They are getting desperate and have nothing to lose.  So many Dems are 
getting tossed this year, why not get something for their trouble ?  
Elections have consequences...

============================================

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/03/obama-democrats-will-use-
reconciliation-to-pass-senate-health-care-bill.html

Political Punch 
Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent 

Jake Tapper 

President Obama to Say Democrats Will Use Reconciliation to Pass Senate 
Health Care Reform Fix, If Not Given Up or Down Vote

White House officials tell ABC News that in his remarks tomorrow 
President Obama will indicate a willingness to work with Republicans on 
some issue to get a health care reform bill passed but will suggest that 
if it is necessary, Democrats will use the controversial 
"reconciliation" rules requiring only 51 Senate votes to pass the
"fix" 
to the Senate bill, as opposed to the 60 votes to stop a filibuster and 
proceed to a vote on a bill.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been awaiting the president’s remarks 
direction on how health care reform will proceed.

In his remarks, scheduled to be at the White House, the president will 
paint a picture of what he will say will happen without a health care 
reform bill – skyrocketing premiums, everyone at the mercy of the 
insurance industry as recently seen with the 39% premium increases 
proposed by Anthem Blue Cross in California.

He will note that the “fixed” bill will include the proposal for a new 
"Health Insurance Rate Authority" to set guidelines for reasonable rate 
increases. If proposed premium increases are not justifiable per those 
Health Insurance Rate Authority guidelines, the Health and Human 
Services Secretary or state regulators could block them.

The plan to pass the bill includes having the House of Representatives 
pass the Democratic Senate health care reform legislation as well as a 
second bill containing various “fixes.”

The president will call for an up or down vote on health care reform, as 
has happened in the past, and though he won't use the word 
"reconciliation," he'll make it clear that if they're not given an up or 
down vote, Democrats will use the reconciliation rules as Republicans 
have done in the past.

White House officials will make the argument these rules are perfectly 
appropriate because the procedure is not being used for the whole bill, 
just for some fixes; because reconciliation rules are traditionally used 
for deficit reduction and health care reform will reduce the deficit; 
and because the reconciliation process has been used many times by 
Republicans for larger legislation such as the tax cuts pushed by 
President George W. Bush.

A White House official says the president will "reiterate why reform is 
so crucial and what it will mean for American families and businesses: 
they’ll have more control over their own health care, they’ll see lower 
costs , and they’ll see an end to insurance company abuses. He’ll note 
that his proposal includes the best ideas from both parties, and he’ll 
restate his preference for a comprehensive bill that will reduce 
premiums and end discrimination against people with pre-existing 
conditions."

The president will also extend a hand to work with Republicans on 
measures they have pushed, including $50 million for state grants for 
demonstration projects to explore alternatives to medical malpractice 
cases, and a crackdown on Medicaid and Medicare fraud as proposed by 
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

He will also herald the removal of extraneous provisions in the bill 
such as the so-called “Cornhusker Kickback,” a deal to secure the 
support of Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., in which the federal government 
would pay for Nebraska’s Medicaid expansion; and “Gator-aid,” the 
provision to shield Florida seniors from cuts to the Medicare Advantage 
program, secured by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

Mr. Obama will say that he will be working on exact legislative language 
in the next few days. Republicans can join him and Democratic 
congressional leaders of the House and Senate to makes these changes and 
to pass the bill, but either way the bill will be moving forward.

-Jake Tapper 

CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999 
Democrats --  The party of economic destruction ....

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