Friday, March 24, 2017

Billy Long jumps the gun, tells how reconciliation process will repeal Obamacare

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

I hear it all the time; "With Republicans controlling the House, Senate and White House you should be getting more done. Why can't you push the President's agenda through?" The answer is simple: the Senate has what some consider an arcane rule that must gain 60 votes for cloture. What that means is that the Senate must have 60 votes to break a filibuster in order for a bill to pass. This is why we are using reconciliation to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The reconciliation process was part of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, which sets out a list of procedures that allow House and Senate committees to produce legislation that can later be passed by a simple majority in the Senate. Since being enacted, policymakers have used reconciliation for 20 budget bills. The last time it was used was in 2016 to repeal key areas of Obamacare, although the legislation was vetoed by President Obama.

The reconciliation process allows for quick and easy movement of a bill. In order to begin the process, both the House and the Senate must first pass a budget resolution that includes reconciliation instructions. This budget resolution can be passed by a simple majority in the Senate needing only 51 votes rather than the 60 votes required to break a filibuster. Once the reconciliation bill goes to the Senate it is limited to only 20 hours of debate and requires, just like the budget resolution, only a simple majority to pass.

What’s unique about the Senate’s process is the Byrd Rule, which was also part of the Budget Act. This rule blocks any provision in a reconciliation bill that does not directly impact taxes and spending. To put it simply, it means that the American Healthcare Act (AHCA) can only include policies that deal directly with budgetary items, such as spending and revenue.

This is why our approach to reforming health care includes three phases: 1) repeal and replace Obamacare through the reconciliation process; 2) remove burdensome regulations under the direction of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price which Obamacare gave the secretary of HHS the latitude to do; 3) enact additional free-market reforms that cannot be included in the reconciliation process, such as medical liability reform and allowing people to purchase health insurance across state lines. The third phase will require bipartisan cooperation as it will need to meet the 60-vote threshold.

While it may be confusing to some, this is the only way to get this legislation passed, signed by the President and enacted into law. So when you hear that repealing and replacing Obamacare is being done in three phases, I hope this helps better explain why.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Never mind.

Harvey Hutchinson said...

Thank you Congressman Long for explaining this to us in as simplest way a possible. For a very difficult subject and procedure!!

Harvey Hutchinson 303-522-6622 voice&text 34:7

Anonymous said...

That is almost as funny as the ads that ran during the NCAA Tournament thanking House republicans for passing a bill they were too scared to vote on. They were brave enough to repeal Obamacare 60 times when they knew it would be vetoed by Obama, but now that they control all the branches of government they can't muster the support or courage to even have a vote on their signature reform promise for the last 7 years. Trump and Ryan simply can't govern.

http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/basketball-fans-treated-to-ads-congratulating-republica-1793629526#_ga=1.201698578.208229467.1490452834

Hugh Janus phone 606 0842 said...

Congressman Billy Long: A simple man proudly providing simple explanations about complicated issues to his simple supporters! What more could anyone want from their congeresscritter?

Things could have been different with Trumpcare with the votes of some of those Democrat Obama staybehinds. Same as it ever was!

Next time before the House leadership burns their ships maybe they should get some of the dimmocrats on board the ships!

The republican's temporary strategic attack to the rear with the new improved Trumpcare sets the stage for new ways for Republicans and Murrica to backpedal to the 1950s!

Obamacare Repeal will be a whole different thing when a new improved Trumpcare gets to the US Senate.

Just you wait and see!

Things will be different when the President mounts his bully pulpit and reminds Congress to forget about the little sh*t and focus on the big picture here.

President Trump will pull out all the stoppers, and the healthcare swamp will be drained!





Harvey Hutchinson said...

Agree with Hugh Janus on this this one.

Harvey Hutchinson 303-522-6622 voice&text 24/7

Anonymous said...

Did Billy not get the memo Friday before he asked one of his staffers to write this?

Anonymous said...

I want to make sure I've got this straight. The Republicans have a majority in the House. The Republicans could have lost 22 Republican votes and still passed their health bill. Trump and Ryan pulled the bill because Ryan knew that more than 22 Republicans planned to vote against it, and they were losing even more votes as Friday wore on. BUT, it's the Democrats' fault that they couldn't pass their own bill in the House they control! That, my friends, is truly LOL!

Anonymous said...

I would leave a comment, but I am sick and tired of Long and his writers trying to make someone thinks he thinks. Just give us a break and go to Las Vegas and leave policy issues to the adults like Nunes. Oops, another goof that ran to daddy to tell him to delete all phone calls before the FBI comes a calling.

Anonymous said...

House Republicans held more than 50 fake votes to repeal Obamacare, when every one of the votes was fake. Nothing more than mental masturbation and keeping the radio talkkkers and wingnuts ginned up.

Now they got called on their lies.

The Republicans are the new Not Ready For Prime Time Players.

Anonymous said...

Republicans are showing their true "selves". 7 years to come up with their "Repeal and Replace" plan but they didn't have anything ready when the time came. What have they been doing for the last 7 years but sucking the government for their paychecks? We pay these fools to do what WE voted them in to do, but they can't govern themselves let alone a nation. This "Party before Country" crap has to stop. Maybe the 2018 election will see people using their brains instead of what they have been "brainwashed" into believing. Same worthless rhetoric and lying talking points from the repubs with no facts to back their fiction. Now we have a egomaniacal, narcissistic congenital liar in the White House backed by "party before country" fools that try to polish this turd and don't seem to care what the majority of Americans think. 56% did NOT want to see TrumpCare pass as it was but the Repubs tried to ram it through anyway. Why do you think they don't care what average middle and lower class Americans think? It's all about their rich owners.