The Beginning Of The End

It is no surprise that the Senate voted to begin debate on its own version of ObamaKennedyDeathCare, 60-39. Given that once again not a single Republican supported this abomination (and because ObamaKennedyDeathCare is so darned long), I think I'm going to rename it DemCare. This is a wholly owned Democrat program, and we need to thoroughly brand it as such from this moment on.

Now there will be a period of time (days, weeks, months?) where the Senate haggles over the various provisions of the bill. Eventually, the Dems will push for the cloture vote, which is the vote that will end debate and set up the final vote on the bill itself. Again, the magic number for cloture is 60, and again Reid cannot afford to lose a single Dem. There are several who are indicating reservations about the bill in its current form, but if the Dems can swizzle things around enough, they should be able to buy/bribe/arm-twist their way into the full 60...unless the American people do an all-out revolt. Even then, it's a toss-up.

Just a couple of follow-up notes for your perusal. First, a quote from the last Dem hold-out to jump on board, Blanche Lincoln:

“We should be stopping the growth of government not expanding it more.“

She said that right before voting to force a full 1/6th of the American economy under the control of the government. This is liberal doublethink on full display.

Here is Majority Leader Harry Reid:

Today we vote whether to even discuss one of the greatest issues of our generation - indeed, one of the greatest issues this body has ever face: whether this nation will finally guarantee its people the right to live free from the fear of illness and death, which can be prevented by decent health care for all.

Um...where does it say that in the Constitution? And, um, 'guarantee' us the 'right' to live 'free from the fear of illness and death'?? Are these people seriously saying that by giving the federal government control of YOUR health care they will guarantee you will never get sick or die? I mean, that would be great if true, because if you do get sick you damn well won't get any decent treatment under their system!

And is it just me, or does this smack anyone else as being very similar to Barack Obama's sweeping 'heal the planet' rhetoric? These people are incredible.

I think Philip Klein sums up the next steps pretty well with this:

It's worth keeping in mind that once the bill reaches the floor, Reid will need 60 votes to make any changes. It's really difficult to see how there could be 60 votes in the Senate to go as far as the House did to ensure that no taxpayer money covers abortions. And it's also questionable whether there are 60 votes to remove (or at least weaken) the government plan.

Even if Reid figures out a way to get his caucus to fall into line and squeaks the bill through the Senate, the Senate bill would still have to be reconciled with the House version. And anything that gets negotiated in that conference (on abortion language, the government plan, etc.) could upset the delicate balance that enabled Speaker Nancy Pelosi to pass the House bill by a narrow 220 to 215 vote margin.

Another thing to keep in mind is that with the bill first going to the Senate floor on November 30, this process is now all but assured to drag into next year. And there's a reason why the White House had been emphasizing the need to get health care done by the end of the year. The longer this drags on, the more pressure there will be on Democrats to do something about the unemployment crisis, the more President Obama's popularity can decline, the more chance there is that unforseen circumstances can get in the way, and the closer they get to the 2010 elections.

So, on one hand, Democrats scored a big victory today, but on the other hand, if it was this difficult to keep their caucus together on a vote to bring the bill to the floor, it may not bode well for the much tougher votes ahead.

We've got our work cut out for us. Get ready, because this vote was the beginning of the end. Unless we can stop the radical Leftist American government from completing its takeover and re-making of this great nation, America will become a socialist hellhole that is not worth saving.

There's my two cents.