House Minority Leader John Boehner said in a statement today that Republicans are calling for an up-or-down House vote on the Senate health care bill, demanding that Democrats not use a self-executing “deem and pass” strategy (also called the “Slaughter solution”) that would free them from having to actually vote on the Senate bill.
Boehner called the Dems’ strategy a “scheme” intended to allow them to “hide from their constituents.”
The Democratic strategy, as Brian explained earlier:
Instead of requiring Democrats to take separate votes on the Senate health care bill and the reconciliation fix, a self-executing rule would allow the House to do the whole thing in a single vote. The rule would be written in such a way as to “deem” the Senate bill passed, if the House votes to pass the reconciliation bill. And voila. Health care reform.
Republicans have been criticizing Democrats for that strategy all day (even though they’ve used the same tactic a number of times themselves). And now Boehner has released a statement demanding they abandon it.
This week, House Republicans intend to force a vote on a measure that would give the American people an up-or-down vote on the Senate health care bill. The ‘Slaughter Solution’ is the ultimate in Washington power grabs, a legislative ploy that lets Democrats defy the will of the American people while attempting to eliminate any trace of actually doing so. It shows you just how controversial this government takeover of health care has become that it takes a controversial maneuver just to vote on it. By supporting this resolution, Democrats can demonstrate that they will not try to hide from their constituents.
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