RSC Republican Study Committee

Washington, Mar 16 - What a coincidence that Democrats picked Sunshine Week to make their final push on health care. But don’t start applying the sunscreen just yet, folks. Here in Democrat-controlled Washington, the forecast is still cloudy with a chance of takeover.

• We’ve Got Clouds on the Internet – Just two months ago, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer promised the country that they would post health care legislation online for 72 hours before a House vote. But Hoyer hedged last Friday, declaring, “I'm not going to say that 72 hours is going to be the litmus test.”

• We’ve Got Clouds in the White House – President Obama used to say the backroom Senate deals (i.e. the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, Gator-Aid…) had to go, but now the White House is “backing away from its ban on special deals for individual states.”

• We’ve Got Clouds in the People’s House – Obviously, Americans want to know which Senate deals have survived and what new deals are being struck by House Democrats. But they don’t know because, “the text of the reconciliation bill has not yet been made public.”

• We’ve Got Magic Clouds You’ve Never Even Seen Before – Like a magician pulling the rabbit out of her hat, Speaker Pelosi is threatening to “rely on a procedural sleight of hand” in an “attempt to pass the [Senate bill] without having members vote on it.”