ObamaCare’s Do or Die Moment in the Senate
by Brian DarlingSaturday is a big day in the Senate for ObamaCare. Congressional Quarterly reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will unveil his manager’s package of changes to the Senate version of ObamaCare on Saturday morning and immediately file cloture to shut off debate on the package. This package of changes to the bill and special interest projects were crafted by Reid to buy the support of members wavering in his caucus, including Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Jim Webb (D-VA).
Nobody knows if any acceptable compromise is possible at this point in the debate. Liberals in the Democrat Caucus are mad because the public option has been scrapped and moderates are concerned that this bill has become so politically unpopular that a vote for any version of ObamaCare is the functional equivalent of political suicide. If the Reid Amendment passes, then the President will be one step closer to victory. If ObamaCare goes down in flames, then Monday may prove to be the President and Senator Harry Reid’s health care Waterloo.
Right now the Senate is taking a brief break from health care to complete work on the Defense Appropriations bill, the last remaining appropriations bill for the year. The bill will be dispensed with after a series of votes starting at 7:30 am on Saturday, then the Senate will immediately pivot back to ObamaCare. After the Reid Amendment is read, Reid will need 60 votes on the amendment scheduled for a vote at 1 am on Monday, December 21st. This will be the do or die moment for ObamaCare. If the Reid Amendment passes, then ObamaCare is scheduled to be voted upon in the Senate on Christmas Eve.
Already there are signs of danger. As Reid crept closer and closer to the 60 votes needed to pass his version of ObamaCare this past week with the announcement of the scrapping of the public option and expansion of Medicare to appease moderates, liberals revolted against these changes to the bill.
Politico is reporting
With the clock ticking down on health care reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has until Saturday to strike a 60-vote compromise if Democrats hope to meet a Christmas Eve deadline – but the obstacles kept piling up Thursday.
The New York Times reports:
Grass-roots groups are balking, liberal commentators are becoming more critical of the president, some unions are threatening to withhold support and Howard Dean, the former Democratic Party chief, is urging the Senate to kill its health bill.
Reid will not release the legislative text, nor a Congressional Budget Cost (CBO) cost analysis until Saturday. Because nobody knows what is actually in that amendment, there may be new obstacles that arise when Senators review the legislation. Maybe there are objectionable earmarks to buy the votes of wavering members. Maybe there are provisions that nobody knows about that will dramatically change the analysis of the bill. Maybe Reid further watered down measures like the public option that will enrage the far left in the Senate like Socialist Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders. Once Senators get a chance to read the amendment, we will have a better idea as to whether Reid can get his necessary 60 votes to pass the managers package.
But Reid has one other obstacle. The CBO will have to produce a score, for the next 10 years, for the Reid Amendment. If that score is high, then many moderate Democrats in the Senate may have to walk away from the deal, because they are concerned about the long term costs of Obamacare. Some have cited a figure of $2.5 trillion over the first 10 years of implementation of the bill and if the Reid Amendment adds to that already high cost, it is hard to imagine that members will not run away from the deal.
The bottom line is that the deal may collapse on Saturday when Senators read the amendment. More likely the deal will be sealed or killed when the Senate votes on the Reid Amendment on Monday after Senators have the weekend to digest the changes to ObamaCare and the CBO score. If President Obama and Senator Harry Reid’s quest for more federal control over the health care economy crash and burn in the next few days, many will consider this development an early Christmas present to those who despise big government and love freedom.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by DRIP USA, AZ grassroots. AZ grassroots said: ObamaCare’s Do or Die Moment in the Senate http://bit.ly/7Qvihq #dripusa #ocra #tcot [...]
Treason anyone?
Hey Harry. The Mickey Mouse ears are supposed to go on your head, not around your neck!
Like this: http://www.thoseshirts.com/mic.html
Well it looks like God stepped in with a nice Blizzard to stop this Man Made Global warming crap and to give Harry an excellent Saturday. So all in all it may be a good day for US citizens. I saw a commercial today telling how great the healthcare will be once the bill passes, got a good laugh. No one knows what is in the bill.
