Senate leaders will return next week to plot health conference

[kpete]

Source: The Hill


Senate leaders will return next week to plot health conference
By Alexander Bolton - 12/22/09 12:44 PM ET

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) promised Tuesday that President Barack Obama would receive a healthcare reform bill by the time of his State of the Union address in January.

Senate Democratic leaders plan to cut their holiday recess short and begin talks with their House counterparts immediately after Christmas in the hope of producing a final bill by mid-January.

“We will get a bill in time of the State of the Union address and the president will be able to sign the bill,” said Baucus. “We’ll be working on it as soon as it passes.”

The Senate healthcare bill is expected to pass on Christmas Eve, having already won 60 Democratic votes on several procedural votes.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/73359-senate-leaders-plan-quick-conference-with-house-eye-late-january-deadline

[FiveGoodMen]

1. "Senate leaders will return next week to plot" says it all.

[JDPriestly]

2. Time flies. The Senate crawls.

Clearly, the process of the Senate is flawed and needs to be changed. Yes, appointments should be subject to filibusters. But laws like this healthcare law. No. No. No. The Senate is wasting the people's time. And making itself subject to blackmailers. This is unacceptable.

This is a flaw in Senate procedures not in the Constitution. The Senate needs to change this.