Posted on 01/17/2010 7:03:32 PM PST by freespirited
Faced with the once-unthinkable prospect of losing the Massachusetts Senate race, Democratic officials on Capitol Hill are quietly talking about options for passing health care reform without that critical 60th Senate vote.
Top White House aides insist they are not engaging in any talk of contingency plans, because they believe Democrat Martha Coakley will beat Republican Scott Brown in Tuesday's crucial Senate battle. ...
But Democratic sources on Capitol Hill say "what-if" discussions are taking place about how they could proceed with health care if Coakley is defeated, and they privately admit none of their alternatives is very good. According to senior Democratic congressional officials, here are options under discussion:
#1. Pass health care reform before Scott Brown is seated.
But multiple Democratic sources say this is unlikely. Even if House and Senate Democrats could reach a deal to meld their bills ...there would be a huge outcry from not only Republicans, but also an increasingly distrustful public.
For that reason, one senior Democratic source says some Democratic lawmakers who voted yes last time have already warned they would vote no if health care is voted on in advance of any swearing in of Brown.
#2. House passes Senate health care bill.
Democratic sources also call this extremely unlikely, because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi likely wouldn't have the votes. ...
#3. Revisit the idea of trying to push health care through the Senate with only 51 votes... to do that, Democrats would have to use a process known as reconciliation, which presents technical and procedural issues ...
#4: Try once again to get moderate Maine Republican Olympia Snowe's vote.
... multiple Democratic sources say they believe that is unlikely now.
#5. Their health care overhaul dies.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Only worth reading to get see one line:
“#5. Their health care overhaul dies.”
Option #5 please.
I like 5
I think at least a few democrats will go into full retreat on health care if Brown wins.
All this hinges on the victory of a RINO.
Go Brown go!
The Democrats actually have an excellent option.
Most people do want health care reform. Instead of using that as an excuse to push through socialized, government dictated medicine, the Democrats could go back to square one. They could assign committees to study the issue and define what and where the problems are. The committees could then come back to congress with the issues defined and solutions proposed, and congress could then implement one of the solutions.
Most likely, the solutions would be for some kind of tort reform, less mandatory coverage (does insurance *really* need to cover aroma therapy and abortion?), and more outreach to all those poor people who apparently aren’t signing up for the programs already available to them.
If the Democrats approached health care reform intelligently, they would be hailed as heroes.
Maybe the ‘bama could have all of the Republican senators dragged from their beds and shot (resisting arrest, of course). Then, mysteriously, the capital building burns to the ground. OK, it’s not an original plan...but we know it has worked!
You’re right. But I think even if Brown loses, they’re going to be scared away from it to save their sorry behinds.
I like #5.
Good ideas, but hard for a party to do when it’s a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trial Lawyers!
Most democrats are awfully quiet this last week or so.
This was never about 'health care'.
It’s nice, isn’t it? LOL I so hope we get to hear their wailing and gnashing of teeth come Wednesday. Go, Scott, go!
Waterloo——(one way or another) Sen. Demint was correct.
Why would reconciliation have “technical & procedural issues”? I thought the Dims could ram it through w/ only 51 votes w/ reconciliation.
Brown is a libertarian and as such is squishier on some social issues. But he definitely sees Bummercare as the fuster cluck that it is.
So moderate is now defined as anyone that is not wearing a Hammer & Sickle armband?
The existing rules would not allow a bill of this scope to be passed this way. Not to say the Rats couldn’t brazen it out and go nuclear and change the rules, but even that would have to wait for the new Congress.
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