With no public option, no abortions but still cutting billions out of Medicare the government is going to make it harder for our old and young to see doctors. I don't think that is the hope people had and the change will be poor care and larger waits.
I wish Harry would just wait until the next term but I think he figures he will be retired next year.
Totally amazing we've come to the point of relying on a blizzard to stop the destruction of our country as we know it. If 2010 doesn't change things, I'm dropping out!
We've got some of the sorriest bastards ever to live and breathe, right there in our nation's capitol. And they're doing what sorry sacks of feces always do — bullying those without power into accepting their "game."
And, they think they're the only game in town. This makes me physically sick.
It is a fact that a new health system encompassing medicare must be created. If not your parents and grandparents will see a total collapse of coverage in the next few years. Do we want to do right by corporate doctors and pharmacologists or do we want a system that does right by your families?
Hi Jeff,
I'm in Florida on the Gulf Coast. Temp in the upper 50's and overcast. Contrast that with DC, driving/flying/traveling in snow and cold. So glad I live in Fla. How 'bout you? BTW, I went to school in Miami during the 70's. What a change from back then. Where did all those lefties come from?
The insanity of this is astounding. Can one imagine a 2,000+ page bill, completely revamping 1/6 of the economy, being introduced, and on the same day, having debate cut off. Even if it included tort reform and interstate competition I can't fathom it. May this blizzard last for 40 days and 40 nights.
It is a fact that a new health system encompassing medicare must be created. If not your parents and grandparents will see a total collapse of coverage in the next few years. Do we want to do right by Government bureaucrats and congressmen and senators or do we want a system that does right by your families?
Ah who is running Medicare?
Taking person A's money (property) and giving it to person B is not legal. The Constitution forbids taking of "property" without due process! There has been no due process! Passing this bogus health care bill is not due process and should be challenged at every opportunity!
Kill the Bill! Shut er Down. Figth for our Liberties and against big government. Load the Muskets, revolution is coming.
That picture of Reid just makes me want to b!tch slap him!! Aside from that, who does he think he is…God??? How dare he go behind closed doors, and revamp an already massive waste of paper?? If he thinks that he, and the rest of the criminal element in Washington, can ram this outrageous piece of junk down our throats without repercussions, he is even more stupid than he looks!! This is nothing more than a power grab and we the people are going to show OUR EMPLOYEES what happens in the real world, when you don't do what your employer(s) tell you to do!!!
I'd possibly support the bill if it included mandatory tubal ligations and visectomies for all Progressive/Liberals once its passed – otherwise, its the biggest dump the Gov't ever took on the American people.
Were going bankrupt and and China is going to lend us money to spend our way out? We need to give $100B to to the UN to redistribute to the third world to pay for our sins? We cant acknowledge the assasination of a US Army soldier in Arkansas by a jihadi but we can give a jihadi traitor of the same US Army the benefit of the doubt when he openly declares his intent and assainates his own? The president kowtows to every world "leader" who would put their boot on our neck if they had half a chance and this man is held in the highest esteem?
I say sack every incumbent regardless of their political affiliation in November & demand these amendments to the constitution from their replacements:
A flat tax; every citizen pays including welfare recipients
Term limits for congress; 2 for the president works well 2 for the congress clowns should be sufficient
Congress shal pass no law which exempts themselves
The budget must be balanced using the previous years revenues except during war or national emergency
ObamaPOS is a do nothing commie and his admin is already starting to die with electoral defeats in Va and NJ. Have you seen that the Joke of a "congressman" Alan Grayson wants Eric the RED Holder to jail some lady whos running an anti-GRAYSKULL website? Talk about idiocy at its worse. Watch for how ObamaPOS reacts if he loses this one. I bring up GRAYSKULL the numbnuts because I would not be surprised to see ObamaPOS try something similiar.
One other thing-ObamaPOS claims we will be "broke" if we dont passed Kevorkiancare. Hey ObamaPOS, I have a flash for you-THANKS TO YOU, WE ARE ALREADY BROKE. IF YOU THINK THIS WILL WORK, I have a 5Lb Banana split that will improve your health for you.
"If not your parents and grandparents will see a total collapse of coverage in the next few years."
