DEMS SHOULD NOT PASS HEALTHCARE WITH A 50-PLUS-1 STRATEGY

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Video

"If we want to transform the country though, that requires a sizeable majority."

Edited March 3, 2010 by Lone Ranger

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

President Obama to Say Democrats Will Use Reconciliation to Pass Senate Health Care Reform Fix, If Not Given Up or Down Vote

White House officials tell ABC News that in his remarks tomorrow President Obama will indicate a willingness to work with Republicans on some issue to get a health care reform bill passed but will suggest that if it is necessary, Democrats will use the controversial "reconciliation" rules requiring only 51 Senate votes to pass the "fix" to the Senate bill, as opposed to the 60 votes to stop a filibuster and proceed to a vote on a bill.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been awaiting the president’s remarks direction on how health care reform will proceed.

In his remarks, scheduled to be at the White House, the president will paint a picture of what he will say will happen without a health care reform bill – skyrocketing premiums, everyone at the mercy of the insurance industry as recently seen with the 39% premium increases proposed by Anthem Blue Cross in California.

He will note that the “fixed” bill will include the proposal for a new "Health Insurance Rate Authority" to set guidelines for reasonable rate increases. If proposed premium increases are not justifiable per those Health Insurance Rate Authority guidelines, the Health and Human Services Secretary or state regulators could block them.

The plan to pass the bill includes having the House of Representatives pass the Democratic Senate health care reform legislation as well as a second bill containing various “fixes.”

The president will call for an up or down vote on health care reform, as has happened in the past, and though he won't use the word "reconciliation," he'll make it clear that if they're not given an up or down vote, Democrats will use the reconciliation rules as Republicans have done in the past.

White House officials will make the argument these rules are perfectly appropriate because the procedure is not being used for the whole bill, just for some fixes; because reconciliation rules are traditionally used for deficit reduction and health care reform will reduce the deficit; and because the reconciliation process has been used many times by Republicans for larger legislation such as the tax cuts pushed by President George W. Bush.

A White House official says the president will "reiterate why reform is so crucial and what it will mean for American families and businesses: they’ll have more control over their own health care, they’ll see lower costs , and they’ll see an end to insurance company abuses. He’ll note that his proposal includes the best ideas from both parties, and he’ll restate his preference for a comprehensive bill that will reduce premiums and end discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions."

The president will also extend a hand to work with Republicans on measures they have pushed, including $50 million for state grants for demonstration projects to explore alternatives to medical malpractice cases, and a crackdown on Medicaid and Medicare fraud as proposed by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

He will also herald the removal of extraneous provisions in the bill such as the so-called “Cornhusker Kickback,” a deal to secure the support of Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., in which the federal government would pay for Nebraska’s Medicaid expansion; and “Gator-aid,” the provision to shield Florida seniors from cuts to the Medicare Advantage program, secured by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/20...-care-bill.html

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I don't believe a word Obama says. If I ever met him I'd leave my wallet in the car.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

This would be a non-issue if the GOP were to take it's own demands from just a few short years ago seriously. Remember how they demanded up-or-down votes because the American people deserve nothing less. Since, of course, they have broken all filibuster records to prevent precisely that which they've so vocally demanded not all that long ago. How about that up-or-down vote? The American people no longer deserve it?

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

Sen. Tom Harkin told POLITICO that Senate Democratic leaders have decided to go the reconciliation route. The House, he said, will first pass the Senate bill after Senate leaders demonstrate to House leaders that they have the votes to pass reconciliation in the Senate.

Harkin made the comments after a meeting in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office including Harkin and Sens. Baucus, Dodd, Durbin, Schumer and Murray.

When asked whether the leaders had made the decision, Durbin said: "We are moving ahead with a version of the health care reform bill that we believe has a good chance of passing both the House and the Senate."

He then put the onus on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to signal whether she can provide enough votes to pass the Senate bill, followed by a package of fixes through reconciliation.

"The first step is with Speaker Pelosi and so I will let her decide what it takes in the House," Durbin said.

Reconciliation "has always been an option. But she has to make her own decision on what it takes to enact this in the House," he added.

Durbin said Democrats are "coming to closure" on legislative language to send to the Congressional Budget Office for a cost estimate -- a step that can take weeks. "It has not been sent yet, but we are hoping it can be sent soon."

It remains unclear what kind of guarantee the Senate can provide to the House that the upper chamber will make fixes to the bill, Durbin said.

