Keith Olbermann: Senate Parliamentarian declares GOP challenge "a dud"

By GottaLaff

Keith Olbermann just announced that the Senate Parliamentarian had officially declared the GOP plan to sabotage health care reform "a dud". (Keith's words)

Plus, further bills to repeal the legislation will fail, he said.

A Point of Order involving Social Security was brought to the Parliamentarian today by staffers, both Republican and Democrat, said Lawrence O'Donnell. The Dem staffers cited a precedent that favored them, and the Parliamentarian was "taken with it". The Republicans were caught with like deer in the headlights. The Parliamentarian ruled FOR the Dems.

O'Donnell: "If this is what they have, they don't have much."

First challenge: Denied.

Reconciliation will go forward.

BREAKING: 219-212! "Yes We Can". HOUSE PASSES HEALTH CARE REFORM

By GottaLaff

House passes Health Care Reform. Next up: Vote on reconciliation bill....

Yes we did.

Without one. Republican. Vote.

Shouts of "yes we can" were shouted from the House floor. It was beauteous.

UPDATE: Reconciliation passes 220-211.

UPDATE: To see how they voted....

Reconciliation bill makes key improvements + who to watch

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

Greg Sargent always has a great way of concisely recapping events:

Everyone is wondering whether any single bloc of House Dems — the Hispanic caucus, the progressives, the moderates — will be willing to sink the bill. Dems had come to fear that the Hispanic caucus might end up doing just that. But Gutierrez and ULAC seem to put that possibility to rest — and that this constituency is close to locked down.

* The Speaker’s office is circulating talking points among surrogates, telling them how to explain how the reconciliation fix has improved the bill. Check them out right here for a preview of what you’ll be hearing in the days ahead.

I screen grabbed a portion of the talking points above.

Meantime, CBS has their own list of Democrats they say we should watch. Generally, it includes the obvious suspects:

Vulnerable Democrats

Anti-abortion Democrats (as in guess who)

Blue Dogs

Congressional Hispanic Caucus members

Retirees

And... Republican Rep. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao

Here's who I watch: The GOP going bonkers trying to smear and scare, because they know that health care reform will happen. And when it does, or at least after awhile, the Dems will get kudos, President Obama will have himself a major victory, and the Rushpublics will look like the mean old negative whiners that they are.

Nancy Pelosi Says Process Decision Not Yet Made

By GottaLaff

Decisions, decisions. What's a House Speaker to do?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that she "has not yet made a decision on whether to use a special procedure to enact the Senate's health care bill without a separate vote, but she noted that Republicans used similar procedures when they were in charge," Roll Call reports.

Of the GOP criticism, Pelosi said: "I didn't hear this ferocity the hundreds of times the Republicans used these methods."

Nance, that's because they're hypocrites. Got that? Good.

Oh, and if you're still undecided, choose the green shirt... the one on the right.

Here's an explanation of the procedure, short and sweet.

MythInformation: "Deem and Pass" Is NOT "Without A Vote"

By GottaLaff

Bill Scher clarifies something about the health care reform process that the corporate media won't. It's all that pesky"self-executing rule" or "deem and pass," that we've been hearing about.

Yes, the Big Ol' Right Wing Talking Point media outlets claim that it will be passing the Senate health care vote "without a vote."

Wrong:

MSNBC's First Read succinctly explains the process, in case any other professional journalists care to do their jobs.

...the health-care bill would be voted on INDIRECTLY, tucked into what's known as "the rule." The rule essentially outlines the rules for an upcoming vote -- in this case, it would be the vote on the package of reconciliation fixes.

By passing "the rule," the House also would "deem" the Senate bill passed (with a "hereby" statement. "We hereby deem..."). The House would then vote on the package of reconciliation fixes. But the Senate health-care bill would be considered passed even if they never vote on the reconciliation fixes [and] the bill must be signed by the president before the Senate takes up the reconciliation.

So there is a vote by the full House on whether it chooses to pass the Senate health care bill.

If any members of the House do not want to deem the Senate bill passed, they can vote no on the rule which would deem it passed.

Any members of the House who vote "Yes," would do so by recorded vote, so their constituents will be able to judge their actions.

Kinda sounds like democracy.

All that is accomplished here is the consolidation of a step.

