Thursday, January 21, 2010

Pulling Life Support?

 Not good news:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just told reporters that she does not believe she has enough votes in the House to pass the Senate health care reform bill as-is—at least not yet. “I don’t see the votes for it at this time,” Pelosi said. “The members have been very clear in our caucus about the fact that they didn’t like it before it had the Nebraska provision and some of the other provisions that are unpalatable to them.”
“In every meeting that we have had, there would be nothing to give me any thought that that bill could pass right now the way that it is,” she said. “There isn’t a market right now for proceeding with the full bill unless some big changes are made.”

Since Madam Pelosi has been the only person in Washington to regularly deliver the votes, you can asssume that the rest of the agenda is in serious danger. The two big ones climate change and financial regulation are surely going to be tough in the current atmosphere. Unless something changes, in a big way, the Dems in Congress are going to spend the rest of their time this year running for cover and moving to the right and all because they are misreading the election results in Massachusetts. It was about a failure to lead effectively and not about the so called 'overreach'. People wanted what was promised...it's as simple as that.

I am serious when I say I don't want to hear the word 'bipartisanship' uttered anymore. The GOP is going to say no to anything and everything that is offered unless it lowering taxes on the rich and screwing the middle class. They might approve another war or two but that is about all you can expect. So far, their campaign of saying NO to everything is working for them and I am sure they see no reason to change after Mass.

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