The House has to pass the Senate bill, right? And the Senate bill doesn't have the Public Option...

[jenmito]

so how can they get a PO in the final bill? It can't pass through the reconciliation fix because it's not budget-related, so it would have to be OKed by the parliamentarian or get 60 votes, and the Repubs. would most likely do all they could to get the whole THING killed.

I think that's what Rep. Cummings was saying tonight on The Ed Show-he doesn't want to "muddy the waters" and it's going to be hard enough as it is to pass reconciliation WITHOUT it. I worry that it would end up killing the whole thing.

[Hippo_Tron]

1. The idea is that they pass the public option as a separate bill through reconciliation

Since the public option should be considered budget related.

[jenmito]

5. You mean THE reconciliation bill? The one they're using to "fix" the Senate bill?

If so, that's what Cummings was saying could muddy the waters and make reconciliation's passage much more difficult.

[w4rma]

7. Yes THE reconciliation bill. The House shouldn't pass a bill until the Senate has passed that. (nt)

[jenmito]

10. But they said that's impossible. n/t

[w4rma]

11. No, a bunch of Republicans misquoted the parlamentarian when they ran to the cameras. (nt)

[jenmito]

13. Kent Conrad said it, too. But he's pretty much a Repub. n/t

[w4rma]

15. Exactly. Don't trust anything that DLCer says. (nt)

[harkadog]

21. Except Pelosi agreed with them today at her conference

[sandnsea]

2. If they raise taxes to pay for it

It's budget related.

[jefferson_dem]

3. The public option could be included as part of the reconciliation package...

because it could be justified as budget-relevant. Reports have shown how it would help in deficit-reduction over time.

Whatever the case, it doesn't matter because it won't be in the reconciliation package. The House will vote for the Senate Bill. Then we have "reform". Once the reconcilation package is approved of by the Senate (and also the House) we will have the fixes applied to the "reforms" that had just been signed into law.

[jenmito]

9. Then why WOULDN'T they do it unless

some Dems. really WERE worried that it wouldn't get the votes? :shrug:

[jefferson_dem]

22. Why wouldn't they?

:shrug: is right! 51 is all they need. If they can't round up 51... :eyes:

All it takes is one Senator to bring it up and they'll be forced to stand and be counted.

[Clio the Leo]

4. I'm not sure that ANYONE knows for certain ....

.... except Larry O'Donnell who, of course, knows more than we mere plebes (huh.)

But Bernie apparently thinks it can be included. I guess the theory is to TRY it, the GOP is gonna try to stop it anyway (the thought of which reminds me of that awful moment last December when he offered his single-payer amendment) and we'll see what happens.

What *I* think the problem is ... there are hold outs in both chambers who dont want the PO, enough of whom could potentially derail the whole bill. I dont see the sense in losing the WHOLE bill when we're THIS close to passing the bill when the PO could be added later. If we dont pass the bill, we cant add the PO to anything.

And to the first person who chimes in that "they'll never add it later, they cant be trusted, blah blah blah" then let me point out if we had WORKED as hard to get the PO in the bill as the teabaggers did to kill it, we wouldn't be worrying about this now. So zip it!

[jenmito]

12. I agree with you

100%. And yeah-Lawrence O'Donnell is still REALLY getting on my nerves with his negativity. This morning he said he doesn't think any bill will pass-PO or NO PO. :eyes:

I, too, think they should add it later.

[Clio the Leo]

19. This morning was an eye opener....

... literally, because I woke up to him on Morning Joe complaining about the bill and "the taxes."

And the truth comes out ..... Larry is a libertarian.

I have no patience for libertarians, I do not waste my time on them.

Prayers for Keith that his father's health improves.

[jenmito]

20. Same here!

I woke up to him being his same negative self and it just made me roll my eyes, and since I was reading his words with the tv on mute, I missed a couple words. :D I wonder what he's going to say once it passes.

Keith said last night that his father's health is improving at this point.

[Clio the Leo]

23. ALL this time I had been wondering why he was the ONLY one ....

.... who kept swearing (since LAST FALL) that this "couldn't be done via reconciliation."

I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He certainly knows more about how the Senate works than I do.

But does he know more than Harry Reid, Joe Biden and Barack Obama do?

Turns out Larry has been saying it "cant" because he doesn't WANT it to.

He's a bill killer ..... pure and simple.

The bill killers stopped being cool about three weeks ago.

[jenmito]

25. Exactly...

He's a bill killer. And whenever he interviews ANYONE about the status/progress of the bill, he doesn't accept any positive news. He just goes on and on about different scenarios that could kill it, and when they tell him it can't happen that way, it's as if he can't accept that.

[Clio the Leo]

26. "I know this because once back in 1993 Tip O'Neal couldn't get it done..."

"and I know this because I helped him!"

Larry O'Donnel! You GET no lower premiums! Yours will continue to skyrocket even after the bill is signed!

[SandWalker1984]

6. You honestly think this corporate boot licking Senate bunch will pass a reconciliation bill?

Really? After they took such pains to make the corporate health care lobbyists happy?

It's time for some honesty.


If the Senate bill passes the House, we will be stuck with that piece of corporate butt kissing, mandated profits, poor excuse for health care reform. It won't get "fixed." It won't get amended. It's all a pretty show for real Democrats so we think the DLC hasn't taken over our party. We will be stuck with expensive insurance that covers little, fines or, if you dare defy them...prison.


They'll have a nice little staged signing of the bill by the president, then move on to their next item on the agenda........
biometric ID cards slipped into immigration law.


Some people that post here really should go read Orwell's book 1984.

[w4rma]

8. They have to. The House won't pass their bill until the Senate passes the fixes.

The Republicans were lying about the parliamentarian's answer.

Noone trusts the Senators. Not even the House members.

[jenmito]

16. It was reported on MSNBC today that the Senate will send a letter to the House signed

by at least 51 Senators saying they WILL pass the fixes.

[customerserviceguy]

29. Have we seen the exact bill that constitutes the fixes?

I don't seem to recall having a chance to read it.

[jefferson_dem]

24. Not so fast.

There's some confusion about exactly what the Parliamentarian said but the "House first" scenario was not batted down by several Dems I saw interviewed today. So, it will have to be done that way if it's done at all.

[jenmito]

14. Yes, they WILL pass a reconciliation bill. But it won't have a PO.

Some people should take off their tinfoil hats.

[w4rma]

17. We have 51 verified votes for it in the Senate. It can pass. And if Dems want to win in November

then they need it to pass.

[jenmito]

18. I know. And if the Senate gives a signed letter to the House saying they WILL pass it,

I think the House will go first, allowing Obama to go to Indonesia/etc.

[smalll]

27. Yes. It's all about the House. We know the endgame. As even the Senate parliamentarian just said

-- first, the House must pass the Senate bill, and the President must (and even forget the must, he will) sign it -- in his long-thirsted-for Rose Garden Ceremony.

At that point, the pressure will drain, the drama will die -- "That's All Folks" will be the result.

-- Reconcilliation, shmillconciliation.

Am I right? :shrug:

[w4rma]

28. "the reconciliation bill could be written in a way that would not require Obama to sign the Senate"

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/12/845463/-Update-on-reconciliation