With an assist from Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scrambled Wednesday to pull together 60 votes for his health reform bill, awaiting all-important cost estimates in hopes of getting the bill to the floor by the weekend.
At around 2:15 p.m., the three moderate Democratic holdouts - Blanche Lincoln, Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson - entered Reid's office for a briefing....
As expected, moderates were the focal point. Salazar ate lunch with Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) in the Senate dining room. Lincoln (D-Ark.) hustled into the Senate reception room for a sitdown with Biden, but she emerged without making any public commitments....
Reid said Tuesday that he is "cautiously optimistic" he can secure the 60 votes he needs to move forward on the bill by this weekend. Reid's bill is expected to include a national government insurance plan with a provision for states to opt out. Reid is also expected to adjust a 40 percent excise tax on high-value insurance plans by raising the threshold at which insurers would pay the fee. He's expected to make up for that lost revenue by proposing an expansion of the Medicare payroll tax.
More here.
Now remember, this is the health care bill that nobody has read. It has not been release. It is NOT the Pelosicare bill. I have to tell you it is SO frustrating that something so important and far-reaching for Americans is being subjected to back-room wrangling, lobbying, and possible threats/bribes. Oh, I mean "earmarks" and promises of a Democrat primary challenge if they don't go along. Is this any way to do the business of governing our country? Is this what our founders wanted from the Federal Government? That they would tell us how to live and die? Say it isn't so!
Please contact your senator THIS WEEK. Your life may depend on it.
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