Posted on 12/21/2009 9:10:35 AM PST by Servant of the Cross
Why did the Senate gather at 1 a.m. Monday for a vote to move ahead on the Reid Amendment to the Democrats' national health care bill? Democrats blame Republicans. "Everyone knows we're here at one in the morning because of my friends on the other side of the aisle," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said moments before the vote. On CBS Sunday, Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu said, "We don't have to vote in the middle of the night, but [Republican Sen. Tom Coburn] is the one making us do it -- not Harry Reid, not the Democrats. It is a Republican obstructionist that is making us vote in the middle of the night."
Coburn has no doubt slowed debate on the bill. But the fact is, there is no reason the Reid Amendment vote could not have been held at a more reasonable hour. One a.m. Monday was the earliest moment that Senate rules allowed a vote, but there is no rule keeping the Senate from voting at some time after 1 a.m. If Reid had scheduled the vote for, say, 11 a.m. Monday, that would have been fine. If he scheduled it for 4 p.m. Monday, or 10 a.m. Tuesday, that would have been fine, too.
But Reid is determined to pass the national health care bill by Christmas, and to do so he has to get the cloture vote on his amendment done at the earliest moment. The timeline is Reid's and Reid's alone. "The bottom line is, Sen. Reid schedules the floor," says one well-connected GOP aide. "He is the only one who can schedule the floor." If Reid had scheduled the vote during business hours on, say, Tuesday, a final vote would not have taken place until the day after Christmas -- an outcome Reid apparently found unacceptable.
This is how it works. Reid introduced his amendment Saturday morning. (It's the one that has the Sen. Ben Nelson Medicaid buy-off and other curious features.) Senate rules say there has to be an intervening day between the introduction of the amendment and a vote on limiting debate on the amendment. That intervening day was Sunday. That meant the cloture vote could be held Monday, or any time thereafter. The rules also say that the vote has to be held at least one hour after that next day has begun. So the Senate's Monday business began at 12:01 a.m., and the Reid Amendment vote could be held at 1:01 a.m. (As it happened, Reid himself spoke last, and his remarks went over the mark by six minutes.)
After the middle-of-the-night vote, there will be a maximum of 30 hours debate on the amendment. Then there will be a 30-hour period for a Republican substitute bill, followed by a 30-hour period on the final bill. Reid's schedule calls for a final, final vote on the health care measure to take place at about 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Voila! The bill will be passed by Christmas. That couldn't be done unless the Reid Amendment cloture vote were held in the earliest hours of Monday morning, setting off the final chain of votes and waiting periods. "This is purely to satisfy a self-imposed, arbitrary deadline," says the GOP aide.
By the way, when the 1 a.m. vote took place, the Reid Amendment had been public for about 36 hours, and the public had not had a single business day to examine it. "Make no mistake," said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a few minutes before the vote. "If the people who wrote this bill were proud of it, they wouldn't be forcing this vote in the dead of night." Referring to the Nelson buy-off and other special arrangements in the bill, McConnell said few people would have imagined that the health care debate would have ended "with a couple of cheap deals and a rushed vote at one o'clock in the morning."
But that's what happened. In the end, to no one's surprise, the Reid Amendment moved ahead, 60-40, on a straight party-line vote. Democrats can blame Sen. Coburn and Republicans all they like, but the fact is, there is no reason, beyond the Christmas deadline, that the vote had to take place at 1 a.m.
Revolution is near!!
A Christmas deadline is an arbitrary deadline with other legislative steps (reconciliation) to follow it.
The bill needs to die. If it doesn’t these socialist bastards have their name on it exclusively. NO Republicans voted in favor. NONE. It needs to stay that way.
This time that's true. The 2006 and 2008 elections were referendums on his performance. Elections have consequences and the midnight vote is one of them.
Harry Reid is a horse’s ass.
If Ted Kennedy had been there, it would have been then. The bars would've just closed.
Jim, I cannot believe that you would say a insult like that. The horse is offended.
Well, looks like it is “taxation without representation”. The Comuno-Nazis in Washington have shown their disdain and will not allow an election in 2010. You can bet on that.
What to do?
No more talk, as it is useless. No more demonstrations, as they have proven to be waste of time. No more web sites protesting the Congress, as they are the refuge of scoundrels.
It is time to follow the example of the Founders in Boston and at Concorde.
It is time to shed the shekels of tyranny.
True. Good point.
I’m so sorry. I hang my head in shame. I love horses.
Directly, the filthy animals that are in Congress.
Indirectly, the American voter for electing these filthy animals to Congress.
I’m more of a results-oriented person. Liberals are the ones who place value on intent without victory.
Nothing worse for politicians than angry, armed citizens that are out of work, just had most of what they have left confiscated, and have nothing better to do.
Truly, history does repeat itself, but only if those in power choose to ignore it.
lol...what, you mean all those on-line petitions I signed didn’t accomplish anything real?! What?!
They are like thieves in the night...
When there are plenty of REAL RINOs in congress, why pick on one of the few who actually works for the good of the country? By your standards, perhaps none of us should bother to speak out against the horror that is Obama, since obviously none of us are getting “results.” Including you.
Actually, Reid is more like what comes OUT of the horse’s arse. 100% horse manure.
Where is Scott Coleman when you need him? Time for Term Limits.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you accept welfare, or medicaid for more than one year, your forfeit your right to vote. At that point your vote is not about what’s best for the country but rather what’s best to help you continue to be a parasite on the hard-working tax PAYERS of this country.
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