Congress
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
After tonight’s vote to put a health reform bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate for the first time in American history, Senate Democrats vowed to pass it, but acknowledged there would be changes.
“We can see the finish line, but we’re not there yet,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
The contentious public option is one thing that may likely change, Reid acknowledged. He said that Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu, one of the final three Democratic holdouts before tonight’s vote, is working with Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Carper (D-DE) to come up with an “alternative” public option, one that would be “acceptable” to all Democrats."
“It’s going to be a long stretch,” Reid said, but he declared, “We have the momentum."
He said that not all 60 Democrats agree on the bill as it is now, “but they agree on the vast majority.” Reid said they agreed on more than 90 percent of the bill.
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From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
After hours of debating whether to allow debate to begin on a health reform bill, the Senate voted in favor of letting that happen tonight along strictly partisan lines, 60-39.
The outcome had become all but assured earlier today when Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a moderate Democrat from Arkansas, the last Democratic holdout, said she would vote with her caucus.
It is important to realize that this is just the beginning, the opening kickoff if you will. Lincoln, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) have all said they would not vote for a bill that in the end that includes a public option. And more importantly Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has said he would join a Republican filibuster on the back end if a public option is included.
The other wild card: Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Snowe, who voted against cloture tonight, is against the "opt out" version of the public option. But, of course, she is in favor of her "Trigger" option.
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From NBC's Ken Strickland
As was expected after Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) statement yesterday explaining what a vote for cloture would mean, he has now released a statement saying that he will vote with Democrats.
His full written statement after the jump:
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From NBC's Ken Strickland
After reading reports that Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has already told Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) how she'll vote tomorrow on issue of whether to bring the healthcare bill to the floor, Lincoln's office was quick respond.
"No other Senator speaks for Senator Lincoln," Lincoln's spokeswoman told NBC in an email. "She is still reviewing the bill."
Earlier in the day, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat Dick Durbin told several reporters that Lincoln had already made her voting intentions known to Reid.
"She's told Sen. Reid," Durbin said without revealing the substance of the conversation.
A few hours later, Durbin too joined in with clarifying remarks. In a written statement, he said, "In a conversation with reporters earlier today, some of my remarks regarding Sen. Lincoln were unclear and have been incorrectly interpreted.
"Let me be clear: Senator Lincoln has had a number of conversations with Sen. Reid about the health care reform legislation. She has asked important questions and there has been a positive and healthy give and take. But Sen. Lincoln has not yet signaled her intention as to how she will vote on tomorrow's cloture motion. I have worked with Sen. Lincoln for years and know that she will reach a decision that is best for her constituents, her state and the nation."
From NBC's Ken Strickland
At a news conference this morning, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) pre-emptively gave the his answer to the question everyone's been asking over the past few weeks: does Majority Leader Harry Reid have the 60 votes needed to bring the healthcare bill to the floor.
"We're not assuming a thing," Durbin said, "we're working hard to bring all Democrats together for the 60 votes necessary to proceed to this historic debate."
But it's possible Durbin and Reid are playing coy and already know they how the vote will go down Saturday night.
In a gaggle with reporters following the news conference (off-camera), Durbin was asked if he knew how Blanche Lincoln will vote on Saturday. Lincoln has been by far the most tight-lipped of the three Democratic holdouts about how she might vote.
"She's told Senator Reid," Durbin said, but wouldn't answer the obvious follow-up question. "You'll have to ask Senator Reid."
It begs the questions if fellow centrist Democrats Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu have also informed Reid.
Per the Washington Post, the Congressional Budget Office said the public option “opt out” in Reid’s bill “would have relatively little impact on the current system, would charge ‘somewhat higher’ premiums than its private competitors and would draw only about 4 million subscribers. The decision to permit states to opt out of the public plan is partly to blame for the Reid proposal's lack of reach, as it would leave about a third of the people in the country without access to the program, according to the CBO's calculation. But even the national plan approved by the House this month would attract only about 6 million people, the nonpartisan group has said, primarily because it would lack the tools to keep costs and premiums down.”