"I don't know what the gesture will be but it will be a convincing gesture," he said.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

"I don't know what the gesture will be but it will be a convincing gesture," he said.

So, they don't have a clue either what the House is going to do, and if the Senate doesn't like what the House passes, then it starts all over again? Gee, primaries began this month and will continue through June. Looks like nothing is going to pass until summer, if at all.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

So, they don't have a clue either what the House is going to do, and if the Senate doesn't like what the House passes, then it starts all over again? Gee, primaries began this month and will continue through June. Looks like nothing is going to pass until summer, if at all.

The House will pass what can pass the Senate under reconciliation. It'll happen in a matter of weeks.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The House will pass what can pass the Senate under reconciliation. It'll happen in a matter of weeks.

I don't know. There are a lot of if's in there, and the House is not operating in a vacuum:

Democrats are now planning to get around their "Brown problem" by using a legislative process called reconciliation to approve the bill in the Senate with a simple, 51-vote majority. That leaves Republicans, who still adamantly oppose the bill, with few options but to wage a war against it outside Washington -- in town hall meetings, local congressional races and the media. And the clock is ticking.

"We'll fight," Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., told Fox News on Wednesday when asked what his party can do if Democrats go the reconciliation route.

The National Republican Congressional Committee on Wednesday launched what it called a "multi-front communications effort" to put pressure on "vulnerable" Democrats over the health care bill. The NRCC hopes it can spook those House Democrats into voting against the package, depriving House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the valuable votes she needs.

"It's a campaign," NRCC spokesman Ken Spain said, adding that Republican House candidates are being encouraged to hold town hall meetings. The NRCC is also tapping Republican doctors in the House to go on a "media blitz" to "expand the Republican Party's message on health care."

Elected Republicans are making the media push to shame Democrats, while the conservative Tea Party groups are readying a new wave of protests that, for the moment, could put them and the establishment Republicans on the same page.

Brendan Steinhauser, director of federal and state campaigns with FreedomWorks, told FoxNews.com that his group is encouraging Tea Partiers to hold forums, much like the August town halls, to talk about health care reform.

From there, the Tea Party groups will hold nationwide rallies on April 15, and health care reform opposition is expected to be a major cause. Though Congress could potentially pass the bill by then, Steinhauser said he doesn't think Tax Day will be too late.

"A lot of people are just fired up about this," he said. "I don't see any indication that they're going to be able to do this very quickly."

Though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can afford to lose several Democratic moderates in his chamber if the bill goes the route of reconciliation, Pelosi does not have the same luxury. The House passed its version of the bill by a narrow 220-215 vote last year. Considering vacancies, Pelosi now needs to hold together 216 members. House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., has argued that she doesn't have those votes, saying concerns about abortion funding and the reconciliation process itself will drive away needed Democrats.

But an Associated Press survey found that at least nine of the 39 House Democrats who voted against the bill last year are now undecided, making them prime targets for Pelosi and Obama in their effort to push a final bill, along with a package of changes, over the finish line.

In order to proceed, the House would have to first pass the Senate-passed health bill. Then the House would have to go forward with a package of changes -- the reconciliation bill -- operating on a pledge that the Senate would follow suit.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/03...regain-footing/

[Fandango 1,439]

Cloward-Piven. Grab your ankles, peeps.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Cloward-Piven. Grab your ankles, peeps.

And some of this so it won't hurt as much.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Cloward-Piven. Grab your ankles, peeps.

The Cloward/Piven Strategy of Economic Recovery

The Cloward/Piven Strategy is named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. Their goal is to overthrow capitalism by overwhelming the government bureaucracy with entitlement demands. The created crisis provides the impetus to bring about radical political change.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/02/the...ategy_of_e.html

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

The Cloward/Piven Strategy of Economic Recovery

The Cloward/Piven Strategy is named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. Their goal is to overthrow capitalism by overwhelming the government bureaucracy with entitlement demands. The created crisis provides the impetus to bring about radical political change.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/02/the...ategy_of_e.html

Dum, dum, dum, dum....

[Pooky 3,791]

"Pass" this Bill now and the Democrats will screw this country out of real healthcare reform in my lifetime.

Don't they see that although the majority in this country want healthcare reform, there is a majority just as large who think this Bill isn't what they're looking for? Passing this mess is the best chance the Republican'ts have of taking both Houses of Congress in November - and they won't have to do a thing.

Shame on them.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

"If we want to transform the country though, that requires a sizeable majority."

Hold on to your seats. It's a long, winding slope thru hell.

Edited March 4, 2010 by Sofiyya