Posted on 12/17/2009 5:44:43 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
A moderate Democrat whose vote could be crucial said Thursday an attempted Senate compromise on abortion is unsatisfactory, raising doubts about whether the chamber can pass President Barack Obama's health care overhaul by Christmas.
"As it is, without modifications, the language concerning abortion is not sufficient," Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, a key holdout on the health care bill, said in a statement after first making his concerns known to Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Nelson said there were positive improvements dealing with teen pregnancy and adoption, and that he was open to further negotiations. But in a radio interview earlier in the day with KLIN in Lincoln, Nebraska, Nelson also said that abortion wasn't his only concern and he didn't see how the Christmas deadline was achievable.
The development came with Senate leaders working round the clock trying to finalize their 10-year, nearly $1 trillion bill in time for a final vote on Christmas Eve. Nelson is emerging as a major obstacle - perhaps the only remaining one - since Democrats need his vote to have the 60 necessary to overcome Republican stalling tactics.
"Senator Reid will continue to work with Senator Nelson and other senators as we work to get 60 votes," said Reid spokesman Jim Manley. At the same time, liberals were criticizing the Senate bill for lacking a government-run insurance option, with former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean calling the measure a boon for insurance companies. Andrew Stern, head of the 2.1 million-member Service Employees International Union, said he was deeply disappointed in the bill but stopped short of urging rejection.
The Obama administration and its allies - including former President Bill Clinton - pushed back on the criticism. Clinton said that while the bill isn't perfect, inaction would be a mistake.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
I don’t trust him. He has a D. after his name, doesn’t he?
He does.
The key vote may end up being Olympia Snowe, which would allow Nelson to hold his position.
Nelson will vote for it..all a scam...just doing that to make him look like he is not a liberal push over..which he is.
This will include abortion as a health service.
This will include a public option.
The Nelson/Lieberman theatre is distraction and nothing more.
Obama said back in April he will get his health care through reconciliation if need be.
I have no reason to doubt him.
The reconciliation will provide cover for the so called moderate democrats and Obama will have his crown jewel by the end of the year.
Just guessing!
A vote on Christmas eve is truly an attempted distraction by the evil one. Let’s give all our attention to the celebration of the Savior’s birth, not to this evil.
Olympia Snowe has repeatedly stated that she will NOT be the 60 vote.
What’s the big deal about Christmas Eve? Separation of Church and State — let them work straight through to New Year’s Eve! Or even April 15th Eve!!
No doubt.
They will get the 60. Our health care system is done for. The only way to stop these Communists is total Federal Bankruptcy. We should run all the banks and liquidate all assets in to Gold and Silver and all file Chapter Sevens. Quit paying all bills and bring down the house before it is too late. They have no money. We ought to go on strike.
These marxist DIMocRATS know no bounds. They will attempt to mar the symbolism of Christmas by passing this atrocity. What a bunch of losers. They need to be thrown out! Resist! Resist! Resist!
I can’t recall when I last felt this damn helpless.
Apparently, there’s no stopping the damn democrats.
Damn them all.
“This is going to pass with a 51 vote majority using reconciliation.”
I hope you are right. If the Dems resort to reconciliation, that will be a big win for our side. Here’s why:
1. Reconciliation would mean starting over from scratch with a new House and Senate bill, which would take at least a couple or three weeks and put it well into next year.
2. Politically, it would be a major abuse of the reconciliation process, one that would give Republicans in the Senate justification to slow the Senate down to a crawl on every other piece of legislation next year(whether the Repubs would have the balls to go through with that is another question).
3. Most importantly, a bill created using reconciliation would have to be a much simpler, trimmed down version of the bills they have considered so far, cause it would be considered part of the budget. And, it would HAVE to include sunset provisions.
So, like the Bush tax cuts, a reconciliation-created health care bill would “sunset” every 3 years (I think it’s 3, not positive on that) and have to be renewed.
Future Republican-controlled Congresses could simply let it expire and refuse to renew it-especially since it would not even take effect till 2014.
So, it would be a perfect campaign issue. Run on the intention not to renew this health care bill before it officially takes effect.
I suspect the Dems have considered all these factors already, which is why they have essentially taken reconciliation off the table. But, they may out of desperation to get “any” bill, decide to use it.
I hope they are forced to go down that route. It would be one of the best ways to expose just how radically left-wing this current Democratic party truly is.
Sounds like a Piven-Cloward strategy, complementing their Cloward-Piven strategy.
I think you're right.
However, the Christmas Eve vote is a real slap in the face. It rejects both Christianity and normal families, since it is intended to cut into a normal holiday for Christian (or even non-Christian) American families.
These people hate us, and I hate them.
Maybe they’d better wait until Dec. 28 so they can honor the Massacre of the Innocents.
No. It is the ant-Cloward Piven plan. Once they go out of Biz we can start over without all the pesky Communists.
If we all just didn't go to work for about a month, the Dems would be ready to hear us.
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