So the Senate says it’s got a deal on health care reform. Pathological speedbump Ben Nelson, a moderate Democratic Senator from Nebraska who always wants to slow down major policy reforms with lots of finger-wagging and hand-wringing, finally “agreed after 13 hours of negotiations on Friday to back the bill, making him the pivotal 60th vote,” according to The New York Times. Assuming that all 60 votes–the bare minimum needed to pass health care–play out, the Senate should pass health care reform (by a hair) before Christmas. This is going to be close. As The Times points out, “[b]ecause the Democrats nominally control 60 seats in the Senate — the precise number needed to overcome Republican filibusters— every senator in the Democratic caucus effectively has veto power over the bill.” At the same time, “no Republican is willing to support it.”
This, of course, is what makes the hijinks of people like Joe Lieberman so troublesome–if a Senator refuses to budge on a particular issue within health care reform, the entire process is going to have to recalibrate around his or her demands because every single vote makes or breaks this thing. As we all know, politicians are attention-whores and worse, self-righteous attention-whores. For a lot of politicos–particularly self-styled moderates and independents like Nelson and Lieberman–there is no better position than that of potential spoiler, because then you know (a) people are paying attention to you and (b) you can project the image that you are sticking to your principles in the face of party pressure. Principles like, say, getting a special program only for your state that increases federal contributions to Medicaid in order to help your state government save some money–which is exactly what Ben Nelson got for supporting health care. What a noble, selfless guy!
This is the kind of stuff that the Democrats are going to have to very delicately manage over the next few days. I think they’ll pull it off, but with so many egos in the Senate, the fact that every Senator now has the opportunity to make a name for him or herself and potentially force some self-serving contentions should make Democratic leadership pretty nervous. Right now there are 60 potential spoilers in the Senate, all itching for their chance in the spotlight…
Niko Karvounis
Niko Karvounis' writing has appeared in popular publications like Slate, Mother Jones, and AlterNet, as well as specialty journals such as Medicare Patient Management and Theoretical Criminology. His work has been cited by the New York Times, National Journal, The American Prospect, ...
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Dave says:
The Dems are going to have to live with this decision. 2010 is coming just watch!