"How the Public Option Would Likely Get a Vote During Reconciliation."

[Clio the Leo]

With the caveat that I dont think this is a likely scenario, but IF it happened, this is how it would go down .... theoretically. ;)

(I believe in an informed electorate. lol)

How the Public Option Would Likely Get a Vote During Reconciliation

If Democrats use reconciliation to pass a health care bill and even one Senate Democrat actually supports the public option, or one Senate Republican thinks it makes political sense to force a vote on the matter, there will likely be a vote on a standalone amendment to add a public option. One of the important aspects of reconciliation is that any amendment offered normally gets an up-or-down vote provided it meets the rules.

According to the rules of budget reconciliation, debate is limited to only 20 hours in the Senate. At the end of debate, pending amendments which are germane and don’t violate the Byrd rule normally get up-or-down vote. Neither reconciliation measure nor amendments to a reconciliation measure can be filibustered.

<snip>

A public option and/or some form of Medicare/Medicaid/Tricare buy-in should be able to easily be designed to be germane and not violate the Byrd rule. If cost savings and the fact that the program would technically be on the budget are not sufficient to satisfy the Byrd rule, other steps can be taken; for example the “reference plan” which is used to instrumental for calculating the amount of tax credits on the exchange could be replace with cost of premiums for the public option.

If any one senator offers a public option amendment to the reconciliation bill, or better yet, several amendments of different variations of public health insurance alternatives, it should likely get an up-or-down vote during the vote-arama.

The biggest concern is that a public option amendment would be swept up in an action to stop a Republican filibuster by amendments. Awhile back Republicans were threatening to use the “vote-arama” to create a filibuster by amendments by offering thousands of amendments to stop the final passage of the reconciliation measure. If Republicans attempt this, David Waldman outlined how Harry Reid and Joe Biden could put a stop to it. In theory the public option amendments could be swept up in the effort to clear hundreds of Republican amendments.

Harry Reid and Joe Biden might use clearing on any planned Republican filibuster-by-amendments to stop the public option from getting a vote, or some other parliamentary trick to do the same. Of course this would require Reid and Biden to actively take steps to deny the American a vote on one of the most popular provisions related to health care, which they both claim to support.

If (and that is a big if) Democrats move forward with health care reform using reconciliation, it is likely that there will eventual be an up-or-down vote on the public option. All it takes is one senator to offer a properly designed amendment – perhaps one of the 30 Senate Democrats who are on record saying they support an up-or-down vote on the public option. Maybe the American people will finally get to see who stands with the American people and which senators are working to protect the profits of the private insurance companies.

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/03/01/how-the-public-option-would-likely-get-a-vote-during-reconciliation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+CampaignSilo+(Jane+Hamsher+Campaign+Silo)

And here is a somewhat related article that I'm posting HERE and not as an OP because I HIGHLY doubt the Obama admin sees this as plan A. (If would be plan "q" or "r" if at all.) They dont want whatever path they take to be perceived as partisan bullying.

Former Senate Parliamentarian: Joe Biden Is The Decider On Reconciliation

Former Senate parliamentarian Robert Dove appeared on MSNBC this morning to demystify the reconciliation process and reiterate the fact that the Vice President is “the ultimate decider” of what can be included in a reconciliation package. “The parliamentarian can only advise. It is the Vice President who rules,” Dove said suggesting that Vice President Biden — who served in the Senate for 36 years — would be inclined to override the parliamentarian:

TODD: Not since Hubert Humphrey have we had a Vice President this familiar with senate rules either in Joe Biden.

DOVE: That’s why I brought this up, yes. Humphrey had been the majority whip. He had been in the senate since 1948. He felt very comfortable playing an important role. And it’s quite possible Vice President Biden –

<snip>

Nelson Rockefeller was the last Vice President to play a role in the reconciliation process. Since then, “they have kind of been co-opted by the president and given an office down in the West Wing. Their interest in playing Senate politics has become attenuated.”

In an earlier interview with Lester Feder, Dove said the senate majority leader can also replace the Parliamentarian. “Various parliamentarians have been replaced over the years by the Secretary of the Senate when the Majority Leader was unhappy. Parliamentarians were asked to leave by the secretary of the Senate in 1980, in 1986, in 1994, and in 2001.”

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/03/01/biden-decider-dove/

[customerserviceguy]

1. The only thing I can compare those who think a PO is coming from reconciliation

is Linus in a pumpkin patch.

It ain't happening, folks.

[Clio the Leo]

2. lol, awww ... that's so sad..

... yet, perhaps, accurate.

[Skink]

3. do senators even spend 20 hours a week in Washington anymore?

[brand404]

4. Peanut Butter Jelly Time! No wonder there are so many sex scandals.