Whoever watched the "PBS New Hour" last evening, knows that David Brooks was almost apoplectic regarding the possible use of the deem and pass tactic; and even genial Mark Shields deemed it less than desirable.Well, it seems someone was listening:

With the ground shifting by the hour, House Democratic leaders said they would drop a plan to approve the Senate health care bill without taking a direct vote on it. That proposed maneuver had outraged Republicans and caused consternation among some Democrats.Instead, Democrats said they would vote Sunday first on revisions to the Senate bill included in a budget reconciliation measure and then directly on the Senate bill itself. Many House Democrats had said they would oppose the Senate bill without the revisions.Democrats said the outcome would be the same: the Senate bill would be sent to Mr. Obama, who would sign it into law, and the reconciliation bill would go to the Senate, which could take it up within days.

Can it be that Speaker Pelosi also dips into dotCommonweal on the sly?The story is here.

Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is a longtime Commonweal contributor.

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