In less than an hour, the U.S. Senate opens debate on a broad health
care overhaul. Senators are seeking an elusive compromise on thorny
issues like a government-run public insurance plan, abortion coverage
and holding down costs. Debate is expected to last at least 3 weeks.
Moderate Senate Democrats who recently voted to begin debate have
threatened to abandon the health-care legislation if their demands
aren’t met; while more liberal members warned their party leaders not
to bend to these threats. “I don’t want a big-government,
Washington-run operation that would undermine the … private insurance
that 200 million Americans now have,” said Sen. Ben Nelson, a
conservative Nebraska Democrat. Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu of
Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Connecticut independent
Joe Lieberman has warned that they might not support the final bill.
Key Republican Senators to watch include Senator Olympia Snowe
(R-Maine) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine). Both are moderate
Republicans and the Democrats best chance of gaining any bi-partisan
support.
The Democrats are pushing to get something passed by the end of the year. And their ambitious goal may just happen. While polls continue to show support for health care reform, support for specific bills remain low. One plus that the Democrats have in their court is that the debate is taking place during the busy holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. As Americans stay busy with their holiday and travel plans, the debate will continue. This gives the leadership the opportunity to move legislation through the Senate with less public scrutiny. The people who will be paying attention the most during this time period will be those with the most strongly held belief at either end of the spectrum; those most susceptible to being demonized as extremists.
Once January gets here, all bets are off. As politicians begin to gear up for mid-term elections, compromise becomes harder to reach. Also as American start filing their 2009 income taxes, the costs of such a massive undertaking and the individual impact to each of us will be foremost upon the voters’ minds.