by Art Kelly
 
Democratic leader are trying hard to enact Obamacare before the end of the month, maybe even by March 19.
 
Both the House and Senate versions of Obamacare would ration health care for all Americans, especially seniors, in order to reduce costs.
 
The House bill provides for a public option, in which the government would function as an insurance company.  But it strictly prohibits public funding of abortion on demand. 
 
The Senate bill does not contain a public option per se, but essentially converts private health insurance companies into public utilities through extensive regulation.  It also contains the infamous Louisiana Purchase of Senator Mary Landrieu’s vote and the Cornhusker Kickback to Senator Ben Nelson for his support. 
 
The Senate version of Obamacare also funds elective abortions in multiple ways. 
 
Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director of the National Right to Life Committee, said, “When all of the pro-abortion provisions are considered in total, the Senate bill is the most pro-abortion single piece of legislation that has ever come to the House floor for a vote, since Roe v. Wade.”
 
Normally, differing House and Senate versions of a bill are resolved through a joint conference committee and the compromise legislation brought back to each body for a final vote. 
 
But after the special election of Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), Democrats are fearful a filibuster in the Senate would kill any version of Obamacare.  Various scenarios have been considered to enact the legislation involving a process of “reconciliation,” which is used only for budgetary matters, but is not subject to a filibuster.
 
The Associated Press reported that Democrats claim they have come to “near agreement” on crucial issues.  After days of secret talks, Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated that key Democrats were “pretty close” on some matters but provided no details.
 
A separate AP article quoted Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI), the sponsor of the pro-life language adopted by the House, as saying prospects were good for resolving the dispute over abortion.
 
“I'm more optimistic than I was a week ago…I think we can get there," he said.
 
However, the Weekly Standard reported that Stupak explained, “There’s a lot of confusion about how the House would structure a bill that he could vote for…No one has said here's how you do it."
 
Stupak emphasized he will not settle for an agreement to pass the Senate bill first and remove the pro-abortion provisions later.  Instead, he advocated a "tie-bar," in which all the House changes to the Senate bill, including his amendment on abortion, would pass or fail at the same time.
 
The AP reported that consideration is being given to consolidating the Senate version of Obamacare with the House reconciliation bill in which the Senate bill would be declared passed by the House at the moment the Senate passed the House’s revisions.  The head of the House Rules Committee, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY), verified that approach was being discussed.
 
Stupak says there are 12 Democrats who voted for the House version of Obamacare firmly committed to voting against the Senate version unless his pro-life amendment is substituted for the Senate provisions funding abortions.
 
To try to make up for this loss of support, Democrats are “turning up the heat” on the 39 Democrats who voted against the House version of Obamacare to try to get some of them to support the Senate version.
 
While all polls are showing overwhelming opposition to the legislation, within the liberal universe of the Democratic Party, considerable political pressure can be applied to those who are not in lock step with Obama, Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
 
At this point, the outcome is unpredictable. It could go either way.