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Jon Tester Would Vote for Schumer’s Public Option: That’s 51
Firedoglake —
... Jon Tester confirms to Chris Bowers that he'd vote for Chuck Schumer's "level playing field" public option: ...
Tester Pushes Senate Whip Count for Public Option to 51
Daily Kos —
Chris Bowers has the news on Tester. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) would vote in favor of Senator Schumer's "level playing field" public option. This pushes the Senate whip count to 51, even without Joe Biden casting a tie-breaking vote. Since there are now finally 60 active, voting Democrats, it is possible to break any Republican filibuster. Hell, it actually only requires 51 votes to break a filibuster, if Senators were more honest about process. Further, if they didn't even want to both with filibusters, they could always ...
FDL Action Health Care Update: Friday
Blue Virginia —
... about Jon Tester confirming to Chris Bowers of OpenLeft that he'd vote for Chuck Schumer's "level playing field" public option. Based on this, Jane concludes that "there are now enough votes to pass a public option in the Senate" and that "the notion that we 'don't have enough votes' just exploded." ...
Wednesday Morning Open Thread
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth —
... In the Senate, the pressure is now on Majority Leader Harry Reid to craft a real health insurance reform bill. The model is the Senate HELP Committee's legislation, not the Baucus bill. And, here's an idea: no gimmicks. Just include a robust public option. Senators are always coming up with convoluted ideas. We've heard co-ops, triggers and opt-out. How about just doing what a 51 Democratic Senators (a majority, btw) support and the vast majority of Americans want? That means a real public option. ...
Chris Matthews Misleads Viewers on Viability of Public Option
Firedoglake —
... include a public option in any bill that comes to the Senate floor. Harry Reid didn’t sign it because, um, it was ADDRESSED to him. But he’s on the record supporting it. The rest of the Senate leadership didn’t sign the letter either. But Chuck Schumer supports it, as does Dick Durbin. Schumer even challenged Reid to put the public option in the final Senate bill, which is the exact message of the letter.
In fact, public whip counts show at least 51 votes from the Democratic caucus in support.
In addition, this is the wrong ...
Four guys in a room are apparently deciding the future of health insurance reform (and Olympia Snowe is there in spirit)
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth —
... Four votes. Three on our side. Yet, only among Democrats in DC could this scenario work against us. There's strong public support. A majority of Senators support it. The president claims to support it. ...
Monday Morning Open Thread
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth —
... Since an overwhelming majority of the Democratic Senate caucus -- 51 of the 60 Democrats -- support the public option, Harry Reid should include it in the Senate bill. Make the GOP try to take it out. Surely, Obama can secure the votes of all the Democratic Senators, including Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and Kent Conrad, to vote for cloture. They've all got their pressure points -- and Obama should have the pressure. ...
Jane Hamsher: Why is Harry Reid Covering Up A Secret Senate Filibuster?
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
... Here's the truth: there are 51 members of the Senate who are on record saying they'll vote for a public option. That's a majority. You don't need 60. The 60 votes are needed for a procedural vote -- "cloture" -- that would bring a bill to the floor and allow an up-or-down vote. If they can't get those 60 votes, it's called a "filibuster." It used to be a rare occurrence, and traditionally, it's the opposition party who filibusters to stop a vote from taking place. ...
A triggered co-op in the Senate bill shouldn't be an alternative
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth —
... Since there are at least 51 votes for a public option in the Senate, and since reconciliation is still on the table, if we don't end up with a public option it won't be because we didn't have the votes. ...
11/12: Nobody Likes A Triggered Co-Op
Blogometer —
... explains: "Right up until the end of the process, the bill can still be split into two parts: one with the new regulations that requires 60 votes to reach cloture, and one with the public option and subsidies that can be included in the budgetary process and which cannot be filibustered. Since there are at least 51 votes for a public option in the Senate , and since reconciliation is still on the table, if we don't end up with a public option it won't be because we didn't have the votes." What else is happening in the blogosphere? CARPER: You Have Got To Be Kidding Me ...