Bill has much more, but that's the gist.

We're being fed misinformation and lies by the media again. And again.

This has to stop. How can democracy survive when an unsuspecting and/or low information electorate is not being given facts and context? Instead, we're shown car chases and Tiger Woods surrogates (coughAriFleischercough) after having faulty headlines jammed down our throats.

That's not educating viewers. That's not news. That's infotainment, a few sound bites, and an outhouse full of punditiocracy.

House committee approves reconciliation bill

By GottaLaff

Via an email alert from WaPo:

A key House committee voted Monday to advance President Obama's plan to overhaul the nation's health care system, clearing the way for the House to vote on the measure later this week.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com

The vote was 21-16.

Awww-- Stupak: "They're ignoring me." + Maddow VIDEO proving it

By GottaLaff

Aww, whatta matta, wittle Barty needs more attention?

He's already had his 15 minutes, what more does he want? A pony? A fire truck? A sign with "ban abortions" scrawled in pwetty wed cwayon?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And Barty Boy? Those 15 minutes are up:

"They're ignoring me. That's their strategy now. The House Democratic leaders think they have the votes to pass the Senate's health-care bill without us."

-- Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), in an interview with the National Review, explaining that the House will not be adding revised language on abortion to the reconciliation bill.

To quote Rachel, "It was fun while it lasted."

Bernie Sanders: I’m Prepared To Introduce Public Option Amendment

By GottaLaff

From what Greg Sargent says, this is another case of good news/bad news.

First, the good news:

Senator Bernie Sanders, in a brief interview in the Capitol just now, confirmed to me that he’s willing to commit to introducing an amendment that would add the public option to the Senate bill’s reconciliation fix.

This is important, because as far fetched as this seems, if this amendment is introduced, a vote on it would be very hard for the Senate Dem leadership to block.

Now the bad news:

Democratic leaders aren't thrilled.

Dick Durbin said this would "create headaches and even conceded that the leadership might be forced to ask liberal Senators to vote against it to ensure smooth passage for the overall bill."

But Bernie's going for it.

[T]he Senate Dem caucus may be forced to stand up and be counted on it.

And that will be newsworthy.

Reconciliation Roadblock?

By GottaLaff

Ruh Roh:

The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.

So what does that mean exactly?

Translated: the reconciliation bill, which would amend the Senate health care bill will be on hold in the Senate until the President signs the latter into law. That could unnerve some House Democrats, many of whom don't want the Senate bill signed into law until after the reconciliation bill has been passed by both the House and Senate. They worry that the Senate won't be able to follow through with its promise to pass a reconciliation bill, and that the result will be that the Senate health care bill will become law without any changes.

Why, thank you, Brian Beutler.

In other news, Harry Reid sent McConnell a letter today. He is still going to go forward with reconciliation. But will that be enough to calm everyone down?

I don't know about you, but nothing has calmed me down about health care reform since it first came up. I can't wait for this to finally be over.

H/t: Gr8RDH

The List: 41... and I don't mean Bush

By GottaLaff

Not Bush 41, not my I.Q., and not the number of kids Octomom has... we're at 41:

Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) became the 41st senator to say that he would back the public insurance option as part of a health care bill moved through reconciliation.

Nelson, asked by HuffPost if he would vote for a public option on the Senate floor, was unequivocal. "Yes," he said firmly. "I've already voted for it in the committee, in the Finance Committee."

Between Nancy Pelosi's comment about having enough votes for health care reform if the vote were today (what about tomorrow?), and Grayson's push for a Medicare buy-in, it's a newsy day for health reform.

We now need 9 more votes:

