Nelson says he will vote against budget if reconciliation process is used.
Nelson says he will vote against budget if reconciliation process is used.
Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that it was “absolutely essential” to pass “substantial health care reform legislation” this year, adding that “the best prospect for that to happen is under reconciliation,” which allows a measure to be passed with a simple majority instead of the 60 votes that otherwise would be needed. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said earlier this week that he would “consider” using the budget reconciliation process for health care. But Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) tells Bloomberg today that he would “vote against his party’s budget if it included the reconciliation procedure”:
The Senate’s draft of the budget omits the reconciliation language. Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, said he would vote against his party’s budget if it included the reconciliation procedure.
“That’s a deal-breaker,” Nelson said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to determine the health-care delivery system, the changes that will be there, through the reconciliation process.”
Nelson isn’t the only moderate Democrat warning against the use of the budget reconciliation process. Yesterday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said that “reconciliation is going to cause partisan warfare” that “would set health care reform back.”
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Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said that “reconciliation is going to cause partisan warfare”
yeah, we’d better try to avoid partisan warfare.
We don’t wanna get them Republicans pushing back against our proposals, now, do we? That would be awkward.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:14 pmImagine what Washington would be like if there was “partisan warfare.”
March 27th, 2009 at 2:14 pmUmmmm, DINOS….
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re already in the middle of PARTISAN WARFARE.
Dumb asses!
March 27th, 2009 at 2:16 pmOh. Hi, guys. GMTA. :)
March 27th, 2009 at 2:17 pmThese are the same people that paved the way for the Republicans to seat Roberts and Alito back in 2005.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:18 pmWhat an utter azo. Period.
Cheers,
March 27th, 2009 at 2:18 pm“Please, please don’t be mad at us, Republicans. We’re sorry.” What a bunch of wussies, and what a great state of politics in this freaking country. Republicans are crybabies and afraid of everything, Democrats are crybabies and just afraid of Republicans. Unfreakingbelievable.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:18 pmYou know, all the DINO’s are only vying for a$$hat of the year award.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:20 pmI mean to say, he’ll vote for it if the budget reconciliation process is not used, but will not vote for the same damn bill if it is?!?!? What’s the logic in that, particularly when the Rethuglicans have been using this to railroad through tons of stuff in the past (and probably even stuff he’s voted for)…..
Cheers,
March 27th, 2009 at 2:20 pmSpoken like a man who already has free insurance fro life….screw him!
March 27th, 2009 at 2:22 pmAt the very least, then, Reid should force the Rethuglicans to actually filibuster the bill (and we can also see if Nelson votes for cloture)….
Cheers,
March 27th, 2009 at 2:22 pm“”"
good ol’ uncle ben,
where would we be with
out you?
:\
March 27th, 2009 at 2:23 pmIf reconciliation is used, then Nelson just might not be needed.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:23 pmUgh. All these guys know is how to cave in to the right wing!
March 27th, 2009 at 2:25 pmRemember that Nelson and Bachus are “moderate” Democrats who see their power diminished if the Senate passed something with a simple majority and not the 60 votes rule.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:25 pmConservodems, republicans, what’s the difference? The next Congress will need to be progressive so we can upgrade this country.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:27 pmSure, he doesn’t have to worry because he and the rest of the Senate already has the best health care in the country. What an A$$!!
March 27th, 2009 at 2:28 pmEver notice how it’s only partisan warfare when Democrats are trying to get crap done? But when Republicans demand fealty and absolute monolithic support, they get it not only from their folks, but from the same conservadems who decry attempts at unity from their own party?
March 27th, 2009 at 2:35 pmwould just like to point out that the appellation “moderate Democrats” is inaccurate. This group are all Democrats who are on the very far-right-hand side of that spectrum. This country can no longer afford this kind of “moderation,” any more than it can afford the obstructionism of the Republicans. We need a new paradigm. We are in very serious trouble in the U.S., and only a very big change even has a chance to have a positive effect on the majority of Americans. Term limits and public-only financing of all federal elections (perhaps state and local as well) is the absolutely only way to get our country back. Otherwise, corporations will continue to own and make policy for us, because people like this are bought and sold.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:35 pmI’ve visited Nelson’s flagship twice. Nelson lost an arm, an eye and his life in service of his country. He also shagged Amm e Hathaway, and why-not? That’s what I say!
(Note to contemporary Anne Hathaway, this has nothing to do with your lovely self, just in case it comes up on the Google).
YOU SIR, ARE NO NELSON!
March 27th, 2009 at 2:37 pmWere Nelson and Baucus just as verbal when the Republicans used reconciliation to provide war funds to Bush? Funny but I didn’t hear them object then.
I have never liked Blue Dog Democrats. They are more like wolves in sheep covering. Republicans at heart, they use the name Democrat to get elected.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:37 pmSomeone clarify for me how the decision to proffer a bill as part of the reconciliation process is made. Is that up to the Majority leader? What are the confines under which the reconciliation bill are made? Does it have to have certain features?
