Tonight at about 8 pm, the Senate will begin the process of voting on the 2000 plus page health care reform bill. First, a brief explanation of the process.
The vote tonight is not to actually pass the bill. In fact, this is only the first step. Tonight the Senate votes on whether or not to consider the bill. Yes, this is government at it’s finest. A vote to decide whether we should proceed and produce legislation worth voting on.
Hi my name was Ted before we started. They call me Bill now.
Passing tonight would put the bill before the Senate for consideration, amendment and modification. If the modified bill ultimately passed the Senate, this bill would be reconciled with the bill passed two weeks ago by the House. The final, compromised bill would then go before the President who could sign it into law. Voila, health care reform!
So this is hardly the high drama of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But there is something in common with the classic Jimmy Stewart movie.
Filibusters!
Tonight could be an epic filibuster. What’s a filibuster you say?
A filibuster can happen when a person or group wants to stifle a bill. Essentially, the Senate rules permit a senator, or group of senators to speak for as long as they wish about any topic they wish. This process can be halted if 3/5ths of the Senate bring the debate to a close by invoking cloture. Tonight that would require all the Democratic Senators plus two Independents to kill any Republican filibuster.
24 hours must have felt like a lifetime to everyone that didn't live to be over 100
The record for filibustering is held by none other than Strom Thurmond back in 1957. He was filibustering against a civil rights bill for just over 24 hours. Strom Thurmond lived to be 101 years old, passing away in 2003.
As of right now, there seems to be a consensus that there will be enough votes to invoke cloture tonight and stop any sustained filibuster attempt.
So why would the Republicans even bother? Well for Republicans who oppose the bill, they have an obligation to do everything in their power to represent their constituents.
She's baaaaaack!
So get ready for it folks. This afternoon, and into the early evening be prepared to hear old white men reading you excerpts from… dun dun dun…
Going Rogue!
Remember, Senators can speak about any topic. They don’t even have to talk about health care reform. Unless 60 Senators are willing to stifle it, one lone Republican can read the Senate the entire text of Sarah Palin’s memoir. Then he can pass it to another and so on.
Without the 60th vote, this can continue all night effectively killing Health Care Reform before it ever gets debated in the Senate.
There are 58 Democrats and two Independents that make up the potential 60 needed votes. The Independents are Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Joe Lieberman. Senator Sanders recently wrote the elegant 2 page “Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Exist Act”. Bumble senses Bernie will vote to stop the old men from reading from Going Rogue. Anyone with a 2 page act probably has no patience for tomfoolery.
That leaves us with Joe Lieberman.
Bumble has a special message for Joe.
LET THEM GO JOE!
You bring the popcorn Bumble, and Joe will let them go!
Please, please, please let the Republicans read “Going Rogue” at least once! It is only fair that they are forced to read it. We can wait a few more hours to know if this bill will be considered, if it means some stodgy old codger is forced to say Sarah Palin’s thoughts out loud. Frankly, this could be the highlight of the debate!
Don’t spoil it by voting too soon. Bumble knows you have a sense of humor Joe. Let em read slowly.
At the very least, the Republicans will be forced to acknowledge what they have in the chamber for 2012.
