Will Reid Lose His Senate Seat To Take The Hit on Health Care?

[babylonsister]

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/11/will-reid-lose-his-senate-seat-to-take-the-hit-on-health-care/

Will Reid Lose His Senate Seat To Take The Hit on Health Care?
By: Jane Hamsher Friday September 11, 2009 10:40 am



Harry Reid is losing in his own state of Nevada to what amounts to "generic GOP opponent." Charlie Cook just downgraded his 2010 race to a tossup.

But that brings up an interesting question. It will be up to Reid to combine the Senate Finance Committee health care bill with the HELP Committee bill. And at that time, he's either going to have to choose to include the HELP Committee's public option, endorsed by Ted Kennedy, or not.

Members of the Senate have said repeatedly that "we don't have the votes" for a public option. But as Kagro notes, this must mean that there are Democratic Senators who are willing to join with the Republicans and filibuster the Ted Kennedy bill:

To say that no plan with a public option can pass the Senate means -- when there are 60 Democratic votes-- that Democrats like Bayh and Baucus will have to stand with Republicans in filibustering a public option in order to prevent it from getting to a vote. Unless Bayh and Baucus are saying there aren't 50 votes for it, either, which is certainly something I haven't heard said yet.

As Chris Bowers notes, no Democratic Senators "oppose" the public option, they just say the votes aren't there. So who are these Senators? Will we ever get a chance to find out?

The Majority Leader keeps his job by making his fellow Democratic Senators happy, and keeping them from being put in an awkward position is job one. And Democratic Senators are not going to want to be put on the spot and have to take take the political hit for either joining in a Republican filibuster, or voting against the public plan in the Kennedy HELP bill.

The person who decides whether they have to do that or not is Harry Reid. And he makes that decision when he combines the bills.

So is Harry Reid willing to incur the wrath of those in the Democratic party who will claim that he's shielding his fellow Senators by excluding it? Can he take the hit in his own state from a brutal assault of attack ads claiming he's facilitating their ability to pass an insurance industry bailout by excluding a provision that would have contained costs? When the Nevada public learns that he's personally responsible for including a $3800 fine for those who refuse to pay annual tribute to Blue Cross, how will his poll numbers fare?

In short, will doing what it takes to save his Majority Leader status make Harry Reid lose his Senate Seat?

[vi5]

1. Guaranteed this plays into it...

Unfortunately I fully believe that Reid, like most beltway insiders is out for himself and his own position of power.

We need to have a majority leader who is from a safe state so that his own political future doesn't come into play or at least not as strongly so.

[Sebastian Doyle]

4. A safe state that does NOT have the initials N.Y.

Because Schumer would be as bad as Reid, if not worse. California is a safe state, but it would have to be Boxer, not Feinstein!

[vi5]

8. I'm no Schumer fan...

But I don't think he would be nearly as bad as Reid has been. On some issues maybe, but on others he would be much more aggressive. And I'll take someone who is aggressive and fights SOME battles, over someone who cowers and slinks away from every single fight like Reid does.

[dflprincess]

10. Boxer would be good

or Russ Feingold.

[Inuca]

6. Durbin

next in "line", reliable, passionate at times, safe seat.

[depakid]

2. So, who's all gung ho to go out and work for Harry Reid?

:rofl:

Good riddance.

The party's MUCH better off without him.

[Enrique]

11. Obama will work for him n/t

[bluestateguy]

3. I'm still not ready to take these polls seriously

nt

[Winterblues]

5. To say that no plan with a public option can pass the Senate means -- when there are 60 Democratic v

There are only 59 votes on the Democratic side until Kennedy's seat is filled. No Republican will risk breaking a Republican filibuster.

[The Magistrate]

7. He Will Lose, Ma'am: Even Nevada Democrats Will Not Vote For Him Much as things Stand Now

The nearest thing to a hope for re-election this wretched excuse for a Senator has is to press for the public option plan desired by the overwhelming preponderance of rank and file Democratic voters. But he will likely not do it, being craven to the core....

