let me get this straight... the RATS had a 60/40 majority and couldn't pass it only to blame the republicans after the dead kennedy thing,
and NOW, with reconciliation when it only takes 51 votes, they don't have the votes???
Posted on 03/07/2010 5:20:16 PM PST by upchuck
Democrats do not have a firm grip on the votes needed to pass sweeping healthcare reform legislation in the House of Representatives, one House leader admitted on Sunday.
But the White House insisted that its reform efforts were “in the final chapter”.
Barack Obama has given Democrats a March 18 deadline for the House to pass the Senate version of a healthcare reform bill before he leaves on a trip to Asia, leading to a frenzy of arm-twisting and vote tallying on Capitol Hill.
With previous deadlines missed, veteran Democrats are warning that the legislation must be completed before the Easter recess to avoid a repeat of last summer’s “town hall” protests that almost sunk the healthcare bill.
“I believe it will pass. Do we have a mortal lock? No. Because people are still looking at some of the changes that are being made,” Chris Van Hollen, one of the Democratic leaders in the House, admitted on CNN on Sunday.
The House is shaping up to be a key battlefield in the healthcare fight, since Democrats lost their 60-seat super-majority in the Senate.
With not a single Republican supporting the reform effort, the only option for Democrats now is to have the House pass the Senate version of the bill, then for both chambers to pass a series of fixes to take into consideration the demands of House lawmakers.
But Democratic leaders in the House are struggling to get the 216 votes they need to pass the Senate bill. As many as 12 conservative Democrats who voted in favour of the House bill because it included tough new restrictions on abortion funding are now threatening to vote against the Senate version, which is less restrictive. The House bill passed by 220 to 215 so Democrats have few votes to spare.
“This is going to be a discussion and we are going to be engaged in that dialogue for some time until we get it done,” said Mr Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic congressional campaign committee and the fifth-ranking Democrat in the House.
Kathleen Sebelius, Mr Obama's health secretary, said on Sunday it was time for Congress to “get the job done”.
“The bill has passed the House, the bill has passed the Senate with a super-majority. We have comprehensive legislation for the first time,” Ms Sebelius told ABC on Sunday. “We are in the final chapter, mostly because the American people are desperate.”
Tom Daschle, the former Democratic Senate majority leader, underlined the urgency of getting healthcare passed before the Easter congressional recess in less than three weeks.
“There really is a life to these legislative projects and we’ve already extended beyond the normal life [of healthcare] given the array of other challenges and issues we have to face,” he told the Financial Times in its View From DC video series. “Right now Democrats are back on the offensive and I think they have got to seize it and do the most with it.”
Mr Daschle warned that failure to pass healthcare reform could lead to a repeat of the anti-reform campaigning that almost sunk the bill in the summer. “There is a lot of fear of the unknown and it’s pretty easy to generate fear,” he said. “Every time we do [try healthcare reform], the same predictions and the same dire consequences are announced.”
Mr Daschle underlined that it was important also to clear space after Easter for the Obama administration to tackle jobs, financial regulatory reform and legislation to address climate change. “We have got to perform – we have got to show that we can govern,” he said. “We’ve got to focus on jobs and do as much to recreate the kind of economy that would allow more job creation.”
I read where they need to get 36 votes to switch to yes that have decided to vote no. In other words, they are 36 votes IN THE HOLE!
If they're successful, that's Chapter 11...
That would put them at 180 House CongressRats that better gird their loins for the political hell that is going to come pouring down on them.
no one is pointing out the dems desperation that they cannot proceed to conference and develop a compromise as is the normal legislative course, because it is so far from bipartisan—its fascistic. No worries. Seniors will rise up and demand repeal when Medicare Advantage is unceremoniously stripped from them next year (except the Floridians). 2011 will be glorious. The taxes, the Seniors’ wrath, the Republican house and Senate, and the no jobs hangover.
Reid took an obscure how tax bill and dropped in the managers amendment, which is the Senate health care bill. So the Senate HCR bill did originate in the House.
More broadly, note what the MSM and Democratic leaders choose to overlook: this bill is so unpopular that Democratic leaders dare not let their members go home. This alone is scandalous.
How can we put a steak in it and kill this bill and make the damn thing die? Every time it is dead, then they bring it back. They will get voted out win or lose on this thing. Dems are ending themselves on this Obamacare crap. People are tired of it, and want it gone. They are too dumb to figure it out, so they will be writing themselves out of office. I pray it fails, and then the Dems are gone for a very long time. Forever really. No more Commies in office for the rest of time. I dream big!
Good question!
No, the House and Senate passed *different* bills. Not that such minor details would matter to Frau Goebbels here.
I hope the picture you paint of Dems in total CYA mode is accurate and I believe it is. The scenario I imagine is if Stretch and Pinky can’t somehow guarantee the votes, some of their members will pull out last minute. So it’s a guessing game because many of the dems wont want to be branded if it’s not sure to pass. I do believe though that there IS massive arm twisting going on and I’m sure Stretch’s appointment of Levin is giving her even more ability to make promises.
Democrats do not have a firm grip on the votes needed to pass sweeping healthcare reform legislation......one trouble with that statement in this op-ed disguised as news is, there IS no Democrat healthcare reform proposal. Thanks upchuck.
Americans will resist socialized medicine by every legal, (illegal) and ethical means available.
This is unconstitutional and illegal, and Americans will fight fire with fire!
let me get this straight... the RATS had a 60/40 majority and couldn't pass it only to blame the republicans after the dead kennedy thing,
and NOW, with reconciliation when it only takes 51 votes, they don't have the votes???
They’re not voting in the Senate.. They’re voting in the House.. and they need 216 and last time they had 220 but on the other bill which HAD anti-abortion language in it and some other stuff that got votes. Now that stuff ain’t there so Stretch and Pinky are trying to get some side deals written up to get the rest on board.
The only part of this bill that originated in the House is the shell that Harry Reid gutted to insert the Senate health care bill into (to satisfy that particular constitutional requirement).
It was a dirty trick, and he clearly subverted the clear intent of the Constitution to do it.
This is the Senate bill that is currently residing in the House, and the one that Pelosi is scratching for votes to pass. The actual content of this bill originated in the Senate, not the House, but it retains the House bill number.
Barack Obama is just as unpopular in the Democratically controlled House and Senate as he is out here in flyover country.
Believe it.
Technically , youre wrong.
Don't amend it kill it dead!!!
“With not a single Republican supporting the reform effort, the only option for Democrats now is to have the House pass the Senate version of the bill”
This bill is healthcare-for-illegals and a taxpayer funded abortion bill. It has taxes, mandates and govt control over healthcare...
It’s an abomination. They have noright nor reason to pass it.
So by retaining the House number Reid kept the option of this 'reconciliation' tactic open in case his changes wouldn't get the votes back in the House.
“Fourth and goal.”
Exactly, and we are in the last minute of the superbowl and the D team is down by 5.
One last play - a hail mary pass, AN UP OR DOWN VOTE IN THE HOUSE - can make history.
But we have to be clear about this ... THE SENATE BILL IS A BAD BILL AND IT WOULD BE A DISASTER IF IT MADE IT INTO LAW.
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