Passing Obamacare without a Vote?

The Washington Post this morning reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has grown fond a a particularly ingenious (devious?) plan for passing national health care.

Instead, Pelosi, D-Calif., would rely on a procedural sleight of hand: The House would vote on a more popular package of fixes to the Senate bill; under the House rule for that vote, passage would signify that lawmakers "deem" the health-care bill to be passed.

At Olympia Business Watch, Jocelyn McCabe takes note.

They're delusional if they think "deem and pass" gets them off the hook. It's a technicality. They're still voting. After the president promised that health reform negotiations would be broadcast on C-SPAN for all to see, Congress crafted the bill behind closed doors and cut back-room deals (e.g. the Louisiana Purchase, Cornhusker Kickback). And now, after demanding an "up or down" vote on health reform, they're hurtling toward passage with a parliamentary trick that avoids a public vote. Accountability?

In National Review Online, Andy McCarthy explains the procedure, how it has been used in the past, and why the precedents do not justify its use now. He concludes:

When there's a real dispute, they have to pass the bill the regular, constitutionally mandated way: Both houses on the exact same text, with every legislator accountable for his vote.

If, instead, the legislative process becomes a farce that departs from the constitutional procedures we are entitled to enforce, then it no longer represents the consent of the governed. It is the first American principle that government derives its just powers only from the consent of the governed, and when it takes on a form that becomes destructive of the fundamental rights of the governed, it is no longer legitimate.

This Wall Street Journal/NBC Poll demonstrates why the Speaker would like to avoid a vote.