Just 7 people are preventing health care reform. JUST SEVEN.

Correct me if I am wrong:
HR 3200 has passed the house.
The whip count in the senate is 43.
Reid can introduce HR 3200 whenever he wants (I don't know the senate number of the bill).
They get 7 more votes, that's 50 with Biden to break the tie.
If they don't change a word of HR 3200, there's no reconciliation, it goes straight to Obamas desk.
JUST. SEVEN.

*I don't know if HR 3200 is revenue neutral (if it costs money, it would take 60 votes..or is it 66?) But it doesn't matter. Once it's signed by the President it, it's law until overturned by the courts. The admin could stall the case for years if it wanted. Or the congress could make it legal retroactively. They've already had practice making things legal retroactively, with the military commissions act.

??

Even repbubs are welcome, but I don't expect any of them to. So it's 7 out of the remaining 17 *Democratic* senators.

If Kennedy and Bird can't vote, the number goes up to 9.

They will have to put the public option into Reconcliation to pass it through the Senate, and pass the rest separately (since Reconciliation is for budget items and the insurance industry regulations aren't budget items.)

I don't know enough about senate rules to be sure, but if even 1 dem joined the repubs (a near certainty), they would be be able to filibuster. Which brings it up to 17 people preventing health care reform.

Correct me if I'm wrong again, but don't all filibusters eventually fail unless the other party concedes? It didn't google readily but I think the record is something like 4 months.

And Reid can make them do 'sleep on cots and read from the phone book' type filibuster.

"In current practice, Senate Rule 22 permits filibusters in which actual continuous floor speeches are not required, although the Senate Majority Leader may require an actual traditional filibuster if he or she so chooses."

I think it's worth trying and failing, rather than slowly losing everything, which is what appears to be happening now.

It has been reported out of three committees, House Energy and Commerce, House Ways and Means, and House Education and Labor.

Two committees, House Oversight and Government Reform and House Budget, have not acted yet.

The full House has not considered the bill yet.

That'll teach me to believe something just because I heard it on the radio.

Status:

Occurred: Introduced Jul 14, 2009
Occurred: Referred to Committee View Committee Assignments
Occurred: Reported by Committee Jul 17, 2009
Not Yet Occurred: House Vote ...
Not Yet Occurred: Senate Vote ...
Not Yet Occurred: Signed by President ...


http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3200