The Senate needed all 58 Democrats and 2 Independents to pass Cloture and get the Health Care Bill to the floor of the Senate. A couple of days ago, there were two Democratic Senators who hadn’t made up their minds. Senator Landrieu of Louisana was brought on board with a $100 million gift to her home state. ABC’s blog reports on the “$100 Million Vote” from Senator Landrieu! Now that I consider it, $100 million is small potatoes when you’re looking at a $1 Trillion Bill (that’s only 0.01% or one ten-thousandth of the total spend!) She probably could have gotten more in my mind!?!
Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas was also waivering until the last minute. She eventually voted “Yea”, but indicated that she would not vote for Cloture the next time around if there is a Public Option in the Bill. Independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has said the same thing.
I read today about a Senator being willing to lose his seat to vote for the health-insurance reform. “Integrity,” you might say, or “betrayal” (of his constituents). But I think this misses the point–meaning the role of the US Senate as a check on the House (and us).
See: http://euandus3.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/integrity-in-the-job-description-of-a-us-senator/