You’d better not be gambling with this crap just to pad your resume.

I can only speculate that like the so called ‘moderate’ Democrats, they are looking for a favorable deal that they can use to better insure their own re-election.
In other words, they are all just being the politicians we all know and hate so much.
Party affiliation means nothing when faced with the possibility of better insuring your own political survival.
And when Party means nothing, how much further down the “Care about” depth chart are the unwashed masses?

different party and day. Political power and prestige above country and party. Nice goin’ Mitchy. NO MORE MONEY TO THE NRSC!!!!!! Excuse me while I’m indisposed in the vomitorium for a while.

Erick

If McConnell rings the bell for every amendment, and looses, or starts to loose votes, what would he do then? The Maine Sisters, fail to vote for something the caucus wants, then what do you do? Is the RSC going to mount a primary challenge or something to punish someone who does not vote with the caucus? Not going to happen in the exclusive old boys club that is the Senate on ether side of the ditch. Just ask Joe Liberman how worried he is about annoying his party.

Seems like McConnell is playing “Rope a Dope”, which worked pretty well for Ali back in the day tiring out the boxer from Nevada. Every punch that Harry Boy throws and fails and is seen to fail is a good thing, and the public is watching.

I remember very well when Redstate was doing all it could to drag this scum bag across the finish line in 2008. The sentiment was that any Republican was better than any Democrat. So, how’s that working out for us now? And, now we are stuck with this piece of political trash until something like 2014 or so. If we had to drag him across the finish line, there was a reason for it. Elections have consequences.

They are all reading from the same script.
- GOP is doing nothing but delaying.
- GOP amendments are stupid because they violate all the compromises that were made in the original bill. (That would be the bill Reid wrote with no GOP input. Hmm, makes me wonder why the Democrats are offering amendments too. Of course theirs are passing – except Nelson’s.)
- Nelson’s amendment denies women the right to pay for abortions with their own money. (What a load of crap that argument is.)
- Denying women the right to pay for abortions themselves is the same as denying men buying Viagra. (See previous comment.)
- They can’t understand how Stupak made it into the House bill. (Uh, Civics 101 anybody? I think that’s part of the setup for removing it in committee.)
- Reid’s “firewall” language maintains the Hyde status quo. (The whoppers never end.)
- etc.

90% of the Dem comments are the same from Senator to Senator.

Of course, it is looking more and more likely that Mitch McConnell actually wants the legislation to pass. He seems to be gambling that if it passes, he becomes Senate Majority Leader.

if this thing ends up being law…there needs to be a bloodletting in our leadership that makes Robespierre’s condemning of the thousands of royals and their sympathisers to madame le guillotine look like a paper cut

The “Big Tent” analogy isn’t the correct one…the correct one is a MAGNET…we need to be a MAGNET that draws these independents in who are sick and tired of what’s going on in Washington—Fred Thompson

But I’m reminded of how this place felt after the Stevens endictment. If Stevens had won, none of this would be happening.

Again, I’m not as tuned in as Erick is by far. But, having worked in Washington for many years, this doesn’t feel like a losing strategy. It feels like the GOP is making the key votes happen without giving the Dems enough time to twist enough arms to change their positions. If McConnell could get a vote on final passage today, the bill would die. I’m not convinced that delay actually helps us. Remember, we aren’t the only ones who can bring pressure over time. Soros and his ilk are still out there.

Furthermore, he’s an idiot coward who, for some unexplainable reason thinks that people WANT this to pass.

These guys are unbelievable.

Dems vote on the amendments is the right tactic. Nelson from Fla…on the record for cutting medicare etc…FWIW

That means every Senator must vote yes. The Senate assumes unanimous consent unless otherwise proven. Any one Senator can request this vote be taken. I don’t understand why some of the good Senators on our side aren’t on the floor disrupting unanimous consent. They don’t need the GOP leadership to do this. Is collegiality even poisoning the good guys?

