Question: Does this mean that Reid has promised to allow the bill to come to a vote, or merely to be introduced..If the latter, then cloture would be needed. 41 Dems could block it..
Question: Does this mean that Reid has promised to allow the bill to come to a vote, or merely to be introduced..If the latter, then cloture would be needed. 41 Dems could block it..
Good question, but the result could be the same IF the conservative Republicans could frame it (the vote for cloture) as a vote of support or opposition to Obamacare. I think.
When I saw the results of the midterms last Fall, I concluded that there would only be one thing conservatives could do in 2011 relative to either Obamacare or the deficit/debtproblem. That one thing would be to force the Democrats to go on record voting against the wishes of the people on both of those headline issues, leading up to the 2012 campaign cycle.
As frustrating as it is, I don't live in a world that ignores the fact that we didn't get control of the Senate or the fact that we could hope to have anywhere enough votes in the Senate to override a presidential veto on any vote that mattered. No, our only hope is with "finishing the job" via the 2012 elections. So, to me, 100% of our strategic efforts must deal with that reality. Anything we can get in the meantime, great. But, rest assured, it will not be anything that is satisfying or fulfilling and the sooner we realize this, the better we can focus on the most important strategic efforts.
Some will (understandably) say that even if we win the Senate and White House in 2012 they still will not trust the Republicans to do what is needed to cure what ails the country. Maybe so. But I know with certainty that we will not get anywhere with the Democrats in control of 2/3 of the political power equation.
We have a winner here....”I kept my word, no cloture, no vote though.” Lucy moves the football one more time.