“in the bicameral conference Pelosi, Rahm, etc., will do whatever they damned well please to it...There is zero chance it will fail to come out of committee.”
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That said, we must continue to battle at every possible juncture and delay this monster as long as possible, and failing that, to convert as many reasonable people to our side as possible.
The gap according to Quinnipiac recently was 16 points. Let’s drive that to double that by Nov. 2010.
I agree.
Even if it does pass and Oba Mao signs it, the longer we delay it, the harder it will be for amnesty to pass. As I said in another post, Byrd may not be around at some point, and that would make the Dems' job to pass healthcare harder. I am not 100% sure that heathcare will pass this year, but I think it is likely to pass eventually, maybe next year.
Here is why. The senate can weaken the Reid bill somewhat to get so-called "moderate" votes, and bribe troublemakers to vote for it. In conference, Pelosi etc. will try to take out anything she doesn't like in the senate bill and may make add some "features" that are even worse than the House bill. If it gets that far, I think they will get all 60 Dem votes in the senate after it comes out of bicameral conference ("We can't let Oba Mao fail" "We have worked so hard" etc. etc.).
If they can push healthcare through this year, they might "allow" Byrd to retire, because he voted against amnesty in 2007.