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WSJ: Health Bill Faces Senate Heat

Posted on November 9, 2009 by Kendall Harmon

But its narrow passage in the House, where the Democrats have a large majority, underscores the difficulties ahead. Senate Democrats are struggling to agree on how to pay for the overhaul and whether to create a new public insurance plan to compete with private insurers, as the House did. Friction over how the bill treats abortion, which almost derailed the House vote, is likely to divide the Senate too.

“If the public option plan is in there, as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote,” Sen. Joe Lieberman (I., Conn.) said on Fox News Sunday.

With the passage of the House bill, Congress moved closer than ever to providing Americans with near-universal health insurance — a goal that has eluded many presidents since the days of Theodore Roosevelt.

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, * Economics, Politics, --The 2009 American Health Care Reform Debate, Health & Medicine, House of Representatives, Office of the President, Politics in General, President Barack Obama, Senate

2 comments on “WSJ: Health Bill Faces Senate Heat”

  1. Branford says:
    November 10, 2009 at 1:35 am

    From The Hill:

    A House Democratic leader said Monday she’s “confident” controversial language on abortion will be stripped from a final healthcare bill.

    Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the Democrats’ chief deputy whip in the House, said that she and other pro-abortion rights lawmakers would work to strip the amendment included in the House health bill that bars federal funding from subsidizing abortions.

    “I am confident that when it comes back from the conference committee that that language won’t be there,” Wasserman Schultz said during an appearance on MSNBC. “And I think we’re all going to be working very hard, particularly the pro-choice members, to make sure that’s the case.”

    The amendment, offered by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), won the support of Republicans and dozens of centrist Democrats in the House, but revealed a deep divide in the Democratic caucus over abortion. . .

    It’s not over til it’s over.

  2. upnorfjoel says:
    November 10, 2009 at 9:10 am

    The libs control almost everthing and the House passes this thing with 50.6% of the vote. I think that’s what Nancy/Barry/Harry call a MANDATE.