Drama Queen, it won't matter because we will all have fried to death due to Global Warming.
Problem is – this solves **none** of the healcare 'problems'. It doesn't cut cost – in fact it vastly increases it adding a huge federal administrative (and regulatory!) overheard.. It doesn't improve access – in fact with up to 30-40% of Doctors quitting and millions of people being added (including illegal aliens) it makes access worse. It doesn't even cover everyone.
But then those problems are not the goal of Obamacare and never were – its all about control. And once the Elite in washington have control of your health – you lose your freedom.
Do or die? I say let it die, let it die, let it die. Also here is another good place for the line. You lie!! Obama, Reid and Pelosi couldn't tell the truth if theirs lives depended on it. Hopefully next year the voters will come to their senses and kick these jerks out of office. Then in 2012 we can hopefuly kick the rest out regardless of party affiliation.
I got an idea. How about me and my brother help out my parents, if they were to need it? It would be at least more efficient than someone taking my money, shuffling it around washington [taking a cut of it][subjecting it to fraud and abuse] and then doling it throughout a multilayered system to 'take care' of my parents. Maybe it would be a good thing for it to collapse.
I see the Washington pimps are out in full force, Reid and all with the top guy Obama buying his way with our money to trash America and the American way of life. These two want the Europe way of life and they all want ours, and are changing towards that. The progressives want to tear down this country and make it into a Marxist government; I for one will not let that happen. Stand up to Reid and the other Bozo in Washington and make them walk away from their jobs, drive them out of their offices and do as they did in the thirties, run them out on a rail, tarred and feathered.
Shawn
You need to see a Dr. for the 'condition' you have, it will probably require surgery, butt I'm sure it can be rectumfied.
Crisis? I think not, but I ask you to make up your own mind. Just compare the rhetoric from 1971/1974 to 2009. “Massive crisis of spiraling costs and over-strained medical resources.” Well, since they didn’t pass a bill back then, I guess Capitalism must have worked. Even back then they were trying to eliminate insurance companies and have the President appoint a “Health Security board.” Back then, congress was urged to “quickly” pass a bill. It was also “vitally needed and long overdue”. It seems as though today’s Democrats are guilty of plagiarism of at least the same old “union supported” argument. I think I hear in the second part of the clip that the American people really wanted this and that it is a right to have universal, government controlled healthcare. Back then, the democrats were unwilling to pass a bill without universal, government controlled healthcare. Sound familiar? It is time to stop yelling “fire” in the hospitals and start getting back to what the Constitution says. Please share.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGKkPEvD2OM
Imagine this… even MSNBC is reporting the truth:
Obama has asked the Senate to finish by year's-end to prevent the issue from spilling into the campaign for November 2010 congressional elections. Opinion polls show the bill losing public support, with majorities now opposed to it.
Well it appears that Nelson whored himself out after all.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/18/nelson...
Amazing how completely out of touch anyone inside the Beltwat is.
Election 2010- Tale back the country!
They've got 60 votes, the manager's amendment has been introduced and the Republicans forced a reading of it on the floor. The Senate clerk is reading it live on C-SPAN2.
http://thehayride.com/2009/12/60-votes/
All of these politicians selling their sould to the devil (Obama) will eventullay get their just reward.
My father is 68, having paid into Medicare since it was created. He is forced to use Medicare for his health insurance. He would much rather not have Medicare, even though he's paid for it, and buy Blue Cross. But he cannot do that. How is that "doing right by families". He is not allowed to purchase what he wants – he is required to use Medicare as his primary insurance. That's socialism.
As I posted this morning, it appears this morning that Democrat Senator Ben Nelson is going to replace the "FOR SALE" sign with a "SOLD" sign and is going to support Obamacare. I say appears because of course Nelson isn't saying anything officially yet and I called his office and of course you go directly to voice mail and of course his voice mail is full so you get disconnected.
It appears that Reid and Obama are going to give Nelson the anti-abortion language he wants. It also appears that they are throwing in additional dollars for Nebraska(didn't Nelson say he wasn't for sale??? Hmmm sure sounds like a pay off). If all of this is true then Ben Nelson is done in Nebraska(has a U.S. Senator ever been recalled??)
