An emerging talking point from Democrats and some of their allies in the press is that there is no national health care bill. Yes, that’s right: despite all the debate of the past year, despite the fact that the House and Senate have actually passed national health care bills, and despite the fact that the Senate bill is the single bill that will have to be passed for national health care to become law, there is not, in fact, a national health care bill. It might seem somewhat counterfactual, but in a new interview with CNN, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi flat-out says there is no health care bill currently under consideration.
“You think people don’t understand the bill?” asked CNN’s Candy Crowley.
“No, I don’t think — there isn’t a bill,” said Pelosi. “When we have a bill, which we will in a matter of days, then that is the bill that we can sell. Our bill, the House and the Senate bill, had major differences which we are hoping now to reconcile. And then when we have a bill — you — as I say, you can bake the pie, you can sell the pie, but you have to have a pie to sell. And when we do we will take it out there.”
From the pundits, on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show yesterday, Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift said that Democratic health proposals “never really turned into an actual bill. There have always been competing versions.” (She was responding to a point — made by me — that polls consistently show public opposition to Democratic bill currently on the table.)
And at the health care summit, President Obama seemed irritated when Republicans brought up the Senate bill and how it was passed. “Let me just guess — that’s the 2,400 page health care bill. Is that right?” he said to Republican Rep. Eric Cantor when Cantor referred to the massive document sitting on the table. And Obama became positively peeved when Sen. John McCain brought up the Cornhusker Kickback and other deals that were part of passing the Senate bill. “We can have a debate about process or we can have a debate about how we’re actually going to help the American people at this point,” Obama snapped.
The president and Democrats want to talk about going forward, not what has been done (and what the public strongly opposes). But the fact is, for the Democrats’ convoluted plan to work, the House will have to pass the health care bill that Senate Democrats passed on December 24 — Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase and all. It has to be passed, as is. Then, of course, they plan to pass a series of fixes. What President Obama will have to do is sign the original Senate bill into law — Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase and all — and then sign a bill amending the health care scheme he made the law of the land just moments before.
But the point is, there is a bill. Perhaps some of the leaders in Congress and the White House don’t want to talk about it, but there is a bill.
