After a long day of acid, partisan debate, Senate Democrats held ranks early Monday in a dead-of-night procedural vote that proved they had locked in the decisive margin needed to pass a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health care system.
via Health Bill Passes Key Test in the Senate With 60 Votes – NYTimes.com.
Something is better than nothing. While this bill lacks a great many things, the insurance reforms and subsidies are extremely important.
It is odd to read things like this:
The Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, lashed out at Democrats in his closing speech, charging that they were defying the will of the American people, and that Mr. Obama was breaking numerous campaign promises. “If the people who wrote this bill were proud of it, they wouldn’t be forcing this vote in the dead of night,” he said.
It’s odd because if not for a long series a parliamentary maneuvers designed to delay things by the Republican minority, it would have long since been done. He’s complaining about votes in the middle of the night when their tactics are what necessitates it. It’s the same disingenuous bullshit that’s marked the GOP approach to the subject of health reform from the beginning of the process. Their standard process is to simply lie about things, stamp their feet and act like badly behaved 2nd grade children. Good luck with that.
