Congressional Bills 101

You may or may not be aware, but Congress is all in a tizzy (repeatedly) over a number of bills either recently passed or currently on the docket, and reconvened earlier this week to try to get all warm and fuzzy before the year ends. Seattlest did some digging and if any of you are even half as confused as we are, we hope this helps. We're going to break these bills down, James Brown short-sentence-with-rhythm style.

But first, we'll lead with the "Why you should care" punch-line: If the recently passed House budget bill is not amended, local healthcare and nationally renowned research center Children's Hospital will stand to lose $6MM in Medicaid coverage for underserved children and their families. Plus, we mention Dave Reichert twice.

Ready? James, take it away...

1. Republican In-Fighting. Uhn, jump back!
Moderate Republicans are making life difficult for their more conservative cohorts, likely due to the sucking sound you hear that is also known as Dubya's approval ratings. In what many conservative members of Congress viewed as a sucker punch, moderate members of the GOP (our own Dave Reichert included) rallied the party to abandon a clause in the budget bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, and then still refused to pass the bill the first time around anyhow. We can hear the hissing and wailing from here.

The friendly Washington Post has some juicy quotes from Republicans on both sides.

2. The Poor Lose, Again. Can't stand myself!
The budget bill passed by the House gave states the right to cut Medicaid for children who receive "optional" assistance. Alternate options include such gems as demanding co-payments and deductibles from their families, most of whom are barely above the poverty line. Supporters of Children's Hospital are putting the screws to Dave Reichert to stand up to fellow GOPers and insist that they amend it this week. Given Richert's track record in standing up for continuing the ban against drilling in Alaska mentioned above, Seattle locals are ever hopeful he'll succeed on this topic as well.

More details in this frightfully confusing Seattle Times article.

3. Big Pharm Wins, Again. Ain't it funky now!
Eli Lily, makers of Prozac, found themselves the beneficiaries of a provision in the budget bill backed by Republican representative Steve Buyer from Indianapolis -- which is entirely coincidentally the city that headquarters Lilly -- that discourages Medicare from pointing patients at (lower-cost) generic alternatives to Prozac and other mental health drugs. Lily spokesperson Ed Sagebiel said this provision "will help protect a vulnerable patient population". He is of course referring to "protecting" them from being able to feed their family for a week straight.

The Washington Post explains this one a little better, but we still re-read it 3 times.

3. Torture Is Bad. Hit me!
Back in November, the Senate approved an amendment to the Defense authorization bill authored by Sen. John "I've actually been to war" McCain and backed by Sen. John "Me too" Kerry that would restrict interrogation methods and also requires Rumsfeld to disclose to Congress the existence of clandestine terrorism detention facilities in foreign countries. The White House promises to veto any bill with that provision in it, but the rallying across party boundaries is likely to only do more damage to the president's plummeting repore with Ye Olde American People.

All this on the heels of Randy Cunningham's resignation makes Seattlest think that the whole Republican party probably feels a bit like the Godfather of soul when he wasn't so heavenly.