According to one of my favorite internet news sites, TalkingPointsMemo, things are breaking on the Senate side of the healthcare reform process, and we may have our much awaited cloture vote this weekend.
Several things seem to be happening:
* Harry Reid meeting with moderate Senate Democrats
* The Congressional Budget Office released its analysis of the Senate bill, and the numbers look good. The CBO projects the bill will reduce the federal deficit by $127 billion over 10 years.
The Senate plan will cover 94% of Americans by 2019.
Details below the fold:
Democratic leadership has distributed figures to reporters from a CBO analysis of Senate health care legislation. The numbers affirm what we reported this morning–that Majority Leader Harry Reid is very pleased.The health care bill–which includes an opt-out public option–will require $849 billion over 10 years in new spending, to be paid for with cuts to Medicare, while reducing the deficit by $127 billion.
In that time it will extend coverage to 31 million Americans–94 percent of citizens will be covered by 2019.
Over the second 10 years, CBO projects even greater cost savings–up to $650 billion, with the caveat that after 10 years, their analyses become highly uncertain.
This meets all of President Obama’s goals, and, as has been the pattern during this legislative process, the Senate bill comes at a lower cost, and with greater cost-savings than the House bill, while the House bill covers more Americans.
TPM also says Ben Nelson appears to be supporting this version.
Nothing I can find on whether the Senate version has anything like the Stupitt Amendment.
Discuss
6 Comments . Comments are closed.Keep in mind this closure vote ...
is a vote to proceed with the bill and bring it to the floor for debate, amendments, etc.
Nelson key for two reasons
1) He is backtracking from comments that he would not support a bill w/o Stupak language-this gives over pro-life Dems cover to vote for the bill
2) He is the most conservative Dem in the Senate according to National Journal, again this gives cover to other Senators (Lincoln, Pryor, Bayh and Landreiu spring to mind) to vote FOR the bill.
Gets the number from 60 to 50
I know it's just the cloture vote and is just procedural. But if cloture passes, the filibuster is over and we only need 50 votes to pass the whole. Plus it leaves Joe LIEberman (I-Aetna) hangin in the wind.
I believe there is another closure vote to end debate ...
that's where some of the initial 60 might be an issue. What if Nelson doesn't like the end result?
Correct.
This is an initial procedural vote to get the bill to the floor. It is then debated, amended, etc. And then there is another cloture vote to proceed to a vote to pass the bill.
I've never understood the opt-out.
States aren't being asked to fund this, are they? I know some governors have threatened to do this if given the chance, but politically how do you go to your people and say, "I don't believe you should have a right to pursue all your options."?
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