Crunch Time on Health Care Bill
Democrat leaders have promised to force the health care bill through Congress in a matter of days, suggesting use of the so-called “nuclear option.” That trick, technically called budget reconciliation would enable the Senate to pass a House-amended version of its own already-approved health care bill, bypassing debate and thus staving off any filibuster. There’s some doubt about using reconciliation in this manner, and it’s even possible that it won’t be utilized at all. The waters around the health care reform process in Washington are murky.
Senator Byrd has said, “Using reconciliation to ram through complicated, far-reaching legislation is an abuse of the budget process. The writers of the Budget Act, and I am one, never intended for its reconciliation’s expedited procedures to be used this way. These procedures were narrowly tailored for deficit reduction. They were never intended to be used to pass tax cuts, or to create new Federal regimes.”
Vice President Joe Biden once characterized the “nuclear option” as an “example of the arrogance of power,” and President Obama said such a move “would change the character of the Senate forever.” But that was 2005. Now that every major poll shows overwhelming opposition to the health care reform bill being put forth by the Democrat-controlled Congress, and Republicans have swept recent special elections chiefly because of the bill, Congressional leaders are willing to resort to tricks they themselves called “dirty” to get their way.
All 41 Republican senators have pledged to object to reconciliation being used in the manner proposed and Senate rules require 60 votes to waive the Byrd rule, which would squash attempts to use budget reconciliation for non-budget-related policy changes.
Reconciliation is just one dirty aspect of the process being used to force health care reform. The current senate bill has a House number: HR3590, but it isn’t the House health care bill. That’s HR3200. Bills that originate in the senate have a number beginning with “S,” such as S2431. There’s a reason for this anomaly. Bills that raise revenue must, according to the Constitution, originate in the House. Senator Reid wanted to pass his own version of health care reform in the senate, though, so he hijacked an unrelated bill that the House had already passed. It was HR3590, a 6-page bill to provide tax breaks to members of the military who were buying a house. Senator Reid offered a “delete all” amendment to the bill, stripping out all of the original language and intent of the house bill and inserted the over 2,500 pages of his tax-raising health care plan. Thus, he obtained a House bill number for his Senate-originated, revenue-raising health care bill by essentially ripping the cover off of a legal bill and stapling it on to an unconstitutional bill.
Pushers of the health care takeover are well aware that a supermajority of the American people are opposed to their plan, so they’ve been using every backroom dirty trick in the book and inventing some new ones to try to force this legislation against the will of the people. Payoffs, threats, smearing and ousting troublesome representatives are just some of the underhanded tactics involved. They know the votes they’ve coerced and cajoled won’t survive an Easter recess, when members of Congress will return to home districts and face their constituents, so they are desperate to pass the bill before the recess.
Now is the time to be heard. It may rain (40% chance), but we are all needed at the Capitol on Saturday. This is our last chance to remind our forgetful representatives that we don’t want the Reid/Pelosi/Obama health care plan. If it does rain, all the better if we still turn out for an hour in strong numbers. That would be a true demonstration to Minnesota’s congressional delegation of our unwavering conviction in opposing the health care takeover.
The Kill the Bill Rally is being organized by Minnesota Majority, the Tea Party Patriots of the Twin Cities, Citizens Council on Health Care and The Taxpayer’s League of Minnesota.
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UPDATE: Geritom Medical has donated a flat screen HD TV as a prize for best protest sign at the Kill the Bill Rally on Saturday. Step up your sign-making skills and get creative - there might be a new TV in it for you!