House Will Have to Vote Again
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on March 25th, 2010 4:39 am by HL
House Will Have to Vote Again
Senate Democrats “defeated 29 straight Republican amendments to the Democratic healthcare reconciliation bill before losing a key parliamentary ruling in Thursday’s early hours that will force the legislation back to the House of Representatives,” The Hill reports.
“The Senate adjourned at 3 a.m., and is scheduled to reconvene at 9:45 a.m. Thursday and continue debating amendments until a final vote at 2 p.m.; attention would be turned to points-of-order objections, with Republicans eyeing up to three possible parliamentary violations in the bill. If final passage is approved, the bill would then go to the House; final passage there would send the bill to President Barack Obama for his signature.”
New York Times: “The successful parliamentary challenge did not appear to endanger the eventual adoption of the changes to the health care legislation.”
Campbell, Fiorina in Tight GOP Race for Senate
A new Public Policy Institute of California poll finds Carly Fiorina (R) has pulled into a statistical tie with Tom Campbell (R) in the GOP Senate primary race.
Fiorina leads Campbell, 24% to 23%, with Chuck DeVore way back at 8%.
However, the poll also brings more bad news for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). “Much like last week’s Field Poll, Boxer continues to bleed voters, particularly independents, as she’s in a dead heat with her GOP rivals, counting for the margin of error.”
Cambell edges Boxer, 44% to 43%, while Boxer inches ahead of Fiorina, 44% to 43%.
Will Democrats Now Try to Include Public Option?
Now that a parliamentary ruling forces House Democrats to vote again on fixes to the health care bill, the Senate could possibly add additional fixes to the bill — including a public option.
Huffington Post: “Democratic leadership no longer has to worry that additional amendments would send it back to the House, since it must return to the lower chamber regardless. The Senate is now free to put to the test that much-debated question of whether 50 votes exist for a public option. Democrats could also elect to expand Medicare or Medicaid, now that they only need 50 votes in the Senate and the approval of the House.”
Obama Approval Unchanged After Health Care Passage
A new Quinnipiac poll — taken just after passage of President Obama’s signature health reform bill — finds his approval rate is basically unchanged at 45%.
The survey found that 49% of American voters disapprove of the health care reform, down from 54% before the vote. In addition, 51% say that the proposed action by several state attorneys general to block the health care overhaul is a “bad idea.”
Said pollster Peter Brown: “It may be that passage of health care eventually helps President Barack Obama’s approval ratings, but at this point there’s no sign of that. The White House believes that now that the legislation has been signed into law they can sell it to the American people. Approval of health care reform is growing – or disapproval is shrinking – but the President still has his work cut out for him.”
