One, Two, Three, Four, Counting the Votes For Health Reform
Slate's Tim Noah counts the votes for ObamaCare in the House and comes to the conclusion that, without an act of God—or at least a letter from the Pope, who could perhaps flip some pro-life Democrats—there isn't enough support for the bill to pass. For a more cautious, but equally thorough, take on the vote count, see Daniel Nichanian at Campaign Diaries. The best response the bill's supporters have left is to point out that a number of House Democrats who voted against the original bill have (so far) declined to confirm that they'll vote no again. But that's exactly what you'd expect if you gamed out a situation like this: It's probable, given their previous no votes, that none of them want to vote for the bill this time around. But in the interests of not angering their fellow Democrats, they probably don't want to be seen as leading the charge to kill it either.
I've been counting House votes for ObamaCare since the day after Scott Brown won in Massachusetts, and the math has never added up.
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MNG was just telling us how the majority should rule. So if a majority of the House refuses to vote for this, then MNG should be ecstatic.
MNG Shit Facktory was just telling us how the majority should rule.
FIFY
Despite Speaker Pelosi's utterly preposterous claim that House Dems are ready and willing to put "The Good of The People" above any picayune concerns about re-election, I find it extremely hard to believe this thing will make it to a vote.
I don't believe a sufficient number of Representatives are willing to risk allowing some horrendous cobbled-up Frankenstein of a Bill to come to a vote directly from reconciliation, without offering an opportunity to see what's in it.
Of course, I have been wrong before.
I hope you're wrong again. I don't think the President can walk away from this with nothing. It remains to be seen what and how.
Congressional Theater can be fun! It's time to put on (too much) makeup, it's time to light the lights...it's time to get things started on the Health Care Fiasco tonight.
Why do they always do this?
I guess we'll never know
It's kind of like a torture
To watch this Congress blow!
The most sensational, inspirational, multi-...
ah, fuck it. The Muppet Show is too good for these fuckers.
Why did you die from strep throat, Jim? WHY?!? Brian is a hack compared to you. Sure, Farscape was cool, but he can never be you. Why didn't you go to the doctor? WHY?!? It took Steve Whitmire years to do Kermit right. WHY?!? I MISS ERNIE
I read the other day that they are putting parental warnings on the DVD releases of the original Sesame Street shows. Apparently they show child inappropriate things like a child being taken home by a man and his wife and feeding her breakfast. Since we now know that all adults are just child molesters, we can't have children seeing that sort of thing.
So I am actually kind of glad Henson isn't around anymore. He was too good of a soul for these times.
Jim would have fought and brought sense to it. We need him, and he's gone.
It also taught children all the wrong lessons about walking down staircases while carrying multiple banana cream pies.
It is my firm conviction that Eisner gave Henson the fatal illness in that famous handshake for the Muppets deal. Using a disease-covered needle, of course.
They would never have had Cookie Monster extolling the virtues of moderation if Jim were still alive. C is for cookies and not a damned thing else.
They really need to have Waldorf and Statler as guests on Redeye.
In an alternative universe, I'm president and you're vice president (due to that "scandal", you were considered unsuited for the presidential spotlight), regularly implementing this concept:
The best response the bill's supporters have left is to point out that a number of House Democrats who voted for? the original bill have (so far) declined to confirm that they'll vote no again.
I'm assuming you mean "against."
Ordinarily, I would say this just means they are putting their vote up for bids. But, given the savage response by voters to politicians who sold their vote the first time around, I wonder if even that is the case.
Er, yes. All that counting got me confused.
libertarians find it hard to count;-)
Or you could say it this way: "Libertarians don't count."
Reread, sweetpea. I did say it that way.
My wording is cleaner, more direct, damn your hide!
Mine is subtle and intelligent like slow orgas....gotta go.
If they vote this thing through without a single Republican vote, they then own the health care system. Instead of campaigning on some Utopian ideal of "reform", they will have to campaign in defense of a system they and they alone created. Good luck with that.
I don't think the President can walk away from this with nothing. It remains to be seen what and how.
With any luck, he'll limp offstage with a bleeding asshole.
And that bleeding asshole's name is Nancy Pelosi.
If Obama were smart, whenever he was on stage/camera with Pelosi, he'd make jerking off movements to the audience when she was talking (and not looking at him).
Pro Libertate, some days,I know you are 12.
Well, if I were president, I'd certainly use whatever means at my disposal to disassociate myself from the Speaker and, for that matter, the rest of Congress. As inept as Obama is, he's a genius compared to the Congressional leadership.
Obama's the Dipshit who habded it off to Congress. No good, lazy, shiftless...
It's sad that people won't let go of their partisan delusions. The leftists defending wanton waste and stupidity; the conservatives pretending like the GOP is the party of limited government and reduced spending.