March 27th, 2009 at 2:38 pmThe top contributors to the good senator Nelson the last five years just happen to be in the insurance bidness (especially the “above-reproach” Warren Buffet). Imagine that. Where’s the MSM on this? It takes a click of the mouse on the INTERNETS.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:38 pmThese Conservadems in the Senate need to get out of dodge if they think they’re in any position to begin to criticize the future we the people elected and expect.
Hopefully–with or without these jokers–we can turn this economy around and actually focus on solving the deeper, systemic issues for why we’re in this situation. Obviously bad banking’s a good place to start, but there are other issues, like global poverty, that have huge economic and geopolitical ramifications.
The Borgen Project (www.borgenproject.org) has some interesting insight into addressing the issues of global poverty, something we can remedy easily and sustainably.
Some interesting figures to ponder:
March 27th, 2009 at 2:40 pm$30 billion USD: The annual shortfall to end global poverty.
$550 billion USD: The annual US defense budget.
say no at your own peril dino’s.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:42 pmRepukes are quoted as saying their top priority is to stop Obama’s budget, etc. Obviously because anything good for the country will make them look like the corrupt, fascist, self-serving, POS’s that they are. And now these Dem’s are helping them accomplish that. Apparently, a handfull of Dem’s can be purchased by the same folks that own the Repukes.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:42 pmbarack obomber Says:
hooray for higher deficits!!! Boner Cantor Dumbya!!!
As usual, we’ve had to fix your posts for you, BO. Try to keep up…
March 27th, 2009 at 2:51 pmOutbreak of Trollette’s Syndrome on aisle 28.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:53 pmWhy does Ben Nelson Hate America?
Why does Ben Nelson Hate Americans?
Why does Ben Nelson think Americans need their lives to be harder, more pain-wracked, more insecure, poorer and sicker?
I think we need to revoke the health care of ALL congressmen and women immediately until Americans get health care.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:54 pm*
So, let Nelson vote against it. He’s more a Republican than a Democrat anyway.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:56 pmI’m afraid he’s about the best we can hope for out of Nebraska.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:58 pmbarack obomber Says: hooray for higher taxes!!! Nancy Nancy Nancy!!!
Because Bush’s and the Republicans lower corporate taxes over the past 7 years made us all rich and fully employed, just like they promised, right?
March 27th, 2009 at 3:00 pmFunny how everyone has been thinking that, if the Dems get Franken in, they’re at 59, then they just need to pick up one more seat and they’ll have a filibuster-proof majority. I think messrs Nelson and Baucus – plus Bayh and Mdme McCaskill, etc. – have put you on notice that there is a new math.
These weasels only see this as adding to their influence.
So how many is going to take to be filibuster-proof? 65? 70?
Its time – past time, really – to stop worrying about avoiding filibusters and make the Republicans actually filibuster! Make them demonstrate their obstructionism for all the world to see.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:01 pmHmm. I tried to post:
**uk them and the republicans that rode in on them.
Looks like it didn’t make it through the filter.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pmYesterday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said that “reconciliation is going to cause partisan warfare” that “would set health care reform back.”
And what else is new in congress?
Its BEEN war and it will continue to be WAR to block and slow down Obama’s agenda.
McConnell already sent a warning letter to Obama about health care.
F**K republicans! We have the votes.
These so-called moderates have got to go..
March 27th, 2009 at 3:05 pmlzcrmc Says: Its time – past time, really – to stop worrying about avoiding filibusters and make the Republicans actually filibuster! Make them demonstrate their obstructionism for all the world to see.
This is an ‘old’ argument (from post-Nov 4th, 2006), but there are plenty here who would agree with your rationale (myself included).
March 27th, 2009 at 3:11 pmConservaDems should be ridiculed, ostracized, marginalized and then subjected to a grassroots funded primary. What part of shooting ourselves in the foot do they not understand? It’s almost as if they are afraid that Democratic policies and promises might actually happen.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:15 pm““reconciliation is going to cause partisan warfare””
March 27th, 2009 at 3:21 pmsen baucus, here’s some free advice direct from me to you:
grow a set. no one cares about what the repukelicans are selling as is eveidenced by the last two elections. either lead, follow, or get out of the way but, for the love of god…grow a set.
Gee, let’s avoid partisanship altogether and simply vote for whatever Republicans want every time.
“D” or “R” if all you’re going to do is serve manna and not man, you need to be replaced!!!
March 27th, 2009 at 3:41 pmWhy they’re even a part of the Democratic Party? They’re obviously Republicans. What a bunch of Judases.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:42 pmSo, Nelson believes the budget is the right thing for our country and would vote for it, but that it’s somehow no longer the right thing for our country if using the reconciliation process to get passed? Do I have that right?
winddancer Says:
“This country can no longer afford this kind of “moderation,” any more than it can afford the obstructionism of the Republicans. We need a new paradigm.”
