The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Spending Bill Advances, and Other Senate Developments

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The Spectacle Blog

Spending Bill Advances, and Other Senate Developments

By Philip Klein on 12.12.09 @ 11:05AM

The Senate just voted by a 60-34 margin to advance a $447 billion spending bill by invoking cloture, and a vote on final passage is expected tomorrow.

The chamber will remain in session today and tomorrow and will be debating the spending bill and health care, but it's unlikely that there will be votes on any health care amendments this weekend, a Senate Republican aide tells me.

Meanwhile, the Hill reports of growing doubts among Senate Democrats that they will pass a health care bill by Christmas, because at this point virtually everything will have to go perfectly for them. One big factor is how long it will take for the Congressional Budget Office to get back to them with an estimate on the new Medicare expansion idea being touted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as a "compromise."

To pass a bill before Christmas, Reid would have to get a good CBO score early next week, get all 60 Democrats on board, give 72 hours before voting to advance the final bill, clear three 60-vote procedural hurdles that would have to be spread out over six or seven days, and then hold the final vote.

Yet 10 Democrats have already sent a letter to Reid expressing concerns about the Medicare expansion idea, and the liberal Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida has called it a "non starter."

A Senate Republican aide also tells me that they'll need to vote on a defense appropriations bill by next Friday, and it's still unclear whether Democrats will try to attach legislation to raise the federal debt limit to it.

John Smithson| 12.12.09 @ 1:52PM

For starter, this omnibus bill came to the Senate as a $447 billion spending bill. Sunday, the Senate will vote on this bill but with this change -- it is now a $1.1 trillion deal according to FoxNews. It is this sort of this that voters are rejecting in record numbers. Rasmussen has Obama's "approval index" numbers at a record -16 on its way to -20 or below. In all polls including CNN, Gallup, cBS , his popularity as a leader has tanked.

Obama won the election by [only] 7% of the popular vote and spent ¾ of a trillion dollars doing so. His '08 victory was on the foundation of a larger than normal youth vote (especially college minded youth), a huge percentage of the black community [much larger than normal] and a large but typically conservative leaning moderate vote [much more so than normal -- note the pattern]. ALL of that has changed, yet, he proceeds in the direction of the cliff. "Good for him," we say. I have maintained, nearly from the beginning, that Obama is a rather stupid man with a degree and an 11th grade vocabulary. The problem in all this is the fact that those who side with him in the geo/political world are not stupid. It is not Obama who is throwing his Democrat legislators over the cliff, rather it is people like Pelosi, George Soros and evil Marxists who work under cover of darkness who are throwing Obama over the cliff.

The George Soros' of the world not only practiced legislative incrementalism but hide in the shadows of its ambiguities - "are they really Commi's or just liberal politicians?!" That is the "ambiguities" of which we speak. Before Obama, many did not know. But then came Obama. He is NOT an Incrementalist. "Time for talk is over, time for action is here" are words that stand as the new battle cry of the Obama Left. With the Coming of Obama, the debate about the intended direction of the Left has ended. Obama is OPENLY Marxist as are all those who rally around him. The blinders have come off and the argument as to "is he or isn't he" is effectively over. We -- the American people -- now know the nature of the political battle and the picture of the end game. . . . . . . . and we are not ready for it !!

So it is that his numbers continue to tank. We should not get discouraged. This bunch of ADMITTED Communists Marxists cannot prevent the repeal of all that they are doing. And those who run as Conservatives in the coming two elections had better make it clear that they intend to legislate betters plans, function with a sense of real compassion for the working poor, are committed to solving problems that are of greatest concern to the people and will render ineffective or repeal anything that smacks of the Marxism as passed by this Congress. You as the voting public must demand no less.

J David Smithson
Editor
Midknight Review
http://midknightreview.blogspot.com/
A free blog - part of the grassroots
rebellion. Check it our or do the same.
Make some noice !!!!!!

Smithson| 12.12.09 @ 2:05PM

Sorry for the typos. I was about to correct and somehow the post took off!!

My main concern relates to the issue of our response to incrementalism - it must be that of legislative repeal. No more can we allow "them" to rush ahead of their election defeat by passing as mush Marxist crap as they can before they are voted out. If they do that, our legislator MUST repeal and replace with real and traditional solutions. The John McCain's of the world will argue, "Well, they passed the legislation fair and square - we cannot undo such; that would be the very definition of chaos." Nonsense. We now know "their " intentions. There is no alternative but to repeal their legal actions. Chaos or not, anything short of this is surrender.

J Smithson

Ret. Marine| 12.13.09 @ 7:08AM

I have never believed this half-breed wanna-be American has ever had the scores the media keep touting. I cannot find a single person in my little community who even believes he's an American Citizen, in the legal sense of Art. 2. As far as this demonrat party, to implode this country into a 4th turd world status is nothing to be proud of or even wanted on a resume. It must suck to be them.
Of course they will, as usual, blame the Republican party for their idiot moves by demonizing their inactiveness, nothing to the table approach and a host of other dishonesties. Their play book is nothing new to the observers of this Republic, rather old news by in large but, nonetheless, they will try.