Parliamentarian rules against Republicans on reconciliation fixes bill

From The Hill: Senate parliamentarian Alan Frumin ruled against Senate Republicans Monday night, setting aside the first of many expected procedural objections from the GOP.

The parliamentarian ruled that changes to a proposed excise tax on high-cost plans would not violate the 1974 Budget Act by changing contributions to the Social Security trust fund.[MORE]

I never really thought this was such a great idea for Republicans. So long as Joe Biden can overrule the parliamentarian, this strategy was a very weak one. Having the parliamentarian rule against them isn’t that much different than a Biden overrule. The effect is the same, reconciliation moves forward.

I think Republicans would have better spent their time trying to pick off enough Democrats to make sure they stay under 50.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Hill

The Taco Shell Has Landed: Democrats release reconciliation Shell Bill for markup

The Democrats take their first step toward passing health care reform in the House. The first step is the creation of a shell bill that will hold all the changes they want the Senate to make in reconciliation. This bill will be passed along with the Senate version of the health care bill. 

From The Hill: House Democrats on Sunday night set into motion what they hope will be the final steps on healthcare reform. 

The House Budget Committee on Sunday evening released text that will serve as the base legislation for the changes the House will seek to the Senate bill this week. 

Specifically, the Budget committee released a 2,309-page effort that had been previously recommended to the Education and Labor Committee and Ways and Means Committee last year. 

The measure posted online does not include the substantive changes to the Senate healthcare bill that House Democrats will seek. Those changes will be offered during the markups in the Budget and Rules committees, which the budget panel hopes to begin on Monday afternoon.

The House is expected to approve the Senate's healthcare bill along with the package of changes. The Senate would then be expected to approve the package of changes under budget reconciliation rules. [MORE]

You can find the entire bill here.

Michelle Malkin has details of what is in the shell bill.

So what are the Democrats plopping into this Taco Shell Bill? They are going to fill the bill with the changes they want the Senate to pass and then they are going to tack on Obama’s nationalization of student loans too.

So why are the Democrats playing this shell game? The shell game is designed to sucker House Democrats. By plopping all the reconciliation changes into this bill and then sweetening it with nationalized student loan, Obama and Pelosi hope to sucker enough Democrats into voting for it along with the Senate version of the health care bill. If House Democrats are dumb enough to vote for the two bills, only the Senate version will become the law of the land, while the reconciliation shell bill will be forgotten, defeated or tied up in the Senate.

Paul Ryan predicted that this would be the strategy and Republicans are powerless to stop it.  Now is the time to make all the noise that you can. Call your Democrat House Reps and let they know they are being suckered and you are pissed! If you can make it, go to DC on Tuesday and vent your spleen.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Hill

Via: Michelle Malkin

Via: The American Spectator

Senate Parliamentarian gives House Dems an eye opener on reconciliation

Much scheming has been going on to get the Senate version of the health care bill passed in the House. Two of the biggest schemes for passing the bill have been dealt a severe blow by the Senate Parliamentarian.

From Roll Call: The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.

The Senate Parliamentarian’s Office was responding to questions posed by the Republican leadership. The answers were provided verbally, sources said.

House Democratic leaders have been searching for a way to ensure that any move they make to approve the Senate-passed $871 billion health care reform bill is followed by Senate action on a reconciliation package of adjustments to the original bill. One idea is to have the House and Senate act on reconciliation prior to House action on the Senate’s original health care bill.

Information Republicans say they have received from the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office eliminates that option. House Democratic leaders last week began looking at crafting a legislative rule that would allow the House to approve the Senate health care bill, but not forward it to Obama for his signature until the Senate clears the reconciliation package.[MORE]

So the Democrats can say goodbye to the Slaughter Solution and bye-bye to reconciliation fixes prior to passing the Senate bill in the House.

This should be a major eye opener for any naive House Democrats who think that the Senate version will be fixed after it passes the House. Once the bill is passed it must be signed into law and all guarantees to fix the bill will be worth less than diddly-squat.

Follow the major discussion at Memeorandum.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Roll Call

John McCain tries to do a “Gang of 14” on Reconciliation

John McCain is up to his old bipartisan tricks again.  This time he is trying to get together another “Gang of 14” of stop reconciliation. 

From The Hill: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is seeking bipartisan support to block Senate Democrats from using special parliamentary tactics to pass healthcare reform. 

The Democratic strategy of using reconciliation to pass changes to the healthcare bill is reminiscent of Republican attempts to force President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees through with a simple majority vote, McCain said Thursday. He implored centrist Democrats to think about the consequences. He even invoked President Barack Obama’s own words to make his case.

And McCain reminded Democrats that he was a member of the bipartisan Gang of 14, which stopped Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) from using the so-called nuclear option in 2005.

It's time for a similar gang, he said. So far, he’s had no takers.

To me, this just proves that John McCain has no understanding what is going on with the tricks being used to foist health care reform on the people.  The action does not lie in the Senate. The true threat of this bill’s passage comes from the House. Should the House vote for the Senate Bill in hopes that the Senate will reconcile it, they would have actually voted to pass the Senate bill, because Obama would signed the flawed bill into law.  I am sure there will be some motions of trying to reconcile the bill in the Senate, but it would all be Kabuki Theater before signing the Senate version into law.

If McCain really wants to use bipartisanship to stop health care reform, he had better start working with his friends in the House, because if he creates a Gang of 14 in the Senate, then he will be giving Obama a very big excuse to sign the flawed bill that the House might pass.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Hill

Judd Gregg: Obama may renege of Senate Bill fix

Talk about stating the obvious.  Judd Gregg said today during an appearance on CNBC that if the House passes the Senate Bill, Obama would not care if the Senate were able to reconcile it. 

"They're using reconciliation to pass the great big bill," Gregg said during an appearance on CNBC. "Once they pass the great big bill, I wouldn't be surprised if the White House didn't care if reconciliation passed. I mean, why would they?" 

"If you're in the House and you're saying, 'Well, I'm going to vote for this because I'm going to get a reconcilation bill,' I would think twice about that," Gregg said. "First because, procedurally, it's going to be hard to put a reconciliation bill through the Senate. Second because I'm not sure there's going to be a lot of energy to do it, from the president or his people."

"In my opinion, reconciliation is an exercise for buying votes, which, once they have the votes they really don't need it," he said. 

Of course this should come as no surprise. When the Senate bill was being turned into a Frankenstein monster, Obama never raised a single objection. Should the House pass the Senate bill (I still doubt they have the votes), Obama will be one signature away from passing health care reform. Why should he risk reconciliation, especially when all he really cares about is getting government control of the health care industry?

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Hill