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Obama Writing Health Bill to Skirt GOP Filibuster

FOXNews.com

The president reportedly is working on health care legislation intended to reconcile differences between House and Senate Democrats that could be attached to a budget bill and pass with only 51 Senate votes.

President Obama is working on health care legislation intended to reconcile differences between House and Senate Democrats that could be attached to a budget bill and avoid a Republican filibuster, according to a published report.

The president's proposal, which is still being written, will be posted on the Internet by Monday morning, senior administration officials and Congressional aides told the New York Times.

By piggybacking the legislation onto a budget bill, Democrats would be able to advance the bill with a simple majority of just 51 votes, averting a Republican filibuster in the Senate.

The White House signaled Thursday that an aggressive, all-Democratic strategy for overhauling the nation's health system remains a serious option, even as Obama invites Republicans to next week's televised summit to seek possible compromises.

"It will be a reconciliation bill," the Times quoted a Democratic aide as saying. "If Republicans don't come with any substantial offers, this is what we would do."

The administration's stance could set the stage for a political showdown, with Democrats struggling to enact the president's top domestic priority and Republicans trying to block what many conservatives see as government overreach.

Obama's plan, like the House and Senate bills, would expand coverage to some 30 million, require most Americans to carry insurance or face financial penalties, and block insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions, the Times reported.

One Capitol Hill Democrat told the Times abortion remains "a wild card."

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday that Obama plans to have a health proposal that "will take some of the best ideas and put them into a framework" ahead of the Feb. 25 summit.

Obama has said he is open to Republican ideas for changing the health care system. But many Democrats seriously doubt GOP leaders will support compromises that could draw enough lawmakers from both parties to create a bipartisan majority.

If next week's meeting does not break the logjam, congressional Democrats will face a tough choice. They can pass a highly diluted health care bill or nothing at all, which would send them into the November elections with a high-profile failure despite their control of Congress and the White House.

Or they can use the aggressive and contentious tactic, known as reconciliation, to pass a far-reaching health care bill in the Senate without having to face the GOP. Democrats lost their ability to block filibusters when Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown won a Senate seat last month.

Both parties have used reconciliation rules in the past. But Republicans have practically dared Democrats to do so on health care, citing polls showing significant opposition to the legislation.

It's unclear whether the House or Senate can muster the necessary votes. Democrats, who now hold 255 of the House's 435 seats, drew only one GOP ally when the House passed its health care bill, 220-215, last November. Since then, one Democrat who voted for the bill has resigned, one has died and a third plans to leave office Feb. 28. Moreover, changes meant to meet Senate demands could peel away enough liberals on one end, and party centrists on the other, to cause the revised bill to fail.

In the Senate, Democrats control 59 seats, and reconciliation rules require only a simple majority. But several Democratic senators have expressed discomfort or outright opposition to using the rules to thwart filibusters on health care.

The White House has invited Republicans to bring their own proposals, but GOP leaders have treated the event warily at best.

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said Thursday, "a productive, bipartisan conversation on health care starts with a clean sheet of paper." His office labeled next week's meeting the "summit of all fears."

But at least one moderate Republican was optimistic about the session.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said if the summit succeeds, a bipartisan bill could be put together and passed within six weeks. "My advice to our Republican leadership is we should view this as a good faith effort and go in there with a consensus list of provisions that we could support and that would make a difference," she said in an interview with The Associated Press.

House Democrats are insisting on several changes to the bill the Senate passed on Christmas Eve, before Brown was elected to succeed the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. The changes include reducing or eliminating a proposed tax on generous employer-provider health plans, and eliminating a Medicaid subsidy aimed only at Nebraska.

Also, some House Democrats who oppose legalized abortion are demanding that the Senate's more permissive language on the topic be replaced by the House provisions. It was unclear Thursday how that might be achieved.

The cost of the legislation -- about $1 trillion over 10 years -- would be paid for through Medicare cuts and a series of tax increases. House officials said Democratic leaders are not yet pressing wary colleagues to back a health care bill under the special procedural rules. That could happen soon, however, if next week's summit fails to produce a bipartisan breakthrough.

