WOO-HOO The Medicare bill is a dead duck! So Gavel It Already!

[Ellen Forradalom]

With apologies to ducks. The Big Pharma and Big Insurance giveaway is a nonstarter. 26 republicans crossed the aisle to vote against! 12 Dem defectors.

On edit for the umpteenth time: They haven't gavelled it. Tom Delay is probably trying to get some defectors to change their votes.

[drfemoe]

1. 24 Repups

So *u*h can't blame it on the democrats!!!!! Icing on the cake.

[NJCher]

2. Yay!!

That and the news on the energy bill!

But isn't this typical republicanism, at its best? They get so greedy they nail their toes to the floor.

Great to read this, forradalom. Makes my night!


Cher

[BurtWorm]

3. All right!

Eat shit, AARP!

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. not over until it is over

not until it gets the magic number of 218

[Ellen Forradalom]

8. Thanks for the info.

[bluestateguy]

5. If Gephardt misses the vote and this wins by 1

Ooooh!!!!!!

[audibledevil]

6. 204-211

9 R's, 10 D's still out
217=magic number

[Red_Viking]

7. Thanks for your terrific posts!

I'm not sure why I'm up this late...but I wanted to say THANKS for your tireless efforts to bring us the blow-by-blow.

We're doing the end zone dance over here. Big celebration for the 24 defectors who chose to use their powers for good instead of evil! And, may the 6 Dems who failed their responsibilities get voted out of office soundly.

At least I know Lloyd Doggett voted against the crap-ola bill. My senators, well, I have far less faith in them...damned Kay Bailey Asswipe and John Cornhole...

Get some rest! Good night, all.

RV

[Ellen Forradalom]

10. We are waiting on 6 more votes

to nail this thing shut. None the less, 24 repub defectors is a good thing.

[audibledevil]

12. up to 25 defectors!

w00t!

I helped out in the campaign against Nancy Johnson last year. She mighta won that battle, BUT SHE LOST THE WAR!

[danbee46]

9. Defectors

Now it's 8 Dem defectors. Not over yet. 7 Repubs and 10 Dems not voting yet --- we need 6 more votes.

[Ellen Forradalom]

11. Oh cheez louise: 212-206

[BurtWorm]

13. Is it 212 (us)-206 (them) or the other way around?

I can't look. :scared:

[Ellen Forradalom]

22. Now 214 "us" (nay) and 212 "them" (yea)

with 1 Repub vote and 7 Dem votes.

[audibledevil]

28. Now its 213-214 us

But they're out of R votes...

[BurtWorm]

29. But just imagine all the bribery going on right now.

:puke:

C'mon, Dems. Make AARP eat shit.

[danbee46]

14. Defectors

There's also 1 Dem who voted "present."

[whirlygigspin]

16. oh this is driving me batty

it's like watching a Florida election, up 20 000 one minute, down 20k the next...

[Ellen Forradalom]

19. If neither side gets 218 votes, what happens?

Pugs have only 1 vote left; 212 nays. NO MORE DEM DEFECTORS, DAMMIT! :argh:

[Myra]

15. God those pugs are unbelievable

Doing this shit in the middle of the night
like the crooks they are.

The Dems gave some kickass speeches though.

Ugh...this counting is taking forever!

[theoceansnerves]

17. ugh!!

213-210 nays
10 dem defectors. make that 11 with the assinine 'present' vote

[danbee46]

18. Close

214-212 with 7 Dems and 1 GOPer still to vote. Also, the Dem "present"

[danbee46]

20. Pressure

Can you imagine the arm-twisting going on?

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. yuo can bet on it

and after they are done some votes may still change,

This is dramatic

[audibledevil]

27. GOP are prob talking to Dem holdouts

they can give them the margin...grrr

[audibledevil]

21. When will they gavel

When will they gavel, or get 217 votes nay...?

[danbee46]

23. Actually...

we need 218 nay votes.

[audibledevil]

26. if theres a tie

then the motion isn't agreed to.

[theoceansnerves]

24. well

they should have gaveled a long time ago. they must be hoping the rest of the dems are turncoats.

[juajen]

33. I want to know where Gephardt and Kucinich are. Anybody know?

N/T

[Myra]

36. Um, are they seriously not there...not voting...?

I swear to god, with it this close...

One man could be responsible for killing medicare in
the US.

[theoceansnerves]

41. kucinich is there

kucinich is there. not sure about gephardt.

[Ellen Forradalom]

54. And he kicked ass

He spoke. Thank God he's in congress

[Myra]

56. Oh thank god

And thank you theoceansnerves,
not necessarily in that order.

I couldn't stand to hate Kucinich,
and I'd have to if he was absent.

Gephardt though...WTF?

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. ok folks there are only seven votes to go and ALL

are DEMOS

[BurtWorm]

32. Can I take another betrayal in the making?

[Myra]

40. It does get harder to take every day doesn't it?

...

