A key Democratic senator in health care reform negotiations said Sunday that his party lacks the votes to pass a bill through Congress on its own.Let's back that one on up and take a look at that.Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota told the ABC program "This Week" that the issue affecting every American and more than 15 percent of the U.S. economy requires broad support.
Asked if Democrats could push through a bill without Republican support, Conrad said: "It is not possible, and perhaps not desirable either."
There are 255 Democrats in the House out of 435 seats, or 58.6%. There are 60 out of 100 Senators in the Democratic caucus right now, an even 60%.
58.6% and 60% majorities are not enough to pass legislation. In fact, Conrad doesn't say that "there's an issue" or "we don't have the support" or "we can't get this bill on the floor", he specifically says it is not possible to pass this bill without the Republican party.
Why is it not possible? It is more than possible to do so mathematically. But Kent Conrad is telling us that it isn't. He's telling us it is impossible, despite having such a large majority and a President of the party in the White House.
Why is Kent Conrad saying this? Which party does he work for? Which interests does he work for? How can he explain this statement to his constituents in North Dakota who do not have affordable health care right now?
Why is Kent Conrad worried more about Congressional Republicans than he is his own constituents?
And you wonder why I'm worried about the August recess.
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2 comments:
I'm pretty sure he's keeping score and understands that the Democrats have to deal with Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson and quite possibly others. These "moderates" as they are portrayed in the media are in fact conservatives who are well funded by Big Pharma and the Health Insurance thieves. Throw Baucus in that crowd and you have Capitualtion to the Right. I don't blame Dorgan he's probably just stating the facts as they exist right now. I don't think Reid has enough sway with these guys to force them to vote for cloture on this legislation.
BTW I got an email from the Obama crew asking me to write a letter to editor of my local paper to express my desire to have Congress pass healthcare reform this year. Looks like they are gearing up for an information campaign over the congressional break. If they get a 1% response rate from that email more than 20,000 letters will be sent out over the next few days. (I sent out a letter to my local paper.)
I agree. The true fight will be over the recess break.
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