House congressional aides said they expect leaders such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to tell colleagues that using all their parliamentary muscle to pass a health care bill -- even if it triggers withering criticism from the right -- is preferable to facing voters empty-handed this fall.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

I hate to tell you, BUT the battle to stop the takeover of our health care is not over.

In 6 days, on February 25, President Obama will hold a "Health Care Summit" where he and Speaker Nancy Pelosi will unveil their "new" health care plan that they are currently writing in secret behind closed doors.

The Left is hoping their "summit" will be the game-changer they need to re-launch their scheme to take over our health care system.

You and I need to make sure that does not happen.

At Americans for Prosperity, we're holding our own Critical Care: The Patients' Summit to deliver a simple message: the American people have rejected this trillion-dollar takeover of health care. So Congress should start over from scratch, or better yet, focus on policies that create jobs and get our economy moving again.

First, we'll gather outside the Blair House at 9:30 a.m. on February 25 where President Obama will be hosting his "summit." We'll make sure attendees like Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid hear our message as they head inside.

Then, beginning at 11:30am we will hold our own Critical Care: The Patients' Summit at the JW Marriott in DC.

If you can't join us in person in Washington, you can still be a part of the Patients' Summit. We'll be Webcasting live online at AmericansforProsperity.org.

Between now and President Obama's "summit," we need to email and call our senators and member of Congress to tell them in advance that the American people do not want another big-government, tax-and-spend, freedom-crushing piece of legislation to come up again.

So, I'm asking you to CLICK HERE to call your elected representatives today.

It's fast. It's easy. More importantly, it makes a difference.

The Left is hoping that we have moved on from the health care battle. They're thinking that President Obama's "summit" is their big chance to get the ball rolling again.

A lot of senators and congressmen are wondering if the mood of the American people has changed.

We've got to show them in a crystal clear fashion that the American people simply do not trust the Washington politicians with our health care.

Thanks for all you're doing and let's keep fighting.

Tim Phillips

PS: You know how hard all of us worked last year to stop this health care takeover. We cannot let victory slip away. Let me know you'll join our Critical Care: The Patients' Summit online or in person on February 25 by CLICKING HERE.

And, let's re-engage on the health care front by calling our senators and representatives today. CLICK HERE

The Smell of Desperation: Pulling Out the Race Card and Religion… and Threatening the Use of a Nuclear Option to Pass Healthcare Reform: No Matter Wha

Obama Compares Health Care Reform to Civil Rights Movement

President Obama made a faith-based pitch for his health care reform, urging religious groups to unite in this battle "between hope and fear" just as they did in the fight for civil rights. Read The Full Article

Put a fork in him because he is done!

Did Obama Really Say Health Care Critics Are Guilty of Sin?

'We are God's partners in matters of life and death'

A reader points out that President Obama's call with the rabbis today — as recorded in Rabbi Jack Moline's and other clerics' Twitter feeds — freights health care reform with a great deal of religious meaning, and veers into the blend of policy and faith that outraged liberals in the last administration.

"We are God's partners in matters of life and death," Obama said, according to Moline (paging Sarah Palin...), quoting from the Rosh Hashanah prayer that says that in the holiday period, it is decided "who shall live and who shall die."

The president ended the call by wishing the rabbis "shanah tovah," or happy new year — in reference to the High Holidays a month from now.

By Ben Smith

What Would Jesus Do? Ask Obama

ObamaCare Gets Religion

Dems Consider Nuclear Option to Pass Health Care

Publicly, President Barack Obama is still calling for a bipartisan bill to overhaul the nation's health care system. Privately, Democrats are preparing a one-party push, which they feel is all but inevitable. Obama urged religious leaders Wednesday to back his proposals, and he prepared for a pep talk to a much larger audience of liberal activists, whose enthusiasm is in question. Polls continued to show slippage in support for the president's approach, although Americans expressed even less confidence in Republicans' handling of health care. The administration said it still hopes for a bipartisan breakthrough on its goals of expanding health coverage, controlling costs and increasing competition among insurers. In private, however, top Democrats said a bipartisan accord seems less likely than ever when Congress reconvenes next month. Read The Full Article

You can smell the desperation when everywhere you turn the race card is being invoked and the man who said, “The United States is not a Christian Nation” and the woman who was lectured by the Pope are meeting with religious leader, that were ignored through the writing of their bill, asking “What would Jesus do?”.

