March 2nd, 2010 – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on ABC’s “This Week” TV show that Democrats will develop a new health bill that will merge the House and Senate bills into a compromise that she thinks she can sell to both the House and the Senate. Pelosi thinks this can be accomplished in a matter of days and then she plans to try and sell it to the public.
Please note even if they do manage to pass a Health Reform Bill that the changes proposed in the bill are not expected to take effect until 2013-2014.
When asked about how unpopular the Democrat’s current health bills are with the public Nancy Pelosi blamed the Republicans for misrepresenting what was in the bills. 59% of voters polled wanted President Obama to start over with a new bill if last week’s health care summit failed to bring a bipartisan compromise, which it did.
The Democrat’s new push will require a 3 step process to avoid the threat of a filibuster by Senate Republicans: The House would pass the health bill approved in December by the Senate, and both the House and Senate would approve a separate package of changes using a parliamentary device known as budget reconciliation.
This is a high risk strategy for President Obama and House Democrats running for re-election this November, as the majority of Americans want Health Reform but oppose the Democrats bill. Democrats may suffer a backlash and many may be voted out of office, losing their super-majority in Congress.
Colorado, what do you think? Should the Democrats push forward with Pelosi’s compromise or start from scratch with a bi-partisan effort? Click on the “Comments” link below to share your opinion.
