Suddenly, Harry Reid is saying “There is no rush”
Thursday, January 28th, 2010While the White House and leftwing activists may be in denial about the results of last week’s special election in Massachusetts, a number of politicians appear to be getting the message. In the immediate aftermath of Scott Brown’s stunning upset victory, the White House was defiant and determined to pass ObamaCare. Having lost their 60-vote supermajority in the Senate, Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi quickly began discussing the available options for muscling their socialized medicine scheme through Congress.
Two plans emerged. One, called the “ping pong” option, would have the House pass the Senate’s bill with no amendments. But two days after Brown’s win, Pelosi said she didn’t have the votes to pass the Senate bill because of major differences. That left Democrats with reconciliation as their last option.
It’s a tricky legislative procedure, but it requires only 51 votes to pass the Senate. Major leftwing groups like SIEU, AARP and MoveOn.org were demanding Democrats move quickly to ram Obamacare through using the reconciliation process. For the past few days, it seemed likely that the Reid and Pelosi would try it.
Conservative groups were quick to sound the alarm, and our efforts are making a difference. Late yesterday evening, Politico reported that at least eight Senate Democrats (including Connecticut Independent Joe Lieberman) had expressed outright opposition or strong reservations to using this trick to pass a bill that nearly 60% of the public opposes. Suddenly, Harry Reid is saying “There is no rush” to pass ObamaCare.