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Wednesday
06Jan2010

Democrats Drop "Sausage Making" Approval for Health Care Reform

Democrats are determined to pass health care reform asap- and have agreed to bypass potentially messy cross Congress procedures that could give Republicans a chance to block the bill.

The legislative sausage making factory is closed, at least until the next big reform package is pushed from the White House.

The Hill reports:

House and Senate leaders have formally agreed to bypass a bicameral conference committee to merge two healthcare bills, and have opted to instead “ping-pong” the Senate bill over to the House and back again, according to House leadership aides.

Aides said the agreement was reached during a Tuesday evening meeting at the White House with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and the top two Democrats from each chamber.The Senate bill will serve as the vehicle by which Democrats hope to send a healthcare bill to Obama to sign into law. Under the “ping-pong” strategy, the House will take up the Senate bill and amend it, then send it back to the Senate for final approval.

The decision was made to scrap a conference committee out of concern that Republicans in both the House and the Senate would employ a series of procedural delaying tactics, only serving to delay the inevitable and frustrate the majority, aides said.

 

And USA Today reports on the White House's own push:

The White House didn't say much about last night's health care talks between President Obama and congressional Democrats, but officials made it clear they're cool with fast-tracking the final phase of legislation, with no public hearings and no Republican involvement.

"The president is anxious to get the differences worked out and get a bill to both houses and passed out of them," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

The president will be deeply involved. The White House just announced he will meet again this afternoon with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other top House Democrats.

 

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