Please REC this Mothership diary and not the Shuttlepod diaries.
For past Liveblog Motherships, See:
House Debate Mothership by Adam Blomeke
Mothership I for Day 2 by Cedwyn
Mothership II for Day 2 by NDakotaDem
Shuttlepod diaries:
#1: sgary
#2: sheba
We got through 30 something amendment votes yesterday (Roll Calls) and the Vote-a-Rama continues today through 2pm.
If you want a shuttlepod, please post under the appropriate comment below, and I'll add you to the list.
Please no posting images or videos in comments. If you want to share the, please post links to them.
You can watch CSPAN2 online here: http://www.cspan.org/...
Wanna play some Colbert-inspired GOP Talking Points BINGO!?
additional cards here
Gillibrand is in the Chair
Scott in NJ has provided the following handy breakdown: here
TOTAL DEFECTIONS (through 38 votes):
25 times: Nelson
15 times: Bayh
12 times: Lincoln
7 times: Webb
5 times: Pryor
3 times: Cantwell, Collins, Snowe
2 times: Nelson (FL), Hagan
1 time: Tester, Lieberman, Gregg, Voinovich
Amendment 30: Ensign Amendment "To improve access to pro bono care for medically underserved or indigent individuals by providing limited medical liability protections." Appears vote is to waive Byrd Rule.
Results: Ayes: 40, Nays: 55 Motion to waive the rule fails.
Roll Call Vote - What about that. Dems unanimous in the first vote of the day. Boxer, Cantwell, Byrd, and Lautenberg were the NVs (in addition to Isakson)
Amendment 31: Coburn Amendment "To help protect Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans." Byrd rule invoked. Vote is to waive the rule
Results: Ayes: 45, Nays: 53 Motion to waive the rule fails.
Roll Call Vote - Bayh, Lincoln, Nelson (NE), Pryor, and Webb become our first defectors of the day. Byrd the additional NV.
Amendment 32: Sessions Amendment "To ensure that Americans are not require to pay for the health benefits for those here illegally by requiring the use of an effective eligibility verification system, consistent with existing law for other federal health related programs, and to also maintain the current, and well-established requirement of law, that legal immigrants should not become a "public charge" or burden to the American taxpayers, to reduce the cost of this bill, and to reduce the deficit and for other purposes."
Vote is to table.
Results: Ayes: 55, Nays: 43. Amendment is tabled.
Roll Call Vote - Bayh, Nelson (NE), and Pryor flip on this one.
Amendment 33: Cornyn Amendment To prevent health care bill from going into effect if it can't be shown that it will reduce costs. Vote is to table.
Reid once again calls for strict votes of 10 minutes.
Results: Ayes: 58, Nays: 40. Amendment is tabled.
New Chair is Menendez
Amendment 34: Grassley Amendment To cut programs for certain frontier states. Vote is to table.
Bayh, Lincoln, Nelson (NE), and Webb all vote no.
Results: Ayes: 53, Nays: 45. Amendment is tabled.
Gillibrand back in the chair.
Amendment 35: Brownback Amendment (with purty charts) To index some tax or another to inflation. Vote is to table.
Results: Ayes: 56, Nays: 42. Amendment is tabled.
Nelson (NE) joins the dark side again. Nevermind. he switched his vote. However, Bayh does join the dark side.
Results: Ayes: 56, Nays: 42. Amendment is tabled.
Amendment 36: Vitter Amendment To repeal Health Care bill if CBO projections are not met. Here to known as the "Life on Mars" amendment. Byrd rule invoked. Vote is to waive the rule.
Results: Ayes: 39, Nays: 56 Motion to waive the rule fails.
Amendment 37: DeMint Motion to Commit with instructions to ensure that the Health Care Bill does not prohibit people from buying insurance across state lines. Motion is to table.
Results: Ayes: 56, Nays: 43. Amendment is tabled
Hagan now chairing
Amendment 38: Ensign Amendment (with cartoon!) To eliminate fines and civil penalties for the individual mandate. Vote is to table.
Results: Ayes: 58, Nays: 40. Amendment is tabled.
Amendment 39: Murkowsky Amendment Index Medicare tax increase to inflation (basically a duplicate of Brownback's amendment). Byrd rule invoked, vote is to waive the rule.
Bayh and Webb join the dark side on this vote.
Results: Ayes: 42, Nays: 57 Motion to waive the rule fails.
Burris in the chair now
Amendment 40: Hutchison Amendment To make small business tax credit permanent (I think). Vote is to table.
Results: Ayes: 55, Nays: 43. Amendment is tabled.
Amendment 41: Cornyn Amendment To compel states to ensure that those on Medicaid are properly so (or thereabouts).
This is the final amendment. There will then be a colloquy and then points of order, then vote for final passage.
Vote is to table
Results: Ayes: 57, Nays: 41. Amendment is tabled.
By limiting the amendments, the Repugs will lose their talking point that this was an unprecedented use of gimmickry. The previous record for Reconciliation was 53.
BFD! VP Joe Biden takes chair.
Thanks going all around. "Colloquy" seems better than "collicy," which was what we were getting from Vitter, et al.
Before the final vote, Senate holds a 1 minute moment of silence for Senator Kennedy.
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Gregg now raises the two point of orders against the bill. Conrad says that the Democratic leadership will not contest, so there will be no vote to waive the rule.
We're now onto the vote to pass the bill out of the Senate and back to the House.
Lincoln, Pryor and Nelson of Nebraska are NOs. (note the Bill Halter donation link on FP ad.)
Final Result
Ayes: 56
Nays: 43
Democratic Senate Leaders are now gathering for presser.