The New York Times looks at the abortion issue in the Senate bill. "Under the House bill, federal money could not be used 'to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion,' except in case of rape or incest or if the life of a pregnant woman was in danger. Thus, a plan that received federal subsidies for low- and moderate-income people could not offer abortion coverage. Under the Senate bill, insurers would not be required or forbidden to cover abortion. But, the measure says, in every part of the country, the government would have to ensure that there is at least one plan that covers abortion and at least one that does not."
More: "The secretary of health and human services would decide whether a proposed new government insurance plan would cover abortion. In general, if insurers cover abortion, they could not use federal money to pay for the procedure. They could use only subscriber premiums and would have to keep the money separate from subsidies received from the federal government."
The New York Times covers yesterday’s congressional hearing looking at the Fort Hood shootings. “A Senate committee on Thursday opened the first public hearings into the Fort Hood shootings, with several legislators asserting that the incident in which 13 people were killed was a terrorist attack by a homegrown extremist who may have slipped past law enforcement and military authorities. Hours later at a Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced that former Army Secretary Togo West and a former chief of naval operations, Vernon Clark, would lead a broad Pentagon review of the circumstances surrounding the shootings in which 13 people were killed and 43 were injured.”
From NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell and Domenico Montanaro
In the Reid healthcare bill, there is a new 5% tax on elective cosmetic surgery.
Today, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, who is a physician and staunchly opposed to this legislation, suggested on the Senate floor that a woman would be taxed if she had breast reconstruction surgery following cancer.
"In this bill is a 5% tax on cosmetic surgery,” Coburn said. “Just yesterday -- the day before yesterday, U.S. preventive task forces, services, recommended because it's not cost effective that women under 50 not get mammograms unless they have risk factors. Well, you tell that to the thousands of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer lat last -- last year under 50 with a mammogram. You tell them it's not cost effective. Also in this bill is a 5% tax on the breast reconstruction surgery after they had a mastectomy. They're going to tax having your breast rebuilt after your breast is taken off because it is elective plastic surgery. It is elective cosmetic surgery. We're going to have a tax on it because we've taxed elective cosmetic surgery. We're in trouble as a nation because we've taken our eye off the ball."
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From NBC's Ken Strickland
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today said the crucial vote to bring the legislation to the floor will happen "sometime" Saturday. But he was uncertain he had to 60 votes required to start debate.
"We'll find out when the votes are taken," he said during a Q & A with reporters at a rally with supporters.
Assuming Reid can get the bill to the floor, he will face other 60 vote thresholds, including one for final passage. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) made it clear he will filibuster the final passage of a bill that contained any form of a public option.
Responding to a question about his thin margin for error, Reid said he's had recent conversation with Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both from Maine.
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The Boston Globe on the Senate bill: “Senate majority leader Harry Reid unveiled his long-awaited version of a sweeping health care bill last night, setting the stage for a tense Senate showdown pitting Republicans against a fragile and fractured Democratic majority.” The first big vote could come as early as Saturday. Democrats are hoping they have the 60 votes necessary to advance the bill to debate. “The handful of moderate senators who will decide the question seemed likely to support opening the debate.”
The AP: “After months of maneuvering, the Senate stands at the brink of a historic battle over health care with President Barack Obama and his allies on one side and Republicans, outnumbered but unflinching, on the other.” Delay, delay, delay? Mitch McConnell’s response: “Now it's America's turn, and this will not be a short debate.”
The DNC says it’s “calling out” McConnell. “McConnell seems willing to use every trick in the book to delay a fair debate and vote on reform. Each day reform is postponed is another day for him to attack it with another distortion. It's a desperate gambit to confuse the American people, derail the effort in Congress, and block reform. Mitch McConnell, we're calling you out.”
“Among the major provisions in the 2,074-page bill is a public health insurance plan that would let states opt out. Lawmakers insisted the bill won't pay for abortion or help illegal immigrants,” the New York Daily News notes. The measure does not have the even more restrictive anti-abortion language the House bill features, which would affect private policies and has created a potential roadblock to passage. Sources said Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch will offer an amendment to make the language the same.”
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From NBC's Ken Strickland
The Congressional Budget Office numbers on the Senate health bill are just in:
- Cost: $849 billion
- 94 percent of Americans are covered
- Reduces the uninsured Americans by $31 million
- Reduces the deficit by $127 billion over the first 10 years
