Posted on 12/18/2009 10:12:50 PM PST by Steelfish
Abortion Deal In Sight In Senate Healthcare Negotiations Barbara Boxer is 'optimistic' about reaching 60 votes after all-day talks with Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic holdout Ben Nelson. The GOP redoubles threats to slow business to a crawl.
By Janet Hook and Noam N. Levey December 18, 2009
Reporting from Washington - With a critical vote looming this weekend, Senate Democratic negotiators closed in Friday night on a deal to persuade a lone Democratic holdout -- Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson -- to back the party's healthcare bill after a marathon day of negotiations.
That would give Democrats the 60 votes they need to quash a series of Republican-led filibusters and pass a bill by Christmas.
Nelson, who has been pushing for tougher restrictions on federal funding for abortion, emerged from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office just after 9:30 p.m. following talks with Reid and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a leading supporter of abortion rights.
Nelson provided few details about the negotiations. It's "one of those situations where it's probably best for everybody to sleep on it tonight and talk again tomorrow," he said.
Boxer, who came out later, was more upbeat. "I'm optimistic that we can get 60 votes," she said.
A spokesman for Reid said in a statement that the majority leader also was "confident" that the healthcare legislation would pass. "We have made great progress and are pleased with how the negotiations have proceeded," said Jim Manley
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I think Harry Reid and the other evil bastards are in for a surprise. There could be some “unexpected”, last minute and “surprise” defections by the Rats.
Spring and summer 2010 could be very “warm”.
From your mouth to God’s ears!
They’ve said they had a deal numerous times already.
God is good. It’s snowing hard there so here’s hoping Byrd will get there to vote. Lierberman has skipped town. Nelson had better not cave as 67% of his voters don’t want this thing. And Boxer is a liar.
When Boxer says she’s “optimistic” it’s a signal that the door to the asylum has been unlatched.
Byrd won’t get there to vote...
Byrd won’t get there to vote...
When Boxer says she’s “optimistic” it’s a signal that the door to the asylum has been unlatched.
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When an arrogant witch like Boxer says that she’s “optomistic”, you are exactly right. She’s CYA’ing.
You might be right. Reid is also going to have two feet of global warming on his doorstep.
I dont think enough people will be able to get to the Capitol tomorrow. DC has trouble with a little snow; a couple of feet will shut the place down.
God is good. It’s snowing hard there so here’s hoping Byrd will get there to vote. Lierberman has skipped town. Nelson had better not cave as 67% of his voters don’t want this thing. And Boxer is a liar.
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Did Lieberman just say to heck with it and go home or did he use the snow as an excuse not to be able to get back to vote?
Frankin made him mad, for sure.
She’s got to be the most rabid pro-death Senator in Congress, it’s hard to believe that she would not have a hissy fit if there were ANY abortion restrictions in the Bill.
Snips: In the 98 broadcast days of ABC World News advertising logged by National Center Executive Director David Almasi and analyzed by Policy Analyst Matt Patterson, ABC's World News broadcast featured 1,102 commercials, 597 of which were placed by member companies of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) trade association, representing 54.17 percent of total commercials aired.
PhRMA very aggressively supports President Obama's health care agenda.
Says Matt Patterson, who analyzed and wrote a report on the findings, "ABC News seems to have a significant financial stake in the success of ObamaCare. Should we be surprised that they hand over an hour to Obama to promote his plan, while shutting out opposing views?
Look, let’s get real.
There is no way that Nelson is going to stand alone against his party and block this. This bill is an existential necessity for the Democrats. Nelson is just playing games to bathe in the attention and headlines and to get some good deals for his state. He has a price, and they will meet it.
Federal funding for abortion will be in this bill, no matter how cleverly they try to disguise it. At best, they will allow Nelson a temporary “victory” and get past the filibuster hurdles, and then let him and a few others bail out in the final floor vote when they only need 50 votes (plus Biden).
It’s a done deal. Don’t waste energy hoping one of these Democrats will show some character and integrity. It’s not in their DNA. The last one of them that had any was Zell Miller. They are all blow-dried pompous asses with below average IQ’s who are in it for themselves, the country be damned.
Don’t put your faith in Ben Nelson. Never trust a Dem. He will vote yes just to please his liberal buddies in the Senate. That is when we all know this is NOT about health care reform, because if it was, they would look at the polls, they would look at the liberals in their OWN party who want this bill dead, and they would vote against it. But no, they will vote for this anyway because this was never about health care, this is about the fundamental change of the United States of America that Obama was talking about. I hope this bill dies, but putting the faith into Nelson is a waste of time. He is only pretending to be against this bill to please his constituents, to show them “see, I am against this bill too” then he will vote for it
I think Reid has assured this bitch that the D’rats will scuttle the abortions restrictions through administrative regulations or an appropriations rider so as to allow her to accept the language Nelson seems to want to sell out his vote. Failure is not an option for them here.
By hook or by crook they will get the 60 votes and this will be seen as a triumph for Obama. Boxer and Feinstein’s biggest contributors are the abortion lobby- Planned Parenthood, NARAL, NOW, Emily’s List etc.
“I think Harry Reid and the other evil bastards are in for a surprise. There could be some “unexpected”, last minute and “surprise” defections by the Rats”
Wishful thinking. Does anyone really think the Dems will not be able to buy off every single one of those 60 Senators with millions or billions of our taxpayer dollars. Corruption of our politicians, plain and simple. The US has turned into a totally corrupt government - Congress, the Administration, and the courts.
Good Post, I agree.
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