Here is why Harry Reid is using HR 3590 to get HCR done.

[rgbecker]

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/55081

Substitute 3590 for 1586, as this is an older article written before the senate finally got their bill out of committee.


Reid ‘Likely’ to Make Entire Health Bill an Amendment to Unrelated Tax Bill That House Passed in March
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
By Nicholas Ballasy, Video Reporter




Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) (AP Photo) (CNSNews.com) -- A senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told CNSNews.com that it is “likely” that Reid will use H.R. 1586—a bill passed by the House in March to impose a 90-percent tax on bonuses paid to employees of certain bailed-out financial institutions—as a “shell” for enacting the final version of the Senate’s health care bill, which Reid is responsible for crafting.

Under the procedure, the substance of House Resolution 1586 would be removed and replaced with the entire Senate health care package. The maneuver would initially require the support of 60 senators to vote for cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 1586 (i.e., end debate on the congressional procedure and move forward).

If Reid wins 60 votes, then debate begins on his health care package. Reid could then decide to block all amendments and attempt to get a vote on the entire package.

However, a senator could filibuster the final vote, requiring another 60-vote majority to move forward. But if Reid decides to allow any amendments, each amendment could be filibustered, requiring a 60-vote majority to move to a final vote on each of them. An amendment that has the support of more than 50 but less than 60 senators could end up stopping the bill if neither side backs down. But if Reid is able to structure the debate so that all 60 senators who caucus with the Democrats stick with the party on cloture votes, he can pass the bill and send it to back to the House--where it originated as an entirely different bill in substance.

If the House were to then vote on the bill as passed by the Senate without amending it, it could be sent directly to the president for his signature without going through a House-Senate conference committee and another round of votes in each chamber (MORE AT LINK)


Here's a link to read the various versions in the stew: http://thomas.loc.gov/

[annabanana]

1. Damn my head hurts....

How could it have gotten so complicated since just 1787?

I mean really.. It's only been 222 years. . a drop in the bucket.

[Sebastian Doyle]

2. There's two things wrong with that article

1) The source (CNS News) being a hysterical right wing propaganda site.

2) Harry Reid actually having the testicular fortitude to pull off something like that.

[rgbecker]

3. Are you suggesting that it isn't the tactic Reid is using?

I haven't been able to find anything else about why it's HR 3590 rather than an S designated bill number with its own text. Maybe you have a link to a better explanation. In my OP, it's My mistake, it's HR 3590 not 3950.

[HughMoran]

4. CNS = no

no