house of reps

After roughly 12 hours of debate — and no absence of GOP stalling — the House late last night passed an $894 billion proposal that would forever change the way the nation’s health care system operates. The vote was 220 to 215 in the lower chamber, where only a simple majority is required to pass [...]

After months of insisting that single-payer health care receive at least a vote on the House floor, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) has decided not to offer the provision at all, according to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Here’s Waxman’s statement on the decision:

In a letter today to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the American Medical Association, the nation’s largest doctors lobby, announced its support for House Democrats’ proposed health reforms. But there’s a catch. Namely, AMA isn’t offering its outright support for the $894 billion proposal — the one that’s getting all the media attention. Rather, the group [...]

Yesterday it was the Senate; today the House passed legislation to extend jobless benefits at least 14 weeks nationwide.
The count was 403-12. The “nays” comprised mostly conservative Republicans who oppose the tiny employer surtax that will fund the benefit extension.
The bill will provide an additional 14 weeks of unemployment insurance in every state, with an [...]

The House is poised to vote this weekend on an enormous proposal to overhaul the nation’s health care system, yet it remains unclear whether Democratic leaders will allow lawmakers to offer amendments on the chamber floor.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters Thursday morning that she hasn’t reached any conclusions. “We may not have any amendments,” [...]

We weren’t the only folks curious about the morning’s claim from Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) that the GOP’s health reform bill covers more uninsured Americans than the Democrats’ proposal. The fact checkers at Media Matters were also left scratching their heads, and here’s what they found.

First they delayed the reforms; now they’re trying to expedite them.
The House approved legislation today to have its previously passed credit card reforms take effect next month, rather than three months later.
The bill is designed to fix a problem the lawmakers themselves created.

The threat from moderate House Democrats to derail health reform legislation over abortion funding concerns is a problem that can be worked out this week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday.
“We are still working on that,” Hoyer said, “but I am reasonably confident. I have talked to people who have varying views [...]

Not even nine months after President Obama, with much fanfare, signed into law a five year, $33 billion reauthorization of the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, House Democrats have proposed to dismantle it.
Under the $894 billion health reform legislation that House leaders unveiled last week, CHIP would cease to exist at the end of 2013, [...]

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) was none too happy when House leaders stripped his single-payer provision from their $894 billion health reform proposal. Today, he’s urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to reinstate it.
“Like many other important reforms included in the underlying bill, the Kucinich amendment is the object of attack by the insurance industry,” Kucinich [...]