"A coward dies a thousand times, a brave man only once."

[Enrique]

9. if he's a coward, then wouldn't he be afraid of losing his senate seat?

and therefore press for the public option?

[vi5]

12. No because inside DC....

You're only brave and not cowardly when you stand up to Democrats and liberals. When you stand up to Republicans and the right wing you're a craven wacko and a wuss.

[Enrique]

13. I think the wrath against Reid will be muted

Obama will stand by Reid and say Reid is doing what's necessary to take advantage of this historic opportunity for health reform, etc.

[flyarm]

14. Joe Wilson and AHIP Team Up to Write Max Baucus’s Health Care Bill By: Jane Hamsher

I sure as hell hope so..because he is selling out the American people !!!!!!!!



Joe Wilson and AHIP Team Up to Write Max Baucus’s Health Care Bill
By: Jane Hamsher

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/11/joe-wilson-and-ahip-team-up-to-write-max-baucuss-health-care-bill/

Friday September 11, 2009 7:06 am


There really doesn't seem to be any limit to what the administration will do to pass Rahm Emanuel's neoliberal giveaway to the insurance industry. The "author" of the plan released by Baucus (and apparently by Mike Ross) is a former VP of Wellpoint. Now AHIP is boasting about their role in crafting it:

Many of the changes to the insurance system now under discussion are the ones that have been advocated this year by the insurance companies themselves, said Karen M. Ignagni, the chief executive of America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry trade group. "The industry has been the leader in creating the proposals everyone is about to endorse," she said.

No wonder insurance company stocks shot up after the President's speech.

But now we find, per John Aravosis, that Kent Conrad and Max Baucus are changing their bill to appease Joe Wilson:

"We really thought we'd resolved this question of people who are here illegally, but as we reflected on the President's speech last night we wanted to go back and drill down again," said Senator Kent Conrad, one of the Democrats in the talks after a meeting Thursday morning. Baucus later that afternoon said the group would put in a proof of citizenship requirement to participate in the new health exchange — a move likely to inflame the left.

As John says, if Wilson's outburst turns out to be successful, it'll keep happening over and over again. And it will work every time.

If you want to stop this travesty from going forward -- and it's turning into a complete travesty -- ask these members of Congress from strong Democratic districts, all of whom have cosponsored Single Payer in the past and know better, why they aren't pledging to vote against any bill if it turns out to be nothing more than an insurance industry bailout:

read the rest at the link..........

.....................................................................

Reid Endorses Wellpoint’s Co-op Plan
By: Jane Hamsher Friday September 11, 2009 9:46 am

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/11/reid-end...

The Senate Majority Leader endorses the Mike Ross/Kent Conrad/Wellpoint authored co-op plan:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) endorsed the concept of health insurance cooperatives Thursday, siding with centrists in the House and Senate who want healthcare reform but oppose a public option.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also hinted she could accept that approach a day after President Barack Obama delivered an address to a joint session of Congress that offered encouraging words for both centrists and liberal Democrats who have demanded a public insurance option.

I think I may have to adjust my prediction for the co-op "squeeze play" on July 20:

The easiest political path to passing health care is still running the "co-op" crunch. Regardless of what the House does, the Senate can pass Conrad's shitty fake co-op. The Blue Dogs band together and refuse to vote for anything else, and that's what comes out of conference. There's a PR blitz to sell it as a "public plan" (which is why we've worked so assiduously to define it as NOT a public plan), and in a rush to get something passed, Rahm starts twisting progressive arms -- which have been historically very easily twisted.

Blue Dog Mike Ross presciently submitted virtually the same co-op plan in a July 31 amendment that finally emerged this week in Max Baucus's Senate plan.But since it now looks like Pelosi is on board with co-ops, that means the Blue Dogs aren't going to have to take the hit.



and if Nancy goes against the public option..i will myself give a shit load of money to her opponent..whoever it is!