The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this morning released a cost analysis of Democrats' recently revised health reform package. Keeping in step with President Obama's commitment to keep the price of reform below $1 trillion, this package, set to be advanced through Congress using the budget reconciliation process, is estimated to cost $940 billion over 10 years and reduce the federal deficit by $130 billion.
House Democrats are expected to use a "deem and pass" parliamentary tactic that would allow House members to avoid giving an "up or down vote" on the reform bill. By using this maneuver, the original Senate-passed health reform bill would automatically be considered passed if the reconciliation bill is passed. A memo released by the Senate parliamentarian earlier this week indicated that this tactic is indeed valid in this particular case, angering Republicans who have characterized this strategy as unrepresentative of fair and proper parliamentary procedure. The next step in enacting the health reform package would be to introduce the reconciliation bill in the Senate where only a simple majority of 51 votes would be needed to approve it. Senate Republicans are expected to delay the momentum of the bill by introducing numerous amendments and having the Senate clerk read each one.
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