And if this is all true then get ready for Nelson to try and play this that he fought hard and won provisions that will stop federal dollars going for abortion. For that we all applaud. But then I suspect he will say something to the effect that it's only right that all bills get an up or down vote and gosh darn it, I tried my darnedest but majority rules.
Since Mr. Nelson is so concerned about the Life issue, then let me point out a wee-bit of a problem with the Obamacare bill that he appears to be allowing to go forward.
It CUTS a HALF-Trillion dollars from Medicare
Medicare is paid to hospitals and doctors for care of our older Nebraskans. So Mr. Nelson, if hospitals and doctors are getting dramatically less to pay for the care of older Nebraskans, what happens to the quality of care for older Nebraskans? Is it time to revisit the term "death panels"? I think this is a LIFE issue worth fighting for as well.
Oh and add in the fact that in an attempt to make up for the billions of lost revenue, hospitals and doctors will be forced to dramatically increase the charge for office visits as well as all other charges to those of us with private health insurance. This will translate into out of control escalated healthcare premiums, co-pays and deductibles. These huge increases in premiums will be shouldered by the consumer and employer and will ultimately push employers from offering insurance and force us all to look to good old Washington DC for healthcare . . . Mr. Nelson, I believe that's called Nationalized Health Insurance.
So Mr. Nelson, it's still not too late. Is this really the legacy you want to leave your grandchildren just so Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Obama can finally trumpet their first and only legislative triumph this year?
Earth to Ben Nelson, find a spine and quick.
Good one
Have to wonder what kind of a deal was made with Nelson!! TRAITORS ALL OF THEM!!!
The more things change, the more they stay the same…….on so many levels. I remember that time…. vaguely
Hear, hear.
The "new health system encompassing medicare" should start first with just making medicare right.
There is no sense in blending a bleeding medicare into what will become a hemmoraging health care system if we just cover up one disaster with another.
The Dems whole purpose in "taking over health care" is to have a pool of funds by which they can fund a totally Post Office like bureaucracy hiding weak workers protected by unions for government workers guaranteeing high wages, life time job protection, pensions, etc that will truly bankrupt the country unless the Chinese continue to fund it.
Just whores selling vote when they get enough money!
Nelson, Landrieu and the rest of them were just "posteuring" for some money and TV time. The two morons from Michigan, Levin & Stabenow are left wing jerks also. They all will be replaced in their next elections.
There is going to be a big flushing sound in 2010 and I only hope the Harry doesn't clog the toilet for the others.
Nothing will save you Harry.
Heck no unless you are a mindless lefty who is so commonsense and maturity challenged that you as so often the case feels we need "free health care" without a clue that they pay for it with their taxes.
Health care isn't an inalienable or constitutional right. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the state must provide access to health care for each citizen. Health care is a service, a commodity. It's a responsibility as much as keeping your car in good order which you make an effort to do for yourself. If you are truly disabled or indigent your fellow citizens will help out as is the case now with Medicaid and indigent funds.
Only a fool trades their liberties so that the state will care for them. But, hey, we've got lots of fools in this country. November 4, 2008 proved that.
Well the word just out is that they bought off Ben Nelson this morning. All the "hold-out" Dems secured special earmark funding for their own states in exchange for their votes, including Nelson. But, hey… what's an extra hundred billion here or there? The Chinese announced today that "the world cannot afford to buy any more U.S. Treasuries, and these people are voting to send us into debt hell.
I hope the American people have the stones to clear the table of these people in the next couple of elections. Since we will be taxed for years before ever receiving any "benefits" from the healthcare package, maybe we can stop it before the worst part happens. Then take all those tax dollars that were collected, and pay down the debt.
One note about Ben Nelson. In the end, the abortion language wasn't as important as getting paid. He can hang his "principles" up on the same wall with Mary Landrieu.
Interesting…..Pass a Bill that really has nothing but huge tax obligations and enormus promises that may never be fulfilled. I am certain that most if not all of this Bill will be repealed if passed. So then we must ask the Senators, why are they acting like prostitutes knowing that their job is in jepoardy and they may never get much if anything that Hussein and his Posse of Clowns are offereing to them? Will Ried and Hussein be paying these promises out of their pockets? I sure the HELL am not paying for their ill intentions!
