What happened last night in the Senate; Plus: Tick, tick, tick, still no Demcare bill
When last we left the Senate chamber, Harry Reid had dragged himself onto the floor after an hour delay to recess until 12:01am Eastern. An hour after midnight, the Dems brought the defense authorization bill up for a cloture vote. This after months and months of delay on the bill, which has been used by the Dems in both chambers as a non-military domestic spending gravy train.
Politico picks up the story from there:
A $626 billion Pentagon budget narrowly advanced in the Senate Friday morning, but not before Washington’s political battles seemed to eclipse the real wars of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Senate scene, played out in a post-midnight session on a freezing night, dramatized how poisonous the atmosphere has become in the health care fight.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates had to weigh in for fear the military would be left with only stop-gap funding while fighting two wars overseas. And ailing 92-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) was wheeled in for the 1 a.m. vote while his old friend Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) deserted the bill under pressure from his own leadership to slow action.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made no secret of the fact that he was looking for leverage over Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to delay action on health care reform until after Christmas. The pressure on rank-and-file members was severe, and it was only after Democrats had secured the needed 60 votes that three Republicans broke ranks in support of cutting off debate.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine voted for cloture.
Who controls the schedule? Not the Rs:
Democrats stalled action themselves for months, hoping to use it as the locomotive for an end-of-the-year train of legislative items. “The Republicans didn’t control the timing on this bill,” said Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). “Why haven’t the Democrats been able to bring this most important bill to the Senate for a vote until a week before Christmas?”
***
Tick, tick, tick. There’s still no Demcare bill to look at. Philip Klein checks the transparency clock and points out the majority’s big fail:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s breakneck schedule to get health care legislation passed by Christmas Eve would mean that the first vote on health care would happen to less than 64 hours from now — at 1 a.m. Monday morning — and yet we still have no final bill or score from the Congressional Budget Office.
Back in October, a group of Democratic Senators sent a letter to Reid urging him to post the final bill and CBO score online for 72 hours prior to a vote. The letter was signed by Sens. Blanche Lincoln, Evan Bayh, Mary Landrieu, Joe Lieberman, Claire McCaskill, Ben Nelson, Mark Pyror, and Jim Webb.
…Can any of these Senators argue with a straight face that releasing a bill on a weekend when most Americans are out Christmas shopping and decorating trees will provide them the “opportunity to evaluate these policies and communicate their concerns or their message of support to their Members of Congress”? Or “provide them with the chance to respond to proposals that will impact their lives”?
If they think trust in Congress is low now, wait until they see what happens if Reid resorts to such draconian tactics to ram through a bill by Christmas that would overhaul one-sixth of the nation’s economy and that is supported by less than a third of the public.
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Is it possible that Harry knows he’s on the short highway back to Nevada?
If this wasn’t so serious, I’d be laughing.
Sports fans you are not viewing this in its proper perspective. This is a coup de tat, not a piece of legislation. This is the last, best chance for Socialists to seize control of U.S. society. Reid, Peolosi, Obama, et. all know that.
They will break every rule, break any deadlock, destroy the lives of any number of people to secure this control. They are willing to do this, because if they can, they are strategically set to ensure socialist domination of America for decades.
Thus, the end justifies the means. They will be ruthless. We have to be even more ruthless.
The Republicans should be a conducting scorched earth strategy to stop it. I would have demanded the defense bill be read last night. There are no rules in a knife fight. We have to understand we are in a knife fight that we cannot lose.
Dingy Harry looks more and more like an abused snapping turtle pulling his head back into his shell.
On December 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am, Flyoverman said:
Sure there are flyover…bring a gun, and know how to use it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bCyIAsSid8
Wonderful day. Obama’s speech in Copenhagen was a dud too. Globalist fascism failing everywhere.
It’s great being us.
No principle is too good for them to abandon.
In regards to the Demcare bill, let us recall that when Harry Reid was the Senate MINORITY leader in 2006, he threatened to use every procedural means at his disposal to stop something he didn’t like…
And again, as majority leader in 2007, when Reid wanted to prevent the construction of three coal-fired power plants, he said,
It’s time for Republicans to return the favor.
Senator Coburn has already started to, and it’s time for all the rest of the Republicans and pro-life and/or anti-single-payer Senators to follow suit.
Reid has no legs to stand on when it comes to complaining about “obstruction”.
in the dark of night before a ten day holiday period, we will spring this crap on the public, get on our private gubmint plane service, and get the hell to the ski slopes or the sandy beaches. harry reid and all those overworked congress jerks need their vacation.
Why aren’t the democrats leaking the CBO numbers yet?
1. There are no numbers because there is no bill.
or
2. The numbers don’t say what the democrats want them to say.
True. This is not about health care, it’s about power. With the president in the socialists’ pocket, they are trying to move quickly to completely change the U.S. around. Bribes, corruption and intimidation are freely used. It has become an obsession with the democrats. Lord help us if it passes, along with all the pork. My children and grandchildren will pay a heavy price for this takeover. Don’t believe that this is the end of it, either. If it becomes law, a new “enemy” will be created with a new “crisis” to fix.
