Hoyer: Dems Could Pass Health Care Before Brown Takes Office

[laughingliberal]

Should Republican Scott Brown win Tuesday's Senate race in Massachusetts and break the Democrats' supermajority in the Senate, Congressional Dems could pass a final health care reform bill before Brown is seated, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters at his weekly press briefing Tuesday.

And if that means the House has to rubber-stamp the weaker reform bill that came out of the Senate, he said, "the Senate bill clearly is better than nothing."

Under procedural statutes, Massachusetts officials could buy some time for Congress to pass health care by delaying the certification of a Brown victory. If everything drags out as long as possible, Democrats would have about two weeks to get the final bill to President Obama's desk.

Though he said he is "hopeful" that Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley will win the Senate seat formerly occupied by Ted Kennedy, Hoyer uttered a terse "Yes" when asked whether Democrats could pass legislation of health reform's magnitude in that window. And he said a bill is better than no bill, though earlier in the briefing he took a jab at the weaker Senate package.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/19/hoyer-dems-could-pass-hea_n_428219.html

I fully expect to see this happen if Coakley loses today. That said, my husband saw morning news saying polls were 50/50 going in today and turnout has been vigorous. Cross your fingers.

[Renew Deal]

1. A little payback for holding up Franken?

:D

[nightrain]

2. yep, quite likely that the Senate bill would be the "reform" we'll get under those

circumstances... sickening.

[leveymg]

3. Why am I not surprised that Steny is the one in the House to step forward with this.

The fact that passage of the Senate Bill in its present form will destroy the Democratic Party at the polls later this year and in 2012 doesn't seem to bother him. If the present Senate Bill failed, that would force the Senate Blue Dog leadership out, and we'd get a much better bill through Reconciliation.

[icee]

13. Excellent. Unfortunately, there are egos to maintain. Regardless

of the election results today, this is a huge loss for the Democrat Party. Maybe a devastating loss. All that time and money spent Hope and Change. I feel like an idiot.

[Guilded Lilly]

4. Seriously...will someone please tell me

WHY if we did have to start over, we couldn't? Knowing NOW that ordinary political tactics will not work with this repulsive obstructionism, truly WHY couldn't healthcare reform still take place and why would it have to wait a generation? Because some media pundits say so?

Really...says WHO? and WHY?

peace
Lilly

[leveymg]

6. The answer to that is that we could get a decent Bill, but it means pushing aside Blue Dog Senate

leaders to pass a 51 vote Reconciliation Bill, and that's something the White House was unwilling to do before.

A more technical answer goes to some mythology that's been spread that the Democrats, unlike the GOP, can't shape a new Bill that would pass by Reconciliation because of the Parliamentarian. But, the Parliamentarian's role is advisory. It's the Presiding Officer in the Senate who makes the decisions as to what is "extraneous" to a budget impacting bill (under the Byrd Amendment). That's Biden, as it was Cheney before him. So, what's the problem here? Here's Wiki on Reconciliation:

As the Presiding Officer of the Senate may not be fully aware of the parliamentary situation currently facing the Senate, staff from the Senate Parliamentarian's office sit on the Senate dais to advise the Presiding Officer on how to respond to inquiries and motions from Senators. The role of the parliamentary staff is strictly advisory; the Presiding Officer is in no way required to follow their advice, though they almost always do so. The office also refers bills to the appropriate committees on behalf of the Senate's Presiding Officer. If facing the dais, the Parliamentarian is the second from the left.

The current parliamentarian is Alan Frumin

Seems that lots of Laws have been passed by Reconciliation that contained regulatory provisions:

Reconciliation bills have included:

* Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1980, Pub.L. 96-499 (1980)
* Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Pub.L. 97-35 (1981)
* Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982, Pub.L. 97-253 (1982)
* Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA), Pub.L. 97-248 (1982)
* Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1983, Pub.L. 98-270 (1984)
* Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 (DEFRA), Pub.L. 98-369 (1984)
* Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA), Pub.L. 99-272 (1986)
* Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, Pub.L. 99-509 (1986)
* Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, Pub.L. 100-203 (1987)
* Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989, Pub.L. 101-239 (1989)
* Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Pub.L. 101-508 (1990).
* Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Pub.L. 103-66 (1990).
* Balanced Budget Act of 1995, H.R. 2491 (vetoed December 6, 1995)
* Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, Pub.L. 104-193 (1996)
* Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Pub.L. 105-33 (1997)
* Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, Pub.L. 105-34 (1997)
* Taxpayer Refund and Relief Act of 1999, H.R. 2488 (vetoed September 23, 1999)
* Marriage Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2000, H.R. 4810 (vetoed August 5, 2000)
* Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), Pub.L. 107-16 (2001)
* Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, Pub.L. 108-27 (2003)
* Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Pub.L. 109-171 (2006)
* Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (TIPRA), Pub.L. 109-222 (2006)
* College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, Pub.L. 110-84 (2007)

[Guilded Lilly]

8. perhaps it would now. The White House that is.

This is a *war* whose rules have changed the way government needs to be run.

Maybe this scare of losing it all will make them realize that they have a job to do and should do it however they could...Blue Dogs be damned?

[leveymg]

10. Exactly. The fear of extinction is the only power stronger than money in politics.

That's particularly true in DC. ;)

[Kingofalldems]

5. When is the term up for this Senate seat?

Just thought of it.

[kayla9170]

7. Get it done, Steny...........

:yourock:

[leveymg]

11. Do you actually LIKE the Senate HCR Bill?

Or, just a big fan of Hoyer?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

9. Hoyer seems a little confused here...

Should Republican Scott Brown win Tuesday's Senate race in Massachusetts and break the Democrats' supermajority in the Senate, Congressional Dems could pass a final health care reform bill before Brown is seated, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters at his weekly press briefing Tuesday.And if that means the House has to rubber-stamp the weaker reform bill that came out of the Senate, he said, "the Senate bill clearly is better than nothing."

If Brown wins the time-frame of his seating would have absolutely no effect on the House's ability to pass the Senate bill directly.

Perhaps the article's author is the sloppy one, but the comment makes no sense as presented. The article conflates two very different things -- rushing a bill through confernece vs. the House passing the Senate bill as written

[Thrill]

12. These Democrats already sound like losers.