Duas questões de pormenor forçarão a nova contagem de espingardas da lei já assinada por Obama:
«Senate Republicans have suceeded in forcing Democrats to send the health reform reconciliation bill back to the House for another vote, after Senate parliamentarian Alan Frumin ruled early Thursday morning that two minor provisions violated the chamber's rules and couldn’t be included in the final bill.
Democrats believe the provisions — technical changes to language about Pell Grants for low-income students – are so minor that they don’t threaten to derail the reconciliation package, which includes a series of fixes to the reform bill that has already been signed into law by President Barack Obama.
But clearly Democrats are anxious to put the health care voting behind them – given the painful history of the past year of close votes and near-death experiences on the bill – and want nothing to pop up now that could give them headaches.
It’s also possible that Republicans can force more changes to the bill when the Senate reconvenes at 9:45 a.m., with a vote on the bill scheduled for 2 p.m. It wasn’t clear early Thursday morning when the House would vote, but both chambers are anxious to wrap up business to get out of town for the two-week Easter recess.
All told, 16 lines of text will be removed from the 153-page bill to strip the Pell Grant language, Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman Jim Manley told reporters as business on the Senate floor wrapped up early Thursday morning.
The House has already passed the reconciliation bill, on Sunday night when it approved the landmark health reform measure. But since the House and Senate must pass identical versions of the reconciliation bill to put the fixes into law, the reconciliation piece must go back to the House for a second vote.
And the reconciliation bill includes several provisions that are must-haves for House members, including eliminating the Cornhusker Kickback and other state-specific deals and putting off a tax on "Cadillac" insurance plans until 2018.
“We are confident the House will quickly pass the bill with these minor changes,” Manley said Thursday morning.
Obama's signature Tuesday means the landmark health reform changes are already the law of the land, and nothing that happens to the reconciliation bill will change that. He travels to Iowa City, Iowa, Thursday to promote health reform -- the city where he first unveiled his plans for universal coverage as a presidential candidate in May 2007.
The provisions are included in one non-health-reform part of the reconciliation bill – a change to student lending laws sought by Obama. One provision would make sure students don’t see cuts in their Pell Grants even if Congress doesn’t appropriate enough money for the program, and the other strikes obsolete language. But they didn’t pass the parliamentarian’s muster – despite extensive Democratic efforts to make the reconciliation bill bulletproof to just such a technical challenge.
A spokeswoman for the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) reiterated that the changes are "minor" and won't create problems when the altered bill goes back to the House for approval. The reconciliation bill is designed to make changes to the newly minted health care reform law.
"The parliamentarian struck two minor provisions tonight from the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, but this bill’s passage in the Senate is still a big win for the American people. These changes do not impact the reforms to the student loan programs and the important investments in education. We are confident the House will quickly pass the bill with these minor changes,” Harkin spokeswoman Kate Cyrul said in a statement.
The all-night session came as Republicans offered 29 amendments in a final attempt to scuttle the bill, or at least force Democrats into taking politically difficult votes that could be used against them in November.
Democrats steadily rejected each amendment, arguing that any changes would send the bill back to the House for another vote, an outcome Senate Democrats worked mightily to avoid before the parliamentarian's ruling early Thursday. That meant Democrats had to vote no on such campaign ad fodder as a provision barring sex offenders from being given Viagra.
Reid finally adjourned the marathon session at about 2:45 a.m. after striking a deal with Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to return at Thursday morning -- news that was greeted with audible sighs of relief from tired senators.»
in POLITICO.com
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