The Toxic Slaughter “Up or Down” Process
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 11:53AM by aaps The proposed charade is not the “up-or-down vote” the president says he wants. Of course, he is demanding an “up” vote, not a “down” one. This is how the Slaughter/reconciliation procedure would work to deliver it.
We have a Senate bill that is a concoction of arsenic, mercury, botulinum toxin, snake venom, lead, and 2000 other things that nobody knows much about. It got 60 votes before the Massachusetts election, and now can only get 59. The reason it can only get 59 is because the whole country helped to unelect the person who would have been #60.
An emendatory bill to remove the snake venom and lead will, however, pass by 51 votes, and that will be enough if dollar signs are attached to the bill so it can be viewed as budget-related.
The House voted, by the narrowest of majorities, for a bill that contained 1800 of the ingredients in the Senate bill, 200 ingredients not in the Senate bill, but no snake venom or lead. The House cannot get enough votes to pass the whole Senate bill. But it could get enough votes to pass a bill removing the snake venom and lead (or the Cornhusker kickback and abortion coverage).
Speaker Pelosi wants to bundle the bill removing the snake venom and lead with the rest of the Senate bill and say that the House is “deemed” to have pass the whole Senate bill without voting on it, if it votes for the bill removing the two most politically toxic ingredients.
Rep. Louise SlaughterA vote for the Slaughter amendment that would permit this will not be seen by the angry voters as a vote for the Senate bill, Pelosi and company hope. But of course it is. Also they hope that the Courts will give it a pass, or snarl up the proceedings in so much delay that it won’t make much difference.
Among the 1800 unspecified ingredients is a neutron bomb that will destroy the private insurance market, small physician practices, and most existing medical relationships. There will be no bringing them back, so the progressives can start from the rubble to build the government-owned system they really want.
Here’s a link to an article by Michael McConnell, which is the best explanation I have seen of the Slaughter/reconciliation process.
Here’s a link to an effort to get a million emails to Blue Dog Democrats. It is said to be at 700,000, and growing rapidly, so it might make the goal, and a number like that might count.
Reader Comments (4)
I find the process of subverting legislation disgusting. This bill should be voted on by all members of congress not "deemed" through and then changed afterwords. This republic is supposed to be represented by our members of congress and the senate and bills are to be voted on by all the representatives not shoved down our throats by a handful of corrupt individuals, who had they been in the private sector would have been ARRESTED for EXTORTION AND BRIBERY.
The Slaughter amendment is worse than the reconciliation proposal. What's to stop them from "passing" everything this way - just make up a rule in the Rules Committee and deem the bill "voted on and passed" !!! That's ludicrous ! The VERY reason for the proposed Slaughter Amendment is that the House 'leadership' know they CAN'T get the bill passed by vote in the first place !! So they "deem" it voted & passed !?! Are they crazy or something?
Previously:
This reconciliation maneuver is clearly unconstitutional. Even a Senate Bill passed by the House needs a 2/3's majority in the House, and once reconciled needs to be passed by the Senate again with a 2/3's majority. The Budget Act, Byrd Rule... nothing allows for passage of a Bill w/o a vote.
Pelosi and Reid are violating their oaths of office along with many others, their oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. Revenue generating bills must originate in the House of Representatives!
In terms of reconciliation, Congressional rules are allowed by the Constitution but may not super cede the document. The Constitution does not allow for any Bill to be deemed law unless the EXACT SAME Bill has been passed by 2/3's majority in both houses of Congress.
There is no "exactly the same" Health care Reform Bill that has been passed by both Houses of Congress. The key here is "exactly the same". Constitutionally the SAME bill must be passed by 2/3's majority in both Houses; which has not happened. Currently there's a Senate version and House version. For a Bill to be reconsidered it must be the same bill passed by both Houses and by a 2/3's majority and then objected to by the POTUS.
The reconsideration is for an agreed upon Bill (in Congress) with which the POTUS has objections. Currently there is no agreed upon Bill. And as mentioned previously any reconciled bill needs passage by 2/3's majority in both Houses as per the Articles of the Constitution Section 7, clause 2.
These actions you're witnessing in Congress spell doom for the document that consensually governs the people of the US. The fight starts now. This circus must end and we've got to return to fundamental principles, and live by the wording, purpose and intent of the documents which formed this nation.
On a final note; NRO’s Yuval Levin quips: “Democratic leaders should be asking themselves just how they have gotten to the point that their strategy is to amend a law that doesn’t exist yet by passing a bill without voting on it.”
The Administration and Congressional majority are subverting the process in order to get this socialist health care bill passed. Every time I hear someone else has flipped and will vote for it, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. This truly is the end of our country as we have known it. Once this bill is law, it will give government the "right" to take over the most important aspects of our lives. In November of 2008, I was willling to give the President time to prove he meant everything he said while campaigning. Now, sadly, I know it was all a ruse. The enemy is within and will win a very important battle if health care passes. Every person elected to represent this country is violating their oath to "Preserve, Protect, and Defend the Constitution of the United States." Our founding fathers are spinning in their graves.
As the director of Sunrise Hospital Rehabilitation Center, a doctor for 28 years, and a life-long Nevadan, I would like to comment on the current Obama Health Care Bill. Forget the 2000 plus pages nobody in Congress has really read, forget Speaker Pelosi's comments a few days ago that said 'we need to pass this bill to really understand what's in it'...let's dwell on some serious points that have never been fully addressed.
Just where are the doctors going to come from to treat 20-30 million extra patients? From thin air? We are already at a breaking point when it comes to doctors and patients in America. The current health care bill will, in my professional opinion, absolutely guarantee doctors rationing health care.
With over 75 percent of Americans happy with their health care providers(poll after poll) I just don't undestand the rush to pass something almost nobody read and the GOA has not yet put a price tag on. Any last minute efforts to use a parlimentary trick to pass this bill, leads me to believe they don't want the public to really know what this bill contains. What are they hiding from us?
Personally, I would feel much better if everyone in Congress that wants this bill to pass, must sign a committment that if they vote for it, they would all dump their cadillac plan, and immediately join the new plan they say is good for America. Am I wrong in thinking if it's good enough for all of us, then it should be good enough for every member of Congress?
I have dedicated my entire adult life to taking care of the infirmed. I believe Congress has become disconnected with our citizens.Poll after poll has shown the vast majority of Americans do not want this particular plan to pass. It's time for Congress to re-connect with the people who elected them.
Before it's too late.
Samuel Wise MD