You Shall Not Pass!

Posted on 09/21/2009 at 5:02 pm by Bob Cesca

I’m increasingly leaning towards agreeing with Booman on this:

I still think that the Finance Committee will fail to report a bill and that if they do report one, the overall bill (once it is melded with the HELP Bill) will fail to get 60 votes. I still think we’re headed for the budget reconciliation process. But, we’ll know for sure before long.

While I hope the Finance Committee fails and that the Senate bill ends up being the Kennedy (HELP) Bill alone, the procedural reality, though, is that reconciliation could be a holy mother of a mess and I worry that we might not recognize the Brundlefly that skulks out the other side.

Either way, at some point in the not too distant future, everyone who wants reform to pass will have to make their peace with the public option. Without it, there’s no healthcare reform. The effort to get to 60 — if this is the only way — will have to involve concessions other than ejector-seating the public option out of the reform package. Give Olympia Snowe something else that will make Maine happy (I mean, besides the public option which Maine supports anyway).

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  • Eric

    I read more than a few comments over on DKos this morning by people who were of the mind that Olympia Snowe was eventually going to relent and support a bill that included a (non-triggered) public option. And that a few more moderate Republicans (I know – sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?) would join her.Wouldn’t that be something?

  • roxsteady

    I keep hoping that Voinovitch, “not sure about the spelling” who is retiring will step up, provide the 60th vote and bitch slap the Republican party on his way out. This would kill them! Particularly since he slammed his party for it’s too Southern flavor. As for Snowe, I hope that she too will be bitch slapped with those poll numbers for a public option in Maine. 58% of Dems support it and 67% of Independents support it. I’d flood her office with calls asking her if she really thinks we’re going to re elect her if she FUCKS US OVER? Oh, and here’s a clue to the folks in Maine…The next time you elect anyone make sure they are Democrats and not those fucking duplicitous blue dogs! STOP VOTING REPUBLICAN! They’re useless. Or hadn’t you noticed over the LAST 8 YEARS! Fucking Morons!

  • banks

    I doubt that I’m the first to make this point, but I have yet to see this anywhere:I wish the President had put his foot down and declared a set of acceptable parameters for the health care reform bill, and promised to veto the bill if it’s inadequate. His posture seems to indicate that he would just like to sign SOMETHING– anything– no matter how hard it may suck.I would rather defer the battle until the next session if we end up with a shitty bill, rather than just passing whatever-the-fuck… Why not make the 2010 Senate elections a referendum on health care? There are 34 seats in contention next year; wouldn’t that be the perfect opportunity to get to 60 votes and pass a strong bill?