As reported in the Wall Street Journal online, and diaried last night by DrDemocrat and a gnostic, Senate Democratic leaders may be planning to split the health care reform bill into two parts, making it easier to pass at least part of the bill by using the 51-vote budget reconciliation process. Of course, like almost everything else about the health care reform bill ... it's too early to say if this is a good plan.
More below the fold....
A Split ... In Time?
The Wall Street Journal quotes Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as saying Reid's patience with the GOP is nearing its limit. This may contradict the canonical theory that had God and Satan bet on Harry Reid, the Book of Job would never have been written. While that may lend hope to Nevada chiropractors hoping Sen. Reid is physiologically equipped to be a patient, what does it do for the rest of us?
The answer, as with almost everything else about the health care reform process, seems to be ...
Too early to say.
First, the bill may or may not be bifurcated. The White House - to the extent we can make heads or tails of what the White House wants - still wants the Senate Finance Committee to send a reform bill to the floor, to be debated with the Senate HELP Committee bill, which now feels as if it was written during Sen. Robert Byrd's (D-Mesozoic) first term. But Sen. Kent Conrad (D-Procrastination) has rejected any White House deadline for the Finance Committee, saying "I don't think an arbitrary timeline fits an issue of this complexity." But other leading Senate Democrats will be up for reelection in this millennium, and would like health care legislation to be a campaign point.
Second, no one can say yet what would be in the 'reconciliation' part of the bill. The Wall Street Journal offers this handy exercise in chicken entrails:
- Part I (51 votes): federal subsidies to buy insurance; expansion of Medicaid; new taxes to pay for these two.
- Part II (60 votes): insurance mandates; prohibit preexisting conditions; cap out-of-pocket expenses.
- Not Sure Which Part: public option and/or co-ops; health insurance exchanges where people can comparison shop.
If true, we needn't fear the first part of the bill mandating that everyone buy health insurance, with "regulate health insurance so it isn't a complete scam" put off until Satan buys a snow shovel. On the other hand, the public option might or might not be included. And the key phrase would be "if true," because of course no one knows yet what would be in which part.
Rumors and tea leaves:
More and more, this reminds me of those wonderful years when we spent half our time worrying about acne and the other half trying to read the tea leaves of adolescent social interaction. Did he/she smile at me, or someone/something else? Did that "Hi" mean he/she likes me? He/she is next to him/her in the cafeteria line ... what does that mean?
Contrary to conventional wisdom, I didn't like high school the first time, and I'm not happy about repeating it. With no real legislative progress happening during the August recess, it seems every day the media magnify some snippet of comment or rumor into The Sign Of Things To Come. Because we're all so emotionally invested in health care reform - and rightly so - we jump all over each new snippet and each new rumor, picking over it like school kids wanting to know if we'll have a prom date. Much as I tell myself I'll avoid the news and read a book, watch a movie, or ride Herself's new exercise bike instead ... the little voice keeps whispering "But maybe something happened today."
Or maybe not.
Meanwhile the anxiety rises, we snipe at each other over who is or isn't Truly Committed To The Cause, and next up this insider says It's All On Track, but later in the hour we'll hear from another who says We've All Been Jilted.
And who left that note in my locker?
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Happy Thursday!