Bart Stupak successfully held his ground. Nancy Pelosi and President Obama agreed to give into his demands because they saw it as the path of least resistance. There were no pro-choice Democrats willing to go to the mat for their convictions. This why the Stupak amendment made it into the House bill, and why it [...]

The Stupak amendment reaches far beyond any of the reporting so far. It could effectively stop many employer-provided health insurance plans from covering abortions for tens of millions of Americans. It reads: In General – No Funds authorized under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) may be used to pay for any [...]

Is there anyone who did not see this coming, besides the over hundred Democrats in the House who call themselves pro-choice? Ben Nelson (D-NE) is now demanding the Senate also include the Stupak amendment language. Did anyone really think the Senate’s conservative Democrats would let any part of the House bill be to the right [...]

Harry Reid still has the ability to pass health care reform using reconciliation. Bills passed using reconciliation can’t be filibustered, so they only require a simple majority to pass the Senate. The biggest problem with using reconciliation is the Byrd rule.(brief summary and full CRS report) The Byrd rule requires that only provisions related to [...]

Last night health care reform, HR 3962, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 220 to 215. It was a truly historic moment and the bill will help millions of Americans. Yet as a progressive the passage of the bill is at best bittersweet. The bill is not single payer. It does not [...]