Word: procession
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...passed without directly voting on it. The political upside to this is that House members could tell constituents they never voted in favor of the original Senate bill, which contains several unsavory sweetheart deals that the package of fixes would strip away. "The public is already uncomfortable with the process, and this just makes it worse," says Democratic Representative Jason Altmire, who previously voted against health reform and whose vote is now being heavily courted...
...election season doesn't make much sense; it's not as if Republicans won't hammer House Democrats over health reform anyway, even if the Dems didn't technically vote for the more controversial bill. For their part, Republicans have previously used the simple-majority reconciliation process many times to pass legislation, even as they vilify Senate Democrats for trying to use the same procedure to make changes to the health bill they passed late last year with a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority. House Republicans also used the procedure of "deeming" Senate legislation passed without a direct vote...
...While Republicans are trying to focus on process, Democrats are striving mightily to steer the ship back toward substance and sympathy for those suffering under the current health care system. Last week, during a press conference on insurance-company abuses, Democrats introduced 11-year-old Marcelas Owens, whose 27-year-old mother died of pulmonary hypertension after she lost her job and health insurance. Days later, Obama began a health care speech with the story of an Ohio woman who lost her insurance coverage and is in the hospital with leukemia. Pelosi is in the midst of a week...
...short term, the GOP tactic to focus attention on process may be working, at least among the Washington press corps. In a briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs fielded more than 20 questions and follow-ups related to the process of passing health care reform. But is the public actually bothered by the convoluted process Democrats may use to pass reform? An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released on Tuesday and conducted on March 10 showed that just 35% of Americans oppose reconciliation, while 26% supported it and 37% said they didn't know enough about...
...course, the intended audience for the GOP talking points on process isn't really the American public. It's nervous House Democrats wondering about the political costs of voting for reform. "We've got to put all the pressure we can on these Democrats to make sure this bill never, ever happens," says House minority leader John Boehner...