This is our freedom, Senate GOP. Not yours, but OURS. Any one of you have the right to call unanimous consent votes, and you better damn well start invoking that right. The people have nothing left to offer here.

I have NEVER trusted Republican leaders to do what’s right, to act in the best interests of Americans, and to protect our Constitution and the freedom it ensures. They just keep proving that they are every bit as sneaky and duplicitous as the Democrats. When the lights go down, most of these people are in bed together.

If Republicans think that by allowing Obamacare to pass, they will reap the benefit of public outrage and a backlash against Democrats in 2010 and beyond, they are just plain stupid.

They should be fighting tooth and nail to kill this bill. If they don’t, it is THEY who will pay when Americans realize what they’ve done.

being a Dallas Cowboys fan. Every time I think they are getting their act together they screw it up. Yet I keep coming back for more, thinking “This time they’ll get it right.”
I’m getting tired of both.

Slightly O/T but I’ve been trying to make the case here that we need to take the battle to the states and elect conservatives willing to fight the federal government on 10th Amendment grounds. I’ve been in contact with the GOP candidate for OK governor, Randy Brogdon and here is his response to my question to him about nullification:

“Nullification for a state is an important tool that should be used to make sure the Federal Government doesn’t over-step their boundaries and assure checks and balances. I am willing to claim Oklahoma’s nullification on several unconstitutional legislation from the federal government. Here is just a short list…

1. Federal Income Tax
2. ObamaCare (if passes)
3. Gas Tax
4. Mandates on Public Schools

Thanks for your question,

RB”

If we can get Red states solidly conservative then we can start to push back against the federal government. I believe leaders like Mr. Brogdon will take this all the way to SCOTUS and ignite a necessary constitutional showdown. Don’t put all our eggs in the federal basket. Win the states!

If the media is calling McConnell a master strategist, then that should tell us all we need to know.
.

Now, I’ve fantasized that the republicans retake the house and senate in ’10 and then revoke all of this marxist nonsense in ’12.

But it will never happen, folks. And do you know why?

The democrats, even though the in minority, will throw a hissy fit and ACT like the majority. The republicans, though in the majority, will roll over and play dead and act like the minority as is their wont.

And guess whose side the bailed-out, corrupt media will take.

And the SEIU and Acorn and the Black Panthers and the “students” and every other leftist group will crawl out from under whatever rock they live and will burn this country down.

Let’s be honest, most of the commenters on this thread don’t have the faintest idea what McConnell is thinking, yet despite that some of them are using some pretty hot language – “coward,” “sneaky,” “duplicitous,” “idiot,” to recite a few.

This type of thing is a caucus decision. McConnell carries a great deal of weight in determining the strategy, but there is no sign his caucus isn’t with him. All it takes to block unanimous consent is for Jim DeMint to object. But he hasn’t.

To this, some have added speculation that has no basis other than, well, speculation – that McConnell wants the bill to pass. Let’s get serious, that’s pretty unlikely.

It is certainly legitimate to question the strategy, but we ought not to lose all sense of fairness in doing so. And even as we second guess, the reality is simple – our team is on the field. To paraphrase Don Rumsfeld, yougo to war with the Senators you’ve got. It’s possible that McConnell is playing this all wrong, and I’ve no objection to shouting from the bleachers. But I know him pretty well, and he’s the smartest, toughest, shrewdist player on our side of the field. If this bill is defeated, I hope all those using over the top language will start an open thread of apology.

The Republicans submitted the amendment requiring Congress to participate in this Obamacare bill and down the party line, the Democrats rejected.

Let’s play Devil’s Advocate.

Suppose the Republicans had the majority, how would they voted on such an amendment? And would they pass a bill that would require the entire Congress to be on this bill?

He was on Greta tonight and she asked him if he thought a health reform bill would get to 0zero’s desk and he answered “yes” with no hesitation.

Any of you watch it? He talked about Robert Kramer and ten points in Robert’s new book.

