Word: pass
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...reform plan that Democrats appear to have settled on closely resembles the most bipartisan version developed throughout the past year: the Senate Finance Committee bill. It's been tweaked and stretched and has gotten somewhat more expensive but, in essence, this is the legislation that Democrats hope to pass. Though the notorious bipartisan Gang of Six disbanded before the final bill was written, the basic structure of the legislation was developed with Republican input. It even got a Republican vote when it was passed out of the committee, that of Maine Senator Olympia Snowe. But don't expect that...
...event itself is a political maneuver. The White House called for it only after Scott Brown's surprise victory in the Massachusetts Senate race destroyed the Democratic supermajority in the Senate needed to break a filibuster. (Before Brown's victory, Democrats seemed poised to cut a final deal to pass a package through the House and Senate...
...existing Democratic reform bills and "start over." This idea gained no traction, and Republicans realized they could not skip the meeting - it's hard politically to turn down an invitation to be bipartisan. Boehner then sent a follow-up open letter deriding congressional Democrats for "plotting legislative trickery" to pass health reform. (See 10 health care reform players...
...Boehner was referring to budget reconciliation, a legislative maneuver that would allow the Senate to pass changes to its reform bill with only 50 votes. (Vice President Joe Biden could, in this case, cast a tie-breaking vote.) The White House has been very careful not to explicitly say it intends to pursue a reconciliation strategy, which Republicans insist is a radical, undemocratic move - this, even though the GOP used it during the Bush presidency to pass two rounds of tax cuts. But during a briefing on Monday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said of the approach, "The avenue...
...still not entirely clear that congressional Democrats can pass health reform on their own. House Democrats do not seem eager to do what's required for a reconciliation strategy - that is, pass the Senate bill as is, along with a package of changes as outlined by the Obama plan. Meanwhile, Senate majority leader Harry Reid has not demonstrated that he can wrangle the required 50 votes to get a reconciliation package through his chamber. Republicans have said they intend to make the process difficult by offering endless amendments, for example. (Adjustments to one controversial element of the Senate bill...