It's time to wrap up the HCR fixes, peoples!
Mothership II - NDakotaDem (Please recommend the Mothership diary!)
Shuttlepod #1 - kirbybruno
Shuttlepod #2 - papicek
Shuttlepod #3 - FleetAdmiralJ
Shuttlepod #4/5 - sheba
Shutlepod #6 - zapus
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Rules below the fold:
VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT RULE #1:
Please do NOT Recommend this diary. Please instead recommend the Mothership diary, first shephered by Cedwyn and now maintained by NDakotaDem, in order to keep it on the rec list.
VERY IMPORTANT RULE #2:
Please be kind to folks who are tracking this debate in dialup, or who find themselves in other video, photo, and audio unfriendly online venues. In other words, no photos in the comments. Please limit posts in the comments section to transcripts, text commentary, etc. Bonus points for keen, incisive, pithy wit!
VERY IMPORTANT RULE #3:
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Rather Important Rule #4:
Remember that some folks can only track the Senate "live" via our comments. If we have grudges to nurse, pet issues to hash out, I respectfully ask that these potentially thread-hijacking discussions be taken outside, figuratively, to respect the time of the folks who may desperately want to keep up with the Senate debate but may only have a few minutes to spend with us.
And finally...
Huge props to kirbybruno's most excellent organizational format and picture collection in the first shuttlepod, from which I have borrowed (i.e. stolen) most liberally. Thanks, kirbybruno, for the setup ideas. Thanks also to FleetAdmiralJ for keeping track of these wacky votes. I promise to update the diary shortly to reflect these, mostly by borrowing (i.e. stealing) the info from FAJ's yeomanly work, as well as senate.gov.
Now, on with the show!
Update #1--the vote tallies, #1 through #15 links and commentary borrowed(i.e. stolen) from FleetAdmiralJ. Again, most of these votes are to table amendments proposed by tricksy Senators who want to muck up the already-negotiated-fixes agreement, so in most cases we are rooting for the Ayes to Have It:
Amendment #1: Gregg Amendment "To prevent Medicare from being used for new entitlements and to use Medicare savings to save Medicare."
This vote is to table the amendment, so we want the motion to pass.
Results: Aye 56, Nay 42.
Roll Call Vote - Nelson (NE) and Webb voted against tabling. Byrd and Isakson were the absent voters.
Reid re-iterates that votes should only last for 10 minutes.
Amendment #2: McCain Amendment "To eliminate the sweetheart deals for Tennessee, Hawaii, Louisiana, Montana, Connecticut, and frontier States." Again the vote is to table.
Results: Aye 54, Nay 43, and the amendment is tabled
Roll Call Vote - Bayh, Lincoln, and Nelson (NE) voted against. Begich was the additional NV.
Amendment #3: Crapo motion to Commit with instructions to remove any taxes for those making less than $250,000. Vote is to table.
Results: Aye: 56, Nay 43. Motion to table agreed to.
Roll Call Vote - Cantwell, Lincoln, and Nelson (NE) were the nays on this one
Amendment #4: Enzi Motion to Commit with instructions to remove the employer mandate. Vote, once again, is to table the motion.
Result: Aye: 58, Nay: 41. Motion is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - Lincoln was the only crossover this time.
Amendment #5: Barrasso Amendment "To ensure that Americans can keep the coverage they have by keeping premiums affordable."
Result: Aye: 57, Nays: 41. Motion is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - Bayh was the only switch. Kaufman was the additional NV.
Amendment #6: Grassley Amendment "To make sure the President, Cabinet Members, all White House Senior staff and Congressional Committee and Leadership Staff are purchasing health insurance through the health insurance exchanges established by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."
Some additional action on this one. Baucus made a point of order that this amendment violates some rule or law, Grassley wants a vote to waive that rule, so in this vote, Democrats should vote no if I understand correctly. (I believe Baucus invoked the Byrd rule)
Result: Aye: 43, Nay: 56, motion to waive the rule is rejected.
Roll Call Vote - Bayh, Lincoln, and Nelson (NE) are once again the offending Democrats.
Amendment #7: Alexander Motion to Commit with instructions to lower the interest rate charged to students for student loans. And we're back to the vote to table.
Result: Aye: 58, Nay: 41. Motion is Tabled.
Roll Call Vote - Nelson (NE) once again a no.
Amendment #8: LeMieux Amendment "To enroll Members of Congress in the Medicaid program."
Once again, I believe the Byrd Rule was invoked on this amendment, so the vote is to waive the rule, which takes 60 votes to do. Dems should vote no.
Result: Aye: 40, Nay: 59 - Hey! All the Dems voted together for once!
Roll Call Vote
Amendment #9: Hatch Motion to Commit with instructions to remove Medicare Advantage cuts from the bill. Vote is to table, so Dems back to voting Aye.
Result: Aye: 56, Nay: 42, motion is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - Nelson and Webb were the Nays this time
Amendment #10: Coburn Amendment "To reduce the cost of providing federally funded prescription drugs by eliminating fraudulent payments and prohibiting coverage of Viagra for child molesters and rapists and for drugs intended to induce abortion."
Here it is...the amendment to prevent pedio-files from getting Viagra!
