You’ve heard of the Slaughter Rule. It means that, if used, the House would NOT vote on the Senate version of the health care bill (a move that is required in order for the health care bill to be passed). Instead, the House will vote on a reconciliation bill that would “fix health care issues” like eliminate the FFEL Program from student lending.
That’s right. Student loans and health care. They go together like chocolate chip cookies and a tall glass of Pine-Sol. The changes state that “savings” from removing the Federal Family Education Loan Program will go to increase the per student Federal Pell Grant. (You do know that a community college student with a Pell Grant can walk away with a refund check that’s derived solely from Pell Grant proceeds, right? Just a little something for you to mull over, as if this health care debacle isn’t bad enough.)
Those “savings” from eliminating FFELP will also off-set health care costs, too. Yeah, um, okay. (By the way, the elimination of the FFEL Program means choice in student lending is over and the only option students will have is the Department of Education. In case you aren’t aware, the US Department of Education has been telling schools for a year they need to begin setting up their processes to handle this switch as it was inevitable with Obama as President.)
Back to the Slaughter Rule. If the House votes for those proposed changes, then they will “deem” the Senate bill as having been passed, although no votes were actually cast for or against the Senate bill.
Then, the Senate bill that the Senate passed and the House “deemed to have passed” is sent to the President to sign, the “Cornhusker Kickback” and “Louisiana Purchase” included.
The Slaughter Rule seems underhanded, doesn’t it? That’s BECAUSE IT IS.
What about the “fix” that includes the elimination of FFELP? That reconciliation bill will be sent to the Senate for their vote. Since it’s a reconciliation bill, the Senate only needs 51 votes to pass it. The original Senate bill didn’t have pro-life language in it so it’s not a given the Senate will pass the reconciliation bill. If they make any changes to the reconciliation bill, it has to go back to the House. The question is, will pro-life Democrats in the House, like Bart Stupak of Michigan, trust the Senate to pass the changes? Are there more procedural tricks up Nancy Pelosi’s sleeve to somehow assuage Stupak’s concern, maintain the large pro-abortion coalition in the House and get the bill passed? (By passed I mean, deemed-and-by-default-passed.) [UPDATE: According to HotAir, there is a possible hand to play between Pelosi and Stupak to do just that. Will it ever end??]
So much for Scott Brown being central to defeating health care, right? Wrong. The election of Scott Brown has brought to light all the dirty tactics the left is willing to use, like the Slaughter Rule, to cram government-controlled health care down the throats of the American people.
Perhaps Representative Stephen Lynch (D-MA) is a little nervous that his home state elected a Republican. Although he voted for the initial House version of the bill, he is saying he will vote against the Senate version. Ah, but what about the Slaughter Rule? He was quoted in a Boston Globe article saying the Slaughter Rule “may be unconstitutional” and using it would damage their credibility.
Lynch also criticized the procedure Democrats are considering using to pass the legislation – by “deeming” the Senate bill approved, instead of voting directly on the Senate bill itself. Repeating a comment reported by the Boston Herald today, he called the procedure “disingenuous.” Echoing Republican complaints, he also said it “may be unconstitutional” because it wouldn’t involve an up-or-down vote on legislation.
“It’s a stretch,” he said. “I think it hurts our credibility to try to pull a prank like that. We should stand up and tell voters where we stand.”
Nonetheless, Lynch predicted it would pass.
“I think the president and speaker Pelosi are fairly persuasive,” he said. “They wouldn’t call on a vote unless they had the votes.”
He predicted it would pass? Well, what do you know? Stephen Lynch voted FOR the Slaughter Rule the same day the article appeared! Imagine that.
Are you still confused over the Slaughter Rule? Here’s all you need to know: In voting to use the Slaughter Rule to bypass actually voting for the health care bill, the House has slaughtered the oath they each took to uphold and defend the Constitution. As Article 1, Section 7 states, “Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States.” A bill that has not passed the House but has been “deemed” as passed through a procedural Slaughter Rule and is signed into law by the President will find itself headed to court.
Are you still confused? I don’t blame you. This 90 second video pieced together by the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) will quickly explain, not how a bill becomes a law, but how a bill gets “demon passed” in a House run by Nancy Pelosi.
For those of you wondering, “demonpass” may not have entered the nation’s vernacular so readily were it not for a Carly Fiorina campaign ad, known as the “demon sheep” ad. If you haven’t seen it yet, or need a dose of laughter after all this Slaughterhouse activity, here it is for your viewing pleasure.