Health Care Passed Without A Vote ?

The Republicans are now trying to convince Americans that the Democrats are trying to violate the Constitution. They are saying the Democrats are trying to sneak the Senate Health Care Act through the House of Representatives without having a vote on it. If that was true, it would be a violation of the Constitution.

Here's what they are complaining about. The Democrats are probably going to use a legislative manuever to pass the Senate bill and the amendments to it via reconciliation on a single vote. They would do this by attaching a proposal to the reconciliation bill. That proposal would "deem" as fact that if the reconciliation bill passes, the Senate bill would also be passed.

This is not an unconstitutional procedure, and has been used by both parties many times in the past. All it means is that by voting for or against the reconciliation bill, a House member is also voting for or against the Senate bill. In effect, the two bills would be combined and voted on at the same time, and they would pass or fail together.

In addition, this vote would be a public and recorded vote. Any American citizen would be able to know how each and every House member voted on the two bills. No one will be able to hide their vote. If they vote for the reconciliation bill, then they are on record as also voting for the Senate bill. If they vote against the reconciliation bill, they will be on the record as voting against the Senate bill also.

Why would they do it this way? It's because the bill passed by the Senate is a weak and very flawed attempt at health care reform, and many House progressives do not want to approve it without the assurance that the reconciliation reforms will also be passed. They know that passing the Senate bill without badly needed amendments would be a serious mistake.

But the House parliamentarian has ruled that the reconciliation bill cannot be voted on before the Senate bill which it amends. The only solution is to vote on the two bills at the same time. They will either pass or fail together, and that's a good thing. Then the Senate bill would go to the White House and the reconciliation bill would go to the Senate (where it would need only 51 votes).

This is the best way to get a better version of health care reform. So don't believe the Republicans when they try to claim a bill will be passed without a vote. It's just not true. They're just angry and frustrated because they won't be able to block health care reform with a filibuster in the Senate.

There is only one real question left now. Will the reconciliation bill contain a provision for a public option for health insurance? I certainly hope so, but it is anybody's guess at this point. Frankly, the Senate bill, even with House amendments, is not going to be adequate to truly reform health care without the public option.