Pelosi won't put reform bill online for 72 hours before vote

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the speaker will not allow the final language of the health care to be posted online for 72 hours before bringing the bill to a vote on the House floor, despite her September 24 statement that she was "absolutely" committed to doing so.

House members are still negotiating important issues in the bill--whether it will provide taxpayer-funding for abortions, for example. Pelosi is pushing for a Saturday House vote, and a number of big changes will be introduced, likely less than 24 hours before the vote takes place (if in fact it does). The Rules Committee hasn't yet released its resolution, or rule, that must be passed before the bill can move from committee to the floor. The rule will set the terms of debate and determine what amendments are in order.

It seems likely that the rule will allow very few, if any, up-or-down votes on amendments on the House floor. Rather, the rule will include a series of amendments that will all be adopted at once if the rule passes.

On September 24, Speaker Nancy Pelosi told THE WEEKLY STANDARD that she was "absolutely" committed to putting the text of the final House bill online for 72 hours before the House votes:

This says two things to me:

1. She doesn't have the votes for passage at this point so she can't risk even one member defecting.

2. There are parts of this bill that are so bad - abortion, for instance - that the whole process is at risk of falling apart if these controversies become widely known.

Pelosi is running scared at this point. I am really curious to find out if she will bring the bill up for a vote even if passage is uncertain. Another delay in the vote won't matter, I think.

Is this the result of the election on Tuesday? I'd make that bet.