Sanders 'Not Voting for Health-care Bill'

[Nbadan]

Here is some breaking news...


Speaking with Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business Channel tonight, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stated flatly that he would not vote for the health care bill moving through the Senate.

I’m struggling with this. As of this point, I’m not voting for the bill. … I’m going to do my best to make this bill a better bill, a bill that I can vote for, but I’ve indicated both to the White House and the Democratic leadership that my vote is not secure at this point. And here is the reason. When the public option was withdrawn, because of Lieberman’s action, what I worry about is how do you control escalating health care costs?

Crucially, Sanders said he’s not voting “for the bill.” That is not necessarily a vote against cloture. There’s an opportunity for him to vote for cloture and against the bill and still be technically correct about his intentions. For conservative Democrats, procedural votes and up or down votes on the bill became one and the same, leading to the hostage-taking process. Perhaps Sanders is still trying to extract more goodies from the bill, maybe even in the area of community health centers.

Prior to this statement, Sanders has said he was undecided on the bill, and signaled that he thought the reconciliation process would have been a better use of the Senate’s time:

“If I had my druthers, I think reconciliation is an absolutely appropriate way to go,” he said. “I think what people who oppose that will tell you is that you can’t have the kind of comprehensive legislation that the Senate is trying to deal with now—and that may in fact be true—but there are a heck of a lot of things that you can do that would strengthen our health care system in a cost-effective way that could be a giant step forward for the American people.”

Other Senators, like Russ Feingold, have remained undecided, but Sanders is the first of the more liberal Senate Democrats to go as far as saying they would not vote for the bill.

Some conservative Democrats also remain undecided, like Ben Nelson, who is reportedly “weighing” whether or not to support new language on abortion services penned by Bob Casey.

Link (http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/12/16/breaking-sanders-not-voting-for-health-care-bill/)

Liberal Democrats are jumping ship now too.....Obama needs to cut his loses and send this bill back to the house...

[spursncowboys]

That is crazy how Dean has that much power on the left. I could see how people could like, even though he is crude, his straightforwardness. Maybe this is a way of getting rid of this bad bill that bho didn't want his name on but couldn't back down.

[Spursmania]

This bill will pass and it will be a hugely flawed bill that will cost this country a trillion dollars and soon be part of the stranglehold the ongoing debt has this country in.

Right now, it's not about passing a Bill that is good for this country and works. No, make no mistake, it is about politics at this point, and it will get passed no matter how waterdowned and shitty it keeps on getting.

The Government running healthcare. Wow. Welcome to Obamaworld...

[Nbadan]

This bill will pass and it will be a hugely flawed bill that will cost this country a trillion dollars and soon be part of the stranglehold the ongoing debt has this country in.

Right now, it's not about passing a Bill that is good for this country and works. No, make no mistake, it is about politics at this point, and it will get passed no matter how waterdowned and shitty it keeps on getting.

The Government running healthcare. Wow. Welcome to Obamaworld...

You would have a point if this was health-care reform...as in a single-payer system..

[da_suns_fan]

Here is some breaking news...



Link (http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/12/16/breaking-sanders-not-voting-for-health-care-bill/)

Liberal Democrats are jumping ship now too.....Obama needs to cut his loses and send this bill back to the house...

Wont happen. Obama will put enough pressure on this guy to pass SOMETHING and then promise to fix it later.

A bills getting passed. Remember, Obama told Oprah that so far he gives himself a "B+" for his first year in office and an "A-" if they pass "health care reform".

He doesnt care whats in the bill, just get it passed!

[jack sommerset]

Wont happen. Obama will put enough pressure on this guy to pass SOMETHING and then promise to fix it later.

A bills getting passed. Remember, Obama told Oprah that so far he gives himself a "B+" for his first year in office and an "A-" if they pass "health care reform".

He doesnt care whats in the bill, just get it passed!

He sounds pretty strong on his stance. This bill might be killed.

[Nbadan]

olberman has jumped the shark..

http://videos.mediaite.com/video/Keith-Olbermanns-Special-Commen

[jack sommerset]

"Killed by the republicans" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

So far it sounds like the Olbermann I have heard.

[spursncowboys]

Wont happen. Obama will put enough pressure on this guy to pass SOMETHING and then promise to fix it later.

A bills getting passed. Remember, Obama told Oprah that so far he gives himself a "B+" for his first year in office and an "A-" if they pass "health care reform".

He doesnt care whats in the bill, just get it passed!

You mean reid will buy him.

[SouthernFried]

Sanders won't have to vote for it, they'll get 2 GOP'ers to vote for it, and let Sanders off the hook.

Sanders can't vote for it, and keep his seat. So, Dem's are going to let him vote against it, as long as they can get a GOP vote for it. Money will be changing a lot of hands, very soon.

[EmptyMan]

Dean and O-Sirrrrrrrr are using reverse psychology.

[MannyIsGod]

Fuck this bill and its mandate without even a weak public option. Kill the mandate, kill the bill, I don't give a fuck. Lieberman has won and at this point Obama's mission to pass the most important legislation he needed to get done is a complete and utter failure. Right now this bill is a dream for Insurance companies.

I said over a year ago Obama (in my eyes) would be judged by his ability to get this done and so far its a failure. Its a hard job to get done when Lieberman says that he wants this type of medicare program then 3 months later kills it simply to spite the left and progressives. Ok Lieberman, I get it. You're pissed and you don't give a shit who suffers but you'll have your revenge.

