One Big, Important Reason Martha Coakley Must Win

[laughingliberal]

If Brown is elected tomorrow the House will, likely, be forced to swallow hard and pass the Senate HCR bill as is with no changes. This would be the only way to get HCR passes without facing the prospect of the filibuster again. I have seen reports that the Republican's attorneys are already ramping up the case that Kirk is only holding that seat until the election is over and that, even if not certified yet, he no longer is allowed to vote. Their contention is that MA law says the appointee holds the seat only until a qualified candidate is elected. They contend that it is not necessary to know which of the qualified candidate has been elected before he gives up the seat.

If you're in MA go vote for Coakley. The HCR bill we are going to get is bad. The Senate HCR bill with no changes from the House side is an unmitigated disaster. It is not likely the bill will be killed. What is likely if Coakley wins is we will get the unadulterated Senate bill.

[no limit]

1. How in the world do you figure that? The bill has 60 votes as is

take away one vote you get no bill, not even the current senate one.

And frankly if it means the senate bill or no bill Im inclined to say no bill is better.

[Richardo]

2. No, if you adopt the Senate bill as-is there is no new vote in the Senate.

It's already passed.

[laughingliberal]

11. Correctamundo! If the House passes the Senate bil lunchanged it goes to the President's desk

This is the precise reason people were alarmed about deciding to do the ping pong. There was some pressure from the Senate side to pass it as is. Thankfully, we did see the President step us for some of the measures in the House bill to be adopted (not a lot granted) such as a national exchange rather that state by state. Doesn't sound like a big deal but it is a big deal to facilitate consistent enforcement. The modifications to the excise tax on employee health benefits is some help, too, raising the threshold and exempting the premiums for dental and vision plans in addition to indexing the threshold. We have also seen the president stand up for decreasing the period of time biotechs can claim exclusivity for their drugs and getting generics out there sooner. If Coakley is the clear winner tomorrow we can continue to push for improvements before the bill is finalized. If we end tomorrow night with a Brown victory or no clear winner, expect the Senate bill to pass by the end of the week.

[FBaggins]

3. The Senate bill has already passed the Senate

They don't have to vote on it again unless it changes.

Bills usually DO change in conference with the House, but either chamber can always vote out the identical bill that has already passed the other chamber.

[WeDidIt]

4. The bill would not have to go back to the Senate if passed as-is in the House

House progressives are exacting promises to alter the bill via a new bill that would go into reconciliation in the Senate if they are forced to accept the Senate bill as-is, though.

[dkf]

5. If the house passes the senate bill it doesn't need another vote in the senate.

I sure do hope Obama is not campaigning on Coakleys being the 60th vote he needs cuz if they fall back on this option it kind of makes a liar out of him.

[Hello_Kitty]

7. It's true if the House makes changes to it. It would have to go back to the Senate. eom

[laughingliberal]

16. I think if Coakley has a clear win tomorrow there will be changes to the Senate bill

but if she loses or there is no clear winner by Wednesday morning this will be the route taken. There would be no other way to get a bill to his desk. I know he favors some changes to the Senate bill (not as many as I would like, obviously) but he wants a bill passed and will take the Senate bill unchanged to get one.

[karynnj]

20. No it wouldn't -he could say the conference bill was better and that was what he meant

No problem. Compared to out and out lies, this one isn't and I believe he said and my agenda - which will be impacted.

[spanone]

8. the senate has voted...past tense

[Hello_Kitty]

6. But people here keep telling me the Senate bill is awesome.

Frankly, that's the bill we're going to get regardless of who wins that seat. There are many, many, other good reasons that Coakley must win, not the least of which is losing Ted Kennedy's seat would be a major psychological blow to Democrats all over the country.

[alfredo]

12. the Senate bill is a mixed bag. I'm not that thrilled with it, but it does have

more than we started with. They say that the Senate is where good legislation goes to die. they weren't able to kill HCR, but it is badly wounded. We are fortunate to get damaged good.

If we lose tomorrow, we need to really mobilized for November. If we can pick up some seats in the Senate, we can then push for more protections to be added to HCR. We need to get angry, and involved.

[sharesunited]

9. The Senate version can't pass the House. Too many Democrats won't accept it.

[dkf]

10. Rahm might shove it down their throats.

[Hello_Kitty]

14. It's a done deal. eom

[dkf]

15. The only out is Van Hollens reconciliation bill

I think this was a preemptive announcement by him to push back on the White House.

[BlueDemKev]

18. Not Likely to Work.....

The problem is that even though House liberals would probably ultimately hold their noses and accept the Senate bill "as is" (better something than nothing), the handful of Blue Dog Democrats who voted for the bill back on Nov. 7 will probably withdraw their support of ANY reform bill after they see Massachusetts, the most liberal state in the country, hand over Ted Kennedy's seat to a Republican.

If Coakley loses tomorrow, health care reform is DEAD...for decades to come.

[laughingliberal]

17. I'm betting if it's the Senate bill or nothing, they'll cave

We really need a Coakley win tomorrow so the House can keep pushing it to the left a little.

[BP2]

13. The bigger fear is keeping the Yellow Dogs from jumping ship IF Brown-noser wins

tomorrow.

The HCR Bill based Nancy's version with only 220 votes in the House as I recall; 218 is necessary. Only one Puke saw the light and voted for it.

If Brown-noser wins tomorrow, any small group (Pro-Choice, Black Caucus, Yellow Dogs, etc.) from the House could jump ship,
and kill the House's support for the Senate's Bill.

And that would be the end of HCR :nuke:

[laughingliberal]

19. Kicking

Very important to get the vote out up there. We aren't going to see the bill killed if she loses, we are going to see the Senate bill with no improvements.