Prodded by Obama, House and Senate Democrats to skip formal talks, act quickly on health bill - OrlandoSentinel.comThis shows how weak the congressional health care takeover is. Another rush job (like the pork-o-rama stimulus bill that didn't work) and they have to jam it through without ordinary public scrutiny. A bad business.WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is prodding House and Senate Democrats to get him a final health care bill as soon as possible, encouraging them to bypass the usual negotiations between the two chambers in the interest of speed.
Obama delivered the message at an Oval Office meeting Tuesday evening with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his No. 2, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., joined in by phone.
They agreed that rather than setting up a formal conference committee to resolve differences between health bills passed last year by the House and Senate, the House will work off the Senate's version, amend it and send it back to the Senate for final passage, according to a House leadership aide, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private meeting.
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