58 - 40 - 2: this has got to be driving the wingnuts crazy.

[ProSense]

Senate:

Democratic Party 58
Republican Party 40
Independent 2 (caucus with the Democrats)


Health care reform is coming.

[ProSense]

1. I get the feeling this is

disappointing some people here. Wonder why?

[loudsue]

3. I wish we could do some kind of a DU pool and place bets on it.

If you lived where I live, you would be certain that nothing meaningful will ever pass. We might have a health care bill, but it will be one written by the insurance/drug companies, and we'll still have a mess.

A million and a half lobbiest dollars a day buys a whole lot of congress critters.

[ProSense]

5. Yeah, split into at least three groups.

1) Nothing meaningful will pass

2) Nothing is better than something

3) The uninsured will be covered for the first time ever.

[NYC_SKP]

2. kick...

I think many here thought, wrongly, that the numerical advantage was all we needed.

Hard, but important, lessons being learned.

Just a hunch.

[donheld]

4. Now if the Dems would only make use of it!

[PBS Poll-435]

6. -Nelson -Landrieu -Reid

And on and on and on.

[Divine Discontent]

7. Those are Democrats, right? haha... They behave far from it, as you know! eom

[PBS Poll-435]

9. They are conservative Democrats from "Conservative" States

Reid, I get. He was a knee-jerk reaction after 2004. He is a conservative Mormon.

Landrieu, I get also. She BARELY won re-election in a run-off against a Michelle Bachman wannabe.

Nelson cannot be helped. He can't win re-election in Nebraska as a moderate Dem. Can't.

[Scarsdale Vibe]

10. None of whom will filibuster.

Health care reform with a strong public option will be passed in the fall. The fact that health insurance companies will still exist is extremely disappointing to many people, but they will just have to be satisfied with saving lives, cutting costs, reducing personal bankruptcy significantly, and improving the health of tens of millions of people.

[PBS Poll-435]

11. Duh

I just don't want to lose seats in NV and LA.

[geek tragedy]

14. Honestly, if they can't be counted on for the most

important issues, it makes little difference whether they stay in office.

[Hippo_Tron]

21. It makes a hell of a lot of difference when it's your Senator

Yea I'm not wild about Mary Landrieu's voting record. But I'm really glad we had her after Katrina rather than two Republican Bush ass-kissers.

[geek tragedy]

13. You'll have at least 10 Democrats voting to strip the

public option out in favor of coops that are designed to fail. We all know the names--Bayh, Baucus, Nelson etc.

[Scarsdale Vibe]

18. The conference committee will be stacked.

The final bill will be exactly what Reid/Pelosi/Obama want it to be. You could find 6-8 Democrats to replace public option with coops, but not 10. Three things have made real health care reform possible: Arlen Specter's opportunism, Minnesota's transparent and effective recount procedures, and Obama's pushback on stripping Lieberman of his committee chairs. Without these things happening, the public option would be dead in the water and unable to pass a filibuster (short of Maine being funneled billions of dollars to secure Snowe's vote on cloture).

[Teaser]

19. and even more democrats who will put it back in in conference

.

[vaberella]

8. ConservaDems= 13 that's -58---so really 43 Dems. Healthcare is still teetering. n/t

[geek tragedy]

12. If the Democrats had any courage you'd be right.

Instead, they've decided to let Chuck Grassley write the damn thing.

[Renew Deal]

15. It's about to become 58-39-2 when Mel Martinez quits

:D

[BlueIdaho]

16. Which lowers the number of votes needed to pass a bill... nt.

[Arugula Latte]

17. If the Republicans had 58 and Democrats had 40 in the Senate w/ Rep. prez,

their bill (maybe denying healthcare for anyone but the richest 2 percent, or something) would have been passed the first week their prez was in office.

[greendog]

20. Ya know what's driving ME crazy?

Senate:

Corrupt: 65
Cowardly: 25
Good: 9
Great: Sanders

Numbers are approximate and may vary by issue.