House leaders shift strategy on health care vote

As President Obama went to the Capitol for a last-minute push on his healthcare overhaul Saturday, House leaders shifted their parliamentary strategy and said they would have a straight up-or-down vote on the Senate version of the bill.

Republicans have repeatedly accused the Democrats of trying to avoid a politically charged vote on the Senate bill through a parliamentary maneuver called "deemed to have passed."

Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Atwater), who said he will now vote for the bill, said the shift was a good move on the part of leaders.

House leaders "have indicated to a number of us that that is what will happen," Cardoza said at the House Rules Committee hearing. "We have had sanity prevail here and I am very grateful for that. It wasn't unconstitutional or illegal but it was something in the light of day we should do straight up," he said of the vote on the Senate bill.

The decision to have the added vote came during a day of polite but pointedly partisan debate on the parliamentary tactics majority Democrats were considering to pass the legislation.

Originally, leaders were considering incorporating the Senate version of the healthcare bill that was passed before Christmas into the package of amendments. This process -- commonly used in prior Congresses -- would "deem" the Senate bill passed without a debate that the GOP would like to have for its own political reasons in this midterm election year.

Republicans complained that Democrats are trying to avoid directly dealing with the Senate bill, which is unpopular in the House and, according to polls, with many Americans. Democrats countered that the vote on the rule, in effect, will indicate how Democrats feel about the Senate measure and that they therefore are not trying to hide from the political fallout.

"The American public deserves to know where their elected officials stand and not have them hide behind a procedural vote," Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said Saturday morning.

Rep. Joe Barton (R- Texas) unsuccessfully urged rules committee chairwoman Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.) to pass an open rule instead of the "deemed to have passed" version so that policy differences between Democrats and Republicans could be openly debated.

"This process corrupts and prostitutes the system," he said.

"I appreciate you are the bluebird of happiness," Slaughter replied. "I hate it that one of the parties has opted out" of the process, she said of the GOP, which has opposed the Democrats' plans in both chambers.

"We have to get on with it," she said.

The complexity of the parliamentary maneuvering was made clear as the legislators struggled to figure out the procedure.

Democrats could still change strategies again, House officials said.

The vote on the Senate bill will come on Sunday. House Democrats on Sunday will also get a chance to vote on a package of amendments to the Senate bill that makes the legislation more palatable to rank-and-file Democrats. If passed, that reconciliation legislation is then sent to the Senate for its consideration.

The reconciliation designation is important because it means the Senate will need just 51 votes to pass the amendments instead of the supermajority of 60 votes, which Democrats no longer have.

With Saturday's parliamentary wrangling out of the way, President Obama was to meet in the afternoon with House Democrats and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about 24 hours before the House is set to begin voting on a healthcare insurance overhaul, the centerpiece of his domestic agenda.

Democrats are close to the 216 votes they need in the House. But part of the battle will also be keeping all of the members in line during a weekend of parliamentary infighting, arm-twisting and last-minute pleas.

One such issue is the fate of abortion language. Antiabortion Democrats oppose the Senate language and have vowed to vote against the healthcare package. They had sought a separate vote on abortion restrictions, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ruled that out after meeting with some of the dissidents.

It is possible that Obama would consider some form of executive order to reassure antiabortion Democrats.

What will happen in the Senate was unclear Saturday, with Republicans telling the rules committee there was no guarantee that it would approve the reconciliation bill.

The Senate is expected to take most of next week to debate the amendments, or the reconciliation bill. Democrats are pushing for a vote by the holiday recess at the end of the week. Because it is a reconciliation bill, a simple majority is required for passage, another parliamentary maneuver that the GOP has attacked.

If the Senate passes its own amendments, that would require the House to act again before the final version of the fix-it bill goes to Obama for a signature.

Under the legislation, most Americans for the first time would be required to purchase insurance, and they would face penalties if they refused. But the bill adds billions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks to make insurance more affordable. It also provides for an expansion of Medicaid that would give government-paid health care to millions of the poor.

The healthcare legislation would extend coverage to about 31 million uninsured and impose new rules on insurance companies to prevent them from denying benefits because of preexisting conditions. It would establish exchanges to increase competition among insurance companies.

The healthcare plan would cost $940 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office scoring.

Republicans oppose the legislation, arguing it is too expensive and broadens government powers too much. They argue that the majority Democrats have rammed the bill through, avoiding their policy suggestions.

Democrats accuse the Republicans of refusing to negotiate on the bills in order to hand Obama a major political defeat. Democrats also say they have incorporated some Republican suggestions into the final legislation.

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters swarmed around the Capitol. Two African American congressmen said protesters confronted them with racial epithets.