it may be time to get giddy.

The first problem the Dems have with the Lieberman and Nelson issues, is to come up with a formulation of how to create a deal that is acceptable to all 60 Senators, to get Lieberman and Nelson back without losing others.

Reid’s vapor bill was the best attempt at that, but it is failing.

They need another formulation, but do not have it.

Once they get another, if they do, it has to be vetted by all the interest groups who have the ability to move one or more Senator on their issue. There are many.

And in health care, as always, Senators and staff can sit around and talk about ideas that sound OK, but once they go on paper and the implications and the political realities set in, Senators bolt, they always do.

This means that Reid has to — to use a Russian saying — dodge the raindrops on the public option and the abortion issue.

In my view, given the massive drop in the polls that the bill has taken recently, there is no real political incentive for Senators to contort themselves to any new Reid vapor deal. There is too much pain. And DerKrieger has an excellent point, Dem Senators are looking for ways to avoid voting for it — not looking for ways to contort themselves into what ever pretzel formulation the next edition of Reid vapor deal II is — meaning, it is mighty hard to solve both of these problems.

Furthermore, there are other landmines lurking, the Dorgan amendment on re-importation for one, and some other as yet to be revealed devastating votes.

would be difficult to hold onto, especially with the pressure from the White House and others.

But this bill is a political failure.

The public is watching and paying attention like hawks and the public is pissed off, almost beyond measure.

This makes it much easier to make a principled stand. Plus, for pro-lifers, abortion is an issue in a completely different category, since you are talking about using taxpayer dollars to kill innocents.

For these reasons, it is a different this time. Very different.

is that they cannot accept any abortion restrictions that would appease Nelson because if they did, they would have to risk there being no House-Senate conference, and the provision staying in when it went to the House.

…and I think she’s worked out a deal for a cash payoff or for a cushy job. Obamacare is opposed by almost 70% of Arkansans so she has NO reason to vote for this if not for personal gain. Below is a letter I sent to the the state paper, the WSJ, and the two leading GOP candidates vying to run against her.

“I have been following the debate over health care “reform” quite closely and call the offices of Senators Lincoln and Pryor several times a week to express my wishes that they vote against this unconstitutional abomination. I don’t know if there are any legal obligations on the part of our representatives in the House and Senate to vote in accordance with the wishes of their constituents but there is certainly a duty to do so. That Senators Lincoln and Pryor are not firmly against a government takeover of our health care system in spite of representing a state that John McCain won 59% to 39% and in spite of statewide polls that show Arkansans are overwhelmingly against the Democrats’ plans raises questions about their honesty, integrity, and their fidelity to those they were elected to represent.
Senator Pryor likely believes that the voters will have forgotten about his vote by the time he’s up for reelection in 2014 so is likely to vote against the wishes of Arkansas voters and instead vote down the line with the most radical elements of his party. We won’t forget.
Senator Lincoln’s support for Obamacare is somewhat more puzzling given the fact that she is aware of her poll numbers, the outcome of the presidential election in Arkansas in 2008, and the lack of support for Obamacare in Arkansas. Senator Lincoln doesn’t strike me as a Leftist but rather as a pragmatic moderate who has, or had, the best interests of Arkansans in mind more often than not. But for some reason she seems to have thrown in with the socialist Left and has so far joined in with those that are seeking to radically alter the relationship between free American citizens and their government. Why?
Senator Landrieu of Louisiana has confessed to, and even seems proud of, accepting $300 million dollars from taxpayers to cover Medicare spending in LA. What I want to know, and we should all demand to know, is what was Senator Lincoln’s price for signing onto an unconstitutional power grab against the wishes of Arkansans? Was she offered a plum position in the Obama administration when, not if, she loses next year? Was she offered a cash bribe for herself? Senator Lincoln must know that her reelection hopes, if she has any at this point, are extremely dependent on her Obamacare vote so why would she vote for it and commit political suicide if not in expectation of personal gain? If she votes for Obamacare I want her investigated. I want the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and her would-be GOP opponents for her office next year to demand a full accounting of her vote. If it is discovered that she voted to support Obamacare in exchange for personal gain she should be charged with bribery, conspiracy and brought to trial. I don’t make these demands lightly but out of disgust, anger, and frustration with a woman, and let’s not forget Mark Pryor either, that is willfully ignoring the wishes of Arkansans for no rational reason. I hope that the courage to pursue such an investigation exists.”

If I were a lawyer I’d go after her myself. There ought to be some kind of charges a Rep can be brought up for so blatantly ignoring the will of constituents.

passed because the longer and farther along the legislative process this bill goes, the worse the polls get.