41 senators have spoken out so far — including Harry Reid

Name		Status
Sen. Daniel Akaka	HI	Statement
Sen. Max Baucus	MT	Unknown
Sen. Evan Bayh	IN	Unknown
Sen. Mark Begich	AK	Unknown
Sen. Michael Bennet	CO	Letter
Sen. Jeff Bingaman	NM	Statement
Sen. Barbara Boxer	CA	Letter
Sen. Sherrod Brown	OH	Letter
Sen. Roland Burris	IL	Letter
Sen. Robert Byrd	WV	Unknown
Sen. Maria Cantwell	WA	Statement
Sen. Benjamin Cardin	MD	Statement
Sen. Thomas Carper	DE	Unknown
Sen. Robert Casey	PA	Statement
Sen. Kent Conrad	ND	Unknown
Sen. Christopher Dodd	CT	Statement
Sen. Byron Dorgan	ND	Statement
Sen. Richard Durbin	IL	Statement
Sen. Russell Feingold	WI	Statement
Sen. Dianne Feinstein	CA	Letter
Sen. Al Franken	MN	Letter
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand	NY	Letter
Sen. Kay Hagan	NC	Unknown
Sen. Tom Harkin	IA	Unknown
Sen. Daniel Inouye	HI	Letter
Sen. Tim Johnson	SD	Letter
Sen. Ted Kaufman	DE	Statement
Sen. John Kerry	MA	Letter
Sen. Amy Klobuchar	MN	Statement
Sen. Herb Kohl	WI	Unknown
Sen. Mary Landrieu	LA	Unknown
Sen. Frank Lautenberg	NJ	Letter
Sen. Patrick Leahy	VT	Letter
Sen. Carl Levin	MI	Letter
Sen. Blanche Lincoln	AR	Unknown
Sen. Claire McCaskill	MO	Unknown
Sen. Robert Menendez	NJ	Letter
Sen. Jeff Merkley	OR	Letter
Sen. Barbara Mikulski	MD	Letter
Sen. Patty Murray	WA	Statement
Sen. Bill Nelson	FL	Statement
Sen. Ben Nelson	NE	Unknown
Sen. Mark Pryor	AR	Unknown
Sen. Jack Reed	RI	Letter
Sen. Harry Reid	NV	Statement
Sen. John Rockefeller	WV	Unknown
Sen. Bernie Sanders	VT	Letter
Sen. Charles Schumer	NY	Letter
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen	NH	Letter
Sen. Arlen Specter	PA	Letter
Sen. Debbie Stabenow	MI	Letter
Sen. Jon Tester	MT	Statement
Sen. Mark Udall	CO	Statement
Sen. Tom Udall	NM	Letter
Sen. Mark Warner	VA	Unknown
Sen. Jim Webb	VA	Unknown
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse	RI	Letter
Sen. Ron Wyden	OR	Statement

Candidates: Elaine Marshall (NC), Bill Halter (AR)

"50 Senators publicly open to using reconciliation"

By GottaLaff

Shannyn Moore was on the phone with Mark Begich earlier today. I decided to toddle over to her blog site to see why she tweeted "WOW!" Lo and behold:

OPEN LEFT is reporting Senator Begich as the 50th confirmed vote for reconciliation for health reform. He has just landed in Anchorage and I am trying to confirm with him. [...]

Go to Shannyn's site to see a letter Begich wrote to a constituent.

That makes 50 Senators publicly open to using reconciliation to finish health reform without any maybes. There will be a reconciliation fix to the Senate health bill, as long as the House first passes one.

Oh House? Your turn!

Vintage VIDEO: GOP Sen. Judd Gregg On Why He SUPPORTS Reconciliation

By GottaLaff

I'd like to thank Senator Gregg for his thorough explanation. He might want to explain something else now.... why he is arguing with himself these days:



2005:

Republican Judd Gregg explains Senate reconciliation rules - an up or down vote. March 15, 2005.

Either he has a really short memory, or he's a two-faced ass.

I'm going with Hyp. O. Crite.

H/t: Karoli

McCain calls for new ‘Gang of 14’ to stop Obama push on healthcare

By GottaLaff

By all means, follow the wonderful advice of a guy with the judgment of a toddler... who lost the election because he had no grasp of the issues, chose Barbie McLipSchmutz as a running mate on a (desperate) whim, got busted on national Tee Vee for lying to David Letterman, suspended his campaign (and then lied about that, too) to avoid a debate, and... well, is BFF with Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman.

Yeah, let's trust him:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is seeking bipartisan support to block Senate Democrats from using special parliamentary tactics to pass healthcare reform. [...]

And McCain reminded Democrats that he was a member of the bipartisan Gang of 14, which stopped Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) from using the so-called nuclear option in 2005.

It's time for a similar gang, he said. So far, he’s had no takers.

How shocking.

And reconciliation is NOT the nuclear option. Just FYI.

