Last night the Senate mustered enough votes to proceed with the health care bill. The vote was totally partisan. Thirty-nine Republicans voted against moving the bill along. All Democrats and Independents voted for the bill. It must be said that some of the Dems were kicking and screaming all the way up to the vote. The Healthcare bill has stumbled across the first Senate hurdle.
What comes from the Senate remains to be seen. BernieHund supported a single payer plan but that was left by the wayside before the debate started. It is our hope that the Senate will recognize some of its previous failures as it moves forward.
There are cracks in the present system of healthcare. Most of us know that. What can we expect from here?
The 60-to-39 vote, along party lines, clears the way for weeks of rowdy floor proceedings that will begin after Thanksgiving and last through much of December.
For those of us who watched the vote there was a measured sigh of relief. At least the bill is on the floor and ready for debate.
The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said his party’s opposition would persist. “The battle has just begun,” he said.
With the holidays approaching we should not anticipate much happening before 2010. It has taken the Senate (and the House) decades to get this far. To expect anything before 2010 is ridiculous. And, to think this bill is just about healthcare is equally as ludicrous. There will arm twisting and bargaining. For example Mary Landrieu (D-LA) took advantage of the situation and sold her vote, more or less, to support getting the bill on the Senate floor.
Ms. Landrieu, whose support came after she won a provision that could be worth more than $100 million in additional federal aid for her financially troubled state, said, “I have decided there are enough significant reforms and safeguards in this bill to move forward, but much more work needs to be done.”
For the rest of us, it is time to pay attention. We have seen Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House, trade away women’s rights to get the votes needed to pass the House version of the bill. In fact, following the redundant amendment that disallows federal funds from paying for any abortion women across America have seen their entire healthcare programs come under fire this week with the breast cancer task force suggestions and now the Pap Smears. While most women are up in arms at the recommendations, we need to be aware that those very recommendations will be used to set our healthcare benefits in the future…. all benefits, private or public.
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