I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
September has come and gone and no bill has yet come out of the Senate Finance Committee, let alone the Senate. But that doesn’t mean nothing’s happening. Here’s a status report.
This week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scored the Senate Finance Committee bill written by committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and it showed the bill would slash the deficit by $81 billion over ten years. That was good news for Baucus.
The Hill said the CBO report gives a boost to the bill’s chances of passing the Finance Committee.
The CBO report instantly generated momentum for Baucus’s bill and increased the chances it will pass his Finance panel. The official score also brings the Senate closer to a floor debate later this month on President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy initiative.
A vote in the Senate Finance Committee is expected to come on Tuesday.
OpenCongress describes the process of combining the Senate’s different versions of a health reform bill as a choose your own adventure situation at this point in the Senate. The Finance Committee and Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee bills have to be merged before they reach the Senate floor.
“This is one of the most important stages in Congress’ health care reform process, but it’s happening in complete secrecy,” Donny Shaw writes. “The negotiations are basically an informal process of arm twisting and deal making that are taking place in closed-door discussions beyond the public’s view.”
New Mexico Democrat Jeff Bingaman sits on both the Finance and HELP committees.
There is also a new proposal being discussed by Democrats that would give individual states the option of opting out of a public health insurance option.
Meanwhile, former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean said that the public option might hurt Democrats in 2010 because it wouldn’t go into effect until 2013. Many benefits from the public health insurance option wouldn’t be seen until then.
