Today in Washington, D.C. - Mar 18, 2010 - Desperate For Votes, Obama, Unions Pressure House Dems

Senate resumed consideration this morning of H.R. 1586, the FAA reauthorization bill. At 2 PM, the Senate will vote on an amendment by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) that would establish caps on discretionary spending. After that vote, the Senate will vote on an alternative spending cap amendment from Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR). Further votes on pending amendments to the bill are possible this afternoon.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 63-34 to waive all budget points of order against H.R. 2847, Democrats’ jobs bill, and then voted 68-29 to concur in the House amendment to the bill, clearing it for the president. Also yesterday the Senate voted 98-0 to confirm O. Rogeriee Thompson as a judge for the 1^st Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sources: CBO estimates health care bill at $940 billion Senate Minority Leader McConnell responded the reports of the Democrats being excited that the number came in under $1 Trillion, "“Democrats want to spend trillions of dollars on this bill in order to save $130 billion — one week after voting to add nearly that much to the deficit in a single vote. If Democrats are giddy about this CBO score, then they must get a kick out of higher taxes and Medicare cuts — because that’s what this bill will mean: even higher taxes and deeper Medicare cuts than the Senate bill."

Democrats in Congress are working overtime to try to generate the impression of momentum for their unpopular government takeover of health care. They’ve gone so far as to claim that Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s (D-OH) announcement yesterday that he will vote for the Senate-passed health care bill in the House is a sign of momentum. Of course, folks familiar with the political scene in Washington would know that Kucinich is a long-time supporter of government-run health care, and had simply been holding out because he wanted even more government control of the health care system in the bill.

Certainly, Democrats would not be desperate for Kucinich’s vote if they had the votes to pass the bill. As House Republican Leader John Boehner told reporters this morning, “It’s pretty clear to us that if they had the votes they’d have passed this bill in June or July last year when they wanted to. If they had the votes to pass this, they’d have passed it in September, October, November, December, January, February. And here we are in the middle of March, with a bill the American people know about, all the members know about, and they don’t have the votes.” Below is a video of a press conference after GOP bicameral press conference this morning was covered by all three major networks.


Democrats are pressing their rank-and-file so hard for votes, they now have the president telling House Democrats the fate of his presidency is on the line. According to Politico, “One caucus member told POLITICO that Obama won him over by “essentially [saying] that the fate of his presidency” hinged on this week’s health reform vote in the House. . . . Another caucus member, Rep. Jose Serrano  (D-N.Y.), said, “We went in there already knowing his presidency would be weakened if this thing went down, but the president clearly reinforced the impression the presidency would be damaged by a loss.”

But that’s not the only pressure House Democrats are feeling. Politico also reports, “Democratic donors are letting wavering Democratic incumbents know that their wallets will slam shut with a ‘no’ vote. And big unions, like the AFL-CIO, AFSCME and Service Employees International Union, are shelling out $11 million to run ads and inundate battleground districts, letting Democrats know that they have as much to fear from labor as they do from Republicans. In some cases, labor and associated organizations have taken it one step further — threatening to bankroll primary challengers against conservative Democratic incumbents, including New York Rep. Mike McMahon, a firm ‘no’ vote, and Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln.”

Republicans are united in using every tool available to oppose this massive government takeover and are working overtime to remind House Democrats that the American people oppose this bill. Roll Call notes, “House and Senate Republicans for several weeks have quietly coordinated an intense, disciplined effort to defeat President Barack Obama’s health care reform legislation, timed to scare Democrats just as they prepare for a final vote.” And Politico explains, “[T]he Senate is where Republicans have been plotting for months to sentence [the health care reform bill] to a painful procedural death. Republican aides have been mining the Senate’s arcane parliamentary rules for an attack that aims at striking elements both broad and narrow from the bill, weakening the measure and ultimately defeating it. Their goal is to force changes that leave Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) without 51 votes to pass it, or at the very least, that drive it back to the House for a second vote that drags out the process and saps Democratic resolve.”

Democrats still don’t have the votes to pass the Senate health care bill in the House, and their extreme need for them is showcased in how heavily they’re relying on President Obama and union allies to pressure House Democrats, and how much they’re promoting Kucinich and CBO numbers. But rank-and-file Democrats are also being reminded every day by phone calls, emails, and office visits from their constituents that the American people don’t want this health care bill. Republicans in the House and Senate are united in reminding Democrats why this is the case and that the GOP will not allow Senate Democrats to guarantee passage of fixes House Democrats want to a deeply flawed bill.

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