And then we have the threats by top Congressional leaders of passing a bill for healthcare reform using the strategy, called "reconciliation," allowing senators to get around a bill-killing filibuster without mustering the 60 votes usually needed or by any other means, that the majority of American people don’t want and our Country can’t afford…

It is time to dump the craziness and “Let’s Start Over” on healthcare reform!! “Let’s Start Over” is the new battle cry of moderates and conservatives of both parties as well as independents and the majority of the American people!!

“let’s Start Over” seems to be the new Healthcare Battle cry from moderate and conservative politicians and the majority of Americans. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver – Democrat from Missouri's Fifth District said the same thing earlier today.

Americans want to fix what is wrong with the present healthcare system and keep what is good… not throw it out and start over!! Tort reform and fraud control, plus some sensible changes in the medical insurance rules like portable coverage, focus on prevention, inclusion of alternative and holistic medicine and supplements, no more exclusion for pre-existing conditions, allowing the self-employed and small businesses to form and buy insurance as consortiums, allowing inter-state sales of insurance and tighter regulation of Big Pharma and the AMA would pretty much take care of the uninsured and spiraling costs. Take out covering people who are in the U.S. illegally and paying for abortions and unnecessary elective surgeries and allowing ideas from the Republicans and any politicians and companies who have made positive changes in healthcare or learned from trial and error and we could reform American healthcare without destroying the best coverage in the world or giving up our freedoms.

The answer is throw out all 5-bills presently being considered and start over with focused reform instead of destroying a system that works for over 85% of Americans and Legal Residents. So “Let’s Start Over” on this reform!

You know there has to be something wrong when liberal journalist Helen Thomas says: “Not Even Nixon Tried to Control the Media Like Obama!”, so “Let’s Start Over!”

Posted: Daily Thought Pad

Related Resources:

• Senator Jon Kyl: GOP (and Most Americans) Opposes Democrats Approach to Healthcare - “Let’s Start Over!”
• Questions of Competence Begin to Dog Obama

The Irony of “reconciliation”

POSTED AT 9:30 AM ON AUGUST 19, 2009 BY ED MORRISSEY

The New York Times offers a strong hint that Democrats in the Senate will use the ‘budget reconciliation process' as a cover to move ObamaCare through the chamber to avoid a filibuster. The Democrats will “go it alone,” the headline reads, although the actual report makes the how of that rather ambiguous. And well it should, since the Democrats know — or should know — that to try reconciliation would be an invitation to a war that would bring Congress to a screeching halt:

Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority’s cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.

Top Democrats said Tuesday that their go-it-alone view was being shaped by what they saw as Republicans’ purposely strident tone against health care legislation during this month’s Congressional recess, as well as remarks by leading Republicans that current proposals were flawed beyond repair.

Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, said the heated opposition was evidence that Republicans had made a political calculation to draw a line against any health care changes, the latest in a string of major administration proposals that Republicans have opposed. …

The Democratic shift may not make producing a final bill much easier. The party must still reconcile the views of moderate and conservative Democrats worried about the cost and scope of the legislation with those of more liberal lawmakers determined to win a government-run insurance option to compete with private insurers.

In fact, the article never mentions the word “reconciliation,” the process by which the Senate approves a ‘budget’ for the federal government. Under the rules of reconciliation, no cloture vote is needed, as the chamber has a Constitutional duty to produce a budget. Some Democrats have threatened this for months, notably Chuck Schumer, but the plan has a couple of big flaws. First, the Democrats have to convince the Senate parliamentarian, ostensibly non-partisan, to agree that the bill is primarily budgetary. No one in their right mind could honestly make that judgment about massive regulation of 15% of the American economy. They’re likely to get denied before they even get started.

