Senate Bill Passes 2nd Cloture Vote
The 2nd cloture vote on the Senate health care reform bill. The motion to end debate passed 60-39. So, it looks like Sen. Coburn’s prayer that someone not show up for voting (Sen. Inhofe) came true after all! Congrats, to Sen. Coburn, he was probably doubting the righteousness of denying people health care.
The Wonk Room put together this handy chart about the Senate health care bill and why it should pass:
There’s been a lot of give-and-take between the left and the left about the Senate health care bill. Jane Hamsher posted her “10 Reasons to Kill the Senate Bill”. Ezra Klein responds with “Jane Hamsher’s 10 reasons to kill the bill”. John Cohn at The New Republic responds to Hamsher with “Don’t Kill the Bill, Cont’d”. Sen. Harkin and President Obama have responded to some critics by saying that this bill isn’t perfect and that it is a beginning and not an end. Meanwhile Daily Kos has been tied up in knots over Jane Hamsher’s suggestion that we ally ourselves with teabaggers to defeat the Senate bill.
Tags: Health Care Reform
anyone feel like sen Robert Bryd just ad his Ceasar Rodney moment? the sickly old senator showing up at zero hour to cast the final vote.
I think Byrd has stayed around so he could break the longest-serving mark (which he did in December) and so he could vote for health care reform. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he retired after voting on hcr was finished.
The cost of giving up our fundamental freedom of choosing how to spend our hard-earned money? Priceless.
Kill the bill.
ya know anonone, even after the american revolution, it took a while for the constitution to take shape. Im thinking of this as step one. we WILL get public health care. the forces against are still too strong, but this is a good first shot.
a.price, those who believe it will be “fixed later” have offered no reason why “being made worse” isn’t just as likely. A coin has two sides. I’d say “made worse” is more likely given the increased power this bill gives private insurance companies.
As for the Constitution taking a while “to take shape,” I would simply say that HCR in its current form is part of the incremental process of destroying the freedom that was part of the Constitution’s promise.
Can we please turn down the hyperbole. And I might point out that your first argument – “those who believe it will be “fixed later” have offered no reason why “being made worse” isn’t just as likely.” – can be applied to your position as well.
What I’d like to see, on both sides, is a plan to either achieve a “new” bill or an “improved” bill.
The status quo is better than this bill. This one makes things worse, not better.
To get a “new” bill will take are liberals and progressives putting up a fight and not accepting crumbs from Obama and the Dems. But, like virtually every person who runs this site, it seems that many liberals and progressives are afraid to say “no” to a bad bill. And this is a bad bill.
If we refuse to take crumbs this time, maybe next time, Obama and the Dems will pay more attention to us than LIEberman, Nelson, the repubs and the insurance companies.
Conyers: Senate Bill “Must Be Improved”
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/22/817663/-Conyers:-Senate-Bill-Must-Be-Improved
He did say “improved” and not “killed.” Just checking.
pandora, I am all for “improving it” NOW as an alternative to killing it. But if it can’t be improved NOW, then it should be killed.
The bottom line is, barring maybe a few small tweaks in conference, the current Senate bill is as far Left as we can pass right now. If you think the bill is too Liberal, then by all means you should be trying to stop it (and it’d be nice if you had a decent alternative, but that’s probably asking too much). If you think the bill is not Liberal enough, then you need to ask yourself what the chances are of getting anything Left of this passed (with 60 votes) anytime soon. I think it’s pretty obvious that the chances are just about zero. If you disagree, I’d love to know where your Congress is.
But, if you get this bill passed, there will be time to improve it. Some things could be done with less than 60 votes. Other might be able to get 60 votes on their own. And from a Progressive point of view, I find it very unlikely that the bill will be made worse down the line.
When Doctors are praying for people to get sick or die makes a strong case against TORT REFORM