the US citizenry don't support it either. I like some of the consumer protection provisions, but I can see that this legislation will mostly raise my taxes and give politicians more money and power to mismanage.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The Republicans stripped themselves of any participation in this important effort making it clear time and again that the one and only goal they have in the health care reform effort is to kill it. Now they want to sit there and complain about having been stripped of participation? That's funny.

Yep. Just more sour grapes.