Politics

The Week In Review

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

To outward appearances, Washington is in a kind of holding pattern on health care. Most of the procedural hurdles like the getting a CBO score and crafting a reconciliation bill are out of the way and the House is expected to start the voting procedure on Saturday with a final vote happening on Sunday afternoon. Behind the scenes, however, both parties are furiously whipping the remaining undecided House Democrats to vote one way or the other on the bill. To help catch up with what’s happened and to prepare for the implication’s of Sunday’s vote, check out what we’ve been up to this week here at OpenCongress:

• Sen. Joe Lieberman [I, CT] and Sen. John McCain [R, AZ] are pushing a frankly offensive bill giving the U.S. military the power to indefinitely detain anyone with suspected ties to terrorism without a right to trial
• We run through the options House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D, CA-8] has for passing a health care bill.
• Sen. Chris Dodd [D, CT] unveiled a watered-down financial regulation bill.
• Republicans carped about the 'deem and pass' strategy House Democrats are considering to pass a health care bill, but the GOP hasn’t shied away from using it in the past.
• But while 'deem and pass' has been used many times before, the way the Democrats want to use it is fairly unprecedented.
• For a good chunk of the week, this complicated debate over process was the biggest threat to the Democrats.
• Our friends at the Sunlight Foundation are trying to get the government to put already public information online.
• Donny compares how various health care bills stack up against each other.
• A new health care bill means new incentives for Democrats to vote for it.
• And here’s a one-stop-shop for everything you need to know about voting on health care.

Thanks again for the great participation on the site this week and for all your great comments. Remember to become a fan of OpenCongress on Facebook and to follow us on Twitter at @OpenCongress and on Google Buzz.

Full post as published by Open Congress on March 20, 2010 (boomark / email).