Who is John Galt?

an out for nelson?

13 state attorneys general are threatening to legal action if Nebraska's "Cornhusker Kickback" is not removed from the healthcare bill.

More importantly, this could give Ben Nelson the excuse he needs to reject the conferenced bill, killing healthcare reform and (maybe) saving his career.

ben nelson's toast in 2012

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

The political damage Nelson may have incurred in providing the critical 60th vote that cleared the way for Senate passage of the health care reform bill showed up Tuesday in a poll released by Rasmussen Reports.

The telephone survey of 500 Nebraskans, conducted Monday, suggested Republican Gov. Dave Heineman would defeat Nelson in a potential 2012 Senate race by a 61-30 margin.

The poll showed Nelson with a 55 percent unfavorable rating and 64 percent disapproval for Democratic health care reform legislation.

"The good news for (Nelson) is that he doesn't have to face Nebraska voters until 2012," Rasmussen Reports stated in posting results of the survey on its Web site.

Nelson still has time to change his mind before the conference report comes back.  And according to the polls, it looks like he has a compelling reason as well.

after healthcare, ezra klein needs to learn about the senate

Writing in the Washington Post's Sunday magazine, Ezra Klein complained (free registration required) that the Senate is fundamentally flawed by the three-fifths majority requirement of the filibuster.

To understand why the modern legislative process is so bad, why every Senator seems able to demand a king's ransom in return for his or her vote and no bill ever seems to be truly bipartisan, you need to understand one basic fact: The government can function if the minority party has either the incentive to make the majority fail or the power to make the majority fail. It cannot function if it has both.

Klein is working with a couple of very flawed premises here.  For one thing, he looks at the bribes that had to be paid to get all the Democrats onboard.  Since cloture takes 60 votes and the initial bill only had 50-something supporters, Klein reasons that the Democrats shouldn't have had to buy the balance of 60.

But the reality is that if cloture had taken only 50 votes, then we would have arguably had a much more liberal bill, with perhaps only 40-something supporters, and Harry Reid still would have had to issue bribes to get the balance of 50 needed for passage.  And this works both ways, meaning that the filibuster doesn't just affect the vote count, it affects the ideology of the legislation itself.

This is a profound difference.  Harry Reid isn't cloistered away in his office carving out legislation for an up-or-down vote, wondering how many he'll get.  He's communicating with his caucus, crafting legislation with an eye toward a critical number of votes.  Klein wants you to think the bill would have passed the Senate more easily with a simple majority, but the truth is that a smaller majority requirement would have simply meant a more liberal bill with provisions that Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman would have rejected outright, while more liberal moderates like Evan Bayh and Jim Webb would have had to be bought instead.

God, this is good

Mark Steyn, writing at National Review Online. (H/T Don Luskin):

We were told we had to do it because of the however many millions of uninsured, yet this bill will leave some 25 million Americans uninsured. On the other hand, millions of young fit healthy Americans in their first jobs who currently take the entirely reasonable view that they do not require health insurance at this stage in their lives will be forced to pay for coverage they neither want nor need. On the other other hand, those Americans who’ve done the boring responsible grown-up thing and have health plans Harry Reid determines to be excessively “generous” will be subject to punitive taxes up to 40 percent. On the other other other hand, if you’re the member of a union which enjoys privileged relations with Commissar Reid you’ll be exempt from that 40 percent shakedown. On the other other other other hand, if you’re already enjoying government health care, well, you’re 83 years old and, let’s face it, it’s hardly worth us giving you that surgery for the minimal contribution you make to society, so in the cause of extending government health care to millions of people who don’t currently get it we’re going to ration it for those currently entitled to it.

Looking at the millions of Americans it leaves uninsured, and the millions it leaves with worse treatment and reduced access, and the millions it makes pay significantly more for their current health care, one can only marvel at Harry Reid’s genius: government health care turns out to be all government and no health care. Adding up the zillions of new taxes and bureaucracies and regulations it imposes on the citizenry, one might almost think that was the only point of the exercise.

stick a fork in janet napolitano

...because she's done.  First, she claimed "the system worked" after a Nigerian tried to blow up an airliner.  Like shoe bomber Richard Reid, this guy only failed because of his incompetence.  So unless "the system" relies on the incompetence of our enemies, it's hard to say it's working.  At this rate, it's just a matter of time until the other side figures out what it's doing, and the inherent failure in the system will be tragically evident.

Now Napolitano admits the system failed, which means that she basically has to be told whether it's working, and is obviously incapable of figuring it out without public ridicule.

She's blown it, and arguably more than once.  No more second chances.

max baucus drunk?

Found on Drudge.  Baucus really does sound drunk.

now is the time

If healthcare reform can be stopped, now is the time to stop it.  Congress has gone home, and this is the time when they need to be hearing from their constituents.  Directly.

It should be clear now that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are not going to present their respective houses with a privately-merged bill for a simple up-or-down vote.  Instead, they'll begin shuttling back and forth with their respective caucuses, loading the pork and special exemptions until they've bought enough votes to pass whatever it is.  It will not be getting cheaper in the process.  You won't see the bill again until they already know it can pass both houses.

We saw the other day how Pelosi could turn to her Blue Dogs to make up for whatever she loses on the left.  Remember, the House bill passed with a narrow margin, and it included a public option.  Removing it may cost her some liberals, but she still has moderate Democrats who haven't voted on a bill without the public option yet.  They voted against it before, but that could change with Harry Reid's version.

Still, that may prove trickier than it sounds, because those who oppose a public option -- even Democrats -- are likely to be the most reserved about voting for any very expensive bill.  A moderate is a moderate whether the bill has a public option or not, and this massive bill is still liberal with or without one as well.

We need at least some Democrats to return from recess determined not to support the bill.  If they're on the fence, they'll just be bought.

merry christmas!

Here's wishing for happy holidays for all of you -- especially those who are regular commenters.  I'm always happy to hear from you.

JG

picking up blue dogs

How Nancy Pelosi might pick up enough votes to essentially pass the Senate bill out of conference.

chinks in the armor

We knew that once a 60 vote majority wasn't necessary we'd start seeing Democrats distancing themselves from healthcare reform.

Today there were three simple-majority votes that turned back Republican motions with fewer than 60 Democrats.  The Dems prevailed, but some Democrats voted with the Republicans on these three roll calls.

Evan Bayh sided with the GOP on all three votes.

Ben Nelson, Warner, Webb and McCaskill each sided with the Republicans on two of the three votes.

If you're looking for Dems who are trying not to appear too proud of what the liberals are doing, these are the ones to start with.