Why Madame Speaker’s health care bill is on life support

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called the House Health Care Bill DOA in the Senate, Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said, “…I’ve spoken out a little more explicitly about this, it’s clear there are a number of moderate Democrats who are not happy with the public option” and has threatened a filibuster. Senate Majority Harry Reid has done his best side-step of actually committing to anything at this point, knowing full well the bill isn’t likely to come out of the senate anytime soon.

Social Security has long been called the “third-rail” of politics because it’s not only an electric issue when broached, it will electrocute even career politicians that attempt to go about any type of reform. Seniors know that social security is unsustainable, but don’t much care as long as they get theirs now, while younger Americans are likewise afraid to address the issue for fear it will only worsen. The public option has been greeted by the American people in much the same way as social security; they don’t want a fix they know will make the situation worse – that’s why Speaker Nancy Pelosi held the vote on a Saturday night.

But the vote passed with the narrowest margin imaginable under the current House membership, though the democrats have a 38 member majority (236 to the republican’s 198 members), the vote passed 220 to 215. That doesn’t scream confidence and the fact the House bill will have to be reconciled with the Senate, means it’ll be come out of reconciliation and up for a vote in 2010 – with off-year elections in the House when all 435 members are up for reelection, those 220 “yeas” are likely to shrink and give a swell to the 215 “nays”; there are also a couple of senate seats up for reelection as well, and Harry Reid is among them, where he has consistently been losing in the polls.

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) said of the House version, "You have to satisfy a lot of senators. And it's going to make it more of a political moderate approach, whereas the House bill is tilted a little bit to the left" an euphemistic answer that really means, this thing doesn’t have much of a chance. Harry Reid knows that Virginia and New Jersey sent a message loud and clear to Capitol Hill and with his own reelection in jeopardy may have a sober pill to swallow.

The most interesting dynamic here is the rush to get something up to the President’s desk before year’s-end in attempt to avoid fresh minded voters in 2010. But with the current senate make-up, it won’t be easy to get a bill through reconciliation. The fact this “reform” is being rushed through makes clear the intentions of those pushing it – a road to European style socialist democracy.


-- Owen E. Richason IV
Chief Editor, Killswitch Politick

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