Top White House adviser David Axelrod says that if Congress passes the Democrats' national health care bill, it will be politically impossible for Republicans to undo the changes brought by the massive legislation. "I say, Let's have that fight. Make my day," Axelrod said on "Meet the Press." "I'm ready to have that, and every member of Congress ought to be willing to have that debate was well."
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Rep. James Clyburn, the House Democratic whip, was asked on "Meet the Press" this morning whether Democrats have the votes to pass Obamacare. "No, we don't have them as of this morning," Clyburn answered.
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Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have never before been asked to pass legislation by "deeming" it approved under a House rule instead of following the process required by the U.S. Constitution in which they actually vote on the proposal itself, according to a senior aide to House Republicans.
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Would House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow House Democratic leaders try to cram the Senate version of Obamacare through the House without actually having a recorded vote on the bill?
Not only is the answer yes, they would, they have figured out a way to do it, according to National Journal's Congress Daily:
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Today's Washington Post Outlook section gives featured lefty blogger Ezra Klein another shot at the supposedly dysfunctional workings of the Senate. "As the minority becomes less responsible with the filibuster (and oh boy, have minority Republicans become less responsible with the filibuster), the majority needs to use reconciliation more often," Klein writes.
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They started out in perfect alignment, 12,500 men stretching more than a mile, battle flags waving, bayonets fixed and gazes focused on the enemy across the valley, tensely waiting for them on Cemetery Ridge. Less than an hour later, it was over, with more than half of them dead or wounded, their cause having reached its high-water mark and failed.
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Democrats led by President Obama are moving forward seeking to ram their version of health care reform through Congress using the reconciliation process that allows them both to stifle Republican filibusters and to gain passage with only 50 Senate votes, plus that of Vice President Joe Biden, who presides over the Senate and votes only in cases of ties.
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Via Kathryn Lopez, Senator Kent Conrad said on MSNBC today: "I think changes to abortion would probably not be permitted under reconciliation and the Byrd Rule requirement."
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Ed Morrissey at Hot Air takes a somewhat contrary view to that expressed in today's Examiner editorial in which it is argued that congressional Republicans should vow now to repeal Obamacare in 2011 if it is becomes law in 2010:
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Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn, on Face the Nation, discussing whether Democrats have the votes to pass the national health care bill:
If they had the votes, we wouldn't have had the summit.
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