Is Healthcare Really Dead?
According to National Review Pelosi is planning to ram this monstrous piece of steaming shit through using the “nuclear” option or the budget reconciliation plan.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, tells NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE that House Democrats are planning to use the budget-reconciliation process in order to pass Obamacare. “They’re meeting with each other this weekend to pursue it,” says Ryan. “I’ve spoken with many Democrats and the message is this: They’re not ready to give up. They’ve waited their entire adult lives for this moment and they aren’t ready to let 100,000 pesky votes in Massachusetts get in the way of fulfilling their destiny. They’ll look at every option and spend the next four or five days figuring it out.”
Politico is reporting the contrasting “not so fast there Scooter” story:
House Democrats are angry with the Senate for passing a bill that divided their base, angering labor unions with a tax on expensive health plans and progressives by abandoning the public option. House members are frustrated that the Senate assumes they will roll over whenever the upper chamber demands it and that they took until late December to pass a bill.
Rank-and-file Democrats would like more guidance from the White House, but some complained when rumors broke that chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was prodding lawmakers to move quickly to repackage a scaled-back bill. A White House source said Emanuel was just surveying members to see what they could accept.
Some Democrats also worried that voters would judge them out-of-touch for devoting so much energy to health care now.
I think that Pelosi and Reid could shove the reconciliation plan but only Pelosi could survive that politically and Reid knows it.
All of these recent elections are 100% a referendum on the administration regardless of who tells you different. Losing Virginia? Okay. Losing New Jersey? OMG! Losing Massachusetts? Never happen in a million years! Until it did.
Here is another 19 reasons:
Five Democrat Senators are retiring.
Christopher Dodd of Connecticut
Ted Kaufman of Delaware
Roland Burris of Illinois
Paul Kirk of Massachusetts
Byron Dorgan of North Dakota
Kirk is already gone, the Kaufman and Dorgan seats are leaning strong GOP. Illinois has a strong Republican contender and lots of buzz but with this much warning the ballots are already being cast in Cook County (early and often). Dodd’s seat will get a lot of ink but even in this environment probably a safe Democrat seat.
If the GOP picked up those three seats it would be amazing but that’s not what Democrats are worried about. Here is there real problem.
Democratic incumbents (14 seats)
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
Barbara Boxer of California
Michael Bennet of Colorado
Daniel Inouye of Hawaii
Evan Bayh of Indiana
Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
Harry Reid of Nevada
Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
Chuck Schumer of New York
Ron Wyden of Oregon
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania
Patrick Leahy of Vermont
Patty Murray of Washington
Russ Feingold of Wisconsin
On this entire list I see two really safe seats Inouye and Leahy; that’s it. Just two.
Are all of these seats going to flip? No but some will and they will all be competitive.
More importantly seniority has its privileges and the (until recently) very safe seats like Boxer, Mikulski, Reid, Schumer and Feingold are going to consume huge amounts of cash from the Democrat coffers.
Here’s a military analogy to consider. Harry Reid is commanding a force of 60 men that have been ordered to attack an enemy strongpoint. Reid knows that he will lose at least 20% of his force to take the objective. Nobody likes those kinds of missions but hey it happens and the objective must still be taken.
But what if the 20% knew the names of the casualties before the attack? That’s exactly where Reid is right now and yes, his name is on the list. Think the vigor of this attack would be effected?
Bottom Line: Health Care is dead (unless these people are truly retarded which is certainly possible).
In any case this is poised to be the most entertaining mid-term election in recent memory.
Category: Politics
I agree on the entertainment part. I’ve already lain in a supply of popcorn and beer and am looking forward to the commencement of the campaigns.
I live in WI and I can guarantee you Feingold is safe.
I too live in WI and concur with LL….The Libtards in this state love this socialist idiot…
I am a New Yorker, and I guarantee no Republican’s going to take the Senate here. I’m not saying that out of bravado, I’m saying that NYC swings the state, especially when everyone turns out to vote.
You know I feel like I am watching a bad horror movie. No matter how much damage is done the monster keeps coming back.
AS, who would have thought that a republican would win in Mass? Granted other than having a layover in New York I have never been there, so I am not an expert on New York state or city. How is it that the can honestly look at Chucky and say he is a good choice? The guy is a little off his rocker. But this is a state that elected a carpetbagger from Chicago via Arkansas.
A little food for thought, how different things would be if Jack Ryan and Jeri Ryan’s divorce hadn’t been made public. Something neither of them wanted to happen.
My dad and I were just talking about this. Here’s the deal…Kennedy DIED. There was no name familiarity in Mass. Kennedy would have won again, regardless of who he ran against and regardless of how pissed the independents are. Besides the politics, a lot of voters are just flat out LAZY. So the incumbents have that going for them. And as Bobachek said, here in WI, it’s Blue Central.
AS is right – NYC will not let any Republican take the Senate seat in NYS.
Unfortunately, both Feingold and his dip-shit daddy Herb Kohl are safe here in Cheesehead land.
COB, I’m moving back to Texas!
Deb says hi—say hello to the Mrs for us.
Snowman
I find this utterly ridiculous. Apparently giving us lip service is all they are good at. Still in denial and attempting the nuclear option is suicide. Say goodnight if that path is chosen. And I’ll be in DC with bells on and a bullhorn.
Yep, I live right next door to cheesehead land (MN) and I can tell you that Feingold is as safe as in his momma’s arms. We aren’t much better in this state, we have Klobuchar, who is worthless, andFranken, who is an embarrassment. Trust me, in these two states, people are morons and I can’t figure out why the hell I moved back here in the late 80’s.
YEah, Schumer, Feingold and Wyden all safe. Mikulski too I fear.
Jason, that’s a great point, just how did comrade 0 get their divorce opened? I remember it happening, but the details are fuzzy now.
Unfortunately, we can’t even get rid of Stabenow for two more years here in Granmole land. Unless she just gets tired of trying to push all of that mass around and retires. Sadly, we’re in the same sorry state as Wi and Mn. And, if I could get what I’ve got invested in my house back, we’d be gone in a heartbeat.
Sadly, I wish there were more “at risk” seats, but a lot of those Senators look pretty safe. I’ll make my call and say that the only ones who are truly vulnerable (read: flip to GOP) are: Reid, Dorgan, Kaufman, Lincoln, Bennet, Specter, and MAYBE Murray. Couple that with the GOP senators retiring whose seats could flip to Dem (Gregg-NH), and the Senate will still be solidly Dem after November, unless something REALLY screwy happens between now and then.
Is healthcare reform dead? God, I hope so. I don’t want to be getting a mandatory wellness rectal exam by an SEIU-unionized “doctor” who does that as a second job after working at the DMV and gets an eight-week paid vacation every year for both so the government can “save money” (as long as I’m healthy and/or not over 65, of course, which would just cost too much to even considered if I weren’t either).