Garden State Patriot

With H.R. 3962, aka the Socialize and Destroy America’s Healthcare System Act, having passed the House all eyes are now turning to the U.S. Senate. While I am of the opinion that Harry Reid will pull every trick out of his hat and use every underhand tactic to pass the Senate bill, this will be a tougher road to hoe for the Democrat leader.

The Republicans have a lot more leverage in the Senate than their colleagues in the House. This, of course, starts with the filibuster. Republicans would need one other senator (assuming they can keep RINOs like Olympia Snowe on the reservation) if they are to successfully filibuster the healthcare bill that emerges from behind Harry Reid’s closed doors. Senator Lieberman, as Michael pointed out, plans to filibuster any measure with a public option.

Should the Republicans fail in their effort to filibuster, they would need 11 senators to defeat the bill. Which begs the question, which senators should we target? I asked that very question to one of my contacts on the Hill. And according to this Senate GOP source, the following senators would be the ‘most important and persuadable’: 

• Blanche Lincoln – Arkansas
• Michael Bennet – Colorado
• Ben Nelson – Nebraska
• Evan Bayh – Indiana
• Mary Landrieu – Louisiana
• Mark Pryor – Arkasnas
• Mark Warner – Virginia
• Mark Begich – Alaska 

My source considerd these senators ‘less persuadable, but still possible’: 

• Kent Conrad – North Dakota
• Byron Dorgan – North Dakota
• Claire McCaskill – Missouri
• Tim Johnson – South Dakota
• Jim Webb – Virginia 

And lastly, these senators were described as ‘probably not persuadable, but couldn’t hurt’: 

• Bill Nelson – Florida
• Kay Hagan – North Carolina
• Mark Udall – Colorado

As we know, this entire process has utterly lacked transparency, with Republicans shut out of the process and Harry Reid working behind closed doors to merge/cherry pick from three Senate measures. This process is apparently taking longer than Reid anticipated and my understanding is that the Senate bill may not be voted on until December.

When the bill finally reaches the Senate floor, the first important vote will be on the Motion to Proceed. Like any bill, this requires a majority vote but can also be filibustered. If the Motion to Proceed passes, then the bill comes up for debate.

Aside from any potential filibuster, Senate Republicans will use all parliamentary procedures at their disposal. There is talk of actually having the entire bill read on the Senate floor. Republicans also would propose a ton of amendments, all of which would require debate.

In sum, there is more reason for optimism that this could be stopped in the Senate. However, Democrat Senators will also be under immense pressure from their caucus to support Obama’s top legislative priority. Thus, it will require an even greater amount of pressure from all of us. And the senators listed above are are where we need to start.

Also, I would point out that, according to the Senate calendar, two breaks are upcoming in November which would offer people the opportunity to see their senators back in their home states. They are as follows:

For Senate contact information click here.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!