But by all means, figuratively speaking, it should take many of them down. If the House did it, without the Stupak Amendment language, I don’t know how they could ever have any credibility again.

If Pelosi’s ego wasn’t so large, she could have let the Senate come up with something and then gotten it passed it the House. Going the other route is difficult to see, since the Senate has 100 egos the size of Pelosi’s, and none of them would want to look like they are bowing to her.

But now Reid has gotten himself backed into a corner and I can’t see this approach working. Even ignoring the egos involved, I don’t see how they can pass PelosiCare now - after railing about how the Nelson Amendment would make women wish they were living under Taliban rule instead of in the USA, how can the liberals in the Senate vote for PelosiCare when it includes Stupak?

Really, if the progressives can’t get the basics of what they want with supermajorities in Congress, they will never get it. Their liberal dream of universal health care will die on the vine. Will that be the breaking point between them and Obama? And how much incompetence will they accept before having ‘tea parties’ of their own?
http://neoavatara.com/blog/?p=9078

ilk are politically suicidal. This bill to gain control of the American and its culture is the Holy Grail to the progressive movement. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had planned on many Democrat seats as casualties. Even Reid, substantially behind in the polls at home, doesn’t even blink and in fact doubles down on the rhetoric and behind locked door methods used to craft a bill that not only the American people have no idea what it contains, but his own members. They will do whatever they have to do to pass this; no political cost to them is too high, even the Presidency. This is a once in a century opportunity when last November, they fooled millions of American people to let their guard down on false pretenses.

The Senate bill raises taxes. All such bills must arise in the House.

It is coming down to a choice for Democrats: Passing a bill w/o the public option and w/o federal funding for abortions, or pass no bill at all. But not passing a bill is just not an option - nothing is more important.

It will be positioned as a “best we can do for now” blamed on those “conservative” villains Lieberman and Nelson. Followed up with a strong appeal for participation in 2010 by the 18-30 yr olds and black constituencies (whose lukewarm turnout is blamed for the results in NJ and VA), i.e., the strategy will be to build on top in the next Congress or in particular after Obama is re-elected in 2012. And the left will renew its efforts to purge moderates from the party.

Even if Republicans do well in 2010, the numbers will not change such that the GOP will have the 60 votes it would need to overturn what gets passed now. The White House and the Party sees this as a long-term process.

I wish I wasn’t such a pessimist about this.

It looks like we will get either an extremely watered down bill that will be easier to defund, cut and gut or it will be the liberals who kill entirely kill it.

What say you Roland Burris. What say you House liberals.