Friday, July 28, 2017

What kind of bill can we expect as a compromise between a terrible House bill and a disasterous Senate bill?

[I'm writing this just before midnight, with an expected vote on the Senate "skinny" health care bill expected around 2 am.  It's fate is unknown at this point.]

In this whole absurd process of Republicans settling for a nothing bill just so they can go to a conference committee with House members, nobody seems to have thought about what can possibly come out of this.

Here's what will happen.   It will nominally be a bipartisan committee, but Republicans will have a majority.   Unless they all agree to do something different, the usual thing is to find compromises that both House and Senate can vote to pass.   So Democrats don't hold a lot of cards at this point.  It is essentially a reconciliation of the differences in the House Republican bill and the Senate Republican bill.

So take the best parts of the House bill and the best parts of the Senate skinny bill, and what have you got?   Still a disaster that will have its own death spiral.

And, if they can't agree and the negotiations break down, as sometimes happens, then the House can quickly pass the Senate version -- and it will be law.   Graham and McCain and others, who say they are only voting for the skinny bill with the assurance that it will not become the law, better think again.

No comments:

Post a Comment