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WASHINGTON — Mere moments after delivering a crucial vote to start debate on the U.S. Senate’s $848 billion health care bill, Nebraska’s Ben Nelson promised to derail the legislation if it is not substantially changed.
The Nebraska Democrat had company. Two other red-state Democrats and an independent who joined the Democrats said the bill would have to change for them to support final passage.
Nelson said he already had delivered a two-page list of provisions he wants changed.
“I’ve given Santa my list,” he said.
Portions of the bill Nelson opposes include its approach to abortion coverage and its federal program of long-term care insurance and cash benefits for people with severe disabilities.
The two other centrists who gave the Democrats the 60 votes they needed to begin formal debate on the bill — Arkansas’ Blanche Lincoln and Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu — as well as Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman said the bill’s government insurance plan and other provisions must be dropped or significantly altered.
Senators will begin weeks of debate when they return from Thanksgiving break, but Republicans who stood united against the vote to allow consideration of the bill said Saturday’s vote was anything but procedural.
The Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, cast it as a referendum on the bill itself, which he said would raise taxes, cut Medicare and create a “massive and unsustainable debt.”
The Senate proposal would require most Americans to carry insurance and provide subsidies to those who couldn’t afford it. The insurance industry would come under significant new regulation under the bill, which would first ease and then ban the practice of denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.
The 10-year bill would reduce the budget deficit through new taxes and cuts to Medicare, according to congressional budget analysts, while extending coverage to 31 million more Americans, ensuring coverage for 94 percent of the eligible population.
At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs issued a statement saying the president was gratified by the vote, which “brings us one step closer to ending insurance company abuses, reining in spiraling health care costs, providing stability and security to those with health insurance and extending quality health coverage to those who lack it.”
The House approved its version of the bill earlier this month on a near party-line vote of 220-215, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said he wants the Senate to follow suit by year’s end.
The drama surrounding a rare Saturday night vote had diminished greatly after the final two holdout Democrats, Lincoln and Landrieu, announced hours beforehand that they would vote to allow debate. Nelson announced his intentions Friday.
“Oh, this is so tense,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., joked from his seat as senators’ names were called out during the vote.
The Senate’s two independents joined all 58 Democrats, including Nelson and Tom Harkin of Iowa, in voting to move forward on the legislation. All 60 votes were required.
George Voinovich of Ohio was not present for the vote. The Senate’s other 39 Republicans, including Mike Johanns of Nebraska and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, all voted to block consideration of the bill.
Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health Committee, has been one of the leading advocates for the health care legislation.
In a rallying cry before the vote, he said that conservative lawmakers once bitterly opposed the creation of now-popular programs such as Social Security and Medicare. At the time, he said, they tried to scare people about those programs, and today’s Republicans have resorted to similar tactics.
“Now is not the time to go wobbly in the knees, I say to my friends in the Democratic caucus. Now is the time to stand strong. Now is the time to … move this country forward, say yes to the American people and no to these fears and unfounded allegations,” Harkin said.
After Harkin, it was Grassley’s turn. He noted that former President Bill Clinton had told Senate Democrats the worst thing they could do on health care would be nothing. But Grassley said the bill is far worse than nothing.
He said it would raise private health insurance premiums, cut Medicare to the point of threatening access to care and threaten the economic recovery.
“Its a half a trillion dollars in new taxes, hurting small business and destroying job creation,” Grassley said on the Senate floor. “It calls for an even bigger and more unsustainable federal budget.
“It adds to that burden with a massive new government-run health plan. It makes health care more unaffordable and lower quality.”
As one of the last three Democrats to publicly back starting debate, Nelson had been the focus of intense media attention and speculation throughout the week. Saturday, however, he maintained a low profile. While a number of his colleagues made floor speeches or appeared on television, Nelson did neither. Instead, he watched football and ran some errands.
Nelson said he had already said everything during the week and noted that he’s scheduled to appear this morning on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
On the other hand, Johanns seemed to be everywhere Saturday. He did a live Fox News interview from Capitol Hill, then spent more than an hour on the Senate floor with other Republicans making the case against proceeding on the bill.
He repeatedly argued that a vote for taking up the bill was a vote for federally funded abortions, and appealed to anti-abortion Democrats: “Today we need one of you to stand up and say ‘Look, this bill does not move until we fix this abortion problem and make it very, very clear we’re not going to buy abortions.’”
He joined Republican Leader McConnell at a press conference where they criticized the 2,074-page bill and characterized the procedural vote as a vote in favor of the bill.
Johanns cited a Congressional Research Service analysis that found only one instance between 1999 and 2008 when Senate legislation failed after clearing the vote to begin debate.
Johanns made a point of having his offices open on Saturday, with staff on hand to answer phone calls.
Nelson kept his offices closed Saturday and the phones off. Some constituents said they were frustrated when they called and got only a recorded message that the voice mailbox was full.
Nelson’s office had been flooded with calls all week, partly because the Republican National Committee sent out an alert to its entire e-mail list urging people to call the offices of Nelson and Lincoln.
Democrats also had urged phone calls to the Senate, and the entire switchboard was groaning at times.
Nelson said that he had heard from tens of thousands of Nebraskans about health care through e-mails, phone calls, letters and town hall meetings. He said his office logged 1,800 calls from Nebraskans just on Thursday.
“I think I’ve got a fairly good idea of what Nebraskans are saying,” Nelson said.
This report includes material from the Associated Press
Contact the writer:
202-662-7270, joe.morton@owh.com
