Harry Reid grows half a set; says he'll ditch bipartisanship for healthcare reform

[HopeOverFear]

Some good news...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he'll ditch bipartisanship in the Senate if it means getting a health care reform bill.

"As important as bipartisanship is – and it is very important – it’s not as important as helping the millions of Americans that have no health insurance."

Bipartisanship isn't very important. The United States was built upon fierce partisanship. Nevertheless, Harry Reid is right (choke, cough) and I'm glad that if he's finally going to take a stand on something, it's this issue.

[Raine1967]

1. I will believe it when it happens

My faith in that man is lower than the GOP lately.

[T Wolf]

4. Yeah. As my grandfather used to say, "I'll tell him when he comes in." Meaning, I do not

believe what Harry is saying and will not until he produces a good bill for Obama to sign.

Anything short of that will be a failure - something we are unfortunately very used to.

[snake in the grass]

20. My feelings exactly.

Reid is a slug and a coward of the highest order. As much as I despise Bush (and I do), I despise Reid more. Bush is like the dog that chews the sofa; it's his nature. In W's case, it's his nature to be a turd. Reid should know better, but does nothing more than take up space and breathe our air.

[4lbs]

2. I guess he too put his finger in the air and measured the political winds.

That corporate-sponsored poll that showed that 80% wanted a public health option, 80% wanted everyone covered by health insurance regardless of any pre-existing condition, and 75% wanted some expansion of Medicare coverage.

So, he must have seen that and thought "Crap! I'm on the wrong side here!". He suddenly shifts his stonewalling to be staunchly in favor of real reform?

[redqueen]

3. It is important

if you want to keep the crap excuse for a majority that we currently enjoy.

As crap as it is, it's better than having a repuke congress making things even *more* difficult.

[HopeOverFear]

5. Maybe Obama twisted his arm

sat his ass down and said "look here you wimp"...lol

[SeaLyons]

6. Maybe he's been tuning into the Ed Show...

:rofl:

[rudy23]

7. delete--misread heading

[flpoljunkie]

8. Talk is cheap.

[depakid]

11. and harry is one big talker....

let's see if for once, he has the bite to back it up.

[Cleita]

9. Well when he starts talking about improving Medicare and making it available

to everyone, not just seniors, I'll applaud him and not before.

[vaberella]

10. Only after Nancy Pelosi said...no Public Option no health reform. n/t

[Fovea]

12. I told Jolie Justice to tell him

when she talked to him early this week, to jab less, hook more-- to forget about points, that this fight wasn't golden gloves.
To tell him my life depended on the public option.

Maybe she did. Maybe he listened.
Stranger things have happened to me.
Hell, I had a stroke and two heart attacks on the same fucking day at 46, and lived to whine about it to y'all.

[EC]

13. This tells me he finally has the votes

and won't need the pukes...

[karynnj]

18. I hope that you are right - it does seem to be a reasonable conclusion

because you won't make that point if you didn't know you could carry it off.

[Better Believe It]

14. Will Senator Reid require Senate Republicans to filibuster on the Senate floor and not "phone it in"

Will Senator Reid require Senate Republicans to actually filibuster on the floor of the Senate rather than allow them to "phone in" their filibuster until 60 quorom votes are achieved?

In current practice, Senate Rule 22 permits filibusters in which actual continuous floor speeches are not required, although the Senate Majority Leader may require an actual traditional filibuster if Senator Reid so chooses.

[karynnj]

19. He doesn't have to let them do either under reconciliation

[Better Believe It]

23. Some Dems are claiming reconciliation can't work and shouldn''t be done

[karynnj]

24. Yeah - I saw Conrad's comment

One question I have is whether Bush used it to get the tax cuts. When the issue first came out - when they were voting the budget - that was used as an example. Yet, that would make Conrad's position silly - because that clearly was not budget neutral. It looks like that was the case - because it only got 59 votes, not the 60 that otherwise would have been needed - and it says only half the votes were needed.

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 106th Congress - 2nd Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 8 )
Vote Number: 197 Vote Date: July 14, 2000, 11:13 AM
Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Bill Passed
Measure Number: H.R. 8
Measure Title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to phaseout the estate and gift taxes over a 10-year period.
Vote Counts: YEAs 59
NAYs 39
Not Voting 2

Can anyone explain this? I have always though Conrad one of the most serious, straight forward Senators, so it is hard to reject out of hand, his opinion on this. Is this a case where he likely doesn't think that 2 wrongs make a right and that it was wrong then too?

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=2&vote=00197

[Arkana]

15. Translation: "Rahm Emanuel gave me atomic wedgies and stole my lunch money

every day until I grew a set of testicles."

[DailyGrind51]

16. Don't hold your breath!

[uponit7771]

17. Someone will catch him shoppin for the KY before the end of the day

[Vinca]

21. Harry always talks big . . . then something happens and the spine melts.

[Juche]

22. bipartisanship is based on the assumption that everyone is rational and concerned with good outcomes

None of that is true in today's political climate. The biggest fear of the GOP isn't that the public option won't work, it is that it will work too well and people, if given a choice, will pick the public option.

How can you have bipartisanship with a group like that? A group that thinks our rights and freedoms need to be taken away because we might use them in a way that threatens their idealogy? That is the attitude of a theocracy. You can't have bipartisanship with theocrats or rabid idealogues.

[Phx_Dem]

25. Harry's "pair" always seems to shrink like he took a swim in ice water

every time the GOP says BOO! I'll believe it when Harry actually takes some action.