As with Cap and Trade, the fate of the horrendous healthcare legislation that the House passed now lies with the U.S. Senate. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said on “Face The Nation” that the healthcare bill was “Dead on arrival” in the Senate. One can only hope that Senator Graham is right.
Despite the fact that Graham is in favor of a Cap and Tax type energy bill in the Senate, the sometimes (well let’s face it, most of the time) moderate Senator appears to be against any healthcare bill which contains a public option. Graham said on “Face The Nation”:
“The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate,” Graham told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Just look at how it passed. It passed 220 to 215. It passed by two votes. You had 39 Democrats vote against the bill. They come from red states, moderate Democrats from swing districts. They bailed out on this bill. It was bill written by liberals for liberals and people like [Sen.] Joe Lieberman are not going to get anywhere near the House bill… it is a non-starter in the Senate.”
Nancy Pelosi’s House of Representatives, which has squeaked out a win for Cap and Trade and now healthcare, is less like a House of Representatives and more like a House of we’ll do whatever the heck we want to do because we know better.
Any bill in the Senate must attain 60 votes to pass, at this point it’s unlikely that they have the votes, Senator Graham seems to think not. The problem is arm twisting and promises will be coming from the White House and the leadership, it should be interesting. You can’t relax the pressure on your Senators; they need to hear from you now more than ever.