Question Of The Day: Will It Pass

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Nov 20 2009, 6:30 am by Chris Good

The Senate will vote on Majority Leader Harry Reid's health care package on Saturday. Will it pass? If it doesn't, how big of a setback will it be to Democratic health reform?

Comments (9)

mesquito66 November 20, 2009 8:00 AM

Lord, I hope not.

Sam Book November 20, 2009 9:18 AM

I believe the Senate will pass a health care reform bill, if not on Saturday, later in November, but w/o a public option. If the Senate does not get a bill passed, it will be a devastating setback to Democratic health reform, to the Obama administration, and to the Democrats prospects in 2010.

Paul in Athens November 20, 2009 9:42 AM

Well, let us certainly pass a fatally flawed bill so such a historic nobel prize winning president can save face. We can fix it later.

Yeah, right.

TycheSD (Replying to: Paul in Athens) November 20, 2009 11:49 AM

That's certainly how it looks.

The White House is buying off recalcitrant Democrats. Landrieu got $100 million for her support. What are they going to give Lincoln and Nelson? Nelson apparently wants the anti-trust exemption for insurance companies to be untouched. What a crock! That's probably one of the more worthwhile components of any health care reform legislation. That's why he's now willing to let debate go forward.

I am so disgusted with government right now. I'm about to join the tea partiers!

I.M. Snooping November 20, 2009 10:02 AM

Well, there aren't 60 votes for the public option -- neither Lieberman nor Snowe is supporting it....and it doesn't look like Ben Nelson will either.

So the bill that Reid has submitted won't pass -- but I do think that the motion to proceed will happen.

I don't see any possible roadmap to a public option, unless some minds are changed. About the only remaining possibility there is a "trigger" version that Sen. Snowe would support.

But I imagine that "trigger" would never be pulled.

Pineview1997 November 20, 2009 10:58 AM

The Senate will approve the vote.

jb November 20, 2009 11:18 AM

It won't pass in the current form. At the very least the abortion language in the exchange is a poison pill. We aren't going to see 60 votes. His only hope is to back door it into a vote where he doesn't need 60, but a simple majority.

TycheSD November 20, 2009 11:50 AM

I'm just astounded that the Democrats are willing to pass major legislation like this totally without Republican support. It's very bad policy.

Paul in Athens November 20, 2009 4:21 PM

It's bad policy to tack things into and onto bills that don't have anything to do with the major topic in the bill.

The House version makes every business issue 1099's to every business they pay more than $600 to in the course of the year, corporations too, for goods and services. So The Atlantic will have to issue 1099's to the power company, phone company, printing company (assuming the mag is printed under contract), their ISP, etc and so on. Businesses would have to issue hundreds, maybe thousands of these forms. The paperwork is amazingly burdensome. And, you'll get that many from your advertisers, maybe some big subscribers (you hope, right?) and anyone who pays The Atlantic for goods or services.

Go ask accounting what they think of that bill on your bottom line.

Oh by the way, the company has to offer health insurance, or else. No cost in that, right.