Its 1am – do you know where your Senators are
December 21, 2009 by St. Lucie Times Staff · Leave a Comment
In the wee hours of the morning, 1:25a.m. to be exact, the Senate held a vote on the health care bill. In a 60-40 vote, every single Republican in the Senate voted to sustain a filibuster and all 58 Democrats and the two Independents in the Democrat caucus voted to defeat a Republican filibuster. This means there could possibly be final approval on the Senate version of the Health Care bill prior to the holiday recess.
You can read and comment on the full Senate health Care bill here. Ezra Klein, at the Washington Post, gives a good summary on changes in the manager’s amendments from Harry Reid’s office here. David Waldman does a really great job explaining what happens next here.
Even if the Senate votes for passage on H.R. 3590 on Christmas Eve, there will still be more to stay tuned for. The House health care bill and the Senate health care bill will then go to committee to be merged. There are significant differences between these two bills. The House bill has stricter abortion language and a government-run insurance plan; while the Senate bill has a tax on high-value insurance plans which is strongly opposed by many House Democrats.
The health care debate is far from over. Even if the Senate Democrats get their approval on Christmas Eve, there will still be a great deal of debate still left to be had after Congress comes back from recess. Beyond just the procedural votes (which will require 60 votes for passage), there will be great debate on a final merged health care bill (which will require 50 votes to pass).