Guys. they are going to pass it. They have not made it this far to go away empty handed and will bribe whoever they need to in order to secure its passage. Come to grips with it now, so we can vote everyone out come next election cycle.
Need to assemble a crowd of pissed-off Americans outside the Capitol on the eve of the vote. Then, after the scumbags pass the damned thing and start scurrying for home, confront them with the loudest chorus of "Boos" and "F yous" that they've ever heard. I actually heard Pelosi or Reid (can't remember which) say they were going to give this as a "Christmas present" to the American people. They need to have their ears blasted with the sound of a thousand-strong angry crowd telling them in no uncertain terms that they can cram their "present" where the sun don't shine!
With all the debt spiraling, tax crippling, do-nothing legislation already enacted; we have Crap N Tax and Amnesty yet to come, which will further our decline by crippling the private sector – mind you, not just private insurance, but what remains of the private sector. All this before the 2010, but it'll be too late by then.
Considering the unprecedented amount of money spent in the last 11 mos. (which has had no effect whatsoever on Main St.), there's more taxes to look forward to, but no jobs of course. Then we got Cap n Crush coming soon, which will result in higher energy costs (home, auto, etc.), more job losses (See Spain's Green job mess), higher taxes, etc.. Then while we're still groggy from the barrage; we'll get Amnesty thrown at us.
Con't…….
Will we even have a pot to piss in by the time 2012 rolls around? How will we pay for all this when the national jobless rate exceeds 25%? What are we going to do when doctors/nurses leave the industry? When hospitals and clinics close? When the entire fossil fuel industry is compromised, resulting in further unemployment? When gas is $8.00 a gallon? When green energy only provides a fraction of America's energy needs? Finally, when there's not enough money coming from the private sector to fund the public sector?
Sorry to get all "doomsday" on all of you (especially during the holidays), but seriously – what happens?
good luck with taking back the country. Holder and Justice have enabled ACORN to continue to get their money to invest in fraudulent voters, a million activists will be hired for the census, who do you think they will lean toward? Do you really think these crooks, liars and looters will allow you to vote them out of office?
It was all a sham I knew that Nelson would give in at the last minute and that he would get a lot more than anyone else for holding out. What a joke. Transparency my foot.
That is the key, bogus, the whole thing is bogus, a mechanism to stepping closer to communism.
well now they can collapse even more of the health care system it will be bigger.
After all are we not borrowing and spending more to get out of debt. I think, a joke has been played and we don't know what it is, but we have been move into a surreal existence where everything is opposite. Please someone transport me back to where I was, in a free country.
Not one of these bastards have a soul! It was reclaimed by God!!
They haven't seen the wrath that REAL Americans can dole out! We won't wait for the next election…they WILL be taken down!
Now if you do that Acorn won't get any, and planned parenthood won't either and a bunch of other "worthy" organizations. Not mentioning what "urgent projects" your money would not be funding like studying reproductive cycles of the tze tze flies.
Nelson got Landrieued.
Congress doesn't realize that when Congress gives all its power to Obama/POTUS/TOTUS there is no longer a need for Congress.
The jobless rate is vastly under-reported. It is probably up to almost 20% now. They fudge the numbers around when they do that (like they do with just about everything else.)
When you are in a recession/depression, you should always assume that the unemployment rates are being kept artificially low. At least that is what I have learned.
How proud the people of Nebraska must be with a jerk-off like this one. This guy should have never left home, his ma ma is looking for him.
Same here Michael. I was hoping beyond hope that our opinions still made a difference. They have been making it very clear that we do not matter. I don't know how much more I can, or want to invest emotionally and financially. I'm weary of the lies and so frustrated watching as they take the country apart. I suppose that is part of their plan.
I hope and pray it is not too late.
Ok. I'll bite. Let's start with the basics:
Is access to health care a right?
Shawn, this is a "sky is falling" comment. I am a grandfather to be and have seen the "total collapse of << fill in cause>>" argument so many times during my adult life and it never has happened. The more free a society the more society will prosper and provide for those who can't. It's elastic, not definite one way or the other.
