The Senate kindly voted to actually start debating the health care bill over the weekend. It's a strange world where people in the government whose job it is to debate bills vote to not debate a bill. Something isn't quite right there. But that's the Senate and you go to war with the Senate you have, not the Senate you want.So, where do things stand now? If you're in favor of a public option, it looks like you're going to be disappointed, as many conservative Democrats who supported voting for cloture have said they wont vote for it a second time if the bill still contains a public option. What does this mean for the final bill? Here are takes from Slate, Talking Points, and the New York Times. They all point to backroom wrangling between conservative and progressive Democrats, none of which seem to leave anything but a shell of a public option (at best).Photo by Luke Sharrett / New York Times
The Senate kindly voted to actually start debating the health care bill over the weekend. It's a strange world where people in the government whose job it is to debate bills vote to not debate a bill. Something isn't quite right there. But that's the Senate and you go to war with the Senate you have, not the Senate you want.So, where do things stand now? If you're in favor of a public option, it looks like you're going to be disappointed, as many conservative Democrats who supported voting for cloture have said they wont vote for it a second time if the bill still contains a public option. What does this mean for the final bill? Here are takes from Slate, Talking Points, and the New York Times. They all point to backroom wrangling between conservative and progressive Democrats, none of which seem to leave anything but a shell of a public option (at best).Photo by Luke Sharrett / New York Times