Today in Washington D. C. - Oct 28, 2009 - Congress Wake Up - Smell the Coffee - Enough is Enough!

Yesterday, the Senate voted 97-0 to confirm Irene Cornelia Berger as District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia. Also, the Senate invoked cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3548 the unemployment insurance extension bill, by a vote of 87-13. Today, the Senate is now in post-cloture debate on H.R. 3548 which is expected all day unless a time agreement is reached or time is yielded back.

HEADLINES: On Capitol Hill from time to time, today is a day where the headlines tell an important part of the story: AP: “Dem Moderates Challenge Reid on Health Care Plan”; Reuters: “U.S. Senate healthcare bill draws skeptics, opponents”; AFP: "Key US Senators may balk at health bill"; The New York Times: "Democrats Divided Over Reid Proposal for Public Option"; The Washington Post: “Centrists unsure about Reid’s public option”; The Wall Street Journal: “Reid’s Push for Public Option Creates New Barriers for Bill”; Fox News: “Reid Hits Roadblocks in Bid to Pass Health Bill With Government Insurance Plan”; CNN: “Public option would lead him to filibuster, key senator says”; The Washington Times: “Reid’s public option plan splits Democrats.”

As the AP story explains, “Democratic moderates who control the balance of power on health care legislation balked Tuesday at a government-run insurance option for millions of Americans, underscoring the enormity of the challenge confronting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid one day after he unveiled the plan as a consensus product.”

Indeed, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) told The New York Times, “I am pressing to get a government-run, taxpayer-supported public option out of the bill.” Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) told Fox News’ Major Garrett that if a government-run insurance plan increased the deficit, “I would have just a very hard time moving forward on something like that.” Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) explained to members of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, “A government-funded option is something that I think is not the way to go.” According to The Washington Post last week, “Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) also criticized the opt-out approach and urged Reid to leave the public plan out of the bill. ‘I applaud his effort,’ Nelson said of Reid’s attempt to find common ground. ‘But it’s too risky.’” And of course Politico reported yesterday that Sen. Joe “Lieberman [I-CT] added that he’d vote against a public option plan ‘even with an opt-out because it still creates a whole new government entitlement program for which taxpayers will be on the line.’”

Yet for all their declarations about serious problems with Reid’s health care proposal, none of these Democrats committed to voting against this proposal when it really counts, on cloture on the motion to proceed. The Hill reported yesterday, “The American people -- not to mention Senate Republicans -- will treat a vote for cloture on the chamber’s healthcare reform bill as a vote in favor of ‘the substance of the bill,’ top Senate GOPers said Tuesday. Even for those lawmakers who vote with Democrats to end debate but ultimately opt not to support the bill when it is up for a final vote, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) stressed their early support would still be treated as an endorsement of ‘a half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts, $400 billion in new taxes and higher insurance premiums for everyone else.’” As Sen. McConnell explained, “We all recall Senator Kerry’s strained way in the 2004 campaign of explaining why he voted for [the Iraq War] before he voted against, and I think it is perfectly clear that most Americans will treat the vote to get on the [healthcare] bill as a vote on the substance of the bill.”

Reid and the White House will be leaning heavily on Democrat Senators to vote for cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill. But if they cooperate, the Senate will have lost its best opportunity to start over and change the fundamental structure of the health care reform bill from something that raises taxes, raises insurance premiums, and cuts Medicare to the kind of reform Americans truly want.

As Sen. McConnell said today, “Americans have issued their verdict. They’ve been clear. They’ve said that enough is enough. No government plan. No more debt. No more government takeovers.” Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, said, "At nearly $1 trillion in spending and tax increases, the Democrat health care bill is a bad deal for taxpayers, but it's a worse deal for American seniors, and senior citizens deserve to know about it. Included in the Democrat health care plan are massive cuts in what's known as Medicare Advantage; $162 billion in reductions in this popular program." Democrats who vote for cloture on the motion to proceed will be sending a signal that they aren’t listening. Congress: Wake Up - Smell the Coffee - Enough is Enough!

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