(the official time of course, we all know they wont get started until 5pm on Wednesday, ha ha)
Divided Senate Opens Health Care Debate
By AP / RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Monday, Nov. 30, 2009
WASHINGTON) — With the Senate set to begin debate Monday on President Barack Obama's signature domestic issue, the all-hands-on-deck Democratic coalition that allowed the health care reform legislation to advance is coming apart.
While majority Democrats will need 60 votes again to finish, some in the party say they'll jump ship from the bill without tighter restrictions on abortion coverage. Others say they'll go unless a government plan to compete with private insurance companies gets tossed. Such concessions would enrage liberals, the party's heart and soul.
(See 10 players in health-care reform.)
There's no clear course for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to steer legislation through Congress to the president's desk. You can't make history unless you reach 60 votes, and don't count on Republicans helping him.
But Reid is determined to avoid being remembered as another Democrat who tried and failed to make health care access for the middle class a part of America's social safety net.
(See the year in health.)
"Generation after generation has called on us to fix this broken system," he said at a recent Capitol Hill rally. "We're now closer than ever to getting it done."
Read more:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1943393,00.html#ixzz0YLtMQHsrRelated, "MIT Economist Confirms Senate Health Reform Bill Reduces Costs and Improves Coverage"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x24929
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