Result: Aye: 57, Nay: 42. The Amendment is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - Bayh and Nelson (NE) once again the offenders.
Amendment #11: Hutchison Amendment "To protect the right of States to opt out of a Federal health care takeover."
Result: Aye: 58, Nay: 41. The Amendment is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - Nelson, again, is the only offender
Amendment #12: Collins Amendment "To improve the bill by waiving the $40,000 penalty on hiring previously unemployed individuals."
Yup. Nelson (NE) is a no again.
Result: Aye: 58, Nay: 41. The Amendment is tabled.
Roll Call Vote
Amendment #13: Thune Amendment To require the Secretary of Education to certify that no state shall have a net job loss due to the new student loan program. Vote is to table.
Result: Aye: 55, Nay: 43. The Amendment is tabled.
Roll Call Vote
Bayh, Nelson (NE) and Nelson (FL) voted the other way.
Amendment #14: Thune Amendment To strike the Class Act from the reconciliation bill. Amendment is being subject to the Byrd rule, so vote is to waive the rule, which means Dems should vote no.
Result: Aye: 43, Nay: 55 - Motion to suspend the rule fails.
Roll Call Vote - Bayh and Nelson (NE) are offenders once again. Lieberman is also an offender for the first time on this one.
Amendment #15: Cornyn Motion to Commit with instructions to remove tax on investment and savings. Vote is to table.
Result: Aye: 52, Nay, 46. The Amendment is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - Bayh, Cantwell, Lincoln, Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE) and Pryor voted with the Nays.
Amendment #16: Roberts Amendment "To strike the medical device tax." Motion is to table.
Result: Aye: 56, Nay: 42. The Amendment is tabled.
Roll call vote - Bayh and Nelson (NE) were the Nays.
Amendment #17: Inhofe Amendment "To exclude pediatric devices for persons with disabilities from the medical device tax." Motion is to table.
Result: Aye: 57, Nay: 41. The Amendment is tabled.
Roll call vote - Nelson (NE) is the D Nay.
Amendment #18: Hatch Amendment "Exempts medical device tax under TRICARE for Life." Motion is to table.
Result: Aye: 54, Nay: 44. The Amendment is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - Hagan, Nelson (NE), Tester, and Webb are the Nay votes here.
Amendment #19: Gregg Amendment "Changes Medicare growth rate formula." Motion is to waive the Budget Act regarding the Gregg Amendment (i.e. take an action a point of order in order to allow the amendment, I think?), so we're looking for Nay votes here.
Result: Aye: 42, Nay: 56. The point of order is sustained and the Amendment falls.
Roll Call Vote - Lincoln and Nelson (NE) are the holdouts on this one.
Amendment #20: Burr Amendment "Regarding health programs for veterans and active duty members." Ooh, finally a little action late in the evening. Webb stands up and explains that they could easily do this fix outside the HCR mess with a simple, separate bill which he has in hand, and the normally (?)august(?) Senate gets a bit rumbly and cranky! Akaka moves to table the Burr Amendment.
Result: Aye: 54, Nay, 44. Motion is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - Hagan, Lincoln, and Pryor voted with the Rs.
Amendment #21: Vitter Amendment "Regarding I Am A Wingnut And Wish To Fill Out All Of Your Republican Bingo Cards At Once as I move to repeal the whole HCR package." Baucus moves to table, while good-naturedly giving Vitter bonus points for his "straightforward" approach to being against the whole health care reform bill.
Result: Aye: 58, Nay: 39. Motion is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - All Dems solid on this one.
Amendment #22: Roberts Amendment "Removes rural hospitals from Independent Payment Advisory Board." Wow. Kinda expected him to bang his shoe on the dais, he was getting so worked up. Senator Baucus says parliamentarian says we can't address this in the current fix (point of order). This is another Byrd Rule thing, I think, meaning we're looking for Nay votes (or at least less than a 3/5 aye).
Result: Aye: 42, Nay: 54. Motion is rejected.
Roll Call Vote - Lincoln, Nelson (NE), and Webb voted with the Rs on this one.
Amendment #23: Roberts Motion to Commit "Removes the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse four advisory boards from the Health Care Reform Bill? Or something like that." Baucus moves to table.
Result: Aye: 59, Nay: 37. Motion is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - All Ds stuck together on this one, plus Collins and Snowe!
Reid is up now, thanking Senators for decorum and thanking staffers for their hard work....and, oops, just kidding! Looks like we aren't done trying to amend just yet!
Amendment #24: Bunning Amendment "Allows Seniors to Opt Out of Medicare Part A without losing Social Security." Ummm, is there really a big demand for this? Really? Baucus moves to table.
Result: Aye: 61, Nay: 36. Motion is tabled. Wait, did Collins just vote with the Dems? Who else did?
Amendment #25: Grassley Amendment. Looks like another Byrd Rule objection by Baucus. He's been really patient but points out that this amendment (pretty much like the other two dozen before it) is designed mainly to derail the agreed-upon fixes by derailing the reconcilation bill.
Result: Aye: 40, Nay: 56. Motion is defeated.
Amendment #26: Bennett Amendment "Requires a vote by residents on allowing same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia." (?)