The Hill’s Congress Blog asks, “Will the Senate pass a health care reform bill before it adjourns for the year?”
I answer:
It’s not looking good – nor should it.
The Reid bill becomes less popular with each passing day. (So too does President Obama’s handling of health care.)
CBS News is reporting that Reid wants to hold a vote before Christmas because he doesn’t want senators to go home and hear from their constituents.
Reid has been systematically suppressing a complete cost estimate of his bill.
Reid’s manager’s amendment will make unknown, countless, and dramatic changes to that 2,074-page bill – and Reid wants to vote on it before anyone knows what those changes are.
Even Max Baucus admits that not a single senator understands the Reid bill.
Our federalist system, the separation of powers, our bicameral national legislature, six-year terms for Senators, staggered Senate elections, and the Senate’s procedural rules all exist precisely to prevent what Reid is trying to do: ram a sweeping piece of legislation through Congress without due consideration.
