House and Senate Democrats intend to avoid traditional procedures when they negotiate a final compromise on health care legislation. The play is to exclude Republican lawmakers and reduce their ability to delay or force politically troubling votes in both houses. There is an unofficial timetable that calls for final passage of the measure to coincide with President Barack Obama State of the Union address in February. The final compromise talks will be a three-way negotiation involving top Democrats in the House and Senate and the White House. This is par for the course after passing this mess in the dead of the night and then on Christmas Eve. So if you were waiting for a formal House-Senate conference committee, you know the method Congress uses to reconcile differing bills, do not hold your breathe. The new hope and change plan is to skip the formal meetings, reach an agreement, and then have the two houses vote as quickly as possible. They still need a 60-vote Senate majority to advance the final passage. Why should their be a committee and debate there are only hundreds of differences between the two bills, the House 1,990 pages, Senate 2,074 pages and the 383 pages of last-minute changes. The only hope is the dispute over a government-run insurance option, the House wants one, but the Senate bill killed it. Is this really any surprise based on the cloak of darkness this whole thing has been concocted under.