Amen! There are helpful choices and destructive choices. Including some of the destructive in with the helpful for the sake of “moderation” is a fool’s errand.
Say your arm got severed and you (obviously) want a doctor to reattach it… would you choose the doctor who refuses to help you at all, the “moderate” doctor who will attach the arm, but chop off the fingers for the sake of moderation, or the doctor who will do the procedure in full?
March 27th, 2009 at 3:52 pmReally, but he approved of the Repugs using the reconsilation process to pass Bush’s tax cut budget for the wealthy. These people need to be replaced, they have held their seats to long, and are used to doing absolutely nothing
March 27th, 2009 at 3:53 pmBlue Dogs would be better named “Blue Curs” or “Yeller Bellied Dogs”, the way they slink around slobbering and snarling and threatening their own party for no reason other than to feel powerful.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:56 pmDid these folk contract Stockholm Syndrome sometime between 1994 and now?
March 27th, 2009 at 4:05 pmThe Democratic tent has to be mighty big to let Ben Nelson in! Does he ever put himself out for the party?
March 27th, 2009 at 4:32 pmPresident Obama should hold more press conferences and tell it how it is in simplest terms… name names of who is obstructing what. What was it, 38 million view his last conference? Think of the outrage and pressure the newly informed would put on their senator and representative.
And, this way, the gopper led media can not do what they do best = Blame the Obama administration for not getting it done.
March 27th, 2009 at 4:44 pmSo: “if they can’t get the votes to pass it otherwise, I won’t vote for it.” Why not just come out and say you just won’t vote for it? It’s functionally exactly the same thing.
March 27th, 2009 at 4:48 pmLooks like health insurance reform is off the table too. We already know single-payer health care is. Baucus and all the rest of them are in the pocket of the insurance companies….that’s a given too.
March 27th, 2009 at 5:31 pmSo once again, it is OK when Republicans use the budget reconciliation process to get shit passed, but not for Democrats.
March 27th, 2009 at 6:12 pmWhat’s going to cause “partisan warfare” is that if healthcare with a public option isn’t passed this year the Repubs are going to lose so badly in 2010 that the remainder will be backed into a corner and dangerous.
Perhaps Baucus needs some political courage…
March 27th, 2009 at 6:33 pmCan you say Blue Dog Democrat? Reconciliation was used too many times to count under Bush. That was how they pushed through all of his agenda. Now we should be employing the same thing. Unless there will be a way to keep the obstructionism of the Republicans from throwing a wrench in the works.
The party of no. The party of no ideas. Now the blue dogs hope to help them along. Nelson is a fat head. He will be joined by other fat heads. By all means let’s keep things Republican style. After all look at the wonderful job they did for eight years.
March 27th, 2009 at 7:01 pmWhat is he trying to say, he purely doesn’t like the process, or doesn’t want any health care reform? Just cme out and say you don’t want health care reform. Don’t blame the Senate reconciliation process since it was used by the previous president. Where was Nelson’s conscience the last eight years? Seems as though Nelson had better relish his last term as Senator from Nebraska. I don’t think the DNC will be throwing any support his way for a re-election bid. I’d look for him t run under the Republican ticket next time around to keep his office.
March 27th, 2009 at 11:02 pmYesterday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said that “reconciliation is going to cause partisan warfare” that “would set health care reform back.”
No, all your resistance to this process is going to do is cause internal party warfare that we can not afford to have on a matter this important.
We’re on the same team, guys. You don’t ever see a wide receiver sprint backwards down the field toward the other team’s end zone, with the quarterback doing a 180 and gunning the ball to him. We can’t win that way, fellas.
Come on back to us and get with the program, and let’s get this thing done.
March 28th, 2009 at 1:13 amWhen these “Conservadems” try to derail important legislation, it is time for the media to expose who their largest campaign donors are. This would go a long way in explaining what their true motives are, and where their true loyalties lay.
March 28th, 2009 at 1:17 amCome on thinkprogress. Do this so we can watch them scurry for cover like the rats that they are.
It’s time for Nelson to go! Remember these DINOS and like RepubliCons, vote them out.
March 28th, 2009 at 3:05 amThis is how Democrats come to ruin themselves.
March 28th, 2009 at 7:51 amIt is kind of funny how the Big O campaigned against the last 8 years of Bush’s runaway spending, record deficits and the runup in the national debt. Bush expanded the federal government to record levels. now Obama wants to out do him by a long shot doing the exact same thing while at the same time turn the US into a Marxist, Communist, socialist state. Obama is redefining his party as the new National Socialist Party
March 28th, 2009 at 9:09 amyou 2 or 3 jerk democrats get with the program you guys werent on ballot for election 2008 listen to your presidnet 70% of people approvl why cnat you dumbo,s
March 28th, 2009 at 9:19 amYou Jerks against health ccare how uch are lobbists paying oyou to vote against it Obama is boss and so is pelosi you will all suffer greatky later trust me no reelection either
March 28th, 2009 at 9:21 am