Thank God, Nancy & Harry appear to be coming to their senses: "Reid, Pelosi work to save reform"

[Pirate Smile]

I've been waiting for this to get leaked somewhere because the idea that this wasn't going to happen was INSANE:

Reid, Pelosi work to save reform

Struggling to salvage health reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have begun considering a list of changes to the Senate bill in hopes of making it acceptable to liberal House members, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The changes could be included in separate legislation that, if passed, would pave the way for House approval of the Senate bill - a move that would preserve President Barack Obama's vision of a sweeping health reform plan.

-snip-
The changes are being worked on this weekend with plans for Pelosi to present them to her caucus next week, according to sources familiar with the situation. But, sources stressed, neither Reid nor Pelosi know if this strategy can win the support of their members, but they are attempting it because it is the quickest path to passage.

Earlier this week, Pelosi said she did not have the votes to pass the Senate bill through the House unchanged. And Reid, who lost his 60-vote majority on Tuesday, does not have the votes to make wholesale changes to legislation his chamber passed last month.
So, leaders are considering making limited changes that can be passed using a budget process called reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes in the Senate.

The changes being considered track closely with the agreements House and Senate leaders made in White House meetings last week, according to a source. They include the deal with labor unions to ease the tax on high-end insurance plans, additional Medicare cuts and taxes, the elimination of a special Medicaid funding deal for Nebraska and a move to help cover the gap in seniors' prescription drug coverage. Pelosi is also working to change the Senate provision that sets up state insurance exchanges. The House prefers a single, national exchange.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31886.html#ixzz0dPdDHQtV

Some sanity finally. Thank goodness.

[Clio the Leo]

1. And the GOOD thing.....

.... is that we're getting this news late Friday (or early Saturday technically) and we can enjoy it for 48 hours until Monday afternoon when someone in the house will go, "meh..... i dont like that either. NO!!!"

[Clio the Leo]

2. But in all seriousness....

... do you understand how that process would work?

Is this the infamous "Plan B + Reconciliation"? (Which I have always understood to mean "house passes the Senate bill, no need for the Senate to vote and President signs it and reconciliation passes the fix" .... or is this something like "changes are made in the Senate via reconciliation and then it goes back to the House, they pass and then the President signs"?

Interesting to that they are working on it over the weekend .... it's almost as if ....... they're trying to get it all done by the middle of next week ..... for some strange reason....... :)

[gateley]

4. I THINK that if the House passes it, that's it -- it goes to Obama for a sig.

But I'm going to hang around and hope somebody who actually knows for sure comes along.

[Pirate Smile]

5. That's right. House passes Senate Bill then it heads to the President's desk.

The fixes through Reconcilliation are separate but will modify (only on budget/financial matters) the Bill which would have already passed both chambers. That patch or amendment would only need 50 votes plus Biden.

[Clio the Leo]

11. But is that what this article is describing?

Why would the House Dems before this when they haven't been for it for the last four days? I thought the article was saying that Reid/Pelosi were going to try something new.

[gateley]

16. It sounds like such a no-brainer to me. I just wish Pelosi would

ask my opinion! :7

[FrenchieCat]

3. A national exchange....now that would be good.

[Hekate]

6. From your keyboard to the Goddess's eyeballs. nt

[Juche]

7. I hope so

If they pass the senate bill, then pass a different bill through reconciliation (not everything can be done via reconciliation, but I forget what can and can't) to make liberals happy, that'd be great.

I really hope the democratic party learns a lesson from all this.

[eridani]

8. Any excise tax on insurance plans is a complete electoral disaster

61% prefer the millionaires' tax. There are millions of non-union plans that would be considered "Cadillac" simply because they are held by us disposable human garbage between the ages of 50 and 64. Many of these plans are not particularly good--they are only expensive because you have to pay many times more just because of your age.

[depakid]

10. One would hope that after last week they'd get a clue about that

though I'm not sure at this point that electoral disaster isn't actually what they want. There's a limit on just how stupid one can presume them to be.

[European Socialist]

9. Harry better double check to see if he has 50 votes.

Some of those critters might have been letting Lieberman and Nelson do the dirty work and when push comes to shove they will obey their corporate masters.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Sometimes, it worries more when they do.

Reminds me of people like Lieberman who would take the helm of important issues which he knew would never pass the Senate. Then, when he had a chance to put in a deciding vote, he found a reason to withdraw his support. It's all disingenuous, in the end.

[w4rma]

13. They had better bring back the P.O., then. (nt)

[Cha]

14. Thank you Harry and Nancy.

[Think82]

15. Obama Shoul threaten House Dems that he won't campaign for them if they don't go with the program

It's time to be as united as the republicans always are in order toget something done. Obama was saving his intervention until conference, now's the time for him to be a commander in chief and use the stick.