According to the Washington Post, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson has caved to Democratic pressure and will provide the 60th vote Harry Reid needs to pass the Senate’s American-medicine-and-Medicare-destroying version of Obamacare. There is still a chance some other Senate Democrat will refuse to take American medicine over the cliff, but at this point it looks like Obamacare passes the Senate on Christmas eve.
The only good thing this does is demonstrate the D.C. Democrats’ contempt for their “netroots” which are as against the bill as the center and the right. This is a Chicago-machine political bailout, the least common denominator bill that can provide President Obama with a ridiculous claim to having accomplished something, anything, in his first, greatly disappointing year in office.
Still, the Senate may spit in the eye of the country. Whether House Democrats decide to go along over the cliff remains to be seen. Passage of the Senate bill will doom Blanche Lincoln and maybe Evan Bayh, but too many Democrats are too far away from re-election days. When the next vote comes to the House, it will be about 42 weeks before November 2. Between now and then those House members have to hear from their voters and have to see the cash piling up in the GOP coffers.
As I said before the election, they Left only has to win once, and stay in office just long enough to create a new entitlement program. It appears they are going to succeed.
YOU will pay for it.
In the meantime, the medical insurance you have today is going to become more expensive (if you can manage to keep it), but it is also going to be worth less. Not quite worthless for awhile… though that time may come.
