http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/13/1370693/-Boehner-and-Pelosi-might-have-just-started-to-make-the-House-nbsp-sane?detail=email
With the Homeland Security funding debacle in the House resolved the way most of House Speaker John Boehner's debacles with funding have been—with Nancy Pelosi's help, it's pretty clear that any legislating that gets done will get done because of Pelosi. And there's quite a bit of it to come, as Greg Sargent points out, including replenishing the Highway Trust Fund and a looming debt ceiling hike.
There's another one pending, though, and hitting much sooner. That's the annual doc fix, the exercise Congress goes through every year to make sure that Medicare reimbursements to doctors aren't dramatically cut because Congress hasn't gotten around to fixing the bad formula for payments they enacted into law in 1997. Here's where there might actually be a glimmer of hope for some sanity in the House: Boehner and Pelosi have reportedly reached a deal for a permanent fix, one that also would end the fight over funding children's health.
A proposed congressional "doc fix" deal will include a permanent repeal of Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula and a two-year extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program with a total cost exceeding $200 billion.
The two are still negotiating, and all of the details aren't ironed out. Reportedly, just $70 billion of the costs will be offset, "split roughly evenly between cuts to providers and changes to benefits," meaning more cost-sharing for wealthier Medicare beneficiaries. The negotiations, just between the two House leaders, have being ongoing for the past weeks.
"We've been taking them seriously for over a week now," said one lobbyist tracking the issue, speaking on background. […]
"The negotiations are strictly between” Boehner and Pelosi, said another lobbyist, speaking on background. "They've been keeping Reid and McConnell in the loop throughout this process."
it's no secret the power wielded by Speaker Pelosi, if you can get pass the elephant dung smears by republicans she is a formidable force now being proven by the helping of congressional republicans to govern, that stings and will leave a mark. we are also aware that Beohner is a subject of the tea people remember early on he and Pres. would reach agreements only to have Beohner having to get an okay from the tea party which always resulted in him returning to the mike head down tears in his eyes and killing the deal. oh and "we've been taking them seriously for over a week now" and we paid them for years to do that and they are just getting around to it a week ago? truly no way to run a gov. or a lemonade stand. they are admitting unknowingly that they have been MIA or more appropriate AWOL for a minimum of 6 years and 3 months, we really should recoup that wasted money job not done charge malfeasance.
