Dem leaders to forgo conference

[JelloSka]

Source: Politico

1-6-2009

President Barack Obama and congressional Democratic leaders agreed Tuesday to forgo a formal conference committee for reconciling the Senate and House health care bills, according to three Democratic congressional aides.

The decision means that the White House, Senate Majority Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will attempt to reach an agreement through private negotiations with key lawmakers. Once a deal is struck, the bill will go back to the House for passage, then to the Senate and on to the president’s desk — a legislative path that has been described as “ping pong.”

The decision to bypass the conference committee, which the aides said came during an Oval Office meeting Tuesday, formalized what many Democrats had long known: If they have any hope of passing the health care bill quickly, they would need to circumvent the normal order of business.

But the move — though not unusual in the increasingly gridlocked Congress — has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans and even some Democrats, who say Obama is not living up to his promise of a transparent process.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31188.html

[timeforpeace]

1. Finally, a one-party system.

[marshall]

15. or a party within a party

Pelosi, Reid, and a "few key lawmakers". The rest can suck it.

[derby378]

2. This is the sound of the other shoe dropping...

Doesn't sound good at all.

[jefferson_dem]

3. Good.

Get this sucker done - take a quickie victory lap - move to "jobs, jobs, jobs".

[secondwind]

4. good point.

[groundloop]

5. Agreeed. They've finally learned to act like the party in control.

I believe all involved have come to realize that with Lie-berman in the Senate they need to take whatever pitiful bill they can get. Hopefully some the the things that need to be fixed will be done under the budget process later on which only needs 50 votes (well, I can always dream)

[Psephos]

9. Yeah, it would suck to operate a democratic republic as though it weren't an autocracy. n/t

[jefferson_dem]

12. Yeah, i hope all those representatives vote in accordance with the best interests

of their constiencies when the final bill is presented... and the President signs it into law.

[GeorgeGist]

6. How transparent ...

Obama the Coward.

[Jim Lane]

7. Given the way the Republicans have been acting, I have no problem with this

They had their chance to participate in crafting the legislation. They chose, instead, the course of obstructionism, of opposing anything that was proposed and putting forth nothing constructive of their own (just their usual boogeyman of the trial lawyers and the fictitious "litigation crisis", so that all the problems of the health-care system could be solved by further harassing the victims of medical malpractice). Under these circumstances, the only realistic alternatives are (1) a bill worked out by the Democratic leaders to garner the necessary votes in each house strictly from Democrats, or (2) no bill.

DUers are in disagreement about which of those two alternatives is better (or less bad). That's a legitimate subject of discussion -- among Democrats. The Republicans, having chosen to take themselves out of the process, will be relegated to sitting on the sidelines and filibustering every significant bill that comes down the pike. Screw 'em.

[New Dawn]

8. The "health" insurance lobby hates transparency.

They just want to force the fascist Mandate on us and steal more of our money.

[Unvanguard]

10. This is how the decisions are made anyway regarding important, contentious bills.

The conference committee is just show.

[saracat]

11. This is so it won't be obvious who bargains what away.Sickening.

[Javaman]

13. "private negotiations"

That's worked out so well in the past for we the people.

[WriteDown]

14. So these negotiations are going to be on C-Span, right? nt

[shopgreen]

16. ha ha