Senate Vote on Health Care Reform: Gives Obama Huge Victory

With a razor-thin victory over Senate Republicans last night in a historic vote to advance the debate on health care reform, Senate Democrats handed President Barack Obama one of his largest prizes since winning the presidency.

Reaching the needed 60 votes along a party-line vote, without a single one to spare, the Senate, in a rare Saturday evening vote, will allow the massive health care reform measure to be debated by the body after the Thanksgiving break.

Senate Republicans needed just 41 votes to filibuster or delay the proposal for coming to a vote and at various times in the past weeks, it seemed they had them. Their hopes began to melt away through the day, though, as two Democratic senators, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, who had voiced questions about supporting the legislation, announced earlier in the day they would stick with their party and support the bill moving forward.

The House approved its version of the health reform bill earlier this month on a near party line vote of 220-215, and Majority Leader Harry Reid had said that he wanted the Senate to follow suit by year's end. While it isn't certain when a final compromise on the House and Senate versions will be completed, for health care reform supporters that will be a battle for another day.

Beside Obama, who has used much of his personal collateral pushing the health care measure, the other hero of the day for Democrats is the aforementioned Reid of Nevada, who demonstrated a perfect knowledge of the votes under his command.

Some political observers felt Reid's decision to include the controversial "public option" - a provision that would allow the government to sell insurance that would compete with private insurers with state approval - could doom the bill to defeat.

It is far from certain that the final bill out of the Senate will include the public option, but with last night's vote, the full body will at least get the chance to debate the matter. And isn't that what we send our elected leaders in Washington to do?

Categories

Contributors

Other BV Blogs