And from that,book Glenn concluded that Health Care bill will pass.

…all GOP candidates should make its repeal a campaign pledge.

What happened to Sen. Coburn’s plan to have the 2000+ page bill read in its entirety?

Also, would clay pigeon amendments help or hurt?

the GOP to back off.

But they ain’t telling us…yet.

They seem to know that Reid has bought off all of those votes.

learn, realize, have the light bulb come on or whatever it takes to recognize that whether a Democrat or Republican, THEY JUST WANT POWER???? If they were not trying to out strategy the other to gain that POWER, they would grow some GONADS and STOP AND KILL THIS BILL in ANY FORM. Nope, they aren’t going to do anything and THE BILL WILL PASS, GO TO CONFERENCE, COME BACK and PASS AGAIN and OBAMA WILL SIGN IT and they will say WE DID ALL WE COULD TO STOP IT BUT WE DON’T HAVE 60 VOTES! Lying and weaseling is the name of the game for the GOP and DEM politicians. GET IT and move on! We need to clean out the whole lot of them and start all over again!
IT will be too late to try and elect a new group in 2010. ACORN will have the fix in by then and we all know it!

I am sorry to say, but it feels like a whole bunch of walls are being erected around me yet I still am unable to see them physically. Won’t be long before everyone one of those walls have penned me in.

Really, I know we have delayed somethings but it just feels like tomorrow morning or the next day we will wake up and all is destroyed. Yet I suppose Mitch Mcconnell will have the job he wanted! whooopeedeedooo!

that’s all I have to say to you. I am not a good community agitator but I at the current time have a little bit of extra $$$$ that I am contemplating giving to charity, which will be me after this for those surgeries that I have to schedule in Costa Rica.

To contact me directly, please select the appropriate office below.

Washington Office
361-A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2541
Fax: (202) 224-2499

http://mcconnell.senate.gov/contact.cfm

–

Tear him a new one.

Politely.

Senate to confront abortion in health care debate

and my guess is…the deal has already been made…she’s already making noises that the Dems are moving in the right direction…

One idea calls for national nonprofit insurance plans to be administered by the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the popular Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

The proposal seems to appeal to a key Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, who met with Obama at the White House on Saturday On Sunday, Snowe called the possible compromise “a positive development” because it would give consumers more options for buying insurance.

Snowe’s potential support for the Democratic-crafted bill is crucial. Supporters need 60 votes to overcome filibusters, and the chamber’s 40 Republicans hope to draw at least one Democrat to their side.

It could be Nelson, who says he will not support final passage of a health care bill unless it includes the tight abortion restrictions he wants. If so, Democrats would have to woo moderate Republicans such as Snowe.

The “Big Tent” analogy isn’t the correct one…the correct one is a MAGNET…we need to be a MAGNET that draws these independents in who are sick and tired of what’s going on in Washington—Fred Thompson

Can’t Reid pass anything and everything he wants with 60 votes no matter what McConnell or any other Republican wants?

So? Do I call the Nurse Alliance of the SEIU Healthcare Division to clean up my violent vomitting due to this healthcare Obamanation?

God speed to you all — we are in such deep doo doo . . .

So? Do I call the Nurse Alliance of the SEIU Healthcare Division to clean up my violent vomitting due to this healthcare Obamanation?

God speed to you all — we are in such deep doo doo . . .

and whatever happened to making them read the bill on the floor…the GOP could also compel reading of the amendments, including any substitute amendment that Reid decides to plop down

I don’t get why this would be more acceptable to “moderate” Democrats. Isn’t Medicare bankrupting our country? I’m wondering if this isn’t what Democrats wanted all along.

And Tom Harkin’s comments are laughable:

“It’s one of those kind of things in the middle that doesn’t make everybody very happy but that’s our compromise,” Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said after talks ended for the day. “It’s something I’m going to probably have to live with.”

GIVE ME A BREAK!!