The GOPers on the Hill are all excited about their newest strategy to kill health care reform. They're going to scare people about what is in the legislation. Not so new, really. That's what the GOP does. But, there's a key line in this article, which many of us have been repeating for months now. Democrats have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Via Roll Call:
Unable to mount a filibuster on their own and calculating that Democrats are on track to send a health care bill to Obama by year’s end, Senate Republicans figure the only way to stop or reshape the measure is to give the public enough time to figure out what’s in it and what they don’t like about it.The Republicans don't matter in this debate. Their "scare" strategy only works if some weak Senate Democrat falls for it. Unfortunately, there are more than a few weak Democrats in the Senate.
Doing that is going to take some time, and the process of amending bills during a floor debate — which can include demanding a 60-vote threshold for all amendments — could provide the minority ample opportunity to slow things down. Republicans could also benefit from some built-in delays, including the fact that Democratic leaders have said they’d like to wait for a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate on the bill before beginning debate.
This is where leadership will matter -- and that means leadership on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
