11/20/09 Update: The vote in the Senate Saturday evening will be the initial vote to start debate on Reid’s healthcare bill, not the final vote. Reid needs support from 60 senators to proceed. If he gets 60 votes, as appears likely, it will take beyond Thanksgiving to get to the second vote requiring 60 senators: the vote to end debate. The article was originally written with the understanding that Reid would try to end debate by Saturday. That is not the case. The importance of these votes in the Senate for the future of the United States remains unchanged.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to pass the Senate version of healthcare reform Saturday night. He is trying to follow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s example who passed the House version of the bill two weeks ago at 11 pm on Saturday.
Why Saturday night? Why pass a bill that will lead to creeping nationalization of a sixth of our economy at a time when most Americans are enjoying the weekend and are unlikely to pay attention to parliamentary maneuvers in Congress? Could it be that allowing a reasonable time to debate such a monumental change would doom the bill?
It is not clear how Reid will be able to achieve his goal. Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma has announced that he will invoke parliamentary procedures to require that the 2,074 page monstrosity will be read on the floor of the Senate. Senate rules allow Senators to demand that a bill be read three separate times before coming to a vote. Senator Coburn is the staunches proponent of limited government in the Senate and it is inconceivable that he would be dissuaded from insisting that the country gets a chance to hear what Senators will vote on. The time it will take to read through 2,074 pages makes a Saturday vote unlikely.
But this going to be close. Too close.
Reid does not have the required 60 votes to end debate on the bill, but he only needs one or two more senators. Several of the 58 Democratic senators still have not indicated how they will vote. Potential no votes on ending debate include Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln. They are clearly uneasy about their 2010 re-election prospects if they vote for this bill. They need to understand that getting a concession on the parts of the bill they are most uncomfortable with, cannot be an excuse to end debate.
Independent Democrat Joe Lieberman has already announced repeatedly that he will not vote to end debate. Like Coburn, Lieberman is principled in his votes and is the rare Democrat who believes in American ideals and, among other things, supports a strong national defense. He isn’t going to surrender to threats. Senator Lieberman deserves the support and respect of moderate Democrats, Independents, Republicans and all American who believe in honest, principled debates of the issues.
No Republican has come forward to support an end to debate. A defection among the Republicans is the biggest threat at this point. The moderate Republican senators from Maine, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, need to understand that a vote to end debate would be a career-terminating move. A Republican voting to end debate in the Senate is nothing like the one Republican vote for the bill in the House that was cast by a Congressman from an overwhelmingly Democrat district in New Orleans who voted only after it was clear that the Democrats would win even without his vote.
The vote to end debate is the most critical vote to defeat Obamacare. If all Republicans and Senator Lieberman block end to the debate, the bill fails and we can start looking at health care reform that promotes competition, reduces the cost of defensive medicine, protects people with pre-existing conditions, lowers cost and actually extends coverage to the uninsured. It is possible that one or more Democrats from Republican-leaning states will join the no vote on ending debate. If a single Republican or Lieberman switch sides and all Democrats and the other nominally independent vote for ending debate, Reid would have his 60 votes. This must not happen.
The remaining votes in the Senate will only require 50 votes and it will become inevitable that some version of creeping nationalization of health care will pass.
Even if the supporters of Obamacare are defeated in 2010, it will be impossible to reverse this vote because any vote to undo this bill will have to clear 60 votes in the Senate. Republicans currently only hold 40 senate seats and even with gains in 2010 and support from a few good Democrats like Lieberman it is hard to see how to get to 60 votes to reverse Obamacare after the 2010 election.
This is one of the most critical times in the history of the United States to stop the move toward a European-style socialism. Voters in Arkansas, Nebraska, Indiana and Louisiana have a responsibility to let their senators know their opposition to Obamacare. Republicans, Independents and moderate Democrats need to support their senators who oppose the bill including Senator Lieberman. In the words of President Reagan’s historic 1964 speech, it is “A Time for Choosing.”
There is a choice before us about the future of the United State that will be decided within a few day. Do everything you can to express your opposition to Obamacare. Donate to reversethevote.org. Call your senators. Call radio and television shows. Write about the danger of Obamacare on the internet or share this article. If we pay attention and express our opposition, we just may be able to celebrate a big victory for freedom on Thanksgiving.
