51 Votes in the Senate says BoldProgressives

[Posting a link?]

Forum Guidelines
Posting a link? Read This!

Forgot your password? Need help?
Click Here To Contact Us

Mudflats Merchandise
AKMuckraker Amazon Store
Support AKM Merchandise

Download it here!

[Lani]

Per the email I received from BoldProgressives.org:

Last night, on MSNBC's Ed Show, we announced, "We can say with confidence that there would be at least 51 votes for the public option in the Senate if the House goes first" and then named names and revealed new information.

Ed Schultz called it "the best reporting I have seen anywhere on a head count of the public option."

View the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwGZOzFAmcw&feature=player_embedded

[judi]

Saw him on Ed, and then I think again on KO

I for the first time, contributed to bold progressives...they are doing good work

Can someone explain in simple terms what is going on now
 
so the bill is in the house, the parliamentarian is to rule if Obama has to sign the bill (after voted on in the house) into law BEFORE it can go back to the senate for reconciliation...changes  right?

The house does not trust if they put in the public option that the senate would pass it.  Even though they seem to have enough votes, some say that some of the senators said they would vote for it, but that was when they thought it never would come up for a vote.  Now that it looks like it could, they would not vote yes.  Do I have this right?

With all this procedure stuff going on I am getting very confused..
help..

[pacos_gal]

Watch for the CBO to come out on Monday (tomorrow).  That will say what they think the 'real' cost and savings of the bill are. 
Then it goes to Rules committee, and I'm not sure if when it comes out of rules or when it goes in, a 72 hour period starts, during which debate can take place. 
After that 72 hours a vote can be taken.  That should put us at Friday or Saturday for a vote.  Any time after that 72 hour period a vote can be called by Pelosi, when she thinks she has the votes to pass or not called if she doesn't think the votes are there to pass it.
No the house doesn't trust the Senate to pass reconciliation to fix it and many of them don't like the deals to Nebraska and Louisiana that were made in the Senate to get those two votes.  Nor do the progressive house members like the lack of public option. 
One faction doesn't like the abortion language saying it doesn't go far enough, another faction doesn't like that there are any constraints on abortion. 
Nearly all in the House are posturing for position.  However.  If this doesn't pass, then it is back to the drawing board.  Many think that drawing board will be taken down and this will be the end of health care reform work for a long while. 

[futurexpat?]

I've been following this pretty closely, but I am starting to be really confused about all that's going on. 

[pacos_gal]

Well, I say lets just get on with it and vote this bill into law.  It's a beginning.  It might not be what we all like or want, but baby steps are just as worth while as giant leaps. 

So, first day Monday - CBO.
Tuesday - Rules committee
Friday or Saturday - vote

PASS
President signs into law
President continues with trip to Australia and onward. 

That works as a time line for me! 

[judi]

I am confused as well...so what else is new

but..my own strategy...I just got from Newsmax a list of those who voted yes, but they think they can get to vote no, and then a list of those who voted no so they want them to stay that way

ok, I print them out...I call each one...at least I know I am countering one of the other calls

Someone just emailed me that a rep in my state is being targeted big time, with lots of ads to get him to vote no...he I will call for sure

what else can we do to get this done...passed...
I would love the public option, but will take this as a start

now...any more ideas

oh I also printed out the flyers from obama web site and had them copied...will put them around town....

[Lani]

I do not like the bill at all.  But let's remember that Social Security began with a single, one time payment and evolved over time. 

If healthcare reform is killed, we are looking at another 10, 15, 20 years - if ever - for another attempt.  I'd rather have a flawed bill that can be fixed later than nothing.  Those are our only choices - flawed bill or nothing.  And nothing means higher medical costs and virtually slavery to the insurance industry.

[Alex]

I remember looking around in the 90s and seeing the healthcare and insurance industries coming apart at the seems.  Things were bad for a lot of people, but not yet bad for everyone.  And the large insurance companies and big pharma scared everyone to death with commercials saying the government wouldn't let you go to your doctor.

When Clinton's healthcare initiative went down, I had a conversation with a friend of mine and we both agreed that things would have to totally fall apart before anything would get done.

We're at that point. 

The employer-based system has become a joke.  Forget about the inconvenience of not being able to see your long-time doctor.  Millions have no long-time doctor because they can't afford to see one.  Insurance companies enjoy record profits by denying care and then rescinding coverage.  Meanwhile, the government has rewritten the bankruptcy laws (and don't forget, inability to pay medical bills has been the #1 cause of bankruptcy for more than a decade) to make sure medical debts follow you even after bankruptcy.

But, as bad as things are, they will be infinitely worse in 5 or 10 years if we do nothing.  (And don't be fooled, if we do nothing, the insurance companies will be so emboldened they'll make all the horrible things they're doing now seem like the good old days.)

