BigGator5
Sic Semper Tyrannis
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2004
- Posts
- 4,830
File This: "Conrad Still Can't Reconciliation With Democrats"
...And in a rare Double Nomentum:
Remember people, this guy is the chairman of the Senate committee that has to pass the reconciliation package AFTER the House passes in order for it to get a 51-vote or better on the Senate floor. If it doesn't pass mustard with him or his committee, then it will need 60 votes to pass. And House Dems don't want to pass the Senate Bill unless the Senate agrees to pass their fixes.Conrad Predicts Senate Changes To Reconciliation Bill
Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Thursday that it is unlikely the Senate will be able to pass a health care reconciliation bill unchanged from what the House passes.
Conrad said the Senate Parliamentarian has declined to make rulings on several issues in the bill that Republicans are likely to challenge under the "Byrd rule." That rule states that, among other things, every provision of a budget reconciliation bill must have a budget impact and cannot be "extraneous."
"Although we've spent many, many hours with the Parliamentarian, some things he has not yet rendered a conclusion" on, Conrad said. "He wants to hear from both sides before he does."
Conrad continued: "Do I expect there will be some additional Byrd rule challenges that will be upheld? Yeah. I do."
...And in a rare Double Nomentum:
This pretty much cancels out Kucinich's flip- err, sell-out.Rules Panel Dem To Vote Against Bill
Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-NY), a sophomore Dem who had a tougher-than-expected re-election bid in '08, has told the Dem caucus he will vote against the bill.
(snip)
Arcuri's vote will not hurt the bill's chances in committee, where Dems hold a 9-4 advantage over GOPers. The panel's other 8 Dems all voted for the first version of health care, and only Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) voted in favor of the Stupak amendment.
But Arcuri's decision could make Speaker Nancy Pelosi's goal of winning the 216 votes necessary for passage all the more difficult. Sources say Dems remain short of the votes necessary for passage, but that they have not reached their goal yet.