Gregg Says Yes, Graham Says No
“Senate Democrats will eventually cobble together the 60 votes they need to pass their version of healthcare reform with a public plan intact, one top Republican lawmaker acknowledged Monday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will “shop the votes” he needs to bring the bill to the floor and end debate when the time arises, and his efforts should again prove successful once the chamber considers a healthcare conference report”, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) told CNBC last night.
Read More… Gregg: Senate Democrats will pass healthcare
However, according to Senator Lindsey Graham:
“I believe it because, number one, moderate Democrats, red state Democrats are not going to vote for this bill in the Senate just like they didn’t vote it for it in the House.
There was a reason that you had a 40-seat democratic majority and the bill passed by two votes. Moderate Democrats, red state Democrats ran away from this bill like it was the plague.
$1 trillion dollars of new spending, $500 billion in new taxes, $500 billion-dollar cut in Medicaid for seniors, on top of that, the government option — it was a bill written by liberals for liberals, and moderate Democrats ran away from it like it had the swine flu.
When it gets over to the Senate, it’s going to meet the same fate.
It’s going to die because needs 60 votes to get the bill through the Senate. Joe Lieberman has promised to filibuster any bill with public option because he knows as I know that if you have the public option private sector insurance companies will go out of business. Nobody can compete with the government.”
Graham: Health Care Bill Has ‘Snowball’s Chance in Hell’ in Senate
Senator Gregg also warned: “My guess is, they’ll be able to pass something, and it will be very, very expensive and add a lot to our debt,” the New Hampshire Republican said, noting that Democrats are likely to allege the bill is “paid for [but] most of the pay-fors will never come to fruition.”
Looks like if passed the damage done by this bill will be irreversible.