[theoceansnerves]

31. argrggh

gavel the damn thing already!!

[bluestateguy]

34. What if a the vote is 216 Yes, 215 No?

Does it need 218 affirmative votes to pass or just plurality?

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. Yes,

It needs 218

[danbee46]

39. One more vote!!!!

[theoceansnerves]

37. its coming down to two votes

215-217 NAY

[audibledevil]

38. Who is the a$$hole who voted present?

Thats the annoying vote...lol

[danbee46]

42. 218

Yay!!!

[JackSwift]

43. 215 for 217 against 1 pres 2 not voting

its down to the wire. Major defeat for the fascists is still possible. Delay is probably desparate. Every member is apparently there.

215 to 218, it is looking like it will go down. 1 present, and 1 not voting.


215 to 219 and 1 not voting. It's almost all over.


Do we dare to hope that this is the high water mark for fascism in this country? (That and it's defeating the joint conference report. Good job Nancy.)

[nadinbrzezinski]

44. now break out the popcorn 218

[theoceansnerves]

45. the NAYS have it!

218-215 with 1 left to go. the motion is NOT F*CKING AGREED TO.

[greyl]

47. I need an aspirin

:)

[Myra]

51. Make mine a Canadian aspirin

They have codeine.

[danbee46]

48. Nay Nay

Great job done by Pelosi et al

[sujan]

50. great job done by seniors

[Myra]

57. Nancy kicked ass

She was superb.

[audibledevil]

49. so gavel it so i can go to sleep!

f-ing repubs!

[nadinbrzezinski]

53. you can bet DeLay is trying I have seen it

before

[onecitizen]

60. I was thinking along those same lines except ..............

I thought Delay had him down poking hot cinders in his eyes.

[Ellen Forradalom]

52. To the tune of Rolling Stones "Shattered"

Don't you know this bill is going down down DOWN DOWN!

[Myra]

46. Come ON!

I can't stand it

[bluestateguy]

55. Gavel the damn thing down already!!!

Aren't these the same people who said in Florida, "you can't change the rules just because you don't like the outcome"

[annagull]

59. Silly--those rules are only for us Dems!

They really make me sick.

[aquart]

61. They lied.

as usual.

[Myra]

58. This is friggen unbelievable

Whatta country...

[bluestateguy]

62. Congressman "present" voted NO!

GAVEL! GAVEL!!!!

[Ellen Forradalom]

64. Is there a phone number we can call to tell them

GAVEL IT ALREADY!

[theoceansnerves]

63. whoever voted present

has now voted NAY. 1 dem left not voting. you can gavel it NOW, come on!

[bain_sidhe]

65. can you hear the screaming

You just KNOW Delay is twisting arms to get three of those 26 "turncoats" to switch their vote. That's why they haven't gavelled it yet. The vote's not over till the gavel comes down on it... anybody can switch their vote until then. It's at LEAST a half an hour after the supposed "close" of voting!

PUKES!

[unfrigginreal]

66. Haha...I see the PRES voter finally grew a pair.

I hope we can find primary opponents for the 12 YEA's.

[bain_sidhe]

68. one of the pukes switched

three more to go.

[Ellen Forradalom]

67. A REPUB CHANGED HIS VOTE!

Now 25 Repub defectors.

[nadinbrzezinski]

69. We are on Delay time definitely

[nadinbrzezinski]

71. We are on Delay time definitely

[bain_sidhe]

74. more like, INdefinitely! n/t

[theoceansnerves]

70. this is reprehensible

the 1 dem left not voting has probably pledged a Yea vote, so Delay is trying to get another repub to change their vote!!

[whirlygigspin]

72. I hope they're not guetting paid any overtime on this

ROLF

[Myra]

75. Heh

Good black humor.

[Myra]

73. Yup

He's probably threatening to "terminate"
their family right now.

On edit: I think I mean to say "exterminate."
I can't think.

[aquart]

77. Same difference.

I keep thinking of the two good men who died saving Delay from a far-sighted assassin.

[Snellius]

76. It's Hammer Time

This is when hardball politics becomes a contact sport.

[nadinbrzezinski]

80. And yuo can see it on the floor

I pitty those of you on more regular time zones

[Myra]

78. Wow, 4 live threads on this @ DU

A possible record

[Ellen Forradalom]

79. Jeezus *#(@# It's 3:15 AM

I'm going to sleep dammit.

[bain_sidhe]

87. an hour past the "close"

Clearly, the pukes aren't going to close the voting until they get their way. We could probably ALL go to bed, get a good night's sleep, and the voting would still not be "done" by the time we get up, if they haven't "hammered" their defectors back in line.

[nadinbrzezinski]

81. You know it is bad when C-SPAN breaks in

this is a fifteen minute vote folks, been close to 90 minutes

[JackSwift]

82. Can it be filibustered in the Senate?

I don't know if a filibuster is allowed on a joint conference committee report.

