No closer to a deal on passing President Obama’s health care plan, House and Senate Democrats must now contend with the potential elimination of their preferred route to passage and the end of the effort to find a compromise on abortion. Republicans say the Senate parliamentarian has rejected a plan by House Democrats to pass a measure that would conditionally approve the Senate version of Obama’s plan but not have it be official unless the Senate passed changes to the plan demanded by House members. Senate Democrats already face procedural hurdles in getting the House demands approved. Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he plans to use a parliamentary maneuver known as budget reconciliation that he believes will allow Democrats to block a promised Republican filibuster. “The Senate parliamentarian’s office has informed Senate Republicans that reconciliation instructions require the measure to make changes in law chambers,” said Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. That means House Democrats have to find a way to persuade their rank and file to vote for the Senate-passed health care bill under the assumption that the Senate would then take up a second bill that would make the changes the House is looking for, such as the reduction of a tax on high-end insurance policies and the elimination of special deals for certain senators. But House members don’t trust the Senate to act, particularly because it has already sent more than 290 bills that the chamber has yet to act on in this Congress. Many House members have pledged to vote against the Senate bill if there is no way to do it either simultaneously or after the passage of the corrections bill. “We don’t want to sent over a Senate bill and have the plank sawed off behind us,” said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. Stupak had been in talks with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., over language in the bill regarding federal funding of insurance policies that cover elective abortions. Stupak wants the bill to include language prohibiting the procedure, but Waxman told The Examiner that Stupak’s wishes will not be granted because abortion issues do not fit into the scope of budget reconciliation. Stupak said up to a dozen anti-abortion Democrats will vote against the bill if it does not include anti-abortion language. Democratic leaders are pressuring those Democrats to back the bill with the current language, which critics say limits but does not prevent taxpayer funding of abortion. “Are people willing to bring the whole thing down?” Waxman asked. “What is the moral position of those who are trying to sort that through? It’s not easy.” Asked whether Democrats would be able to find the 216 votes needed to pass the Senate bill, Waxman responded, “I don’t want to make any predictions. I don’t know the answer to that.”
