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The Ayes Have It
Dec 8th, 2009 | 10 responses
The Senate has just voted, 54 to 45, to table the Nelson/Hatch amendment. It’s dead.
10 Responses to “The Ayes Have It”
Blessed be! That's a relief.
It's not that I wouldn't support any language to restrict abortion coverage, but the Stupak amendment went too far, and the Nelson amendment isn't much better. If the language only allowed for women's health (not necessarily death) or multifetal pregnancy reduction (to better the chances of one or two babies to be born), and if it put no restrictions on what private plans could cover outside the exchange, I could get behind it. But what they're trying to do is just a bit too liberal for my taste.
Or undead, as it might come back in reconciliation.
It actually looks like the Dems may have found some great chessboard moves. Introduce an amendment in the Senate but table it, so that the prochoice Senate Dems have cover for later holding their noses and agreeing to similar language in the final bill after reconciliation. This way, the House prolife Dems won't stand down on the final reconciled bill and the mostly prochoice Senate Dems can say they did what they could to block these provisions but had no choice but to support the final bill with the restrictions.
We'll see if it comes down that way, I guess.
It also gves the anti abortion democrats cover to vote down a final bill without such provisions. They can say we tried to work with the left wing of our party, but they wouldn't listen.
They are free to vote it down if they choose. But voting against ending cloture is another thing all together and something that should doom them to a committee assignment on national parks.
Or undead, as it might come back in reconciliation.
First of all, it's unlikely to come back, because the motion voted on was to table the amendment permanently.
Second, it's possible that Dems might decide to skip the reconciliation stage entirely and just vote on the Senate bill. That came up on Countdown.
But voting against ending cloture is another thing all together and something that should doom them to a committee assignment on national parks.
About legislation to repeal the law allowing weapons to be brought into national parks.
Now the agitated LefteeZ can stop their Outrage! at what was a trivial side issue they were overreacting to. (God knows what they would have gone on to do, in addition to ruining the “reform” legislative effort that always the main objective, if this amendment had passed.) Of course, nothing's done until it gets by the House (which isn't “all-Copps”) in Conference, and both houses need to agree on the final draft.
Hopefully too much more won't be sought over this side issue — it was dumb for lib Dems to push it.
“Dems might decide to skip the reconciliation stage entirely and just vote on the Senate bill”
Certainly possible, especially if they want the emotional and political satisfaction of passage this year.
This is yet another moment when those who support infanticide have won the battle. Hopefully they will not win the war. It is time to take this Holocaust off the table permanently. It is just too bad we could not strike a blow at infanticide now.