OMG. Harry Reid has just become the modern day Jim Jones.
Lets go to dc and stop those pimps from escaping with our money. Rally before christmas eve on 23rd at senate steps anyone?
Nelson was obviously for sale, even 67% of his state pleading for a "no" vote wasn't a high enough bid, how pathetic of us to think we'd even be a consideration. The whole thing was a dog and pony show and votes were already sold. I could make myself feel better by saying roll on 2010 but suspect they don't care because they've been offered top jobs in the 119 new Socialized Medicine Departments. I do know one thing – I'll be fighting like hell to get these Marxist elitists to have the very same Socialized Health "Care" they're foisting on us and our families!!!!! My blood's boiling and I don't have a drink in the house.
The federal government has become the largest criminal enterprise in the nation, if not on the planet.
Well put… Rather poetic I guess…
It's just such a shame that a country that is supposed to be the land of the free, is losing its freedoms..
Everyone needs to stay informed and passionate in the coming New Year. It would seem to me that Obama's intent is to keep the Republican Party divided by the Tea Party voters. That would assure another Democratic victory as the Tea Party Movement as of yet does not have enough support to defeat the Dems. We need to purge the Dems and the RINO's and totally get rid of them all. Otherwise we will be looking up Obama's nostrils, Reid's and Pelosi's botox eyes and noses for another term. He cheated like the devil and thug grabbed his way into the WH once and he will stop at nothing to do it again. He loves living high on our hog.
NOBAMA, also does not want the general public to influence the decision of the elected officials during the break. He must have learned something from the last break…
Nope, the last i heard they will not be receiving the same care that they are passing…. We will get screwed, and the elected officials will keep their same health care..
The man deserves te ultimate penalty. Out of 300 million people he will get what he deserves. There is one just penalty for a Traitor.
I WOULD HOPE THAT THE OTHER 47 STATES DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY TO BLOCK THESE THREE STATES FROM RECEIVING THESE ADDITIONAL BENEFITS FOR SELLING THEIR SOULS TO HARRY REID & CO. IF FOR SOME REASON THESE OTHER GOVENORS JUST LET THIS SLIDE BY, THEY DESERVE TO BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE AND THEN WE CAN START ELECTING PEOPLE THAT BELEIVE IN SMALL GOVERMNENT AND PEOPLE THAT DONOT PUT A PRICE ON THEIR ETHICS.
I may be wrong, but the Medicare cuts are not ever going to effect Nebraska. That was part of the deal. I do not not blame Nebraskans, but the rest of us will pay for the bribe with our tax dollars. As far as a legacy for Nelson, he will go down in history as the one who held out til the bitter end and took a stand against abortion…in his own mind! A matryr for the left. These guys have their heads logged so firmly where the sun don't shine that they will NEVER get it. It is too late for a spine for Nelson however, there are many of us who would like to give him a new A******!
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This is a wonderful response… Obama-care will go down in history as the final decline in the American Economy, Ben Nelson of Nebraska will go down as the man who let it go through…
Any attorneys out there to advise us on this?
Constructive Notice of Instruction – The legal avenue provided by which the people may (and shall) remove those from office who vote for unconstitutional laws.
http://www.rogerhedgecock.com/blogs/MelindaW2009/...
Treason. Let the trial begin.
Harry Reid runs the biggest brothel outside Nevada: the US Senate….all those panderers without principles selling out their conscience for government handouts….the Mary landrieus, the Ben Nelsons, the rest who've saddled our children and our children's children with monstrous debt…..not even bothering to read this huge boondoggle….
Harry looks constipated. Proof he's full .. ….!
They're takng their marching orders from the administration; proof that they're not listening to their constituency; clear violations of their oath of office.
Just imagine, with all the health care rationing and the reduced quality of care that will result from this bill, all of the LAWSUITS to come.
But they wouldn't dare consider tort reform, would they?
Uncle Tom Obama and his party of elitist defeatist one step at a time taking the United States down the road of third world status, Again the people who support these clowns are the ones that will not get health care at all and
cont below paladin kcs