51 Senators Sign the Reconciliation Pledge!

[Clio the Leo]

Source: 51 Senators Back Reconciliation »
BY MICHAEL MCAULIFF

One of the remaining huge issues for the House on health reform is the promise of at least 50 senators to back the reconciliation package.

A Senate Democratic source tells us, they are there. “We have 51 people who have signed this letter,” the source said.

That pledge is a big deal because members of the House hold the Senate is such low esteem these days, having passed more than 200 bills that have gone nowhere in the House.

And remember, it was Joe Lieberman who tied the Senate in knots last year, first backing expanded Medicare, then opposing it, and ultimately helping to delay things until Senate Democrats lost their filibuster-proof majority to Scott Brown.

“The Senate could screw up a one-horse parade,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2010/03/source-51-senators-back-reconc.html#ixzz0iZhlplay

[Renew Deal]

1. Is the "public option" managed by Sebelius or her successors really in the House bill?

I still can't figure out if that was BS or not.

[Clio the Leo]

5. It's in the House bill yes....

... but the House bill really isn't even play anymore other than the influence it's had on the fix bill.

What you may be referring to is what we THOUGHT was the reconciliation fix released Sunday night which contained a POP .... but was just a procedural thing, not the actual fix.

Confusing, huh?

[liberalpragmatist]

9. It was because reconciliation rules had to pick up a bill released before Oct. 15

So they had to pick up one of the old preliminary bills referred out by one of the House committees. That's why it initially had the public option. Then they had to strip it and substitute new language.

A similar thing happened in the Senate. The Senate cannot initiate revenue-raising bills, so they had to pick up a revenue-raising bill that the House had passed and just amend it. (They can amend it completely, stripping out all the old language.) They actually built the Senate health care bill out of that old AIG bonus tax bill that the House passed last March.

[Grand Taurean]

2. We now know who is who.

[SoFlaJet]

3. I love this line...

“The Senate could screw up a one-horse parade,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner.

[Better Today]

4. I thought we were looking for 50+ to back reconciliation to pass the PO.

Now its back to just passing reconciliation, PO is truly off the table entirely? Or is this with the PO.

[Clio the Leo]

7. PO is off the table.

You can read the reconciliation bill here.

http://faustasblog.com/?p=19143

[smalll]

6. Thanks for the news - but I still wonder, where is the letter? Why can't we SEE the 51 signatures?

Who are they?

Also, after High Noon at Demon Pass, can the Senate just do nothing at all, at which point Obama can just sign the Senate bill?

[Clio the Leo]

8. lol, good point. NT

[lamp_shade]

10. I just got up a few minutes ago. My first thought was "I wonder if Nancy has her letter yet". Yay!!

[uponit7771]

11. YES!!!