Let's let all our Senators and Congressmen & Congresswomen know that they represent the people, not the insurance industry. 

[Forty Watt]

Someone just emailed me that a rep in my state is being targeted big time, with lots of ads to get him to vote no...he I will call for sure

Millions Spent to Sway Democrats on Health Care

The coalition of groups opposing the legislation, led by the United States Chamber of Commerce, is singling out 27 Democrats who supported the health care bill last year and 13 who opposed it. The organizations have already spent $11 million this month focusing on these lawmakers, with more spending to come before an expected vote next weekend.

...Not only are these swing Democrats being pummeled in the new spate of advertising — which could total $30 million before week’s end — but extensive efforts are under way in Congressional districts, where groups on both sides of the issue are using tactics similar to get-out-the-vote drives to urge constituents to contact their lawmakers. Mr. Obama is calling lawmakers, too, and on Monday is traveling to Ohio to open a weeklong campaign to close this act of the health care debate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/health/policy/15health.html?hp

[Sirenoftitan]

I must admit tto some confusion about the twists and turns associated with steering the reform through the US government.  This blog in the Guardian was helpful. 

Confused about the crucial showdown over US healthcare reform? Here's a brief guide to what's happening this week.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/mar/15/healthcare-reform-obama-congress

[pacos_gal]

That is a very helpful article Siren.  Thanks for posting it.  Even here in the states you can probably tell that there is a lot of confusion on what happens, needs to happen and when. 

Imagine if those of us who follow this closely are confused, how much more confusing it must be for those who do not.  No wonder people can be led down the garden path by Republicans who are fighting this tooth and nail.

[Forty Watt]

More on "deem and pass*

It appears that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is contemplating the use of a “deem and pass” tactic to secure passage of the health-care bill. The procedural tactic is designed to allow members to avoid accountability for their votes and would reflect a conclusion that, in an up or down vote, the bill for fail.

Instead of a direct vote, Pelosi just vote on popular fixes to the Senate bill and declare that the health care bill is deemed passed.

....The tactic is called a “self-executing” rule that embodies a “two-for-one” procedure. The House agrees to pass one matter while saying that the other matter is deemed passed as well. It is routinely used for less important or non-controversial pieces of legislation.

More still from the Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031503742_pf.html

[Lani]

Pelosi is a very smart woman.  No wonder the righters hate her so much.

Can't believe how tense I am this week about the whole situation.  (Admin hat off.  Actually, I'm kinda chewing and sucking on it.)  This has to pass.  It is a test of the last election.  It is statement that people mean more than profits (even if the current bill says they mean just a teensy tiny liddle bitsy more).  It means that elections matter when the center and left and win - not just when rightwing warmongers win.

[Jaime from Wasilla]

Deem and Pass is a non-controversy that is getting an overblown amount of spin help from the mainstream media.  You can see the shark fins circling, like they are all quivering with sexual anticipation, saying to themselves "THIS is a big one!"

But it isn't.  Remember - the rethuglicans used this same rule 35 times in 2005-2006 alone. Rethugs use Deem and Pass every time they have a majority.  For them to express this fake outrage about it now is more playground sour grapes from a bunch of loud bullies who deserve to be smacked down.

Please help spread the truth, so the media does not get away with letting the rethugs seize the rhetoric about this non issue.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/all_nonsense.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Talking-Points-Memo+%28Talking+Points+Memo%3A+by+Joshua+Micah+Marshall%29

[Irishgirl]

After an intense White House lobbying effort, Dennis Kucinich announced on Wednesday morning that he has decided to vote for health care reform when it comes before the House in the next few days, reversing his previous position and giving a boost to President Obama, congressional leaders and the reform effort.

"In the past week it's become clear that the vote on the final health bill will be very close," Kucinich said at a Capitol Hill news conference. "I take this vote with the utmost seriousness. I'm quite aware of the historic fight, which has lasted the last century.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/17/dennis-kucinich-health-care_n_502182.html

[pacos_gal]

You are so right Jaime.  This is not a huge deal of how to pass a bill and rethugs are just using it as rehetoric.  My comment on any forum or
blog that post about the outrage is a "shrug, no big deal Republicans did it all the time, didn't hear you complaining then"   

Just spread the love  

[futurexpat?]

You are right, Jamie. Just like reconciliation, which was barely reported on when the Republicans used it, got no real press, then did when the Democrats talk about using it, this is now getting the same treatment.

i can't say I had ever really heard of it before. The first few times I heard it, I though they were calling it the "demon pass" and couldn't imagine where the Republicans ever came up with that (although Frank Luntz would always be a good bet).