RAcist! LOL!
titcr
+1
Lawd, what a Saturday Night Live bit that would be.
If Obama were smart, whenever he was on stage/camera with Pelosi, he'd make jerking off movements to the audience when she was talking (and not looking at him).
Like the monkeys in the zoo? That's...RACIST!!!
"he'll limp offstage with a bleeding asshole".
Keep your fantasies to yourself.
For Obama and Pelosi, health care is ego trip
THIS
BTW, Hillary will be the Dem Nominee in 2012. She has said she doesn't plan to be SoS for more than a total of 4 years. I figure after the midterm blow out, the party will be willing to dump Obama for someone with a great deal more experience. 2-4 years as SoS make her look good on the international front.
I expect her to begin to announce around Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Is she a good SoS? I rather think she isn't particularly good. Experience doesn't mean just holding a position, after all. And God knows what kind of split a run like that would engender in the party.
Nah, they're stuck with Obama.
IF Hillary's going to run against Obama, she needs to wait for a decent interval after the mid-terms, but not too long, as you need at least a year to get your primary machine running. Lots can happen, but if she's going to run, she needs to announce by this time next year.
Oddly enough, the one thing that will cripple Obama as a candidate will probably wreck her candidacy as well - a foreign policy/national security disaster. Of which there are no shortage of, err, candidates.
I think 10% unemployment, trillion dollar deficits will do plenty to cripple Obama's election chances thank you. If anything, a big national security disaster might get the dumb bastard re-elected. People tend to go with the devil they know in times of crisis.
Unless he fucks it up. Not the GWBush fuckup of invading random countries (THAT will get you re-elected), but being all sniveling, equivocating and chamberlin-like that will confirm that he isn't "tough enough" to be president.
Yes. When I said "I expect her to begin to announce around Thanksgiving or Christmas" I meant leaking hints.
I wonder if I could take another grand from my mother-in-law betting against a Hillary nomination. Hillary won't run until the recovery begins, 2016 or 2020.
She will be too old by then. Maybe 2016. but not 2020
I rather think she isn't particularly good.
Snap out of it, pro Lib; this is "public service" we're talking about. Qualitative judgements are unfair.
I dunno, I thought her gift of a big red button to the Russians was quite droll.
We have a disease in this country. Otherwise, junior senators, First Ladies, and scions of previous presidents wouldn't be on the top of the list for presidential candidates.
Oops, I left off short-term governors and openly corrupt plaintiffs attorneys.
You can burn the flesh off of Pelosi's body, but she keeps coming back. She wont be stopped.
Senator Kent Conrad said on MSNBC today: "I think changes to abortion would probably not be permitted under reconciliation and the Byrd Rule requirement."
If Conrad is correct, then the House would have to pass the Senate bill's taxpayer-funding of abortion provisions. Pro-life Democrat Bart Stupak has said that the abortion issue will cost Pelosi at least 10 of her original 220 "yes" votes for the current proposal. One of those 10, James Oberstar of Minnesota, firmly told Congressional Quarterly on February 24, "I will not vote for a health care bill that doesn't have the House abortion language in it."
Back in November, Nancy Pelosi assented to an up or down vote on Stupak's anti-abortion-funding amendment because she could not pass the bill without Stupak's coalition of pro-life Democrats. Pelosi cannot resort to this maneuver again (and even if she could it's not clear the pro-choice members of the House or Senate would go along with it).
Supposedly, tomorrow Obama/Pelosi/Reid are going to announce a new, stripped-down health care bill.
If its going to be structured as an amendment to the Senate bill, then the House will have to pass it, and the vote-counting exercise to date is still valide.
If its going to be a shiny new bill, then I would expect it to be DOA in the Senate under the filibuster.
Either way, the Dems are setting themselves up for weeks more thrashing around on health care, a prospect that can only damage their prospects.
Meanwhile, the unemployment numbers are expected to be brutal. Think about this for a moment. The Democrats have spent the last year trying to enact a 1.5 trillion dollar health care bill. And yesterday they introduced a $15 billion "jobs bill". If there has ever been a more out of touch and less politically astute administration than this one, it hasn't been in my lifetime.
Either way, the Dems are setting themselves up for weeks more thrashing around on health care, a prospect that can only damage their prospects.
Aye. And it's soooo delicious. I'm getting some popcorn, cracking a couple cold ones, and sitting back to bask in the heat generated by their thrashing misery.
Man, I love the Count
"Ah, ah, ah! Come Elmo, help me count the tears of the Democrats as their health bills crash and burn! One! One tea...Two..Three!! Ah, ah, ah! FOUR!! FOUR tears, Elmo! Ah, ah, ah! Fivesixseveneight, NINE! Nine Tears! The Count has never counted to nine this fast, Elmo! Ah, ah, ah!"
The Count rules!