[Apologetics] Steny Hoyer says he has the votes to pass Obamacare in the House, but...

[Art Kelly]

I do not have any confidence that Obamacare can be derailed by so-called
pro-life Democrats.  
 
During the 10 years that I spent as a chief of staff to Senator Walter
Mengden in the Texas Legislature, there were instances when Democrats
introduced pro-life legislation.  In no case was the Democratic sponsor
of the legislation serious about passing the legislation.  Many times,
their bills could be used as means of trading for something else.  In
return for not bringing them up and making their colleagues vote yea or
nay, the Democrat would receive something else he or she wanted in the
legislative process.
 
At the very best, some Democrats might be slightly interested in passing
their own pro-life bills provided they did not have to figuratively
spill any blood to do it.  In every single case, when the going got
rough, the Democrat "folded their tent."
 
The article below indicates that Democratic Congressman Brad Ellsworth
of Indiana has apparently worked out some language with the House
Democratic leadership on abortion.  The National Right to Life Committee
is livid and calls Ellsworth's proposal, "a political fig leaf made out
of cellophane."
 
So, brace for the passage of this horrible Obamacare bill in the House.
But there are still many gates to go through in the Senate and, if it
gets through there, in conference committee and then final votes in the
House and Senate.
 
The ultimate outcome is in doubt.
 
Art 
 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091105/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

Majority leader: House will pass health bill

By ERICA WERNER and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writers 23
mins ago 
 
WASHINGTON - The second-ranking House Democrat predicted that historic
health care legislation will be passed Saturday, extending coverage to
tens of millions of uninsured and banning the industry from turning
people away.

Rep. Steny Hoyer told reporters House leaders would have the 218 votes
needed to pass the sweeping bill that President Barack Obama has made
the defining social goal of his young administration - presuming a
couple of final issues are resolved. Hoyer acknowledged that the vote
could be tight.

"I wouldn't refer to it as a squeaker, but I think it's going to be
close," Hoyer said. "This is a huge undertaking."

The Maryland Democrat said language on abortion and illegal immigrants
was still being worked out, but predicted those issues could be solved
in time for Saturday's scheduled debate and vote on the 10-year, $1.2
trillion legislation.

"We certainly have well over 218 people who say they want to vote for
the bill," Hoyer said in an interview with wire service reporters.

"The trick is making sure they have a comfort level with the provisions
they are particularly focused on to allow them to do so," he said. "So I
think that's what we're in the final stages of trying to get to."

Obama planned a rare trip to the House on Friday to try to win over
wavering lawmakers.

Hoyer also said that the bill's endorsement by the powerful seniors'
lobby AARP, announced Thursday, was a significant boost.

AARP Senior Policy Adviser John Rother said the 40-million strong
organization favors the House bill because it closes the coverage gap in
Medicare prescription benefits, puts strict limits on what health
insurers can charge older workers too young for Medicare and creates a
voluntary, long-term care insurance program.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network also announced its
support for the legislation Thursday, and the American Medical
Association, which had endorsed an earlier version of the bill,
scheduled a midday press call to weigh in.

Action is slower on the other side of the Capitol, where senators are
awaiting an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office on legislation
written by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others. The timeline
there appears likely to spill into next year.

The AARP's backing is a big boost for the House effort. Support from
this group proved a crucial stamp of approval when then-President George
W. Bush pushed the Medicare prescription drug benefit through a closely
divided Congress in 2003.

But strong opposition remains on Capitol Hill.

Republican leaders were scheduled to appear outside the Capitol at a
rally opposing the legislation, a protest led by anti-big-government
"tea party" activists.

With no GOP backing, Democrats will need overwhelming support from
within their own caucus. An intraparty disagreement over how to prevent
federal funds from being used to pay for abortion has not yet been
entirely resolved, though Hoyer said that language being circulated by
one anti-abortion Democrat, Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Indiana, seemed
likely to be the basis for an agreement.

Ellsworth's language aims to strengthen stipulations already in the bill
against federal money being used to pay for abortions. It would still
allow people to pay for abortion coverage with their own money.

That distinction doesn't satisfy anti-abortion groups, which dismiss it
as an accounting gimmick. They say federal subsidies for insurance
coverage would not be clearly segregated from private funds used to pay
for abortions.

The National Right to Life Committee issued a blistering press release
Wednesday night calling Ellsworth's proposal "a political fig leaf made
out of cellophane." 

Ellsworth said that didn't bother him: "I know what's in my heart, I
know what's in my head and I think the big guy upstairs knows," he said.


House leaders are also still grappling with illegal immigration,
specifically whether illegal immigrants - who would be barred from
getting federal subsidies - should be able to purchase insurance
coverage within new government "exchanges," using their own money. 

The White House does not want this allowed, but some members of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other Democrats view that position as
too extreme. Hispanic Caucus officials were scheduled to meet with Obama
at the White House on Thursday. 

The House bill would provide government subsidies beginning in 2013 to
extend coverage to millions who now lack it. Self-employed people and
small businesses could buy coverage through the new exchanges, either
from a private insurer or a new government plan that would compete. All
the plans sold through the exchange would have to follow basic consumer
protection rules. 

___ 

Associated Press writers David Espo and Alan Fram contributed to this
report.




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