Inside the Dome for March 12th
March 12th, 2010, Washington, DC–From ALG News’ Capitol Hill Correspondent Derek Baker:
In the Senate, the Parliamentarian, responding to questions posed by Republican leadership, has ruled that Obama must sign the Senate-passed healthcare bill (if it were to pass the House) before the Senate can vote on the “side-car” reconciliation bill. This would effectively kill the “Slaughter Solution” posed recently that would “deem” the Senate-bill passed and move the reconciliation bill to the Senate for action.
It also significantly complicates Pelosi’s efforts to lock down wavering Democrats, particularly those with abortion funding concerns, since there is now no way to ensure that any “fix” to the Senate-bill would be enacted before the Senate-bill is signed into law. There is deep mistrust of the Senate among House Democrats this Congress, so this development makes it even more difficult to sway skeptical Dems. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a former House member, referencing this skepticism, stated, “They just need to trust that we’ll do it right and I think enough of us talking to them will help them to do that.”
Inside the Dome for March 10th
From ALG News’ Capitol Hill Correspondent Derek Baker:
In the Senate, McConnell has stepped up his criticism of the expanded $100 billion jobless benefits package recently passed by the Senate, attempting to sow seeds of discontent with the more fiscally minded Blue Dog democrats in the House. Saying the bill “undercuts the entire point of reform,” McConnell is sending a clear message to wavering Democrats in the House, reminiscent of the simultaneously messaging he’s sending out on healthcare that pro-life Dems cannot trust the Senate to protect abortion “fix” language in reconciliation.
