Can You Keep a Secret? So Can Congress.

Below is a great email from Tony Perkins

The House of Representatives returned to Washington this week to kick off the second session of the 111th Congress--after a first half that hardly left Americans begging for more. Although the Senate isn't slated to return until next week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will use these first few days to get a head start on the messy negotiations that await both chambers on the health care bill. Before the leadership can put this controversial issue in its rearview mirror, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have to navigate through the touchy process of merging the two bills. And right now, that "process" isn't scheduled to include Republicans. Instead of taking the legislation to conference, where members could iron out their differences in the open, a handful of Democrats have decided to hole up in the leader's office and hash out the $2.5 trillion plan on their own.

The move was so outrageous that it triggered a challenge from C-SPAN C.E.O. Brian Lamb, who admonished Congress to keep the process honest by broadcasting it. Interestingly enough, the idea wasn't his--it was the President's. As a candidate, Barack Obama promised eight times to air the final health care negotiations on C-SPAN so that "the public would be a part of the conversation and see the choices that are being made... We will work on this process publicly. It will be on C-SPAN. It will be streaming over the web." For now, however, the delicate dance will take place over the next few weeks in secret. Once the two bosses sign off on a compromise, the bill will head to the House floor, where it will have to pass by majority vote.

That could be tricky, given the major disparities of the two plans--like taxpayer-funded abortion, which the Senate bill allows and the House version bans. The two chambers also disagree on the timetable of reform. Both raise taxes immediately, but Speaker Pelosi would rather implement her plan sooner (2013) rather than later (2014). Also, the Senate plan hangs most of the price on the states, while the House relies entirely on the federal government. One thing the leadership can agree on is moving quickly to resolve their differences. Both sides see the handwriting on the voting booth wall and will do everything they can to make this bill a distant memory by Election Day.