One thing that emerged from yesterday’s Massachusetts senate debate is that while Republican Scott Brown clearly wants to filibuster the Health Care bill on final passage, he doesn’t seem clear on why he opposes it. In last night’s debate one of his arguments was that since Massachusetts already has the equivalent to the federal bill within the state, why do people from Massachusetts need to help provide it for the rest of America. Does that make any sense? I think if Dems look a little more closely at Brown’s series of positions on Health Care reform they’ll see some good grist for attacks.
Next, is that the end of Health Care reform if Brown pulls out a win?
Not necessarily. The Democrats do have the option to take the senate bill, have the House pass it verbatim and then bring it to the president’s desk. There’s no constitutional or parliamentary impediment to doing that. Whether Nancy Pelosi could get her caucus to do that, that’s another matter. But there is this alternative to getting 60 votes in the senate again.
