Dems really don't have 60 votes for a public option. Conrad and Lieberman are PUBLICLY against it.

[Unsane]

All these fuckers are bought and paid for. I doubt Baucus would vote for it either.

A public option is needed in order to keep premiums DOWN. I almost would rather nothing be passed at all if we can't get it in there.

[Botany]

1. Pass it w/ 50 .... 51 counting Joe Biden

It is pure b.s. that we need 60 to pass it ..... if the repugs want to filibuster what 75% of what the Americans
want .... fine let 'em.

[Bonn1997]

7. I think they would have done that by now if they did have 50 votes...

it's pathetic but a very large # of Democrats are sellouts too.

[Botany]

11. You might be right but for the blue dogs to vote against what the majority ..

.... of their constituents want they do at their own risk. Republicans who vote against health reform put themselves
@ risk too. Conrad, Baucus, and Nelson are all bought and paid forso they can be counted out.

[Better Believe It]

18. Not if they can convince you that 60 votes are necessary!

[Unsane]

8. Obama clearly wants Snowe on board, though.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

40. Snowe said on Hardball yesterday that a Public Option would be a deal breaker for her nt

[Thrill]

2. They don't have to vote for it. They just need to vote for cloture

I find it hard to believe they won't do that

[MarjorieG]

5. I think Nelson said he couldn't be counted upon for cloture- (except for Bush tax cuts)

[Davis_X_Machina]

13. Snowe will vote for cloture...

...the GOP threatened her, and that will only put her back up.

[Atticus]

20. We should not NEED Snowe!

If Joementum, Baucus and the other morally challenged "Democrats" just HAVE to vote against the public option that their party believes is crucial to meaningful health care reform, let them. But, BY GOD, they had better fall in line for the cloture vote or leave the party! They OWE the Democratic Party an "up or down vote" on the public option. Last I checked, even the Republicans were fond of the phrases "Elections have consequences" and "Majority rules".

[Davis_X_Machina]

21. Nice to have a little wiggle room, though. n/t

[Sebastian Doyle]

26. Is Byrd likely to show up for the cloture vote?

I agree with you that the cowards should, at the very least, fall in line for that. But would it still only be 59 votes, if Byrd can't show up?

Of course the Repukes are hypocrites. But we already knew that. Filibusters are only "bad" when they have the majority.

[Bonobo]

3. It takes 51 votes, not 60. Don't buy the lie and it IS a lie.

No amount of maneuvering or manipulation of the facts will ever make it 60. It is 51. Period.

Don't let them convince you otherwise.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

28. Okay, but to get to the point where you need 51 votes, you need 60 votes.

Period. That is a fully accurate depiction of the truth.

[Bonobo]

30. Not exactly.

When the Repubs say Fillibuster, we could say go ahead.


Alternatively, we could keep bringing up only the bill we want to pass since we control the floor.

You forgot that?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

38. You don't understand what a filibuster is. (nt)

[still_one]

4. At least from the perspective of Conrad, according to Ed Schultz it has to do with

Medicare reimbursement, and the smaller states do not get treated fairly

However, that could easily be corrected from Congress also

[MarjorieG]

6. I know, parochial interests trump reform. Why can't we fix what's wrong with Medicare-and take away

excuses.

sp.

[still_one]

23. I agree /nt

[BR_Parkway]

25. At least he's trying to actually represent those who elected him, not those

who flooded his campaign with lobbyist cash.

And you're right, they should fix the reimbursement while they're at it

[SpartanDem]

9. Whether they for it or against isn't the most important issue

it's whether they will block a filibuster

[Rosa Luxemburg]

10. A public option is a must

[stray cat]

12. IF the votes are not there - is it better to keep the status quo?

[Sebastian Doyle]

15. yes it is.

The status quo sucks, but false reform - especially the mandatory corporatist kind - sucks far worse, while also being marketed as "reform", ensuring that REAL reform is never attempted again.

[Autumn]

14. If there isn't a public option, there is

no point in it.

[SpartanDem]

22. My point is it's more important that they just vote for cloture

[Demoiselle]

16. Tom Harkin said today that they have52 votes on the Senate for a P.O.

...So they should do it with reconciliation, which can't be filibustered, or drop the famous "Nuclear Option" and stop the filibuster.
All this crap about a 60 vote majority and "mutually assured destruction" has been used by both sides to maintain the status quo for far too long. It's time to end it.

[Better Believe It]

19. What Republican filibuster?

Challenge them .... don't surrender to a Republican filibuster threat .... especially a phantom one!

Can you name any Senators that have publicly threatened to filibuster against a bill with a strong public option?

[pampango]

24. I think enough repubs know that a filibuster, if it came to that, would kill their party in 2010.

They want to weaken and slow down reform as much as they can, but I bet enough of them see a filibuster as bad politics from a partisan perspective. They would be better off to kill a filibuster, still vote against the reform bill, then campaign against the "big government, Democratic" reform bill.

[Demoiselle]

33. Agreed, too!

It's time to challenge it, one way or another. (Or all ways!)

[Better Believe It]

17. We don't need 60 votes for a public option. That MSM and conservative political propaganda

50 votes will be enough.

[MarjorieG]

35. Only if cloture, because complex wouldn't make it through, whole, as regular policy. They could

lower Medicare, if Congress weren't in the pocket with 50.

[TheKentuckian]

27. Conrad and some of the others are at least theoretically persuadable

The move now would be to agree to have the public option negotiate and in fact give up the whole idea of tying rates to medicaid or medicare at all and then to fix medicaid by increasing the payroll tax by 1-1.5% as well as raising the cap, which I guestimate would fix the hole and allow Uncle Sam to pay out at least at cost or better.
The win is a savings of profits, kingly salaries, and administrative fees. A public plan will shave no less than 15% and as much as 27% off the costs while still compensating providers at least at the cost of service, which medicaid doesn't come close to doing.

Baucus will go with the wind as will most of the conservatives. The hardcore concerns are Lincoln, LIEberman, and possibly Ben Nelson. Lincoln is especially vexing because as we know she is already in trouble and is going against both the party and her constituents overall but still is committed to big insurance and/or conservative ideology.

[butterfly77]

29. Many won't have any votes for them..

come next election..ASSHOLES!

[flpoljunkie]

31. Time to strip Lieberman of the chairmanship of Homeland Security and Government Affairs.

[rvablue]

32. Exactly. Why continue to pander to him if he isn't going to voteYES on the most important Democratic

and Progressive bill in decades?

What are the Dems afraid of? That he might attend the GOP convention in 2012 and endorse the Repub candidate over President Obama? Oh wait....er,...uh....he already did that, didn't he?

Toss him.

[IndianaGreen]

34. Democrats should stop surrendering without firing a shot! Pathetic when they cave like Vichy French

Let the GOP filibuster! We can pound them on a daily basis!

[JNelson6563]

36. Ok, let's think now,

Do you think these two Senators are interested in holding on to their spots on the committees they serve on? Chairmanships?? Ok, no. the answer is no. Lieberman's already on mighty thin ice and though a complete and utter asshole, is not stupid.

I marvel at the lack of understanding of politics here sometimes.

Julie

[Orsino]

37. Fortunately, there's still plenty of time to call the offices of the Goat Fuckers. n/t

[Vinca]

39. They need 60 for the procedural vote to block the filibuster.

No Democrat will be forced to vote for health care, but they sure as hell should stop the filibuster so we can get an up or down vote.