http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=876460Congressional Democrats are moving full steam ahead with an effort to pass their healthcare bill through the legislative process known as "reconciliation." But one congressional analyst says the move signals that Democratic leaders did not learn the message from Massachusetts: Americans don't want the current healthcare bill.
Democrats are trying to find a way to get around the 60-vote hurdle they face in the Senate, and try to make adjustments to the Senate-passed healthcare bill that many House Democrats do not like.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) is pushing a $300 billion "fix" to the Senate version, suggesting that the House could approve the Senate's package if those changes are made first. The adjustments, she stated, would not be "minor tweaks," but could result in Congress passing a bill.
Dan Holler, deputy director of Senate relations at The Heritage Foundation, finds it amusing that a so-called "tweaking bill" could cost $300 billion.
Daniel Holler (Heritage Foundation)"Apparently some of the things they're trying to fix [in the Senate version] are the tax on the union 'Cadillac' plans," Holler explains. "The folks in the House don't like that so they have to figure out another way to pay for that...and there's a bunch of these small 'pay-fors' that they need to fix -- and they're trying to do that all through reconciliation."
According to the analyst, the controversial procedural maneuver does not address some major issues.
"What this leaves out...are some of the harder problems -- like whether illegal immigrants can get coverage, what to do about the question of abortion," Holler points out. "So it's not a straight funding matter -- there's also some policy questions which you cannot address through reconciliation."
The Heritage Foundation spokesman says the reconciliation process is very complex. Democrats will first have to get agreement on all revenue provision changes, then they have to draft a reconciliation bill and hold proper hearings in the House and Senate.
Holler says Democrats will then be confronted with the question: Can you pass a reconciliation bill that changes a piece of legislation that has not become law?
Topic: Dems entertaining healthcare 'reconciliation' (Read 993 times)