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Adieu, Adieu, Remember Me
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DeMint’s Defense of RomneyCare is Ignorant…And Dangerous
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McConnell Pushing Vote to Block the EPA from Regulating Carbon Emissions
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More Barbour on Afghanistan
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The Spectacle Blog
Today Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet, Kirsten Gillibrand, Sherrod Brown and Jeff Merkley sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid asking him to push through a government-run health care plan through the reconciliation procedure. The idea had been circulating in liberal circles, as they argue that the government plan would reduce the deficit, and thus could be justified under reconciliation. In reality, Democrats are already facing a steep uphill climb to pass a health care bill, and it’s highly doubtful that a majority of Senators would want to refight the battle over the public option even if it were theoretically possible to do through reconciliation (also highly doubtful).
In other reconciliation news, ex-Senate parlimentarian Robert Dove explains to the Hill why reconciliation won’t work for health care. Most relevant to the public option talk:
The parliamentarian can rule any provisions as “incidental” and remove it from the bill if he or she judges that its purpose is to write new policy not simply to alter the federal budget. “The ‘incidental’ test is a very difficult test because it is very subjective,” Dove said. “You are trying to judge peoples’ motives,” he said.
View all comments (13) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Philip Klein
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/02/16/four-senate-dems-urge-passage
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Ken (Old Texican)| 2.16.10 @ 7:50PM
Well, like President Reagan put it: "OK Pardner, Draw!"
heh... watch us productive Americans go on strike and starve the poor bastards in the dark.
PCC| 2.16.10 @ 8:23PM
No doubt the entire Senate is quaking in its collective boots at the sight of those four giants of Senate rules and legislative procedure (Bennet, Gillibrand, Brown and Merkley) pronouncing on using the reconciliation process to pass the public option.
JanevonMises| 2.16.10 @ 9:13PM
So, I'm guessing that Gillebrand and Bennett REALLY don't like being Senators. Political suicide by reconciliation.
JJC| 2.16.10 @ 9:18PM
This is amazing.
Blind ignorance to the anger of the voters.
Blind ignorancce of the actual and real impact to our deficits
Blind ignorance to the political suicide that this is
They need to go.
martin j smith| 2.17.10 @ 8:08AM
I think those four should join BHO on his save congress tour. Then it would be a real circus. Meanwhile giving the voters more anger,more energy and more desire to vote the Democrat left out. So you go for it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JP | 2.17.10 @ 9:04AM
Actually, the ball is in Pelosi's court. Until Brown's election it was up to her to accept the Senate Bill in toto -with no changes. The Cornhusker Kickback essientially gutted the Stupack Amendment, and thus made it impossible for Stupak and 11 other Blue Dogs to vote Yes. And now with the passing of Murtha, Pelosi only has 217 votes (205 if you count Stupak's Blue Dogs).
What Bennet, Gillbrand, et als are saying now is for the Senate to scuttle everything (including the Louisana Purchase, and the Cornhusker Kickback) and vote en masse for the much more liberal and dangerous House version. That means that Reid would have to find 51 Senators to go along. This again is an impossibility. Senators Webb, Nelson, Landrieu, Bayh, Lincoln, Pryor, Lieberman, Hagan, Casey, and Bill Nelson would not vote for the House version as is. Add in others who saw what happened in Massetchussets, and you will be lucky to find 40 votes for a reconcilliation via the Senate.
ObamaCare is almost dead. I say almost because the GOP always seems to come to the Dems rescue. The last chance for ObamaCare rests with the cynical, yet gulliable GOP members who could still at this late date cut a deal with the President in order to a)look more presidential and b) be bi-partisan. These Senators are Collins, Snowe, Lugar, Gramm, and Judd. Any combination of these 5 could tip the balance.
Pingback| 2.17.10 @ 2:20PM
The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : The Mount Vernon Statement (mount vernon statem links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 2.17.10 @ 2:30PM
Semantic Compositions: SIL: We're on a mission from Dallas | Educational North Dakota links to this page. Here’s an excerpt: