WASHINGTON -- Don't look for the Senate to quickly follow the House on health care overhaul.A government health insurance plan included in the House bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate. They're locked in a battle with liberals, with the fate of President Obama's signature issue at stake.
If a government plan is part of the deal, "as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent whose vote Democrats need to overcome GOP filibusters.
"The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said.
And interestingly enough,
Democrats did not line up to challenge him. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has yet to schedule floor debate and hinted last week that senators may not be able to finish health care this year.
We need to keep the pressure on our senators. They need to be reminded that they work for us -- not vice-versa.
Oh, and we need to make sure they're aware that a "trigger option" such as proposed by Sen. Olympia Snowe (RINO-Maine) isn't going to fly, either. Because that's nothing less than an open invitation to Øbama and Krew to start pulling shit that opens the inflation floodgates.
Moreover, our wannabe overlords won't dare bring this up next year. Not with an election staring them in the face. They think the tea parties and the protests at their offices and town halls were bad this year? Just wait, 'critters. Just wait.
