House Democrats appear set to pass Senate bill without voting on it
Republicans now expect Democrats to pass health care through the House with a trick only Capitol Hill could dream up: approving the Senate bill without voting on it.
Democrats will vote on a separate bill that includes language stating that the original Senate bill is “deemed passed.”
So by voting for the first bill — a reconciliation measure to fix certain things in the Senate bill — that will automatically pass the second bill — the original Senate bill — without a separate roll call taking place.
It’s called the “Slaughter Solution” (prepare for a weekend of endless TV gabbing about it).
And after debating House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on the chamber floor, Minority Whip Eric Cantor emerged convinced that Democrats are going to use the tactic, and that they won’t allow Republicans, and the public, to see the text of any legislation for 72 hours before a vote.
“I can infer that we’re going to see a rule that will deem the Senate bill as having passed, and at the same time not even have 72 hours to even look at what they are passing,” Cantor, a Virginia Republican, said in an interview outside his office at the Capitol.
“The outrage to me on the part of the public is going to be focused on the fact that there is not even an up or down vote, a clean up or down vote,” Cantor said.
Here’s the reason Democrats are using such a complicated procedure: many in the House completely do not trust the Senate to pass fixes to the bill passed by the Senate in December. But according to the rules of reconciliation, the House must go first in passing the Senate bill and passing a reconciliation fix.
So House Democrats have been searching for a way to alleviate members’ concerns that if they vote for the Senate bill and the Senate does nothing to fix it, they will be hung out to dry as having supported a piece of legislation that many across the country dislike, either for spending reasons, or because of special provisions like the extra money for Nebraska’s Medicaid population (the “Cornhusker kickback”).
Technically, using the “Slaughter solution,” they’ll never have voted for the bill they find odious, even if their vote on the reconciliation legislation will have been the vote that passed the Senate bill into law.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, alluded to all this at her weekly press conference Friday.
“There are certain assurances that they want and that we will get for them before I ask them to take a vote,” Pelosi said.
The “Slaughter solution” is named for House Rules Committee Chairman Louise Slaughter, the New York Democrat who came up with the idea. She told the Daily Caller on Thursday that the chances of her procedure being used were “pretty good.”
Despite doubt among some on Capitol Hill on whether the “Slaughter solution” was feasible, Cantor expressed no doubt that the tactic could be used.
“It’s a self-executing rule. It is akin to passage but hidden in a rule as a side-note, passing the 2,700-page, $1 trillion bill, oh by the way,” he said.
Hoyer rejected the idea that Republicans have not had enough time to review the legislation.
“You have had months to review the substance of that bill. You don’t like it. We understand. You’re going to oppose it. We understand that as well. The fact of the matter is you cannot say you have had no notice of each and every provision for over two months,” said Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat.
Cantor said he wanted 72 hours to review the final text of the reconciliation bill.
“The reconciliation bill is new text. He claims it’s old hat, but this is clearly where they’re reconciling differences,” Cantor said, expressing concern that Democrats would rush the final text to the House floor for a vote to keep “sweeteners” used to buy off votes from being discovered.
Democrats are coalescing around a schedule for the bill’s route to the House floor for a vote. They are expecting a final score from the Congressional Budget Office later today.
On Monday, the House Budget Committee will mark the bill up, leading to an expected vote in the Rules Committee on Wednesday, with a final vote by the full House possible next weekend.
The question remains, however, whether Pelosi will even be able to round up enough votes to pass a bill.
Momentum continued to go the wrong direction for her on Friday, as two more Democrats said they are opposed to the bill.
(5 votes, average: 4.80 out of 5)
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I saw a sign in a video the other day. It read: “Don’t spread MY wealth…spread MY work ethic.” This is pure, unadulterated communism/socialism at work here…
It’s clear to me that we are seeing first hand who the Democrats are, what they really stand for and who they represent, themselves. It’s not about America, it’s not about fixing healthcare, and it really doesn’t matter that we don’t have the money to pay for it. It’s about their agenda to move America closer to the European style of governence and to make America into just another country. It’s sad that we have to sit on the sideleines and watch a bunch of elitists ruin the greatest country on the face of the earth because of their flawed ideology. What these people are doing does disservice to all the men and women, in uniform, who shed their blood for this nation. This is hope and change nobody can believe in, that’s the fact.
It states in the Constitution that every bill has to “pass the House and the Senate” and be signed by the President before it can become law.
The Slaughter Solution has one very large obstacle–the Constitution Article I, Section 7–which states:
All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Clearly, this Congress is so desperate to pass ObamaCare, despite the American people’s utter hatred of the bill and everything it represents–including the path to socialism and government control of the people. However, if this Congress continues down this path of violating the Constitution, the “people” will have a viable case, class-action or otherwise, in the US courts because it is going to be extremely difficult for a judge to ignore that the 111th Democrat-Progressive led Congress violated Article I, Section 7 to the most obscene extent.
http://biggovernment.com/sahiller/2010/03/11/if-pelosi-has-the-votes-then-why-does-the-house-need-the-slaughter-solution-to-pass-obamacare/#more-87326
Evidently “Ethics, the Constitution, Morality etc” do not exist amongst the Democrats. They are more of a “Stormtrooper Regime” than representatives of the American people. If they use the “Slaughter Rule”, the Republicans must appeal the rule to the Supreme Court. Hopefully there may be enough Democrats with a sense of fairness and loyalty to the American people ,the other Bill that will be written and voted on accepting the Slaughter passage of the Obama Socialist Program will be defeated. That should be the critical display as to who should be voted out in the next election. The Republicans MUST start hearings for the impeachment of Pelosi and her stormtroopers and take Obama with them.
WE have seen what leaving Washington in charge of the rules. First there was NAFTA allowing American jobs to be exported south of the border, then silimar agreements with China, Malaysia etc. Their economy is fairing better than ours as they have “OUR JOBS” and all these American think tanks haven’t figured out yet why our Economy is in the toilet. You can’t build our Economy with new Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Burger Kings etc and say we created x# of jobs. We were an Industrialized Nation and that is what made us the once great nation we were. It is sad to think and say, China now has that honor and America is in a downfall it will never recoup from thanks to the Washington Regimes that allowed the changes going all the way back to Ronald Reagan when NAFTA was first being discussed and drawn up and Bill Clinton signed it. That opened the door for the demise of America.
Thanks to Socialist Obama, our next 5-6 generations will pay for what he has done to this Country in the last 14 months. He has done more to ruin this Country than to help it.
And the fearless Regime allows Illegals to enter this Country, allows them to participate in our Education process, take American Jobs, collect Welfare, free Medical and do nothing about it. These Felonious Illegals must go as yes, they have committed a FELONY against America and its people.
Just remember, we let it happen by listening and believing Obama was the next Savior and not letting reality dictate the fact he is nothing more than a wolf in sheepskin and will lead this Country into what Russia once was, a Socialistic Disasterb from the likes their so called leaders.
Oh how I love the smell of hot tar and feathers.
Yeah, can you split me a few rails.
Oh how I love the smell of hot tar and feathers.
Yeah, can you split me a few rails.
Slaughter Solution represents dead babies, death panels and the death of a nation. Slaughter is the perfect name for it. What a legacy for Louise and Obama. Good work, democrats.
Someone needs to toss a bucket of water on this witch…
Now here is something Slaughter can use her dead sister’s teeth to bite into./s
I grew up in the 50’s and remember “Duck and Cover”. Well America, the 50’s have returned……”DUCK AND COVER”. You are about to be nuked by your own government. And WE let it happen.