New York Times: Is Reid's 'doctors' fix' defeat a harbinger of things to come?

Patriot Room ^ | October 21, 2009 | Bill Dupray

[Bill Dupray]

Democrats lost a big test vote on health care legislation on Wednesday as the Senate blocked action on a bill to increase Medicare payments to doctors at a cost of $247 billion over 10 years.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, needed 60 votes to proceed. He won only 47. And he could not blame Republicans. A dozen Democrats and one independent crossed party lines and voted with Republicans on the 53 to 47 roll call.

The Medicare bill has become a proxy for larger issues in the debate over legislation to overhaul the health care system.

[IamConservative]

I have to think this was a test vote for Healthcare Reform. Reid signaling Obama about the depth of the kimchee.

[wayoverontheright]

It's not the fact that the 13 Dems rejected this bill that's important, it's the REASON they are giving for rejecting it-almost all stating something about the cost and the further damage to the deficit.

These reasons will also apply to Cap and Trade. Remember the town halls and the tea parties? Those who attended clearly had fiscal reasons for their opposition, and it looks here like the message is getting through. The town halls and tea parties also gave backbone to the 'pubbies, not one voted with Reid on this.

[thethirddegree]

I am somewhat encouraged by this; maybe Congress is beginning to smell the blood in the air for the 2010 elections.

[JPG]

Looks like Dingy is the one who got ‘vaporized.’

[GeronL]

Gawd I hope the margin holds.

[ohiobuckeye1997]

On the surface it looks good, but I am also very wary that it may be a ROPE-A-DOPE maneuver that is intended to get the resistance to let up a little so they can come back with new energy on this....so keep calling, emailing, faxing the dirt bags in DC!

[PGR88]

Was Reid REALLY so stupid enough to believe the AMA, which is just another lobbying organization, could “deliver” him so many Republican votes, on one of the most divisive issues of the past decades, on which the Republicans have been united for the last 9 months?

Something doesn’t smell right here.