This what happens when leadership is not exerted in the legislative process. Everyone becomes a king. Every day some senator makes his or her demands like a 2 year old, says that a vote to even allow debate for his or her party’s own bill is a "no" unless changes are made. It appears no one will tell Sen Nelson a nd the others that they ran as Democrats and get DNC election money that they must, as party members, allow a floor vote on party goals.
So here we are. Right wing senators hold the bill ransom to undo abortion rights, government programs and much more. Sen. Sanders and Dean are right: reconciliation would have at least have given us core parts of the bill important to the progressive movement. Every day which passes the bill gets worse.
Lieberman gutted the bill of Sen Kennedy’s prized CLASS Act. CLASS would have been a federal long term insurance program with a low premium. Many key groups backed Kennedy on this and HELP put it in the bill. Lieberman removed this and not a word from dems on the hill on the gutting of what Kennedy wanted. How sad.
Now its Nelson’s turn in the spotlight. He is rejecting another abortion compromise. But it gets far worse. He says he still cannot support the bill even if abortion is basically Stupaked. Why? Nelson wants Medicaid to be a program states can opt out of. He says its expansion might wind up being under funded so therefore state should have the right to opt out of Medicaid for the poor. How un-Democratic is that? Nelson is gunning for LBJ’s Great Society.
Call me "crazy" but it appears the war here by the corporate Dems is one on the New Deal and Great Society programs. From expanding Medicare, to growing Medicaid so millions can get coverage these guys wont stop. Where is the Democratic Party of my grandmother’s day? These people certainly are no Democrats. And power has been ceded to them. We’ve got to stop this. Damage to the Democratic party image is being done and will haunt us for a generation.
More from wapo tonight:
Earlier Thursday, in an interview with a Nebraska radio station, Nelson said even if the abortion issue were resolved, he still could not support the $848 billion package, complaining that the plan to cover more than 30 million additional Americans calls for dramatically expanding Medicaid, which is partially funded by the states. The Medicaid expansion would "create an underfunded federal mandate for the state of Nebraska," Nelson said, arguing that states should be permitted to "opt out" of that idea and find other ways to offer coverage to their poorest residents.
Nelson also said he was not sure his concerns could be addressed in time to permit Christmas passage of the legislation. It may be possible, he said, "but I don't see how."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...