Cloture vote on C-Span2 DENIED! on S.22 Medical liablity vote

Even though these measures would dramatically rewrite the tort laws of all 50 states, and even though they would denigrate the legal rights of countless Americans, they have undergone no serious legislative review in this Congress. Don't be fooled by the low bill numbers –- S. 22 and S. 23 were simply placeholders for legislative text that was only formally introduced last Wednesday. In fact, the text of these bills was not even available online until two days ago. The Majority Leader used a procedure we call "Rule 14" to bring these bills straight to the Senate floor to avoid consideration by either the Judiciary Committee or the Health Committee.

There has not been a single committee hearing. There has not been a single witness... Not a single opportunity to amend, or a single opportunity to improve, compromise or negotiate. With this insurance industry legislation, every step of the process has been abandoned.

Why has the Majority proceeded in this manner? Because this is not a serious exercise in legislating, it is a political stunt being performed for the sole purpose of allowing Republicans to go back to their special interest friends and say "look what we have tried to do to help." But even they should not be fooled by these transparent theatrics.

The Majority is short-circuiting the committee process because of the illusion of a medical malpractice "crisis."