Posted on 01/08/2010 6:47:17 PM PST by GOPsterinMA
It looks like the fix is in on national health-care reform - and it all may unfold on Beacon Hill.
At a business forum in Boston today, interim Sen. Paul Kirk predicted that Congress would pass a health-care reform bill this month.
“We want to get this resolved before President Obama’s State of the Union address in early to mid-February,” Kirk told reporters at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
The longtime aide and confidant of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who was handpicked by Gov. Deval Patrick after a controversial legal change to hold Kennedy’s seat, vowed to vote for the bill even if Republican state Sen. Scott Brown, who opposes the health-care reform legislation, prevails in a Jan. 19 special election.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
I bet they don’t have all 60 votes assured in time for 0’s speech. That’s why I won’t let this post disuade me from getting out to vote.
Ther are lots of battles from which to pick that are easier to win. If you keep fighting this one, plan on losing the war.
We need to vote, no doubt about it.
We also need to organize and mobilize for the next steps in the process to get SB seated in time to vote against ObamaCare!!!!!!
BTTT
I’m delaying my vacation in a much warmer climate in order to be here to vote for Brown!
God Bless you!
BTTT
APPLAUSE!! Couldn’t have said it better myself, thank you!
https://www.icontribute.us/scottbrown
Send him $9.12
He may be able to sneak his way in.
“Why should I donate to someone who believes in killing babies?”
If elected, Scott Brown will support Federal judges who are pro-life, including Supreme Court Judges. Martha Coakley won’t. Right now, the Supreme Court is where that issue is and judicial nominations are the votes that matter with regard to it.
It’s time to really put the Kennedy family to rest. There needs to be new blood. Preferably someone sane.
Democrats are worried about this race.
Ping
Thanks for the ping!
I know a person wintering here in San Diego from Boston and voted absentee for Scott Brown
Remember how they got Bill Owens seated within 3 days of his contested election, before they had even filed the certification for the election. Of course, that was New York, but seating is entirely at the behest of the Senate.
The only problem is that the Republicans set the standard with the Al Franken election, where they asked that Franken not be seated until certification, including all court challenges.
So all Reid has to do is say they are applying the same standard to Brown, and the media will back them 100%, because it will sound reasonable.
Our hope then would be that at least one of the democrats who was on the fence before insists that the vote wait until the elected senator is seated.
I still doubt this will be an issue.
Great work, GOPster!
Hmmm.... interesting.
“There are lots of battles from which to pick that are easier to win. If you keep fighting this one, plan on losing the war.”
Ok, let me ask you something. If you were the republican party, would you settle for a Southerner who approved of slavery in order to gain a southern seat?
Is this a contemporary political issue? I'm more interested in illegal immigration, the emasculation of American industry, the sell out of America to internationalism/globalization, and the demonization of the American white male.
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1224249&format=comments&cnum=2
Scott Brown swearing-in would be stalled to pass health-care reform
By Frank Quaratiello | Saturday, January 9, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Healthcare
It looks like the fix is in on national health-care reform - and it all may unfold on Beacon Hill.
At a business forum in Boston today, interim Sen. Paul Kirk predicted that Congress would pass a health-care reform bill this month.
“We want to get this resolved before President Obama’s State of the Union address in early to mid-February,” Kirk told reporters at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
The longtime aide and confidant of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who was handpicked by Gov. Deval Patrick after a controversial legal change to hold Kennedy’s seat, vowed to vote for the bill even if Republican state Sen. Scott Brown, who opposes the health-care reform legislation, prevails in a Jan. 19 special election.
“Absolutely,” Kirk said, when asked if he’d vote for the bill, even if Brown captures the seat. “It would be my responsibility as United States senator, representing the people and understanding Senator Kennedy’s agenda. . . . I think you’re asking me a hypothetical question but I’d be pleased to vote for the bill.”
Few have considered the Jan. 19 election as key to the fate of national health-care reform because both Kirk and front-runner state Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic nominee, have vowed to uphold Kennedy’s legacy and support health-care reform.
But if Brown wins, the entire national health-care reform debate may hinge on when he takes over as senator. Brown has vowed to be the crucial 41st vote in the Senate that would block the bill.
The U.S. Senate ultimately will schedule the swearing-in of Kirk’s successor, but not until the state certifies the election.
Today, a spokesman for Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who is overseeing the election but did not respond to a call seeking comment, said certification of the Jan. 19 election by the Governor’s Council would take a while.
“Because it’s a federal election,” spokesman Brian McNiff said. “We’d have to wait 10 days for absentee and military ballots to come in.”
Another source told the Herald that Galvin’s office has said the election won’t be certified until Feb. 20 - well after the president’s address.
Since the U.S. Senate doesn’t meet again in formal session until Jan. 20, Bay State voters will have made their decision before a vote on health-care reform could be held. But Kirk and Galvin’s office said today a victorious Brown would be left in limbo.
In contrast, Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) was sworn in at the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 18, 2007, just two days after winning a special election to replace Martin Meehan. In that case, Tsongas made it to Capitol Hill in time to override a presidential veto of the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Yesterday, Brown, who has been closing the gap with Coakley in polls and fund raising, blasted the political double standard.
“This is a stunning admission by Paul Kirk and the Beacon Hill political machine,” said Brown in a statement. “Paul Kirk appears to be suggesting that he, Deval Patrick, and (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid intend to stall the election certification until the health care bill is rammed through Congress, even if that means defying the will of the people of Massachusetts. As we’ve already seen from the backroom deals and kickbacks cut by the Democrats in Washington, they intend to do anything and everything to pass their controversial health care plan. But threatening to ignore the results of a free election and steal this Senate vote from the people of Massachusetts takes their schemes to a whole new level. Martha Coakley should immediately disavow this threat from one of her campaign’s leading supporters.”
A spokeswoman for Coakley’s campaign declined to comment today.
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