The American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled a 3:15 press conference to announce details of the consolidated Democratic health care bill he has been negotiating behind closed doors, which according to several press accounts will include a national government-plan that individual states could opt out of. The Politico reports that Reid has 56 or 57 votes for such a plan.  If this fails, Reid could support a "trigger" that would create a government plan if certain targets aren't met, which is something Sen. Olympia Snowe supports and could get 59 votes, but is less popular among liberals. The big question is whether the handful of Democrats who oppose the government plan in some form would support a Republican filibuster, or provide the 60 votes Reid needs to bring a vote to the floor, and then vote against the final bill, which would then only need a simple majority to pass.