Democrats celebrating way too soon on health care

November 8, 10:34 AMDC Republican ExaminerBill Dupray

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Democrats are certainly jubilant over the passage of PelosiCare last night by a vote of 220-215, a margin of just 5 votes. But one wonders how comfortable supporters of the bill are with such a razor-thin victory. After all, Cap and Tax passed the House by 7 votes and that is, in all likelihood, dead in the Senate.

The problem is that despite a 75 seat majority in the House, they squeezed it through with only five. In the Senate, the Democrats need 60 to break a filibuster, and several Democrat Senators have expressed deep reservations about the breadth and expense of the bill . . . and the Senate bill is nowhere near as broad and expensive as Pelosi's. Also, in the House, the minority party cannot control or obstruct the majority. In the Senate, not only can a minority party obstruct legislation, a single Senator can do it.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) has flat-out said he will filibuster the bill. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) will not support the Public Option.

And they are not the only ones.

Independent Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman said Tuesday that he would support a Republican filibuster against the bill unless it's changed. Key Democratic moderates including Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Ben Nelson, D-Neb.; and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., also said they were uncertain how they'd vote, expressing deep reservations about the public plan.

And Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, the only Republican to have voted for any version of health care reform, reiterated Tuesday that she's "disappointed" in Reid's proposal and will not support the government option.

The wavering, and in some cases crumbling, support for the package demonstrates how much of a gamble the Nevada Democrat took by unveiling a bill Monday that includes the controversial government plan but has no Republican backing. And it's a reminder of the warnings made months ago by Senate Democrats like Kent Conrad, D-N.D., that a public plan simply does not have the votes to pass and should not be included in the final bill.

In politics there are battles and there are wars. Republicans, for example, won the wars this week in Virginia and New Jersey. Republicans really will control those states for the next 4 years. The Democrats won a battle last night, the first of five that will take place on this issue. They still need to win the battle in the Senate, get a joint bill out of conference committee, and win final passage in each chamber. And last night's 5 vote victory was the easiest of the five.

So while the celebrations continue, just remember, the same folks cheered and danced their jigs after Cap and Tax too, and look how that is turning out.