Posted on 12/23/2009 8:59:03 AM PST by ConjunctionJunction
Some commentators have accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of caving to Democratic pressure by agreeing to hold the vote on final passage of the national health care bill on Christmas Eve morning as opposed to the originally-planned 7 p.m. "Mitch McConnell Surrenders," reads one blog headline. "McConnell Weasels Out," reads another.
But according to a well placed GOP Senate source, it was Majority Leader Harry Reid who approached McConnell in hopes of holding the vote earlier, and McConnell, who was prepared to go ahead with the evening vote, got some key concessions from Reid in return for agreeing to move the vote up a few hours.
There's no doubt that McConnell, with just 40 Republican votes, holds the weak hand in negotiating with Reid. But according to the source, in exchange for agreeing to hold the vote on Christmas Eve morning instead of evening, McConnell got Reid to agree to hold a high-profile debt-limit vote next month -- just before the president's State of the Union address -- instead of burying the issue later, as Democrats had wanted. In addition, McConnell got Reid to agree to showcase a number of deficit-related Republican amendments, forcing Democrats to vote on issues they had hoped to avoid.
The Senate has still not voted on a bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling. It has to do so by tomorrow, before lawmakers leave for the year. Democrats have taken hits for wanting to raise the limit by about $1.8 trillion; raising it by that amount would allow them to avoid another vote on raising the debt ceiling before next year's elections. They also hoped to hide the measure inside a conference report ...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Its all about manuever...
L
McConnell, you fool!!! You should know Reid is not going to hold up his end of the bargain. And you gave him nearly a month to rationalize why they can’t have the vote before the State of the Union speech.
Wow, sounds like His Ladyship drove a real hard bargain. NOT! After the way Reid perverted the Senate rules and bribed Senate Dems, His Ladyship should not even be speaking to The Undertaker. We are at war. Time to stop making peace.
You can take this to the bank ... with Dirty Harry’s blessing Rahm the Destroyer has ‘enforcers’ (probably SEIU) placed near the families of every D senator. They will remain there until the vote goes down. These ‘guardians’ are sending pictures of the senator’s family members to the senator every hour or two as a reminder that bad things can happen without warning should the senator even think about placing the Constitution over the party come voting time.
Wow, a debt-limit vote that the MSM will refuse to report.
I smell victory./s
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
No sh!t sherlock! LOL... you sure got that pegged.
I will gladly fool you today for a chance to fool you again tomorrow.
Jeff Sessions has just pointed out that they double counted the $500 billion “savings” from the Medicare cut. I called his office and gave him an attaboy!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413789/posts
Wow, Byron York giving McConnell a pass.
You don't make deals with terrorists or Democrats.
“terrorists or Democrats”
I see little difference.
I doubt it. Both sides are in bed with each other making deals. "We'll go along with you screwing the country this time if you don't fight us too hard next time when its our turn."
Ray Stevens Seniors and Obamacare
He always says the right things.....
local contact and fax numbers for Senators (demwits)
Email them but the Phone is the best route.
Remind them that obamanationcare effects EVERY ONE!
VA cuts, retired Military..Tri Care for Life (nearly $5,000 in new fees) 8% cut in Medicare, increased premiums, 15% cut to nursing homes and for Pete's sake why are we creating a new tax on special needs kids?
bill would REDUCE SENIOR Medicare
Health-Care Reform 2009
Report: Bill would reduce senior care Medicare cuts approved by House may affect access to providers
Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 15, 2009
A plan to slash more than $500 billion from future Medicare spending -- one of the biggest sources of funding for President Obama's proposed overhaul of the nation's health-care system -- would sharply reduce benefits for some senior citizens and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others, according to a government evaluation released Saturday.
The report, requested by House Republicans, found that Medicare cuts contained in the health package approved by the House on Nov. 7 are likely to prove so costly to hospitals and nursing homes that they could stop taking Medicare altogether.
AND if you are Retired Military on Tri Care for Life, which many Millions are, you are in for a nearly $5,000 NEW fee along with the increased premiums for the REDUCED Medicare benefits. bill would Introduce NEW nearly $5,000 fee to TRL TRI CARE FOR LIFE This from a google search: http://economicspolitics.blogspot.com/2009/05/tricare-for-life-is-obama-trying-to.html This option would help reduce the costs of TFL, as well as costs for Medicare, by introducing minimum out-of pocket requirements for beneficiaries. Under this option, TFL would not cover any of the first $525 of an enrollee’s cost-sharing liabilities for calendar year 2011 and would limit coverage to 50 percent of the next $4,725 in Medicare cost sharing that the beneficiary incurred. (Because all further cost sharing would be covered by TFL, enrollees could not pay more than $2,888 in cost sharing in that year.) http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9925/12-18-HealthOptions.pdf November 6, 2009 | Rep Buyer abd Rep McKeon
No one should trust Dirty Harry on anything he says he will do.
I don’t trust him regarding the day of the week or sunlight vs moonlight conditions.
He is a very polished liar.
What I heard in news reports was that several GOP Senators asked their leader to go ahead and get an early vote so they could get home before Christmas day. Its a moot point anyway and strickly symbolic. Im not much for symbolic victories.
Jeff Sessions has just pointed out that they double counted the $500 billion “savings” from the Medicare cut. I called his office and gave him an attaboy”
I have been a bookkeeper all of my adult life.
I could never have prepared any accounting records or financial statements with the kinds of number pushing the Democrats are producing.
I would have been out of work, and my clients would have been in hot water.
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