The Washington Monthly

March 12, 2010

WITH THE PARLIAMENTARIAN, DETAILS MATTER.... Yesterday afternoon, Senate Republicans said they'd received guidance from the Senate parliamentarian on health care and reconciliation -- before Dems can fix a law, it has to be law. Soon after, Senate Dems, specifically Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), were saying that they'd heard the same thing.

This wouldn't necessarily spell doom for reform; it would simply require the House to count on the Senate to do what it says it wants to do -- pass the budget fix through reconciliation.

But what, exactly, the parliamentarian said is apparently still open to some question.

[A]ccording to reporting by POLITICO's David Rogers, the accounts aren't accurate and misconstrue what the Senate parliamentarians have said. That is that reconciliation must amend law but this could be done without the Senate bill being enacted first. "It is wholly possible to create law and qualify law before the law is on the books," said one person familiar with situation... [I]n essence, don't take the reported parliamentarian's declaration to the bank.

Part of the problem, it seems, is that the parliamentarian's judgment had been expressed verbally, and not in writing. It's since been subjected to some spin and interpretation. National Journal reported today, "A Republican claim said to be based on advice from the Senate parliamentarian does not throw Democrats off plans for how to pass a healthcare overhaul, according to aides and sources."

It's probably a good time to remind folks, including myself, that we're going to see a fair amount of this in the immediate future -- reports on votes and procedures from credible reporters at real outlets may be more ambiguous than they seem at first blush.

As Jonathan Cohn noted, "[I]f you're not used to that kind of uncertainty already, you should get used to it fast. That's what the next few days and, maybe, weeks are going to be like."

—Steve Benen 11:25 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (13)

Comments

... well, Johnny, it wont be weeks... they got 9 god damn days to get that bill thru the sausage machine... nine god damn days.

dont know if they can replace the parliamentarian that quick -- if necessary -- but we'll see...

Posted by: neill on March 12, 2010 at 11:39 AM | PERMALINK

Our founding fathers revolted against a corrupt parliamentary system. Why are we now allowing a parliamentarian to dictate what kind of health care we have? To see what parliamentary health care looks like, just look at Canada or the United Kingdom.

Posted by: Al on March 12, 2010 at 11:54 AM | PERMALINK

I'm shocked -- shocked! that Republicans use dishonest public comments to intimidate feckless Democrats.

Posted by: Gregory on March 12, 2010 at 11:58 AM | PERMALINK

To see what parliamentary health care looks like, just look at Canada or the United Kingdom.

I don't think that the foes of HCR really want people taking that look. What they really mean is, "just look at the caricature of Canada or the UK that I've invented out of whole cloth". Because Canada and the UK -- like every other major industrial democracy except us -- have provided universal health care (with which their citizens are very happy) while providing a standard of living quite comparable to the US. Indeed, the evidence from abroad is that a parliamentary system can provide a working system while the presidential system we have here apparently cannot. Posted by: Bernard Gilroy on March 12, 2010 at 12:00 PM | PERMALINK

The comments were expressed orally. "Verbally" means "in words," and can apply to both spoken and written communication.

Posted by: Christopher Roberson on March 12, 2010 at 12:01 PM | PERMALINK

BREAKING: Politico reports that an anonymous GOP staffer said that their sister's boyfriend's cousin knows a guy who saw the Senate Parliamentarian pass out at 31 Flavors last night.

I guess it's pretty serious.

Posted by: Nied on March 12, 2010 at 12:02 PM | PERMALINK

Don't forget that there is precedent for amending something before it has been fully approved. In fact, if what historians say is correct, the amendments were necessary to achieve final passage. I'm talking about the US Constitution, as amended (prior to ratification) by the Bill of Rights.

Posted by: Marc in Denver on March 12, 2010 at 12:17 PM | PERMALINK

Christopher Roberson wrote: The comments were expressed orally. "Verbally" means "in words," and can apply to both spoken and written communication.

I think your comment is based on a misunderstanding. When the parliamentarian writes issues a written opinion, it consists not of words but of pictograms or ideograms that convey concepts or ideas which can be expressed equivalently in different words.

Posted by: marcel on March 12, 2010 at 12:28 PM | PERMALINK

Yeah, Al, let those RepuGs bring back Dove, so, they can fire him again and again whenever, they disapprove of his rulings.

It appears the RepuGs only want to hire Delaney, the former disgraced NBA ref, to be the parliamentarian. Or is it Judge Protious of LA?

Posted by: berttheclock on March 12, 2010 at 12:31 PM | PERMALINK

It really isn’t so ambiguous - If a Repub. says it, you KNOW it’s a lie.

Posted by: M. Carey on March 12, 2010 at 12:32 PM | PERMALINK

Once again, Steve, thanks for getting the facts. Next, Rs will try to stuff the ballot box.

Posted by: ted on March 12, 2010 at 1:12 PM | PERMALINK

It's working the refs. The GOP's goal is to preempt each parliamentary procedure by announcing to a willing MSM that the Democrats can't do A or B. The MSM obediently turns the "the Democrats can't do this and yet they keep pushing in an outrageous breach of Senate rules/custom!" into conventional wisdom before anything even comes to the parliamentarian's desk.

Posted by: Allen on March 12, 2010 at 3:33 PM | PERMALINK

Why is the Senate parliamentarian giving the decision to just the Republicans and not the Senate leader Reed?

Any decision should be communicated to the Senate at large, not a few select individuals that have a reason to lie about the outcome.

Posted by: wbn on March 13, 2010 at 8:22 AM | PERMALINK