What Student Loans Have to Do With the Health-Care Bill
Some wrinkles in the health-overhaul orchestrations are in the news this morning:
Washington Democrats are working on an idea to pair the health-care bill bill with another Democratic priority of increasing federal aid for college students. The notion isn’t a firm plan, but as Senate Budget Committee head Kent Conrad told the Washington Post, “I’d say yes, we’re leaning toward it.”
Mixing the health and education bills might seem a stretch, but Democratic backers figure it might give them a 2-for-1 legislative bang. Dems already plan to use the reconciliation process in the Senate to make fixes to the version of the health bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve.
Adding the education package to the reconciliation vote, which requires a simple majority for passage, could mean both pieces of legislation would clear the Senate without a filibuster. The overhaul of the student loan programs in the education bill is another of the Obama administration’s domestic priorities.
As for the health overhaul, Democrats remain vexed about how to handle abortion restrictions, but party leaders appear willing to write off the votes of a dozen or so antiabortion Dems in the House if need be, the New York Times reports. The House abortion […]
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