Posted on 11/21/2009 9:43:50 AM PST by kristinn
C-SPAN 2 is carrying the Senate floor debate live this afternoon.
The Democrats control the floor right now. Earlier, Republican Senators Judd Gregg, Kit Bond, Jeff Sessions and David Vitter gave good speeches and dialogues on the budget-busting effects of ObamaCare.
Maria Cantwell is speaking now. Mary Landrieu is excpected to speak shortly.
The cloture vote is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST tonight.
“Criminal charges of extortion should be filed against Landrieu and bribary charges against Reid.”
Who is to do this?
The person that said today is a show is right on....it gives Reid a chance to make it look like he can get the votes but it’s a mere procedural ‘start’....far far far from a finish. Yes 97% of bills that ‘open’ for debate end off ‘closing’(60 votes again) and then ‘passing’(51 votes), but that doesn’t mean they pass in the ‘start’ form. No way this bill Ends debate in it’s current form. Trust me, I would much rather see Lincoln come out and vote no tonight or Lieberman in a suprise to keep debate from even starting, but since that’s very doubtful it’s the next vote that will truly matter. And after Reid’s embarrassing vote that didn’t go his way on the Dr Fix, he will NOT try and bring the debate to an ‘END’ (needing another 60 votes) unless he knows he has the 60. So if we see this drag through December and into January it’s to our benefit. The longer it drags, the better it is. Reid has some serious juggling on his hands to try and get is 60 votes to end debate (assuming and yes big assumption the pubs stand strong - my guess is snowe would be the only 1 that could be lost).
Dirty Harry does NOT have 60 votes in his pocket for cloture to END debate, some time in December.
EVERYONE is confusing the vote TODAY with the REAL cloture vote.
Today's vote is MEANINGLESS. Maybe an exaggeration, but compared to the final cloture vote, it is relatively meaningless.
You are welcome. Thank you.
Thanks for your explanation also.
Hardly! If there is not 60 votes to start the debate, the bill is probably dead.
bttt
Thanks to you and the other 2 posters (faucet and the other person) on giving us the details on the process. People have to hammer them on the Thanksgiving recess.
You are correct. Tax bills must originate in the House. This is why Reid is starting with the Pelosi monstrosity and will subsitute his bill after the cloture vote tonight.
Its obvious, posting Congress phone numbers has not/is not working. Perhaps we should start posting their home addresses and camping out in front of them.
These politicians work 24/7 to make our lives hell. Perhaps it is time they were a little inconvenienced?
The blogs: “Mary Landrieu a ‘yes,’ all eyes now on Blanche Lincoln It’s down to one.” Malkin: The Demcare bribe list
Here are the top five Demcare bribes. Keep an eye out on bribes/offers for Democrat Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska; Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas; and Evan Bayh of Indiana. Leave comments or e-mail any new info to add to the list.
probably a union shop
So that everyone knows the additional subtleties, Reid threatened Ben Nelson and other moderates that he would use reconciliation (only requiring 51 votes to pass the final bill) if they didn’t vote YES tonight.
So, in effect, Nelson may have saved us from Reid using a nuclear option to avoid the next cloture vote.
If that was the price to let the matter proceed, it was worth it.
That said, when things bog down in December, Reid will be under new pressure from BO to break his word. So, when you engage ANY RAT over the next 4 weeks, make sure you tell them you are watching very carefully and that all Hell will break loose if they try to get around cloture by using reconciliation.
Excuse ME!
Pray for America and Our Troops
Here’s # to Blanche Lincoln’s DC office...some girl was answering earlier when I called....Probably a waste of time since I can’t see her voting no tonight, but can’t hurt to call and say you’re a constituent and will be voting her out if she doesn’t vote no.
202-224-4843
Like I said before I think this is actually a WIN for us. We get to HAMMER this bill for weeks to months. Drive down dems numbers even farther, inform even more people about this disastrous bill. We have the upper hand and the momentum on our side. This is an attempt of the dems to regain momentum, but it won't work. The PEOPLE are AGAINST this take over. Be encouraged, be VERY encouraged.
Never heard of Arrogant Bastard Beer but I may head out to the beer distributor later, find some and take it to the get-together I’m going to tonight.
Government programs NEVER work out the way legislators think they will - both on the plus & the minus side.
How this one works out is anybodies’ guess.
My guess is that it will DRIVE HIGH COST PROCEDURES (open heart surgery etc etc... ) OFF SHORE where the cost will be much lower and the care about the same (see WSJ article TODAY on Indian Healthcare in the CAYMAN ILES)
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