Greg Sargent has obtained a working copy of a letter in which 41 House Democrats pledge to vote against a health care bill that includes the Stupak amendment that would prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortion. The 41 Democratic "no" votes could be sufficient to block final passage of any health care bill. The problem for Nancy Pelosi is that without the pro-life language, the bill would not have passed on Saturday night. The abortion issue is now causing a civil war within Democratic ranks, and has emerged as one of the biggest obstacles to getting health care legislation passed.
Pingback| 11.9.09 @ 1:24PM
Twitter Trackbacks for The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Report: 41 Dems Pledge links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Mikecampbelly2k| 11.9.09 @ 3:47PM
A Democrat civil war???? Wow! Do you think the MSM will ask a Conservative Republican what the Democrats should do to unify their party - like they do when the Republicans have a split - immediately turn to some Liberal idiot like Paul Krugman or Frank Rich to give us Repubs advice on how to unite our party and win elections. I'm not holding my breath.
JP| 11.9.09 @ 4:12PM
Obviously, niether Pelosi nor Reid wish the bill to return to the House if at all possible. The Stupak Amendment will be dropped in the Senate. The Senate may attempt to reconcile a few other things, but overall Reid can call for the nuclear option and force a Senate voter. All he needs is 50 votes (Biden would be the tie breaker).
The danger (from Reid's perspective) is that enough Dems will not go for the nuclear option and in the end vote against it. Perhaps they will hatch a Pelosi like midnigh plan to force the bill through when no one is looking.
This bill has all of the makings for a political erruption that hasn't been seen in decades. The costs to families and businesses are huge, and not to mention what the long term problems will be.