As we all know by now after Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson ended his hold-out for supporting BO's universal healthcare bill over the weekend, the Senate voted along party lines @ 1 AM Monday 60 Democrats to 40 Republicans for the first of three cloture votes necessary to bring the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (or substitute amendment) to the Senate floor.
The arcane Senate procedures require additional cloture votes @ 7 AM Tuesday & 1 PM Wednesday before the bill comes to the Senate floor between 7 & 9 PM Christmas eve. If one Democrat jumps ship during the cloture votes without picking up a Republican vote the bill will die for now. There are numerous messages all over the internet urging people to continue the drill of contacting your senators asking them to vote against the bill. In this regard Mike Huckabee was in Nebraska yesterday asking Senator Nelson to reconsider - Governor Huckabee's rally drew over 1,800 people on only one day's notice just a few days before Christmas so if this is important to you I recommend that you do your part also. Not all 60 Democrats are on board for all of these cloture votes so your effort may not be in vain. It only takes 51 votes on Christmas eve to pass the actual bill.
Now the value of Senator Nelson being the 60th vote necessary to keep this monstrous bill alive can best be quantified by realizing that in exchange for Nelson's support Congress agreed to pay Nebraska's Medicaid expansions forever thereby ending the principle of Medicaid being a federal-state partnership - @ least in Nebraska. This makes small change out of the other bribes like for Connecticut's Senator Christopher Dodd getting a $100 million earmark for a hospital at the University of Connecticut, Vermont Senators Pat Leahy and Bernie Sanders getting an extra $250 million in Medicaid funding, Florida Senator Bill Nelson getting three counties carved out of Medicare Advantage cuts that will happen everywhere else in the country, & the detestable whining Senator Mary Landrieu getting $300 million for her pet projects in what has become known as the "Louisiana Purchase." Source AFP.
Many people are saying that Ben Nelson's capitulation should cost him his political career but those of us who believe in the principles of "Death Of Democracy" realize there is a good chance that @ least in the short run he will be seen as a hero in Nebraska - the only place where he is up for reelection.
As the great Whitney Ball wrote to Carol & me earlier this month - "As this year of government encroachment comes to an end, may your holiday season be filled with the hope of true & abiding liberty."
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