Today in Washington D. C. - Nov 18, 2009 - Reid & Democrats Want Health Care Vote Next Week - What 's in the Bill?

Update (4:53 pm): The Washington Post: Reid to unveil $849 billion health-care bill
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Yesterday the Senate voted 70-29 to invoke cloture on the  nomination of Judge David Hamilton to the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals.  today, a vote is expected on the nomination.  After that, the Senate will take up S. 1963, a veterans health care bill.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 100-0 to pass H.R. 3082, the $133.9 billion fiscal year 2010 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill.  Prior to passage, the Senate rejected, by a vote of 57-43, an amendment Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) which would have prohibited funding to outfit prisons in the United States to house Guantanamo Bay detainees.

In the House, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) urged opposition to H.R. 3961, the Pelosi “doc fix” bill that will add more than $200 billion to the deficit: "With the national debt rising above $12 trillion, and less than two weeks after House Democrats rammed through the $1.3 trillion Pelosi health care plan, now comes a $200 billion deficit spending bill. Under the guise of helping doctors, one analysis projects that Speaker Pelosi’s latest health care bill will cost taxpayers nearly $2 trillion over the next 75 years. As unemployment continues to rise, it seems there is no level of federal spending and national debt that Washington Democrats aren’t willing to pile on struggling families and future generations. This latest proposal is being brought forward because Democrats refuse to address health care reform in a fiscally responsible way.  We should not reward their budget-busting health care plan with yet another deficit spending bill.. . ."

ABC is reporting, "Bill raising doctor fees under Medicare would cause premiums to increase."

Today at 5 pm, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will present the health care reform bill to Democratic senators at a special caucus meeting. Senate Democrats have been saying that they want to hold the first vote on Reid’s health care bill so the Senate can move to the bill before the Thanksgiving recess next week.  But that may prove difficult, given the the reluctance of a few key Democrats to vote for the bill.

Last month, eight Democrat senators wrote to Reid, demanding “complete budget scores” from the Congressional Budget Office and full legislative text posted for “at least 72 hours prior to the first vote to proceed to the legislation.” Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mark Pryor (D-AR), and Jim Webb (D-VA) wrote, “The legislative text and complete budget scores from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) of the health care legislation considered on the Senate floor should be made available on a website the public can access for at least 72 hours prior to the first vote to proceed to the legislation.”   But Reid is likely to only have a preliminary, rather than full, CBO score for the bill this week.   Will Sens. Lincoln, Bayh, Landrieu, Lieberman, McCaskill, Nelson, Pryor, and Webb vote to move to a health bill without 72 hours for reading it or without a full CBO score?

The New York Times writes today, “Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, says he is not sure he is ready to help a Democratic health care proposal clear even the most preliminary hurdle: gaining the 60 votes his party’s leaders need to open debate on the measure later this week. Two of his fellow Democrats, Senators Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, are proving tough sells as well, raising the prospect that one or perhaps all three of them could scuttle the bill before the fight over it even begins on the Senate floor.” The Times notes, “There is no Republican on whom Mr. Reid can count for support in the procedural vote. . . . Senators Landrieu, Lincoln and Nelson have all said they cannot commit to backing the preliminary step until they see the final legislation, which is being written by Mr. Reid and his lieutenants and could be unveiled as early as Wednesday.”

The NYT also explains that all three have been skeptical of several provisions expected to be included in the bill, such as a government-run insurance plan. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said last month, “We all recall Senator Kerry's . .  2004 campaign of explaining why he voted for it before he voted against, and I think it is perfectly clear that most Americans will treat the vote to get on the bill as a vote on the substance of the bill.”

So will Democrat senators who have expressed their reservations about the substance of this health care bill vote to move forward with it and then try to explain later why they opposed it? Will Democrats who said they need a full CBO score vote to proceed to a health bill that only has a preliminary one? We may know by the end of the week. Reid and most Senate Democrats appear to want the health care vote next week. Don't Care What 's in the Bill?

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