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News & ArtsWednesday, March 24, 2010
Health Health Care Debate Underway in the Senate
Posted by Dominic Holden on Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 10:25 AM
You can watch the debate live—all 20 hours of it, expected to run for a while longer today and continue tomorrow—on C-SPAN. Meanwhile, the GOP in attempting to derail the bill:
Republicans unveiled their strategy of introducing amendments that would be difficult for Democrats to vote against, raising the ire of the majority party. For instance, one of the nine amendments introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is entitled "No Erectile Dysfunction Drugs To Sex Offenders." Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ...Meanwhile, as the reconciliation debate began yesterday, three different Senate committees were about to hold hearings: one on a national broadband plan, a hearing on federal financial management and an environmental hearing. All of those were abruptly canceled, however, because of GOP obstruction.
If the health-care bill is amended, it has to return to the House of Representatives.
1
I'm confused. Didn't Obama sign the House bill into law? Even if the R's are successful in getting it sent back to the House, isn't the House version a done deal?
3
@1 The amended version IIRC would then go from the Senate to the House, then House would vote it up, then Obama would sign that, superceding the previous law--which is still live. If the reconciliation one fails, we still have HCR. We won, it's done. This is just to adjust and tweak it.
4
No ED drugs covered, just like no abortions covered. Period. Boners are elective, like implants. It has nothing to do with health care. Besides, ED is an indicator of more serious issues, especially for the vascular system. Instead of just popping pills, they should get a doctor's recommendation for long term vascular care/cholesterol reduction, etc.
6
On today's episode of Great Moments in the Party of No...
Republican Talking Point:
"The Democrats have spent an entire year talking about Health Care when what Americans have said in poll after poll what they really care about is jobs and the economy."
Reality:
Republicans are introducing dozens of amendments to a bill which, even if their amendments were to be accepted, they will never vote for anyway. They could end the debate today and move on to, you know, "that stuff Americans really care about," but alas, it's better to just delay an inevitable vote on a bill that has, essentially, already become law.
How is this not totally and irrefutably ridiculous? I perhaps will never understand. How can anyone reconcile this rhetoric - which I'm sure many Republicans fully believe in, even if they do not say so in this context - with these actions of delay and obstruction?
It is only logical that if you actually cared about moving on to the "more important issues" then you would do everything in your power to do so, including withholding objections you've already voiced continuously and you're sure won't change your position even if they are addressed. And you would do this no matter who "started it."
So even if one honestly thought the Democrats should never have brought healthcare up, there doesn't seem to be any way one can justify allowing it to unnecessarily continue when they themselves claim that the right thing to do is move on.
Republican Talking Point:
"The Democrats have spent an entire year talking about Health Care when what Americans have said in poll after poll what they really care about is jobs and the economy."
Reality:
Republicans are introducing dozens of amendments to a bill which, even if their amendments were to be accepted, they will never vote for anyway. They could end the debate today and move on to, you know, "that stuff Americans really care about," but alas, it's better to just delay an inevitable vote on a bill that has, essentially, already become law.
How is this not totally and irrefutably ridiculous? I perhaps will never understand. How can anyone reconcile this rhetoric - which I'm sure many Republicans fully believe in, even if they do not say so in this context - with these actions of delay and obstruction?
It is only logical that if you actually cared about moving on to the "more important issues" then you would do everything in your power to do so, including withholding objections you've already voiced continuously and you're sure won't change your position even if they are addressed. And you would do this no matter who "started it."
So even if one honestly thought the Democrats should never have brought healthcare up, there doesn't seem to be any way one can justify allowing it to unnecessarily continue when they themselves claim that the right thing to do is move on.
7
[Ominous music] "He even voted for giving Viagra to sex offenders."
@1 - I think if the Republicans succeed in amending it, then it has to go back to the House for another vote; otherwise, it doesn't, since the House has already voted on it.
@1 - I think if the Republicans succeed in amending it, then it has to go back to the House for another vote; otherwise, it doesn't, since the House has already voted on it.
8
Actually, why don't the Dems accept amendments like this, and then have the Republicans vote against them? That would cause their little plan to backfire - Dems could then use the script in @7 in their commercial.
So what if it has to be sent back to the house? It'll pass there immediately.
So what if it has to be sent back to the house? It'll pass there immediately.
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