Senate Approves Motion to Proceed on Obamacare

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Senate Approves Motion to Proceed on Obamacare

Written By : Warner Todd Huston

With a 60 to 39 vote, the Senate has passed the motion to proceed to move on with the debate over Obamacare. Again, it is important to note that this is only a vote to begin the floor debate on the bill. It is not a vote to pass Obamacare.

In the Washington Examiner, Byron York has an excellent point when he asks, “why was it so hard for Democrats even to start the healthcare debate?”

The extraordinary thing about the dramatic events surrounding the health care bill in the Senate is that there is any drama in it at all. Lawmakers are simply voting to begin debate on their version of health care reform. Just begin debate — not end it, and not move on to a final vote.

If Democrats, with a 60-vote majority in the Senate, were not able to begin debate on the top Democratic policy priority in a generation — well, that would be a devastating turn of events, both for the party and for President Obama. And yet just starting debate has proved difficult, and only today did the 60th Democratic vote fall in place in favor of beginning the process.

I have made this point myself as it happens. On Nov. 19, I was writing about the sly, underhanded tricks that Reid was using to advance the Senate debate on Obamacare but why, I wondered, are these tricks even necessary? If this bill has the wide-spread support that the Democrats keep claiming it has, why all the dirty tricks, obfuscations, and rules bending?

If this bill was a legitimate bill would all of these dirty tricks be necessary? Further, if this bill had such wide acceptance and agreement among Congress and the people alike, why are Democrats afraid to let everyone see the bill?

York is essentially echoing my point and adding that this bill does not have wide support in Congress or among the voters that Reid, Pelosi, and the President are pretending it has. The fact that Reid had to work so hard to get this thing even to a stage where further debate could be had is telling.

We still have a chance to kill this bill, people. We must keep the pressure on our Congressmen.

tblrk2006

Nothing new here…..just democrats trying real hard to shine up a big o turd and make it look good.
http://quantum-kitty.blogspot.com/ simulacre

but this time they have the votes to bronze that turd…
OJSIMPSON

Look I don’t even agree with this tactic, in fact I hate it because it takes away from a vote already voiced, but the most effective thing would be to start re-calls immediately in any state where democrats are vulnerable who haven’t voted in the senate and house on a final bill. Actually all blue doggers with a republican district need to be attacked and targeted on a wide scale. Not just the ones who aren’t coming up for election in 2010 but maybe even the ones who are.

We have the horses to do this with tea party members in any of the districts where there are blue dog democrats. Let them know that even not voting won’t be enough to keep them in office, they have to have a defeated bill.

They boot heel us, we boot heel them.
boatman47

At one time in our history, the filibuster was, by unwritten rule, reserved for only the most extreme situations. All through the first part of the 19th Century, the SSouthern contingent in the Senate could have successfully filibustered any bill they thought a threat to the expansion and preservation of slavery – they did not.

Things have changed. The filibuster has become the weapon of choice for use by those who wants to defeat a bill by simply not allowing it to be debated. So Sen. Reid first had to get past the Republican filibuster threat. and if he was “sly” or “underhanded” about how he did it, then it is because he learned from masters – Sens. Frist and McConnell.

Filibusters are nothing more than a way to prevent a democratically elected majority from passing legislation. It is a fundamentally anti-democratic tactic, regardless of who uses it

So all that stuff about how the people / voters do not support health care reform – it is political guesswork and an attempt to obscure reality …….. how about Congress has the debate and then votes and then the voters get to express their opinion on how their representatives voted and then we will know. For the time being the reality is that in 2008 the voters gave the Democrats a majority in both houses of Congress based, in part, on the promise to “reform” health care. In the face of that, the Republican threat to use the filibuster to prevent the debate on health care reform makes it look as though the Republican Party doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the results of a democratic election – just like anyone who uses the filibuster.
http://conservativebootcamp.com martinhale

So, hoggo, let’s take a different tack on things. Rather than to force people to respond to you individually, I’ve assembled a sampling of the responses to your commentary from an approximately two-week period back in October, just to make responding to your inanities a bit more efficient.

Cigarettes? Is that the best you can do?

Sheesh. If they can afford cigs, then they can afford the tax.

Posted by D-Vega
2009-09-30 16:45:54

Shut up, hoggo. Nobody cares what you think.

Posted by mightysamurai
2009-10-03 09:49:39

Go f*ck yourself, hog.

Posted by Kingfisher
2009-10-04 10:21:00

How droll, another fart in the wind that is the hollow left, and it’s brainless, thoughtless, emotion laden drones. Providing no facts, false allegations, and/or flat out lies, to make it’s banal point.

Posted by bthewolf
2009-10-01 10:03:14

You keep using those words, but I do not think they mean what you think they mean. Did you copy-and-paste them from the daily talking points memo?

Posted by CavalierX
2009-09-30 12:37:28

Hog, no one cares what you think and no one wants to see you display your ignorance of the Insurance industry. Please have a coke and a smile and shut the fuck up!

Posted by TheBaud
2009-10-07 00:59:15

Gee, spamming and trolling, how attractive.

Posted by Christopher_Taylor
2009-10-10 21:38:23

Shut up Hoggo. Nobody cares what you have to say!

Posted by Bill_Dalasio
2009-10-14 12:42:16

Shut up hoggo, you’re an idiot!

Posted by bthewolf
2009-10-15 00:10:54

Sort of like your bullshit has been proven lies, Hogground. I see you haven’t condemned those lies about Rush, typical liberal hypocrite.

Posted by Dick_Nixon
2009-10-15 21:38:25

Eye, lighten up a tinch. The whole thing is a parody trending toward joke.

