Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Maddow Show: "Slowly but Surely for Health Care Reform" (with video)

Morgan Ashenfelter (The Nation) with video from The Rachel Maddow Show (09:45):

The Nation's Washington editor Chris Hayes visits The Rachel Maddow Show to discuss the status of health care reform and the differences of the bill's future between the Senate and House. Hayes explains that while in the House there is a "real movement...to coalesce around a real intent to pass it," the Senate "looks a little tougher."

Because the Senate bill is unlikely to pass as it stands, the bill will have to go through a reconciliation process, which means the Senate will pass a smaller package with changes that the House must pass in order to send it to the president. Hayes says there are three major issues that will be amended by the Senate: the excise tax, national versus state exchanges and subsidies.

Though Hayes is optimistic and believes the votes in the Senate will be there in the reconciliation process, he is worried about a lack of leadership in the Senate to make the process happen quickly. "The Senate needs to show good faith in that they're going to move this through reconciliation," Hayes says. "And the sooner the better."

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