Ohio Newspapers: Democrats Should Abandon Their "Arrogant" Approach to Health Care

Arrogant approach to health care

Cincinnati Enquirer
editorial

America's robust discussion of health care reform during the past year has been beneficial in many ways, giving the public greater awareness and insight into this complex issue. Unfortunately, the debate has been held pretty much on one-party terms as Democrats, controlling both houses of Congress and the White House, crafted the only plan allowed on the table, and negotiated behind closed doors. Now, despite the deep reservations of a majority of Americans, congressional leaders plan to ram through their proposal this week - bypassing normal congressional procedures.

On health-care vote, lawmakers should pay heed to the people

Columbus Dispatch
editorial

The Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress are pushing Democratic members of the House to pass the Senate health-care overhaul in the next week or two and to trust the Senate to agree to changes in follow-up bills that will make the plan more amenable to House Democrats. This complicated approach is a parliamentary maneuver intended to deny Senate Republicans the opportunity to kill the bill with a filibuster.

Passing a health care bill by trickery would be a foolish mistake

The Cleveland Plain Dealer
editorial

As they struggle to pass a health care reform bill -- maybe by the end of this week, maybe by their Easter recess -- House Democrats are digging deep into their bag of parliamentary tricks. The goal is to minimize the political pain for wavering members. But the result, if they are successful, will be an unseemly odor around an issue that has been the Democratic Party's Holy Grail at least since Harry Truman occupied the Oval Office. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering a maneuver known as "deem and pass" that would allow House members to approve a package of changes to the health care bill passed by the Senate without actually voting on the Senate bill. Instead, by approving the changes, the House would "deem" the bill to be passed. That would allow Pelosi's troops to avoid casting a direct vote on the Senate bill, with its grab bag of political payoffs and other elements unpalatable to some House Democrats.