Dems near health vote without abortion deal House leaders give up on settling issue of coverage House leaders push health vote without foes in party onside
Charles Babbington / Associated Press Washington -- House leaders have concluded they cannot change a divisive abortion provision in President Barack Obama's health care bill and will try to pass the sweeping legislation without the support of ardent anti-abortion Democrats. The concession came as House and Senate Democrats attended lengthy meetings with a top White House aide, who tried to answer questions, resolve differences and calm nerves, especially for lawmakers expecting tough challenges in November. Participants said they generally embraced White House-brokered compromises on prescription drug benefits for the elderly and new taxes on generous insurance plans. Advertisement Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said the leadership will press ahead without reworking the abortion provision adopted by the Senate. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, has been pushing for stricter provisions and says he and a dozen or so abortion opponents would vote against the health care bill if the Senate's version is retained. Leaders will try to peel off some of those lawmakers and make up for any remaining deficit with Democrats who opposed the health care legislation on the first round, when it only cleared 220-215. "Many of the pro-life members are going to support passage of the health care bill," Waxman predicted. "They're either satisfied enough with the Senate provision, or they decide that that's as much as they're going to get and they don't want to defeat health care." GOP stays on offensive Republicans continued their fierce criticisms of the president's efforts, vowing to make Democrats pay dearly this fall if they don't back off from what they brand a government takeover of health care. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel emerged from a meeting in the Capitol with top Democratic lawmakers Thursday night saying, "We made a lot of decisions. We're getting towards the end." The end might be near, but the outcome remains uncertain. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., must round up at least 216 votes when the real nose-counting and arm-twisting begins in a few days, after final cost estimates arrive from the Congressional Budget Office. All House and Senate Republicans have vowed to oppose the legislation. With Senate Democrats no longer able to block Republican filibusters, the strategy calls for House Democrats to embrace a health bill the Senate passed in December, despite their numerous objections. Democratic senators in turn would promise to make a limited number of changes under "budget reconciliation" rules, which bar filibusters. At stake is the fate of the president's call to expand health care to some 30 million people who lack insurance and to prohibit insurance company practices such as denial of coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. Almost every American would be affected by the legislation, which would change the ways many people receive and pay for health care, from the most routine checkup to the most expensive, lifesaving treatment. Republican and Democratic lawmakers quarreled Thursday over whether Obama must sign the Senate bill into law before Congress can make changes, which Democrats see as crucial to making the package more politically palatable. Republicans plan to pounce on Democrats the instant the Senate bill becomes law, and House and Senate parliamentarians eventually may have to determine the allowable sequence of legislative actions. Congressional Democrats appeared to agree with the White House on Thursday on some issues. One would close a coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit that has caused financial and emotional stress for numerous elderly Americans. Another would impose a new excise tax, starting in 2018, on employer-provided health plans worth more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. Minority caucuses courted Obama tried to soothe the feelings of two generally liberal constituencies -- Congress' black and Hispanic caucuses -- in separate White House meetings Thursday. Some black lawmakers say the health legislation doesn't do enough to help poor people. Many Hispanic members say it mistreats illegal immigrants trying to buy insurance with their own money. Senate Republicans are vowing to use almost every delaying tactic they can to slow final passage of the entire Democratic package, even if they can't kill it. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., promised a sentence-by-sentence examination of the proposals, and scores of challenges. There will be "a lot of very tough votes on this bill," he said. The White House seemed to back away from its earlier insistence that Congress act by March 18. If it takes a couple of extra days after a year of struggles, presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday, then "it takes a couple extra days." Associated Press writers Erica Werner, Alan Fram, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Laurie Kellman and Ann Sanner contributed. >From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100312/POLITICS03/3120395/1022/Dems-near-health-vote-without-abortion-deal#ixzz0hySOlGui _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
