The House on Sunday is poised to take up legislation that would realign the Nation’s health care system, with most House Democrats preparing to gamble that the largely unpopular bill will be embraced by the public once it is signed into law.
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But Democrats backed down on a plan that would have allowed them to pass the bill without directly voting on it.
The House Sunday will have to pass a Senate-authored health care bill that many House members don’t like. They have crafted a smaller bill that makes changes to the Senate bill, including new language that will exempt labor unions from much of the impact of a tax on expensive insurance policies. Democrats wanted to pass the smaller bill and then “deem” the larger bill to be passed without ever voting on it directly. But they received considerable backlash, with even members of their own caucus complaining about the tactic.
“We’ve had sanity prevail here and I’m very pleased about that,” said Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., who is a member of the House Rules Committee, which on Saturday spent hours debating the bill and the process that will be used to consider it.
According to a top Democratic leadership aide, the House will vote on the smaller bill first, then hold an up or down vote on the Senate bill.
But as of Saturday, House Democratic leaders lacked the 216 votes needed for passage and they will likely be searching for backers up until Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., gavels a vote on the measure, expected some time after 2 p.m.
With no Republicans on board, Democratic leaders continued to search within their own caucus, pressuring a coalition of anti-abortion members who are opposed to language in the bill they say would provide public funding for abortions.
Talks collapsed when Pelosi refused a request by anti-abortion Democrat Bart Stupak of Michigan to allow a vote on a ban for federal funding of abortion in the health care bill. Pelosi later suggested to reporters that such a ban could perhaps be achieved through an executive order by the president.
Despite the problems with pro-life Democrats, Pelosi and other leaders said they were confident the bill will pass even without Stupak and his coalition.
As the vote drew near, undecided Democrats began announcing their decisions on Saturday, with Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., Bill Owens, D-N.Y., and Baron Hill, D-Ind., declaring their support while Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga., put himself in the “no” column.
In the House Rules Committee, Republicans and Democrats battled over process and substance.
“These bills represent the largest single tax increase in American history,” said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee.
Democrats focused on what they believe the bill will accomplish.
“What this bill does is to build on the present system and 95 percent of Americans will be covered,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., said.
