Write a decent health care bill and dare Olympia Snowe to filibuster it. She won’t.
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.
Accountability, motherfuckers.
When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?
At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.
The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.
The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.
That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.
And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.
This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.
Consistently wrong since 2002
You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.
“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.
If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.
Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.
So many bastards, so little time.
When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.
Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.
Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!
Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.
It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.
The gop is a fucking disgrace.
Not all heroes wear capes.
Damn right I heard that as a threat.
After dobbs, women are no longer free.
You are here: Home / Here Is An Idea
ominira
Susan Collins might be on board too.
malraux
I bet she’ll demand a round number (100 billion) cut from it first though.
Pangloss
I’m sure the chants of “Up or Down Vote!” will be deafening.
El Cid
Unless, of course, Snowe and “bipartisan” etc. are all simply strategies and excuses by which a number of leading Democratic politicians try to favor the interests of insurance companies and other concentrated economic interests.
In which case, they’re happy to let us keep carping about Snowe as an overvalued target as long as we don’t realize that Snowe is among the excuses for them to do other things they already want to do.
dmsilev
@malraux: You’re probably right. Someone should add about that much money in more or less random spending, and call it the Olympia Snowe Sacrificial Amendment. That way, she can feel virtuous by demanding the unnecessary spending be cut, without gutting the actual bill.
-dms
Pangloss
Damn, I was looking forward to those golden tongue depressors.
Punchy
OT
Not a threadjack, but this seems very, very ominous. Significant shit seems to be changing every couple of years what peeps said a few years back would take decades.
Yikes.
Teak111
Off topic
Can we ad Socon and WEC to the lexicon. I’m not sure of the definitions.
beltane
A filibuster would be super-duper unpopular with her constituents. According to a recent poll posted at Daily Kos, Obama enjoys a 68% approval rating in Maine, which is much higher than Senator Snowe’s approval numbers. The Public Option is at least as popular as the president. If she filibusters she will be doing nothing but making a fool of herself, and further tarnishing the image of the Republican party in the northeast.
Zifnab
They’ve been doing that. Every time someone writes a better health care bill, it gets voted down because it hurts an industry’s/libertarian’s feelings.
I don’t know how many CBO estimates stating “Current System < Half-assed Improvements < Public Option < Single Payer” you need. But clearly more than we’ve got now.
Doctor Gonzo
No, here’s an idea: if the Republicans want to filibuster it, make them actually do it. Make them stand on the floor 24 hours a day talking from the phone book, like filibusters use to be.
The main reason why filibusters and holds are so prevalent these days is because it is no longer a feat of endurance, it’s a technical paper-pushing thing. You want to raise the threshold from 51 to 60 votes? File a paper and you’re done. Ridiculous.
We’d be in much better shape if people actually had to put some effort into their filibusters. No time like the present to start!
Zifnab
But you can’t even blame Collins for that. You’ll have to tip your hat to Nelson, Lincoln, Conrad, and Baucus.
The Republicans aren’t a problem anymore. It’s just the ConservaCrat holdouts.
aimai
Yes. Iz the White House Learning? Tune in at 3:00 to hear just how Rahm and Reid have botched this round of self negotiating.
aimai
Morbo
@Punchy: Good bye, Albedo effect.
@Teak111: Southern Conservative; White, Evangelical Christian
PeakVT
Who needs an opposition party when you have Lieberman, Nelson, Baucus, Bayh, and probably another dozen others who consider themselves President?
Corner Stone
How bout you pass a GOOD BILL FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE you motherfucking hack!
Why doesn’t someone stand up and ask her, “Why should I give a shit about how many votes the bill receives from either party? If it helps me and my family I couldn’t care less what you call the final bill, or who supports it. Just pass a good bill.”
It’s elemental truth to everyone but US Senators and The Village:
Bipartisan == good for America.
Corner Stone
@Morbo:
I thought it was Social Conservative?
