The U.S. House is planning to use the deem and pass rule to push the healthcare reform legislation through. Senator Bond speaks out against that tactic.
Bond says the deem and pass rule exists to make technical corrections to legislation when it goes to a vote. He says there’s no way the healthcare package qualifies as a “technical correction.”
Some are asking whether using the tactic is constitutional. Bond says if it does work and the bill goes through, it’s likely the legislation will be brought up in 2013 for revision, saying if the House pushes its will on the American people, they’ll make their voices heard at the polls in the next election.
House Democrats don’t want to vote for the Senate version of the bill because it includes the excise tax and the Nebraska deal. That’s why reconciliation and deem and pass are being considered to push passage.
The House has also considered using reconciliation to get the 875 billion dollar healthcare bill pushed through, another rule that would force a vote.
The self-executing rule has been used by both parties over the years since the Great Depression. A recent example is when the House used it to increase the federal debt ceiling.