However, if they do manage to get past that obstacle, the Republicans can shut down the Senate for the next year. Those unfamiliar with the parliamentary procedure may not realize that a great many steps get skipped by unanimous consent. Bill-reading is just one example. One Senator can force each and every bill to be read aloud at every appearance it makes on the Senate floor, including when they are sent to committee. For ObamaCare and cap-and-trade, one bill reading could take a week, keeping the Senate floor locked off from any other business.

Traditionally, Senators give each other the courtesy of unanimous consent to allow business to proceed at a normal pace. If the Democrats try to force ObamaCare through reconciliation, that unanimous consent will dissipate faster than an Obama expiration date. It won’t take the entire Republican caucus to gum up the works, either; it only takes a single objection to end unanimous consent, and the GOP has more than a couple of conservative firebrands who will gladly toss sand in the gears to stop Harry Reid from steamrolling them.

Democrats might think that this will gain them sympathy with the public, but not if they’re breaking rules to pass an increasingly unpopular and intrusive piece of legislation. It will create a firestorm of anger even worse than what we’ve seen in the townhalls thus far. They would be signing their way to minority status, especially in the House. They can kiss the rest of their agenda goodbye for the rest of this session, too, including cap-and-trade. Even budgeting will prove very difficult.

There’s a reason the Times didn’t mention reconciliation. It’s a bluff. Not even Harry Reid is this foolish… or is He???

Source: HotAir

Posted: Daily Thought Pad

In Case You Missed It: Obama Secret Plan for Senate Rule Change

Dear Friend:

I am supporting only one organization to stop Obama's healthcare program: the League of American Voters. And I am encouraging concerned Americans to funnel their support to the League as their main venue for donations.

I believe the League has the most effective program to confront directly and stop Obama's radical healthcare takeover plan.

Obama is moving to ram through Congress his plan and all our resources need to be focused to stop him.

Please donate today and help put its powerful ad on air by Going Here Now.

Also read the League's urgent message below!

Dick Morris

Obama Caught in AARP Lie, More to Come

Dear Supporter:

In our last message, we warned that Obama was on the run, desperate to get his radical health plan rammed through Congress.

But Obama's falling poll numbers, and the fact that outlets such as Fox News and Newsmax are fully informing Americans about the dangers of the plan, have hurt him and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's efforts for their healthcare fiasco.

They are desperate. Obama out-and-out lied this week when he claimed that the AARP, the nation's largest seniors organization, backed his healthcare plan.

The organization does not support it.

Nancy Pelosi has even compared citizens protesting against the health plan with Nazis.

These futile attempts of Obama and Pelosi to twist reality prove that our efforts are working!

This weekend, we will begin our national TV ad campaign. We are rolling out our powerful new TV ad — devised by Dick Morris, our chief strategist.

Dick's ad exposes how Obama's plan will lead to healthcare rationing if he succeeds in adding 50 million people to the government system.

You can see the TV ad and donate by Going Here Now.

Remember, you can't let your guard down. Obama and the Democrats know they no longer have the 60 votes to pass the radical health plan in the Senate.

We are told they are working behind the scenes to change long-standing Senate rules so that they can pass their health plan with just 50 votes!

This is again a desperate measure and an attempt to subvert our democratic and constitutional system.

I can assure you the League of American Voters is working day and night to stop Obama's plan.

We are also preparing for contingencies.

When Congress returns after Labor Day, we must line up all our forces for the final battle.

I realize many people are on vacation or feel confident we can defeat Obama's plan.

Please don't fall victim to overconfidence.

It is critically important that you join with the League of American Voters today and help us defeat Obama.

Please Go Here Now to Donate.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Bob Adams
Executive Director

P.S. Next week, we want to roll out our powerful TV ad to eight more states. We have a goal to raise $5 million for our campaign to stop Obama's plan. We are well on our way to this goal, but we need more help. Please take a moment today and show your support — Go Here Now.