The Senate debate over the new health care bill, all 2,074 pages of it will kick off Saturday night at 8 p.m. The bill would cost $848 billion over 10 years.
Here are some of the hurdles that Harry Reid & co. will have to clear before this bill even has a prayer:
Abortion:
Ben Nelson, a moderate Democrat, says that he will join a Republican filibuster if language is not added preventing tax payer dollars from funding abortions. The Stupak-Pitts amendment is one way to do that; but Democrats are unwilling to commit to such language.
Watch this interesting exchange in which John Boehner questions Charles Rangel about Stupak. Rangel responds by asking John Boehner, “Why [he] is so rude?”
Public Option:
Senate moderates like Joe Lieberman who are needed to build a 60-vote coalition have indicated that they will not support a bill that contains a public option. Here’s how Lieberman put it: “If at the end of the debate, the bill I think is overloaded … particularly with this government-sponsored public option insurance company, I’m not going to vote for cloture.” He’s also stated that he won’t be the only moderate holding out.
Tax Increase:
The bill raises taxes by $486 billion in its first year. Because that’s what we need to revive our struggling economy, a heavier tax burden.
Ultimately, I don’t think they will be able to get anything through this time. Democrats don’t want to compromise on abortion or the public option and even if they did pass the bill with the Stupak amendment or restricting the public option, a David Axelrod seemed to infer last week that President Obama would veto a bill that was watered down in those areas .