As in, hating on teh gays and such.
Corner Stone
Snowe on the PO:
WHO FUCKING CARES?
Why would this be a bad outcome if it meant above average results for the American People?
Why does no one ever ask them this?
Corner Stone
Why does Snowe remind me of that Gilda Radner character (I’m pretty sure it was her) who had the almost always closed-squinty eyes and simpered and snickered all the time?
ETA – one of the SNL skit characters that was recurring. Think it was GR but could be more recent.
The Grand Panjandrum
Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is a big problem. Several insurance companies have their corporate headquarters in CT, and they have given him millions of dollars of the years. Watch this video of his appearance on the Imus show the other morning. I don’t know how many Democrats won’t vote for cloture but Cole’s hero Lieberman will be trouble on this issue.
cmorenc
@Zinfab:
to which Zinfab responded:
Actually, it’s been the Senate Finance Committee’s Gang of Stooges who’ve been fluffing the Health Care Insurance industry at every step of the way, including especially Chairman Max Baucus D-Insurance Industry, Sen. Kent Conrad D- CoOp Idea which Insurance Industry is grudgingly behind (so long as they can be assured it’s in an ineffectively weak form they can quickly co-opt or sabotage, Sen Chuck Grassley R-loves Health Care Reform Concept, hates any actual details necessary to achieve it cause it might benefit democrats and change current private insurance system, and Sen Olympia Snowe R – drama queen of bipartisanship-lite for health care reform, just against government having anything to do with it.
Facilitated by: Sen Harry Reid, champion of “How to Win Friends and Influence People by Being Weak and Meek”
…and not the solid majority of mainstream democrats in the house and senate, who are impatient to get on with real reform. Even the infamous “blue dogs” can in the end be whipped around, just not Max Baucus and Kent Conrad, who have until yesterday been sitting like fat toads controlling a critical gate in the process.
But now that the bill’s out of committee, hopefully Sir Harry Reid and the rest of the democrats can fix it back the way it ought to be. OH SNAP! I forgot. It’s Sir Harry Reid the King of Meek and Weak we’re depending on. NEVER MIND.
PeakVT
@Corner Stone: You’re probably thinking of Emily Litella.
Napoleon
@Corner Stone:
Was it her Rossana Rosannadana (sp?) character?
Napoleon
@The Grand Panjandrum:
But are they health insurance companies? I think life insurance companies are located in CT.
malraux
@Doctor Gonzo: The problem with that is it takes the block of democrats as a whole to hold a filibuster, but only a handful of republicans. The democrats have to keep their entire caucus onhand in case there happens to be a wavering senator, because you need the 60 votes. The republicans only need 3-5 senators on hand at any one point, enough to ensure that someone can keep talking. But because the motion to table only requires a majority of the people present, if the dems start letting senators go home to sleep, the republicans can show up en mass at 3:00AM some night, hold a majority of the quorum, and table the bill.
If I had my way but were not allowed to completely remove the filibuster, I’d change it to be 3/5ths of the quorum rather than of the whole senate. That would force the filibustering minority party to have to keep their entire block of senators present to keep the filibuster going. Of course, if I had my way, I’d eliminate the filibuster entirely, if not the whole senate.
matoko_chan
Tim is right, she will vote yes if the bill is reasonable.
I am hoping for stealthcare myself, the opt-out for states.
Zifnab
@cmorenc:
At this point, we’re banking on Tom Harken and the HELP Committee putting pressure on hold out Senators while Nancy Pelosi threatens to make Reid’s life difficult in reconciliation.
But yeah, I don’t think anyone is putting much faith in Harry Reid to do more than bend whichever way the strongest wind is blowing.
BBQ
It’s even easier than that, since you don’t even need Snowe.
Write a good health care bill and dare any of the 60 Dems to fillibuster it. They won’t.
arguingwithsignposts
@malraux:
This indeed.
