Democrats vote to hide behind the Slaughter House Rule 222-203

If you became optimistic from my last post despite my warning, this should bring you back down to earth.  The Republicans were able to successfully force a vote on Slaughter Solution. The Republican’s resolution would have required separate votes on the Senate Bill and Reconciliation changes. Democrats defeated the resolution 222-203. 

From The Hill: Democrats shot down a Republican effort to force an up-or-down vote on the Senate healthcare bill on Thursday afternoon.

In a 222-203 vote, Democrats beat back a GOP resolution offered by Democrat-turned-Republican Rep. Parker Griffith (Ala.) that would have forced lawmakers to vote on the Senate healthcare bill separately from the series of fixes they hope to make to that legislation. 

All Republican lawmakers who voted opposed the measure, which had the effect of ending the GOP's effort to force a vote. They were joined by 28 Democrats, who broke with party members on the vote. 

222 Democrats supported the measure, though, meaning enough to proceed. Three members of both parties did not vote.  

This means that Democrats want the cover that the Slaughter Solution will provide. The big question is will the same 222 Democrats use that cover on Sunday? It is hard to say, because Stephen Lynch who today said he will vote NO on ObamaCare voted with the 222 Democrats? If you don’t support ObamaCare, why leave the backdoor open for those who do?

Michelle Malkin has the roll call and full rundown.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Hill

Via: Michelle Malkin

Graphic: Big Fur Hat at iowntheworld.com and Applecross Media

Pelosi favors the Slaughter Solution

Nancy Pelosi has her foot firmly planted on the accelerator to pass ObamaCare.  Despite the Slaughter Solution being every bit as toxic as reconciliation Nancy says she “likes it”. 

From the Washington Post: After laying the groundwork for a decisive vote this week on the Senate's health-care bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday that she might attempt to pass the measure without having members vote on it.

Instead, Pelosi (D-Calif.) would rely on a procedural sleight of hand: The House would vote on a more popular package of fixes to the Senate bill; under the House rule for that vote, passage would signify that lawmakers "deem" the health-care bill to be passed.

The tactic -- known as a "self-executing rule" or a "deem and pass" -- has been commonly used, although never to pass legislation as momentous as the $875 billion health-care bill. It is one of three options that Pelosi said she is considering for a late-week House vote, but she added that she prefers it because it would politically protect lawmakers who are reluctant to publicly support the measure.

"It's more insider and process-oriented than most people want to know," the speaker said in a roundtable discussion with bloggers Monday. "But I like it," she said, "because people don't have to vote on the Senate bill."

You would think that with House Reps being unable to simply vote up or down on the Senate bill, Nancy would take that reason to abandon ObamaCare.  Instead, she chooses to press on with this legislative parlor trick. 

Whatever the driving force is behind this push for ObamaCare, it isn’t simple politics and it certainly isn’t for the benefit of the people.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Washington Post

Senate Parliamentarian gives House Dems an eye opener on reconciliation

Much scheming has been going on to get the Senate version of the health care bill passed in the House. Two of the biggest schemes for passing the bill have been dealt a severe blow by the Senate Parliamentarian.

From Roll Call: The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.

The Senate Parliamentarian’s Office was responding to questions posed by the Republican leadership. The answers were provided verbally, sources said.

House Democratic leaders have been searching for a way to ensure that any move they make to approve the Senate-passed $871 billion health care reform bill is followed by Senate action on a reconciliation package of adjustments to the original bill. One idea is to have the House and Senate act on reconciliation prior to House action on the Senate’s original health care bill.

Information Republicans say they have received from the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office eliminates that option. House Democratic leaders last week began looking at crafting a legislative rule that would allow the House to approve the Senate health care bill, but not forward it to Obama for his signature until the Senate clears the reconciliation package.[MORE]

So the Democrats can say goodbye to the Slaughter Solution and bye-bye to reconciliation fixes prior to passing the Senate bill in the House.

This should be a major eye opener for any naive House Democrats who think that the Senate version will be fixed after it passes the House. Once the bill is passed it must be signed into law and all guarantees to fix the bill will be worth less than diddly-squat.

