Patters

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Health care reform bill ‘inside the 5-yard line,’ Gibbs says - Blogs from CNN.com

“We’re way deep in the red zone,” White House senior adviser David Axelrod told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King late last year on State of the Union. “We’re right on the one-yard line,” Axelrod added.

...

“We’re one vote in the House of Representatives from making health care reform a reality,” the White House press secretary said, positing a scenario where the House passed the version of the bill already passed by the Senate which President Obama would then sign into law.

BelichickFan

You understand he meant "One vote by the House", not that they just need one more person's vote - right ?

To do this they need to pass the Senate vote as is then try to use reconcilliation in the Senate to undo all the crappy bribes and giveaways that would cause the Dems to be decimated in November. Of course, not all of it can happen through reconcilliation as that's just for budgetary items.

Patters

I'm not sure, given Axelrod's comment, but it absolutely could be taken the way you mean.

I don't see why they can't amend a bill after it passes. Or do you think the Republicans would filibuster improvements to HCR that might not be as a far reaching as they would like?

BelichickFan

I don't think there's any question it's what I said.

BelichickFan

That's almost a moot point because it will never pass the house unless there's a guarantee all the bribes will be reconciled out so the actual mechanism doesn't matter. That said, I think you misunderstood and jumped the gun on this thread - that God.

Patters

Actually, I didn't misunderstand. I might have if it was the lead of the story, but it wasn't. Again, given Axelrod's comment, Gibbs could have meant it either way. Just a few days ago, Pelosi felt she could get the votes, and she certainly has to be close. I suspect it's the liberals who she's having trouble reigning in.

Nancy Pelosi Says She Has The Votes To Pass Health Care

If the House passes it, I think the Senate and House will move very quickly to address its major flaws, namely bribes to Nelson and Landrieu. I can't see Republicans opposing that.

BelichickFan

No she doesn't have the votes :

She doesn't have the votes.

This bill is crap even without the bribes, the Republicans will not vote for it and if the Dems go this route they will make them own it. We also don't know all the pieces that would have to be removed and whether reconciliation could be used for them all.

Patters

I don't think they'll have to use reconciliation, but maybe I don't understand a nuance of the process. Laws can amended, and I think a number of Republicans would have no choice but to go along with any amendment that made the legislation fairer or less costly. While it's true that Reconciliation puts restrictions on the types of amendments, I think good ol' ordinary amendment can cover anything. But, honestly, maybe there's something I'm missing, because all the articles only seem to talk about the Democrats using reconciliation to make fixes.

patsfan13

DeMint objected to the conferees so you can't have the usual process of bridging the 2 bills. They have to pass the Senate bill, the Byrd amendment dictates that they can't add money to the bill IIRC. IF they use reconciliation for this the pubbies will shut down the senate.

__________________
"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

Patters

I don't think Republicans can shut down the Senate. That's the point of using Reconciliation. If they try to be disruptive on a measure that removes $x million earmarked for Nebraska, I don't think the American people will side with the Republicans.