Posted by Rickvid_in_Seattle
2009-10-17 19:00:49

Get a sense of humor. Maybe aisle 13 in your local Walmart.

Posted by jasamc
2009-10-17 19:16:25

Or, is you man crush on Obama too strong?

Posted by William_Teach
2009-10-17 17:41:43

I especially like the one from fellow liberal D-Vega on Sept 30th, who was so confounded by your ignorant idiocy that he couldn’t help but offer a comment about it.

The joy here is that this compilation will continue to grow with time as more and more people give you the same basic message:

“Get lost. We don’t care what you think; you’re not very bright; and your opinions are poorly thought through.”

Now you have yourself a hoggerific day out there in WA, marmota monax!

BTW, have you “run rampid” lately? Maybe you “ran rampid” while you were “casting dispersions” on conservatives. Remember “casting dispersions” hoggo? You don’t? It was one of your finest moments here. Maybe a repost will refresh your memory:

…Casting dispersions on the likes of Hal Lindsey is a smear on Christians? That’s a hoot. Hal Lindsy maried four times and given the boot by both his third wife and his church for his sexcapades…

Posted by hogground
July 14, 2008 1:12 AM

Old f*ckups from an old gasbag such as yourself never grow tiring – still as funny as the day it was posted.
BIG

I can’t wait to see what amendments get added to this bill in the Senate. The debate will probably take months. I am hoping that this debate gets pushed into the election cycle so that the Congress critters actually have to face the voters before they cast their votes. If we can push this legislation into 2011, what eventually ends up getting past is going to be more reflective of the will of the people.
boatman47

a) I am not hogground. I do not know who that person is.

b) I am amused. People who claim not to care what I think or say spend large amountds of time writing long posts to say so.

c) I am not responsible for your lives. I feel sorry for you, but do not blame me for the failures in your personal lives and careers.

d) As Hannah Arendt ( and if you do not know who she is, I really feel sorry for you) pointed out, evil is essentially banal. She was talking about the Nazis when she first wrote that, but later extended the thought to all those who – having become prisoners of their fears and fantasies – surrender their objectivity, common sense and decency. The usual response to one of my posts is a personal insult – or a denial of any validity to what I say, but without giving a reason – or a string of irrelevancies posing as logic. Banal.

My point was that filibusters are anti-democratic. They were anti-democratic when Democrats threatened them, they are anti-democratic now when Republicans threaten them. The debate on health care should go forward and whatever version of a bill can muster majority support in Congress should be passed. As conservatives you probably will not like the legislation. So what? You lost the 2008 election. If you want your point of view to govern then go figure out a way to win elections.

You can either engage that point and discuss it like civilized humans – or you can be ……… banal.
Realpolitik

Posted by boatman47
2009-11-22 11:38:44

Bravo! Well said.

Actually,all the consevatives as represented by RWN will benefit by reading Hannah Arendt.
rmiller

At one time in our history, the filibuster was, by unwritten rule, reserved for only the most extreme situations. All through the first part of the 19th Century, the SSouthern contingent in the Senate could have successfully filibustered any bill they thought a threat to the expansion and preservation of slavery – they did not.
Posted by boatman47
2009-11-22 09:18:13

Agreed.

The use of the filibuster will become a bane of our democracy, whether liberals control the legislature or conservatives.

It used to be a desperate measure…..it now seems a regular part of the legislative process.

It goes beyond this bill, and this session….it would appear that in the future, legislation does not need only a senate majority to support it, but a super majority.

Now I know that there are some issues that would be worth that strategem….but does every piece of legislation that comes before the senate deserve such measures?

Are there no more ‘regular’ bills? Especially in the Senate…where super majorities are rare. Are we, as citizens, ready to have all pieces of legislation subject to super majorities?
http://TheNixonTape.Blogspot.Com Dick_Nixon

Posted by Realpolitik
2009-11-22 12:31:45

Talking to another of your sockpuppets Nixon sees, my Nazi friend.
http://PatriotPost.US bthewolf

Actually,all the consevatives as represented by RWN will benefit by reading Hannah Arendt.
Posted by Realpolitik
2009-11-22 12:31:45

Actually,all the liberals as represented by YOU will benefit by reading the COTUS. And realize it does not give congress the power to control ANY industry. It does not give congress the power to MANDATE that Americans buy anything.
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

Posted by boatman47
2009-11-22 11:38:44

Shut up, hoggo. Nobody cares what you think.
http://www.superdickery.com mightysamurai

It used to be a desperate measure…..it now seems a regular part of the legislative process.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so regular if the Democrats weren’t regularly trying to take the American economy out back of the woodshed with $trillion spending sprees.
Scum-Watcher-88

a) I am not hogground

Liar.
You are transparently the troll who has posted under half a dozen variations of the name “groundhog”. The most annoying thing about “people” like you is that you seem to think we are all as stupid as you are.

b) I am amused. People who claim not to care what I think or say spend large amountds of time writing long posts to say so.

I’m amused too.
You are clearly confusing scorn, ridicule, establishing credibility, and putting a known troll in it’s place with actually caring about the content of it’s posts, taking it seriously, and recognizing that it even has a legitimate opinion.
BIG

Actually,all the consevatives as represented by RWN will benefit by reading Hannah Arendt.
Posted by Realpolitik
2009-11-22 12:31:45

Actually, all the liberals will benefit by reading Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. Actually, I wonder if anyone in the White House has ever read anything by either of these authors?
whats_up

Posted by Scum-Watcher-88
2009-11-23 00:12:12

The self admitted liar returns.
whats_up

Posted by rmiller
2009-11-22 13:00:54

RMiller,

How much of this problem is because we dont actually make the Senate filibuster any longer. We just let them threaten to do so. It would be nice if the Senate made Senators actually fillibuster.

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