Rommie
The other problem with the phone-book filibuster is that the D’s appear deathly afraid of the consequences “down the road” if they do it. “Oh noes, the R’s will retaliate when they have the majority again, and make us |Tap Dance in Tutus| |SF Kittens in front of the cameras|, make US have to read phone books|sit in the back| and that’s just too frightening to risk happening.
I do like how Collins is now chriping about support after Snowe did – methinks the ego problems Collins is reputed to have are not far from the truth.
El Cid
Anyone remember a time in which Reid bent towards the liberal direction? He seems to be pretty stiff when the wind pushes that way. Funny that.
LD50
@Punchy: That’s been going on for a while; all the future projections of the reduction of polar ice and glacial melt have ALL proved to be vastly too conservative. Another example was when the Northwest Passage in Canada opened up in ’07, sth like 10-20 years earlier than initial projections had predicted.
But none of this makes Al Gore any less fat.
IU1995
Snowe doesn’t have to filibuster. She’ll have cover from Bill Nelson, Thomas Carper, Max Baucus, Blanche Lincoln, Kent Conrad, Evan Bayh and Joe Lieberman.
Schumer’s level playing field amendment did get Nelson’s and Carper’s votes in the SFC but something similar to that in the actual bill probably won’t get the other 5.
Unless they do reconciliation, all it takes is two of the above to vote “no” and it won’t matter what Snowe does.
People are focusing so much attention on her when it’s been obvious for months that we’re getting killed by “friendly fire”.
Adrienne
@Corner Stone: There’s a difference?
Adrienne
@IU1995: Honestly though, I can’t see any of them actually being the “no” vote that actually kills healthcare. I know, I know, naivete. We are professionals at the circular firing squad. But I’m serious.
With the bill’s passage or failure on the line, I just can’t believe (don’t want to believe?) that a Democrat would drive a stake through the heart of the Democratic Party knowing everything that hangs in the balance – including their own futures within the party. Particularly Lincoln as she will need the Democratic Party to be in a strong enough position to help her with re-election. If healthcare reform fails, particularly if it fails on the no vote of a Democrat, there will be hell to pay – open revolt in the party and a bloodbath in 2010. Surely they must understand this, right?
IU1995
@Adrienne: I feel you and my heart leads me to think the same way. I truly hope that they do the right thing but the way they’ve been carrying on so far, I’m slowly losing confidence.
Evan Bayh is my Senator so I’ve been less than thrilled with him as of late. But I think in the end, he will vote appropriately. He’s made statements in the past that he supports reform.
I think of all those I listed (and I have to correct myself … I should’ve listed “Ben Nelson” not “Bill Nelson”), we should be most concerned with Conrad, Lincoln and Lieberman. None of them have shown much to be excited about in their votes or comments that make me believe they will support a public option. Heck, Lieberman doesn’t even appear to support reform.
Maureen
@Napoleon – Aetna is headquartered in CT. Not sure about others, but Aetna is definitely a health insurance company. In fact, they’re my insurer.
Lola
Olympia won’t, but what about Sen Nelson, Sen. Landrieu and all the other corporate Dems?
SprinkleCoveredTurd
if the entire state of maine is being sued because they won’t let the health industry raise their rates as much as they want, that seems to be a good motive for snowe’s yes vote. seems like collins will come around, too, if it will look good to their voters.
Ron in Bloomington
That’s taking for granted that the ConservaDems won’t vote to filibuster it. She’s not the only problem. Better checkout the facts, not forgetting we are up against the Ben Nelsons, Mary Landrieus, Blanche Lincolns, Joe Liebermans, Kent Conrads etal. We must get Cloture which will make the bill voted on to get it out, a horrible bill. After that, 51 votes all that is required. THEN, a strong, robust public option shall be passed without Snowe and the insurance bought HOs. Obama ROCKS!!!
Yutsano
@Maureen: Correct me if I’m wrong but so is CIGNA (Connecticut Insurance Group of North America).