Howard Dean is completely right.

[MannyIsGod]

HIb13mYoy0Q

Utterly fucking amazing.

[EmptyMan]

They went after his wife, man. He is going to go awol on you suckers.

[baseline bum]

This bill is turning out exactly as I said it would a month ago. If it gets passed it will be the biggest fuck-up since our $700 billion was handed over to the cocksuckers at AIG, Goldman, Citi, etc.

[mogrovejo]

LOL@ the far-left blaming Lieberman. They alienated him, elected him as a target on primaries, ran against him and now he was supposed to have some kind of loyalty. Oh the hubris.

Only if Obama had not made changing opinions accordingly to political conveniences so normal...

This is a much less harmful bill than the original bill they wanted to pass though.

[MannyIsGod]

LOL@ the far-left blaming Lieberman. They alienated him, elected him as a target on primaries, ran against him and now he was supposed to have some kind of loyalty. Oh the hubris.


Not sure why you're playing the moron act so frequently lately but I'm not sure how expecting Lieberman to not completely go against what he came out and ADVOCATED after 3 months is expecting him to have some kind of loyalty to the democrats.

And yeah, Obama is the root of political flip flopping.

[Winehole23]

Not sure why you're playing the moron act so frequently latelyBecause he's a clown like the rest of us.

[TheProfessor]

You want to know why Obama put no pressure on Lieberman? Because this is exactly the bill he wanted out of the Senate. Sanders will fall in line, as his statement is well-qualified - he might get some concessions, but nothing resembling a public option. At the end of the day, even if the new bill loses popularity with the base because it lacks a public option, Democrats know it's far worse to pass nothing and cede a Republican victory than to get something out there and make things look hunky-dory in conference.

I'm amused at progressives who have no idea, or seem to have forgotten, how politics and politicians work. They accuse Republicans of being intolerant ideologues, but Lieberman's taking more heat than Snowe did with conservatives. At the end of the day, they're willing to cut off their nose to spite their face.

[EmptyMan]

Progressive are losing their minds because they thought they finally had their progressive champion in the #1 seat with a majority, which they do.

They fail to realize their progressive ideology would crush this country into a cess pool, and their progressive champion in the #1 seat would have to answer for it. I don't know about you, but the progressive champion in the #1 seat kind of likes the attention & perks.

You still have Axlerod saying "we progressives" when referring to past allegience and other dems implying this is still a great step towards single-payer which Lieberman himself has cited as scaring him off. A cover for sure, but a good excuse.

[Nbadan]

You want to know why Obama put no pressure on Lieberman? Because this is exactly the bill he wanted out of the Senate. Sanders will fall in line, as his statement is well-qualified - he might get some concessions, but nothing resembling a public option. At the end of the day, even if the new bill loses popularity with the base because it lacks a public option, Democrats know it's far worse to pass nothing and cede a Republican victory than to get something out there and make things look hunky-dory in conference.

I'm amused at progressives who have no idea, or seem to have forgotten, how politics and politicians work. They accuse Republicans of being intolerant ideologues, but Lieberman's taking more heat than Snowe did with conservatives. At the end of the day, they're willing to cut off their nose to spite their face.

Obama's trying to live a bi-partisan dream....the GOP doesn't want to try and play nice, much less like Obama...they want to try to stop him, defeat him...meanwhile, Obama's Democratic base are the people demanding that this bill, as well intentioned as it was, has been stripped of any real reform without a public option, extended medicare, or single-payer.....

...take it back to the house, make it a single-payer system and let the GOP fuck themselves in 2010 when they have to explain to people why they killed true insurance reform...

[TheProfessor]

Obama's trying to live a bi-partisan dream....the GOP doesn't want to try and play nice, much less like Obama...they want to try to stop him, defeat him...meanwhile, Obama's Democratic base are the people demanding that this bill, as well intentioned as it was, has been stripped of any real reform without a public option, extended medicare, or single-payer.....

...take it back to the house, make it a single-payer system and let the GOP fuck themselves in 2010 when they have to explain to people why they killed true insurance reform...
It's not about bi-partisanship. Obama is trying to keep the new lobbyist friends he just made in the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries happy. They're probably willing to sacrifice some popularity with the base in order to do it, as much for their own financing as to keep it out of Republican hands. Long term, it's about whose coffers that money flows into, because that wins elections. Is this shorted-sighted? Yup, and I think it's going to do plenty of damage when the base sits on their hands in 2010. But they may keep their majorities and enjoy a significant cash advantage over Republicans thanks to that money in 2012. There's method to this madness, as long as Dem's reconcile the House and Senate bills amicably and people start getting jobs.

[Nbadan]

It's not about bi-partisanship. Obama is trying to keep the new lobbyist friends he just made in the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries happy. They're probably willing to sacrifice some popularity with the base in order to do it, as much for their own financing as to keep it out of Republican hands.

I'm not sure how effective this plan has been then because Republican coffers are filled with health-care and insurance lobbyist money for their 'support'...

[Nbadan]

up, and I think it's going to do plenty of damage when the base sits on their hands in 2010.

True....however, remember that GOP incumbents will have to deal with the tea-bagger crowd in their own GOP primaries, this group is scary if it gets more money...