[nadinbrzezinski]

83. If it dies here

it does not move on

[JackSwift]

95. Thank you

.

[elperromagico]

84. Why doesn't the GOP just waste another 40 hours on a debate over it?

n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

86. If they can they will

this is very serious, DeLay should have gavelled it already

[Snellius]

85. Just 1 changed vote and it's tied

217 to 217.

This is close. I wish C-SPAN had close-up cams of the back benchs. That seems to be were the real action is going on.

[nadinbrzezinski]

88. don't give me this heart atacks

it is 216-218 no changes

[Sean Reynolds]

91. I about crapped my paints.

I was like, why is my screen reading 216-218! Is he/she seeing something I'm not! ;-)

[Snellius]

92. We'll all need Medicare before this is over

This vote is taking a life time. One and a half hours and counting.

[theoceansnerves]

89. i wish

i wish they would leave the microphones on, heh :D

[ibegurpard]

90. The Democratic defectors on this vote need to pay

There's absolutely no fucking excuse for this to pass when there are more than 20 Republican defections on it

[aquart]

93. ITA

We need their names.

[theoceansnerves]

94. farcical

one hour and forty minutes now. delay must be getting nonstop calls from merck,pfizer,lilly, et al.

[whirlygigspin]

97. This hour is brough to you by Dieboldt

-when you sorta don't like the numbers that you get-

[aquart]

99. LOL!

[Myra]

106. :)

First laugh I've had in...over 90 minutes.

[JackSwift]

98. No, they know their money is at work

threatening nay voters in the death mask form of Tom Delay.

How big a breach of rules is it to hold the vote closing over this long?

[Terwilliger]

96. STILL on...and it's 216 to 218 NAYS in the lead with 1 NV

[annagull]

100. Isn't there a non-partisan Sargent at arms or something?

Is there no referee that can say "Times Up"?

[theoceansnerves]

103. yes, sorta

that would be the "parliamentarian". maybe he's asleep or something.

[drfemoe]

101. I'm glad that's an 8

watching on media player it looks kinda like a 5 .

the clock says time remaining 0:00

[Snellius]

102. Maybe Republicans are concluding this is a no win deal

The only way Republicans could score big political points on this bill is if the Democrats shot it down. Then they would still have the issue but be able to blame the other side. But if they pass it, instead of pointing to their success and saying "See what we did for you," it's beginning to turn into a situation that says "Look what was left out." Trying to play both sides sometimes loses both ways.

[whirlygigspin]

105. if your in DC

could you run over to the capitol and tease them with donuts & coffee
so they'll bang the gavel already.

[uhhuh]

104. Tom Delay

I have never heard of a more ironic name in times like these.

[Myra]

107. Yup, from now on I'll call him

Time Delay

Among other things I've long called him.

[Myra]

108. Geez, the CSPAN lady startles the hell outta me

When she breaks in to explain...
every few hours or so.

[drfemoe]

109. Who is the one

non-vote dem?

If this passes it will go to the senate tomorrow.
Unfortunately I think I know two dems who won't be there to vote.

[Snellius]

110. The DeLay delay is already making the news

The Chicago Tribune has a story running "Prescription Drug Bill Hangs on Roll Call". I don't have a subscription.

You can find a link here:
http://www.1stheadlines.com/

[Myra]

111. My won't forradalom be surprised

When they wake up and nothing's changed.

[theoceansnerves]

112. this is utterly ridiculous

it's past 5am in washington. is he going to wait until the sun comes up?

[nadinbrzezinski]

113. He will try water torture next

this is insane

[aquart]

114. Most of their policies are, yes.

[drfemoe]

116. I can't believe THIS one !!

poverty nation here we are

OVERTIME: Lawmakers gave up attempts to stop Congress from changing rules under which workers can qualify for overtime pay, after pressure from the Bush administration and the House. The dispute was the biggest hurdle to completion of a huge, overdue bill financing dozens of federal agencies

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001798396_dcglance22.html

correct me if I'm wrong . but now cops don't get over time, among others

[whirlygigspin]

117. where's the clerk of the house?

there must be some kind of limit to this, no?

[nadinbrzezinski]

118. Theory is this was a fifteen minute vote

the Majority holds the Gavel...

[JackSwift]

115. If Delay delays until sunrise, won't he burst into flames then?

hee hee.

[Myra]

119. I was just thinking that

He's the kinda creature Buffy should be going
after with a wooden stake. The Big Bad.

[oasis]

120. Dirty slimeball Delay got his vote. 220 yea 215 nay

he and the rest of the rethug nation are toast come election 2004. AARP can kiss my ass.

[Ellen Forradalom]

121. UNFUCKINGBELIEVEABLE

15 minute vote my ass.