Nov 06 2009
Health Care Vote May Come Saturday
First, condolences to those affected by the shootings at Fort Hood and at the Orlando office building this week. Such sad, senseless events.
The House Rules Committee adjourned shortly before 2 a.m. eastern. The committee had been considering amendments that will be put into the health care bill. It also decided the rules by which debate on the House floor will be allowed. In contrast, the Senate allows for near-unlimited debate without a successful cloture vote.
The House will be in session Saturday at 9 a.m. eastern. Tomorrow’s session is a rarity. Typically, Congress does most of its business from Tuesday to Thursday so members can be at home Friday through Monday in order to talk to constituents.
The House passed a resolution Friday to adjourn until Nov. 16 as soon as the health care bill is passed. It’s clear Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership wants to hurry final passage of the legislation through the chamber before members are allowed to take another week-long barrage of angry messages from voters.
The U.S. unemployment rate spiked to 10.2 percent, according to the jobs report released today. Ten percent had been considered a psychological barrier. The figure is the worse since 1983.
Many economists say employment is a lagging indicator of a recovery. In other words, just about everything else will improve because businesses finally decide to hire more people. Retailers are expecting another rough year, considering the number of sales already advertised.
