What’s next for Healthcare
The monster healthcare bill, 2000 pages plus amendments, barely passes in the House. 220 (yes) – 215 (no). If three people voted ‘No” instead of ‘yes’… it would have been 217 – 218 and the bill would have failed. Three votes out of 435. That’s a razor-thin margin.
(BTW. 2000 pages. If the Congressmen didn’t read it, who wrote it? )
It took some last-minute wheeling and dealing to put enough perfume on the pig to get it to pass.
[Rep. Bart] Stupak told CNSNews.com in a video interview posted on Oct. 23 that he had organized a group of about 40 Democrats who would vote to kill the health-care bill if Speaker Pelosi did not allow a straight up-or-down vote on his amendment when the health bill came to the House floor. [...] The amendment would prohibit federal funds from paying for any part of any health insurance plan that covers abortion.
So they added an amendment to the house bill that does not allow taxpayer money to pay for abortions – because about 40 Democrats would kill the bill WITHOUT the Anti-Abortion Amendment.
In New News…
THEN after the vote, Pelosi received a letter from 41 Democrats that will not vote for the final bill if it does have the amendment.
Obtained: In Letter To Pelosi, 41 House Dems Pledge To Vote Against Bill With Anti-Abortion Amendment
Yes! I love a catfight between liberals!!!
There is another version of the healthcare bill in the Senate. Another sticky point is the “public option” which will lead to a single payer system.
Rep. Dan Boren (D.-Okla.), who voted against the Pelosi health-care reform bill that was approved by the House yesterday, said he did so because it raises taxes and will lead to a single-payer health care system in the United States.
The bill—the “Affordable Health Care for America Act”—passed the House late on Saturday evening. The final vote was 220 to 215. Thirty-nine House Democrats voted against the proposal and only one Republican, freshman Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted for it.
In town hall meetings in August, Boren told constituents he would not support a health care bill that raised taxes on small businesses or that included a public option.
That’s under discussion in the Senate, too.
But, like the Stupak amendment, beware of the old bait-and-switch.
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D.-Calif.) said yesterday there is “no guarantee” that an amendment approved by the House on Saturday that prohibits federal funding of abortion in the health care bill will be retained in the final version of the bill. The bill must still go through a House-Senate conference committee and could be stripped out there.
So they can wheel and deal and make concessions in order to get it to pass. Remember that the Senate needs 60 votes out of 100 to pass. They can strip out the concessions later.
Just something to think about.
They should just kill the bill or leave the hill.
Waxman Says ‘No Guarantee’ Amendment Prohibiting Abortion Funding Will Be Retained in Final Version of Health-Care Bill
Democrat Who Voted No on Pelosi Health Bill Says It Will ‘Ultimately Lead to a Single-Payer System’
On to the Senate
Health reformers prepare for Senate hurdle
The first thing Barack Obama did late on Saturday night following the passage of the healthcare bill in the House of Representatives was to phone the heads of three industry lobby groups to thank them for their support. Not included on the list was the largest insurance lobby group, American Health Insurance Plans, which doggedly continues to oppose Democratic reform efforts.
Of course, he wants the government to take over their service.
Kill the bill.
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