Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghostwriter
I don't believe they can muster the number of votes in the house for this. There is just too much in the Senate bill that is a problem for some of the House Dems. For example, the "blue dogs" will not abide without the Stupak amendment and the Dems who are beholding to labor will be in a very tight box with the tax on "cadillac plans". Beside all this, I also think it would be political suicide for the Dems. They probably know this as well. Maybe they will decide to go out with a blaze of glory though. Stranger things have happened. Witness the election last night.
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I disagree. Democrats are already saddled with the political fallout, whether the bill passes or not, and it’s better for them to have a bill to defend that has tangible benefits than try to explain why they voted for something and then walked away. There's no incentive whatsoever for any Republican to vote for the bill, so they certainly won't start over unless there's absolutely no other way.
Dems have a large enough margin in the House to get a simple majority on the Senate bill. The party leaders will be sure to make the caucus members aware of the consequences of letting the main aspect of Obama's platform fail. I've seen this happen over and over in the House, and the rank and file always end up falling in line. I could be wrong, but my experience says they can do it.
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