Follow the major discussion at Memeorandum.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Roll Call

Democracy Mockery: Louise Slaughter’s solution to “pass” the Senate bill

Do you remember House Rep. Louis Slaughter (D-NY)? Sure you do, she is the nincompoop who gave that silly sob story at the Health Care Dog and Pony Show about some woman wearing her dead sister’s teeth.  Well, it turns out that Louise Slaughter isn’t just your run of the mill congressional nincompoop, she happens to be the Democratic chair of the House Rules Committee and as such she gets to come up with new rules for the House. Ms. Slaugher is devising a scheme where the Senate Bill would be passed in the House without actually voting on it. I kid you not!

From GOP Leaders Blog: The twisted scheme by which Democratic leaders plan to bend the rules to ram President Obama’s massive health care legislation through Congress now has a name: the Slaughter Solution.

The Slaughter Solution is a plan by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the Democratic chair of the powerful House Rules Committee and a key ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), to get the health care legislation through the House without an actual vote on the Senate-passed health care bill.  You see, Democratic leaders currently lack the votes needed to pass the Senate health care bill through the House.  Under Slaughter’s scheme, Democratic leaders will overcome this problem by simply “deeming” the Senate bill passed in the House - without an actual vote by members of the House. [MORE]

Is this the most fascist thing you have ever heard? If the Democrats ever use this method, I for one will work myself to the bone to get my state government to nullify any law passed in this manner. If the Federal government is going to start making up new rules on the fly to get what they want, despite our objections, then they have lost all legitimacy as far as I am concerned.

Confederate Yankee clearly spells out the dangers of government taking such actions:

They are attempting to declare victory without a vote, governing by fiat.

Please pay attention, my fellow Americans.

Governments that begin trying to rewrite rules that have worked for hundreds of years in order to seize a temporary advantage quickly become drunk on that power if they are allowed it, and the result is always unpleasant.

Slaughter's subversive House rules are just one avenue that leftists are pursuing in a frenetic quest to seize as much power for themselves as possible before many of their number are thrown out of office in November. The problem, of course, is that if they find that they can simply rewrite the rules to suit them, then even the sting of electoral defeat may no longer be a threat to their ambitions.

Watch them closely.

This is probably one of the clearest signs that the Democrats do not have the votes in the House nor or likely to get them. You would imagine if reconciliation leaves the public with a bad taste, Slaughter’s solution will make them retch. Yet, here is Louise Slaughter making a complete mockery of democracy by changing the rules midstream just to pass a bill none wants and they don’t have the votes for.

Come November, vote these people out, they are a threat to our freedom.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: GOP Leader Blog

Via: Confederate Yankee

Dem. Rep. Louise Slaughter: Kill the bill and start over

House Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY28) who chairs the House Rules Committee says that the senate should kill their bill and start over. Slaughter cites both a lack of a public option and a lack of competition as her reasons.

It is hard to tell if Slaughter is being sincere or if she is just holding out for a payoff like Senator Ben Nelson got.  I certainly am not holding out for her to be the fly in the ointment. The truth, whether Slaughter, realizes it or not is that there is no turning back for Dems on health care reform.

The Dems have boxed themselves in on Health Care Reform.  After wreckless spending and exposing their true views on health care, the Dems have damaged their brand.  If they don’t take over this vast part of our economy now, it is never going to happen.

Americans have learned what progressive health care reform looks like and the majority of them want no part of it. It will be a very long time, if ever, before the Dems every get total control of the government again and the Democrats will never be able to speak about health care reform without the public remembering these awful bills.

With a well deserved smack down coming in the 2010 midterm elections, the Dems must either take over the health care industry now or watch their 40 year dream die forever.  Harry and Nancy realize this. This is why they have been so underhanded in the first place. Even now, Harry and Nancy are working on the “ping-pong” strategy rather than risk everything falling apart when the House and Senate bills are merged.

So if Slaughter or any of the other moderates think starting over is an option for Harry, Nancy and the other hardcore progressives, they need to know it ain’t gonna happen.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: CNN

Via: The Wall Street Journal