Shortly before midnight on Sunday, Democrats released a 2,309
page health care bill that will
start the process of reconciliation -- but don't let that fool
you, it's not the actual reconciliation bill with all the changes
you've been reading about. Instead, as Rep. Paul Ryan, the
ranking Republican member on the Budget Committee,
explained to me last week, this is just the "shell" bill --
the vehicle that Democrats need to get moving on health care.
Once the bill gets approved (likely Monday), Democrats will send
this phantom bill over to the Rules Committee, where it will
be stripped, and then they'll insert in all of the actual
changes that they've negotiated.
Why all of the theatrics?
Well, under the reconciliation rules in last year's budget, any
reconciliation bill would have to have been submitted to the
Budget Committee by October 15, 2009. It just so happens that
earlier versions of health care legislation cleared the Ways and
Means and Education and Labor Committees last year. So Democrats
just dusted that legislation off, and are using that as the
vehicle to begin the reconciliation process. That's why, for
instance, if you look through the 2,309 page bill that was
released Sunday night, you'll find a public option, which
leadership has indicated would not actually be in the final bill.
(Interestingly, the student loan bill is also tacked on at the
end.)
Just a "simple up or down vote," remember?
Last week, Ryan told me that Republicans don't have the votes to
stop the bill in the Budget Committee and that Democrats will
also be able to prevent Republicans from offering any amendments.
However, GOP members will be able to offer "motions to instruct"
the Rules Committee, that Ryan said will be used highlight
problems with the "unprecedented" step that Democrats are taking.
For more, check out Ryan's
op-ed in the Washington Post.
