“Sure there are major hurdles.”
No. The only major hurdle is 60 votes to stop debate.
“Pelosi and Reid are going to want to keep pro-choice language in the bill. That’ll put the House in a dither and pro-lifers will join Republicans to defeat the conference report.”
In the end they will fall on their swords and pass the holy grail without abortion rights. They underestand that Socialized medicine is the end game for socialism.
“And Pelosi is going to want a public option to appease her left flank demanding it.”
They can peel off a vote or two with the illusion of “states can opt out” or “trigger” gimmicks. They can comeback to change this later. The important thing is the bill pass...they are socialists, they are committed to the cause.
“do you think the states won’t challenge its constitutionality?”
Once you start socialism, you can’s stop it without violent conflict. There alot of things we do now that our not constitutional.
I agree with your points somewhat, though there’s been a very strong pro-choice push to put their language back in. Keeping the Stupak amendment and the trigger option would be the intelligent course—since Pelosi can strong arm the libs in her chamber to accept the inevitable and since passage is impossible in the Senate unless this is done. But both Reid and Pelosi are ideologues—so who knows?
Nelson has plenty of other complaints. So does Bayh—who wrote an op-ed piece just the other day complaining about the huge deficits we’re facing. Then there’s Dorgan and Lincoln facing tough elections—and Warner who’s a former businessman and understands the dangers of deficit spending. Besides, he comes from VA where his side was clobbered recently. And there’s Webb, also from VA—and so it goes.