On December 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am, Flyoverman said:
Exactly.
When it comes to Demcare, every Senator has to duplicate Reid’s example:
“use every procedural means at my disposal to stop it.”
Forcing a reading of the defense bill would have been a very effective way to delay any action on Demcare.
This is the way to convince Texans to vote for you in the Texas Governor race Sen. Hutchison.
I don’t think Texans are looking for a blond version of Snowe or Collins to lead their state.
Ans as the Evil Turtle comtinues his puppet show, Iran takes over an Oil Well in Iraq. Now lets see how the man with the “Spine of Steel” responds to this.
Kay Barely, she who secretly gutted money for the border fence, and votes with uber-RINOs Collins and Snowe, dares call herself a conservative as she seeks the GOP nod over Rick Perry for Texas governor.
Seventy Two Hours
From 1 AM on Monday
Passed ten hours ago.
I’m gonna have to search for a new, stronger word to describe my feelings for the dems in general. Hate, outrage, disgust, rancor, filthy a-holes just doesn’t come close to being strong enough to reflect my distaste for this human waste that inhabits our congress.
I agree with what I saw a few days ago where someone asked if we could have a do-over with Flight 93…
Looks like Kay is giving more ammo to Perry. Thank God. The day she is out of politics will be a good day.
Paul’s observation is IMHO very telling. I think the CBO has given them preliminary numbers and they are horrible.
Rush Limbaugh did a superb job of extrapolating what it means for the consumer if the Senate bill is passed in its current form. If there is no Medicare buy in, no public option, but there still is the mandate to insure all those with pre-conditions AND require insurance be purchased from private companies, the private companies have no choce but to send premiums through the roof.
Howard Dean also sees it. That’s why he also wants it killed.
Harry has twisted this thing into an ill-defined, unaffordable mess that no commerical enterprise can support without massive increases in premiums.
Harry the long-nosed Senator
Has some tough lies to sell
He says our country’s healthcare
Is so bad we’re going to hell
Many of the other liberals
Know it’s just unfounded fear
So they know that following Harry
Will very likely end their career
So he thought that Christmas Eve
Was the perfect time to bite
He figured with no one watching him
He could ram it without a fight
But Harry is a clueless moron
He’s just another socialist clown
Writers like our gracious Ms. Malkin
Won’t let him tear our country down
NRO Tweet tracker: Reid to unveil latest version of Obamacare tomorrow (assuming anyone can get to the Senate in a snowstorm).
Well our dear kay joined the two rinos from Maine. I wish she would resign so Gov. Perry can name the William’s, I think that is his name, gentleman. Perry is going to get our home’s vote, not dear kay.
L
Hah!!
Fat Ba***d: “I’e got a turtle head poking out!”
Yep, that’s Harry!
Well done!
Did they show up in their jammies.
And WHY DIDN’T THEY?? WHY? That have that option. They must use it! What are they waiting for???
Ain’t gonna happen. Her chance of beating Perry is somewhere between none and no way. That’s why she’s holding onto her Senate seat. Hopefully some solid conservative is going to step up and challenge her in the primary next time around so we can retire her for good.
cicerokid said:
I had forgotten that – watched it and spewed coffee all over the place – I am still laughing here…. that made my day.
I could call dear Harry a one eyed trouser weasel but I won’t.. nope I won’t
Maybe we should think about having a Christmas Eve Code Red(&green) caroling session at the Senate?
Silent Night – what it is supposed to be about and would be if not for this jackass majority ‘leader’.
Kay lost my vote long ago though I won’t be voting for Perry either. I’d rather see a real conservative like Debra Medina be governor.
Responding to a comment from the earlier “Franken’s little snit fit against Lieberman” thread…
On December 18th, 2009 at 7:52 am, DagneyT said:
The same way Barack Obama sat in that chair position as a freshman senator.
Read my post President of the Senate to better understand.
What really bothers me is that from Jan 2007 – Jan 2009 there should have been a Republican (VP Dick Cheney) sitting in this chair, not a Demonrat.
But Cheney, by failing to perform his Constitutional duties as President of the Senate, let the Demonrats run the show.
FIFY
I think that is exactly what’s happening Tiger. Harry knows he is toast, so why not have some fun and destroy America before he starts collecting that sweet retirement package?
Dexter, now that is cruel. And funny as he!!
Thank you Sen. Hutchison for steadying my resolve never vote you into any office ever again. You are clueless.
Thanks, you’re very kind. I expect most will tell me to keep my day job.
Even Bob Schieffer on CBS was criticizing the current hurry up and wait mentality of the Democrats, saying in both the blind support of the Democrats, and the unwavering resistance of the Republicans, that it was a bill “nobody had read yet.”
I think Schieffer almost gets it: how do these schlubs vote on something they can’t possibly read before they vote on it?
The Dems have to know they are crashing and burning when even their media flying monkeys are criticizing them.