Health care puts House Democrats on the line
Reconciliation is a process, limited to budget-related bills, that bypasses the Senate rule on 60 votes being needed to end debate, known as cloture. By using reconciliation, only a majority vote would be needed to advance a bill.
It was established by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, in part, to lower the bar for passing tough deficit-reducing legislation.
Debate on reconciliation measures in the Senate is limited to 20 hours.
According to a report by the Congressional Research Service, 22 bills have been sent to presidents through the use of reconciliation from 1981 to 2008.
Many of the 19 reconciliation measures that became law since 1981 involved substantive policy issues such as federal health care programs, tax exemptions and Social Security.
House Democrats’ vote counter Rep. James Clyburn, the party whip from South Carolina, told CNN Monday he was “very comfortable” that the votes to pass the Senate bill in the House were there.
“I think we have reached a significant consensus in our caucus. The will is there to get this done,” Clyburn said on CNN’s “Campbell Brown.”
All House Republicans oppose the Senate plan, as do a threatening number of Democrats.
Some House Democrats are wary of the Senate bill because its language on federal funding for insurance plans that cover abortions is less restrictive. They also oppose some of the exemptions in the Senate bill, such as a provision that exempts Nebraska from paying increased Medicaid expenses. The issue of illegal immigration, which is dealt with more strictly in the Senate bill, is also a sticking point in the House.
Obama’s package of changes sits easier with House members. While it more closely resembles the Senate plan, it eliminates some of the provisions the House opposes.
John Feehery, who worked for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other Republicans in Congress, said House members are now asking themselves, “Can we trust the Senate?”
“If we pass their bill, will they pass ours? If we go out on a limb for them, will they change their Senate rules for us?” he wrote in acommentary on CNN.com.
“Well, as President Ronald Reagan used to say about the old Soviet Union: Trust. But verify. Which really means don’t trust them at all,” he said.
Asked if Obama can give any promises that the fixes will become law, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, appearing on “Face the Nation,” said, “Just as the president is speaking with members of the House about passing the underlying Senate bill, I know he’s also talking to members of the Senate about making sure that the corrections that he believes have to be passed to the Senate bill are indeed taken up and passed.”
The House Budget Committee officially started the reconciliation process Monday.
From:http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/15/health.care.next/index.html?hpt=T1