Pelosi barely passes health care bill; Reid's woes worsen in Nevada

November 10, 3:16 PMReno Conservative ExaminerKelly Anderson Wright

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  Harry's health care woes are just one reason to scream.

Congressional Democrats and mainstream media have heaped high praise on Speaker Pelosi for finally delivering the House health care reform bill, all 2000+ pages of it. In the aftermath of a liberal love fest that focused more on Pelosi’s historical win than on how close the vote actually was, the question is, will Majority Leader Harry Reid be able to duplicate Pelosi's success in the Senate?

Pelosi claimed the win was easy, but facts, fans and foes say otherwise. Pelosi’s final push to birth H.R. 3962 required a Saturday night, rush-rush hush-hush roll call vote, when most Americans were already asleep or too pooped to pay attention. At roughly 11 p.m. EST, Pelosi and Company got their last 3 votes out of 435 possible, passing the House version of health care reform by just .7%. Hardly a mandate or majority, “barely” describes it better.

Pelosi’s fans say she channeled her “uncommon focus, vote-counting acumen and consensus-building skills to bring tens of millions of Americans a giant leap closer to having health insurance coverage.”  But with what collateral damage? Critics claim Madam Speaker doesn't eat or sleep, and she strips fellow Dems of their chairmanships or backs opponents in primaries if they displease her. While rivals praise her focus, tenacity, vision and energy, they also say she will use any tool necessary -- persuasion, threat, reward or retribution -- to get her way.

Pelosi reportedly caused several pro-abortion House Dems to scream, cry and eventually melt, Wicked Witch-like, into a puddle of boogers and tears, when she added her turncoat amendment to block the bill's abortion funding. Apparently, the end justifies “all means necessary” to Pelosi, whose late-night tactics evoke decidedly less complimentary descriptions: "back-stabber" and “ball-buster” come to mind.

Now it’s up to Majority Leader Harry Reid to turn on the testosterone. Surely he has the necessary genetic equipment and chutzpah to pass Pelosi’s health care bill, or something like it, in the Senate. Or does he?

When asked about the odds of his repeating Pelosi’s late night win any time soon, Reid didn't gush or effuse, he lamented. “It’s going to be a long winter.” Reid wasn’t just referring to health care, or even northern Nevada’s notorious snowstorms on Mother's Day. Unlike Pelosi, whose uber-liberal constituents will most likely stay blue-blooded like Madam, Reid is facing a disheartened and destitute population back home in his tarnished silver state.

According to recent AP reports, Nevada has reached numero uno on the “most distressed state” list, surpassing even once auto-giant Michigan. Nevada has won the economic downturn trifecta, with the nation’s highest average unemployment rate (1 in 7 Nevadans is unemployed), foreclosure rates 6 times the national average (1 in 23 homes is in foreclosure), and a $2.3 billion shortfall in state revenues. Reid knows folks back home are out for blood: his.

Reid is desperate to claim a 5th 6-year term as Nevada's highest ranking senator in the nation. While the once-pauper Reid now enjoys a multi-millionaire’s fortune, his majority position in the Senate has brought mostly misfortune to citizens of his battle-born home. In the recent stimulus package promoted and passed by Reid, and signed by Obama, Nevada ranked next to last in total stimulus monies received, a factoid much touted by Reid's Republican contenders, who are itching to remove him from office next November. So financially downtrodden is Reid's state, polls showed two Republican challengers (Lowden and Tarkanian) could easily defeat the honorable majority leader before they had officially entered the race.

Exacerbating Reid’s health care headache is a recent poll that shows more than 52% of Nevada voters are against government-run health care. While Pelosi may have made it look easy, Reid is in no political position to break promises to Nevadans now, even if Pelosi can. Nor can he expect the same kind of effort the Obama Administration put forth for Pelosi, now that all of America's eyes are open to the clandestine shenanigans, temper tantrums and arm twisting that squeegeed .7% more yeas than nays.

Reid can’t do what Pelosi did, nor should he, if he wants to stay in power. While Pelosi’s political legacy required coercion, deception and disloyalty, Reid will need cooperation, communication and collectivism to pass a health care reform bill that pleases the majority of Americans, and most importantly, his constituents back home.

In the meantime, Republican challengers are drooling in Nevada, thirsting for Reid’s true blue American blood.

This article is part of the series, Inside Harry's Head.

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(Photo: RedState, http://www.flickr.com/photos/25553564@N03/3173476023/)