NOT!!!
April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats reached a tentative agreement to use a parliamentary procedure that would prevent Senate Republicans from blocking President Barack Obama's proposed overhaul of the nation’s health care system, congressional aides said.
The agreement calls for the same procedure, known as reconciliation, to be used to try to pass Obama's proposal to cut federal subsidies to private providers of student loans, the aides said today.
The tactic would allow the measures to pass the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes that would be needed to overcome stalling tactics by Republicans. Democrats control the chamber with 58 votes. With reconciliation, Democrats could approve the health care and education policy changes this year without a single Republican vote in either chamber of Congress.
Lawmakers do not intend to use the tactic to move cap-and- trade legislation designed to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, the aides said. The accord on reconciliation, to be part of lawmakers’ budget blueprint for 2010, comes after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, at a meeting yesterday at the White House urged Obama to reject the tactic.
The budget blueprint is slated for ratification on April 27 by House and Senate negotiators charged with reconciling competing budget plans approved earlier this month by the two chambers. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said today most of the issues separating the chambers have been resolved and that the Senate may complete work on the budget on April 29.
"Tremendous Furor"
Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said the reconciliation plan would cause a "tremendous furor" among his colleagues and virtually ensure most oppose any health care legislation.
"The partisan side of me says: Go for it, because if they do that, they’re going to get hung with the worst health care bill in history," Hatch said. "With all the complexities of health care, you cannot please all of the stakeholders and if they make it a partisan exercise, my gosh, we’ll beat them up for the rest of their lives."
Dissenting Democrat
Not all Democrats support the move. Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat who heads the Senate Finance Committee, said today that "sustainable" change in the health-care system requires bipartisan support, which is less likely if lawmakers use the tactic. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, has also criticized the plan, saying the reconciliation procedure is supposed to be reserved for legislation aimed at cutting the budget deficit.
Obama has proposed spending at least $634 billion over the next 10 years to revamp the nation's health-care policies with the goals of simultaneously expanding coverage and reducing costs. Most of the details of such a plan, along with how it would be financed, have not been decided. Obama's proposal would require insurers to begin submitting competitive bids to participate in the government’s Medicare Advantage program. Companies affected by such a change could include Humana and UnitedHealth Group Inc.
The administration also wants to cut subsidies to private student-loan providers and use the savings to boost funding for Pell college-tuition grants, which mostly go to students from low-income families. Reconciliation would make it easier to brush aside objections from Senate Republicans and a handful of Democrats to the plan. Companies likely to be affected by such a change include Reston, Virginia-based SLM Corp., known as Sallie Mae, and Lincoln, Nebraska-based Nelnet Inc.
Byrd Rule
The reconciliation plan could present some practical difficulties for Democrats when the Senate takes up the health- care legislation because of the chamber's so-called Byrd rule. The rule, named after West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert Byrd, bars provisions in bills that don't have a significant impact on taxes or spending. Republicans could use that rule to strip scores of individual provisions from health-care legislation, leaving Democrats with an incomplete bill.
"When you’re trying to write substantive legislation under those rules, you’re going to be left with what the parliamentarian has called Swiss cheese," Conrad warned yesterday.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Faler in Washington at bfaler@bloomberg.net .
we can only Hope Obutthead is a one termer and that we make it thru his one term.
.
April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats reached a tentative agreement to use a parliamentary procedure that would prevent Senate Republicans from blocking President Barack Obama's proposed overhaul of the nation’s health care system, congressional aides said.
The agreement calls for the same procedure, known as reconciliation, to be used to try to pass Obama's proposal to cut federal subsidies to private providers of student loans, the aides said today.
The tactic would allow the measures to pass the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes that would be needed to overcome stalling tactics by Republicans. Democrats control the chamber with 58 votes. With reconciliation, Democrats could approve the health care and education policy changes this year without a single Republican vote in either chamber of Congress.
Lawmakers do not intend to use the tactic to move cap-and- trade legislation designed to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, the aides said. The accord on reconciliation, to be part of lawmakers’ budget blueprint for 2010, comes after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, at a meeting yesterday at the White House urged Obama to reject the tactic.
The budget blueprint is slated for ratification on April 27 by House and Senate negotiators charged with reconciling competing budget plans approved earlier this month by the two chambers. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said today most of the issues separating the chambers have been resolved and that the Senate may complete work on the budget on April 29.
"Tremendous Furor"
Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said the reconciliation plan would cause a "tremendous furor" among his colleagues and virtually ensure most oppose any health care legislation.
"The partisan side of me says: Go for it, because if they do that, they’re going to get hung with the worst health care bill in history," Hatch said. "With all the complexities of health care, you cannot please all of the stakeholders and if they make it a partisan exercise, my gosh, we’ll beat them up for the rest of their lives."
Dissenting Democrat
Not all Democrats support the move. Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat who heads the Senate Finance Committee, said today that "sustainable" change in the health-care system requires bipartisan support, which is less likely if lawmakers use the tactic. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, has also criticized the plan, saying the reconciliation procedure is supposed to be reserved for legislation aimed at cutting the budget deficit.
Obama has proposed spending at least $634 billion over the next 10 years to revamp the nation's health-care policies with the goals of simultaneously expanding coverage and reducing costs. Most of the details of such a plan, along with how it would be financed, have not been decided. Obama's proposal would require insurers to begin submitting competitive bids to participate in the government’s Medicare Advantage program. Companies affected by such a change could include Humana and UnitedHealth Group Inc.
The administration also wants to cut subsidies to private student-loan providers and use the savings to boost funding for Pell college-tuition grants, which mostly go to students from low-income families. Reconciliation would make it easier to brush aside objections from Senate Republicans and a handful of Democrats to the plan. Companies likely to be affected by such a change include Reston, Virginia-based SLM Corp., known as Sallie Mae, and Lincoln, Nebraska-based Nelnet Inc.
Byrd Rule
The reconciliation plan could present some practical difficulties for Democrats when the Senate takes up the health- care legislation because of the chamber's so-called Byrd rule. The rule, named after West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert Byrd, bars provisions in bills that don't have a significant impact on taxes or spending. Republicans could use that rule to strip scores of individual provisions from health-care legislation, leaving Democrats with an incomplete bill.
"When you’re trying to write substantive legislation under those rules, you’re going to be left with what the parliamentarian has called Swiss cheese," Conrad warned yesterday.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Faler in Washington at bfaler@bloomberg.net .
we can only Hope Obutthead is a one termer and that we make it thru his one term.
.
