WASHINGTON -- Invoking the memory of Edward M. Kennedy, Democrats united Saturday night to push historic health care legislation past a key Senate hurdle over the opposition of Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama. There was not a vote to spare.
The 60-39 vote cleared the way for a bruising, full-scale debate beginning after Thanksgiving on the legislation, which is designed to extend coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance company practices that deny or dilute benefits and curtail the growth of spending on medical care nationally.
The spectator galleries were full for the unusual Saturday night showdown, and applause broke out briefly when the vote was announced. In a measure of the significance of the moment, senators sat quietly in their seats, standing only when they were called upon to vote.
In the final minutes of a daylong session, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused Republicans of trying to stifle a historic debate the nation needed. "Imagine if, instead of debating whether to abolish slavery, instead of debating whether giving women and minorities the right to vote, those who disagreed had muted discussion and killed any vote," he said.
Remember which party was against slavery back then, and which one was for it?
The Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said the vote was anything but procedural -- casting it as a referendum on the bill itself, which he said would raise taxes, cut Medicare and create a "massive and unsustainable debt."
For all the drama, the result of the Saturday night showdown had been sealed a few hours earlier, when two final Democratic holdouts, Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, announced they would join in clearing the way for a full debate.
Posted by Steve White 2009-11-22 00:00||
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#1 Remember which party was against slavery back then, and which one was for it?
Abolishing slavery and women's suffrage were noble causes and were constitutional. I wouldn't soil these causes by putting the healthcare takeover bill in the same class.
Posted by gorb 2009-11-22 04:28||
2009-11-22 04:28||
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#2 But Dinty Harry would (and did). This should make a great campaign ad - it'll show Ried for what it is and remind people who, exactly, opposed slavery.
Posted by CrazyFool 2009-11-22 09:28||
2009-11-22 09:28||
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#7 get set for the grand betrayl. By getting this to the floor the dems can now let the wobbly Senators like Landrieu and Lincoln vote against the final bill, and Reid just passes this with the nuclear option. It goes to committee and we are all toast. By the time 2012 rolls around it will be imp[ossible to dis-establish the agencies, laws, rules and regulations that have been put in place. Welcome to the workers paradise my friends, the era of government interference in every aspect of your lives has now arrived. In a generation, we will be just like Germany or France....and in two, no one will remember what actual freedom felt like.
#8 NoMoreBS no one will remember what actual freedom felt like.
I will and they can kiss my ass.
Posted by NCMike 2009-11-22 20:56||
2009-11-22 20:56||
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#9 If they push it through on reconciliation it will be repealed in 2013 as the long promised first act of the incoming trunk president after the 2010 congress refuses to appropriate the necessary funds to implement the legislation in 2013.
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2009-11-22 21:09||
2009-11-22 21:09||
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