The Glade 4.0

I was also promised a pony.

I think you misunderstood. Obama never promised to give you a pony, Mus. He promised to make you his pony.

Oh.

He's nowhere near as good a rider as Teddy, you can probably throw him and stomp his face before they shoot you.

He's nowhere near as good a rider as Teddy, you can probably throw him and stomp his face before they shoot you.

I don't think even yakety sax can save that one

Ladas:

Nixed no matter what. The Senate version isn't a legal candidate for reconciliation according to the things I heard on NPR this morning. This means we get the Reid Bill as the Senate passed it with no changes.

19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

The Senate version isn't a legal candidate for reconciliation according to the things I heard on NPR this morning. This means we get the Reid Bill as the Senate passed it with no changes.

I don't think this is correct. I haven't seen anything saying reconciliation was off the table. On the contrary, from what I've been reading today, it's assumed to be more of a PITA formality at this point, with everyone fighting over the details, but the core provisions going through fine.

I don't think this is correct. I haven't seen anything saying reconciliation was off the table. On the contrary, from what I've been reading today, it's assumed to be more of a PITA formality at this point, with everyone fighting over the details, but the core provisions going through fine.

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: The House bill has not yet passed and already we are seeing the reconciliation fight start in the Senate.

Senate Republicans say they can get the whole package of reconciliation fixes – the fix-its that make the Senate plan palatable to House Democrats - thrown out with a trump card procedural motion. And they say Democrats are slow-walking a decision from the parliamentarian until the House passes the Senate bill.

That means the Senate bill, which everyone in the House seems to universally hate, will be the law of the land.

This afternoon Senate Republicans say Democrats won’t meet with them and the parliamentarian – a charge Democratic staffers call “absurd”. (The timing of the allegation also works as a last-minute, probably too-late message to wavering House Democrats).
Bottom line: Don’t expect the health reform debate to end tonight even though the health reform bill will become law as soon as Obama signs the Senate bill.

Should the House pass the Senate bill and the package of reconciliation fix-its tonight, Senators will take over the reconciliation fix-its as soon as Tuesday.

That will set in motion a week or longer parliamentary floor battle with points of order, references to the budget act, the Byrd Rule and more.

For an appetizer, take a look at Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Judd Gregg’s statement tonight.

“Immediately after receiving the final reconciliation bill language, Senate Republican staff was ready and willing to meet with Senate Democratic staff and the Senate Parliamentarian to discuss the fact that the House reconciliation bill may be brought down by the 310(g) point of order in the Senate. Senate Democrats are mysteriously unavailable until after the House votes on the health care bill tonight. The Senate Democrats appear to be pushing off this meeting so that House Democrats will remain in the dark about what is likely to happen to the reconciliation bill on which many have staked their careers in Congress. House Democrats should be alarmed by this latest development, since the survival of the reconciliation bill is clearly at risk in the Senate.”

If Republicans can get the parliamentarian to agree with them even once, whatever ultimately passes the Senate will have to go back to the House.
And Democrats in the House quietly admit that its very likely they will have to vote again on the reconciliation fixes at some point down the road.

19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

Budget point of order 310(g) "prohibits consideration of reconciliation legislation that contains recommendations with respect to Social Security." In particular, it bars changes to the Social Security trust fund. As points of order go, this is a pretty easy one to avoid: All you have to do is refrain from mucking with the Social Security trust fund. Which this reconciliation bill, like all reconciliation bills, does. Both sides in this debate have read the rules governing reconciliation, so you're not likely to see major errors of that sort.

But my sense is that there's some confusion about what happens if the parliamentarian rules against the Democrats on this or that provision. So let me be clear on this: Reconciliation isn't all or nothing. The parliamentarian isn't ruling whether you can do a reconciliation rider. He's ruling over what you can do with it. An adverse ruling is more annoying for the Democrats than it is disastrous.

If the parliamentarian strikes a provision or two, Senate Democrats will either pass the reconciliation act with that provision deleted from the package or they'll rewrite the package to try and achieve the same thing in a way that survives parliamentary challenge. Either way, if the package Senate Democrats pass is changed from the package the House considered, then it will have to go back to the House to be passed again. But since House Democrats clearly have the votes to pass reconciliation fixes, that shouldn't be much of a problem.

My name is Iniego Mustoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.