Al Franken: Make us do this

By GottaLaff

Via e-mail:

Dear Laffy,

This week President Obama asked Congress to stand strong and finish the job of fixing our busted health insurance system. I couldn't agree more, and now we've got a plan to get this done.

I'm calling this strategy "Pledge & Pass," and it's a simple, two-step plan for passing meaningful health insurance reform. I believe it's our job as public servants to actually serve the public, and ending the suffering of millions of Americans under our current system is exactly what our constituents expect and deserve.

Here's the plan.

Step 1. United States Senators pledge to fix elements of the bill that are not acceptable to many House members, and the House pass the Senate bill as is.

Step 2. We in the Senate fulfill our pledge to the House, fix the elements that need fixing, and pass this critical legislation through a filibuster-proof budget process known as reconciliation.

As I've said for years, letting perfect reform be the enemy of a good bill would be a tragic outcome for our constituents. Make no mistake about it; people are hurting as a result of decades of dithering on this issue, and it's past time we deliver real change.

Every day, middle class families go bankrupt and lose their homes. Sick folks don't get the health care they need, and as a result they're sicker, they experience pain, and they watch their children experience pain.

Every year, 45,000 people die because they lack health insurance, and it's long past time we put an end to it. It's time get a bill to the President's desk.

Remember the story about activists that went to talk to FDR about wanting to see him enact Social Security? At the time, the President didn't have the votes in Congress to get it done. He said, "I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it."

Make us do this.

This is not about House vs. Senate, it's about Now vs. Never. If they pass it, we'll fix it. I didn't run for the Senate to walk away from the health care debate empty-handed, and with your support, we won't.

Al

And about that President Obama and the public option....

Judd Gregg suggests Obama may renege on fixing Senate health bill

Gregg has officially gone into the Lieberman wing of people I detest. He's just straight up calling the president a liar.

The White House may renege on passing fixes to the Senate's healthcare bill once the House has passed it, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) claimed Thursday.

Gregg, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, suggested that President Barack Obama may back off making changes to the Senate bill through the reconciliation process, which the White House and the Senate have said they would use to make changes to the Senate bill in order to placate House members.

"They're using reconciliation to pass the great big bill," Gregg said during an appearance on CNBC. "Once they pass the great big bill, I wouldn't be surprised if the White House didn't care if reconciliation passed. I mean, why would they?"

Because they said they would you asswipe.

VIDEO: Rachel Maddow and her must-see deficit chart

By GottaLaff

Earlier, I posted a chart from the CBO that you must take a closer look at. It came straight out of this video, via the inimitable Rachel Maddow and all-around cool guy Will at Work. and what a chart it is!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Reconciliation Chart you saw on The Rachel Maddow Show

By GottaLaff

Rachel Maddow displayed this absolutely splendid chart on her show. I was linked to it by the equally splendid Will at Work, who works on The Rachel Maddow Show:

The first bar is the impact on the unified budget balance of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) of 2001. The second is the impact on the budget balance of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) of 2003. The third bar is the CBO estimated impact on the deficit of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act proposed in the Senate on November 19, for 2010-2019.

'Nuff said.

More here.

I'll be posting the video segment as soon as it becomes available.

Vintage VIDEO- January: Chris Matthews berates Alan Grayson for suggesting reconciliation

By GottaLaff

KagroX reminded me about this video in which Chris Matthews condescended, berated, chided, and barked at someone who knew a whole lot more than he did:



Chris Matthews: "This is netroots talk... You're pandering... When will they do this, I wanna write this down..."

Grayson: "When did you become the Senate parliamentarian?"

Hey Tweety, here's when they'll do this: Now.

VIDEO: Obama health care speech in full: Time for "up or down" vote

By GottaLaff

Here you go. I previously liveblogged the essentials here.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

House Will Vote Once Senate Proves They Have Votes for Health Care

By GottaLaff

Howard Dean was emphatic that the House must pass a bill first. Here's what Tom Harkin says:

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) tells Politico that Senate Democratic leaders have decided to use budget reconciliation to pass fixes to the health care reform bill the Senate passed in December.

The House will first pass the Senate bill after Senate leaders demonstrate that they have the votes to pass the reconciliation fixes in the Senate.