TPMDC
Nelson: Health Care Reform Needs 65 Votes To Be Legitimate
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Share
Send to a friend!
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) continues to be a scold to the liberals in his party. Before a crowd of over 200 gathered at a senior center in Nebraska, Nelson said health care reform ought to pass with 65 votes--a feat which would require at least five Republicans to break with their party.
"I think anything less than that would challenge its legitimacy," he said.
Nelson didn't go so far as to say that he'd oppose a bill that had less than 64 other votes. But he did say he disagreed with the party's legislative approach to the issue.
"We need to get started by controlling costs and need more time to figure out how to pay for extended coverage," he told the Lincoln Journal Star. "Public debate can occur in the context of an election."
In fairness to Nelson, President Obama did not run on a platform that included an individual mandate--so it could plausibly be argued that the public hasn't officially weighed in on the question of universal health care. But he did run on a public option...
Comments (45) | Join the Conversation!
Leave a comment
Follow us!
Most Popular
TPM Stories Now Surging on Digg.com
TPM Top News
© 2010 TPM Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Dorn76
September 29, 2009 10:08 AM
You know, 100 votes would really give this thing credibility...
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
SleepinJeezus
September 29, 2009 10:29 AM in reply to Dorn76
Hell, if Cheney were still in charge, there'd be maybe, like, 107 votes in the Senate for anything the Administration wanted, and there'd be no questions asked!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
tosh
September 29, 2009 1:01 PM in reply to SleepinJeezus
As others have pointed out, but needs to be made clear:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Nelson#Electoral_history
Nebraska U.S. Senate Election 2000
50.9 Ben Nelson (D)
49.1 Don Stenberg (R)
I guess that would should have reference him as Senator Ben Nelson (D-Illegitimate) from January 2001 to January 2009.
Do US Senators even slow down to think before speaking?
John
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
rbe1
September 29, 2009 10:11 AM
What a complete ass.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
MaximusNYC
September 29, 2009 11:47 AM in reply to rbe1
He was OK with voting for Bush's tax cuts in 2001. Those passed with 58 votes.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Progressive Party
September 29, 2009 10:13 AM
he represents the caveman wing and his picture posted is of a smug asshole! I think he should get only 65 votes when he faces re-election!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
ejg3
September 29, 2009 10:14 AM
If you consider majority rule by peo0ple rather than by geography of artificial divisions the Senate is an illegitimate body. We would be a whole lot better with a unicameral National legislature. It seems to be working in Nebraska on a state level.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Viva!America!
September 29, 2009 10:15 AM
WTF!?!?!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
FreeRider
September 29, 2009 10:15 AM
You're wrong, Brian. Obama did NOT run a public option. In fact, he never even uttered the words "public option" and the phrased appeared one time in one healthcare document on his campaign website.
That said, Ben Nelson is an ass who doesn't want healthcare reform but knows that's an untenable position in the Democratic party so he, like Lieberan, will throw up all kinds of verbal roadblocks.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
rbeats
September 29, 2009 11:17 AM in reply to FreeRider
Right he ran on a vague platform of change and responsibility that would come to Washington when he was elected President.
I see the American Public took "Change" to mean "Change" as opposed to the same old game: see Rahm Emanuel.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
rbe1
September 29, 2009 10:15 AM
After careful consideration, considering the constitution and all of its ammendments, I think it should be 66 votes, wait, maybe if after we consider just some of the ammendments, 69 votes, oh well, maybe ...
Hey Nelson, why don't you take a flying leap ?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Frobozz
September 29, 2009 10:17 AM
What would make Senator Nelson legitimate? Turning away health insurance campaign donations might be a good start.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
nova voter
September 29, 2009 10:18 AM
last i saw, 65% of americans want a public option. so you're right, ben, the public option OUGHT to get 65 votes.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
sbv
September 29, 2009 10:53 AM in reply to nova voter
good point! wonder if, when he made this comment and pulled this figure out of the air; he knew what the results of this poll showed and what his constituents want?
we will make it very clear to sen. nelson in his next primary, he will not even receive 50% if he continues to block health care reform with a strong public option.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
eztempo
September 29, 2009 11:23 AM in reply to nova voter
Hear, hear!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Dorn76
September 29, 2009 12:09 PM in reply to nova voter
That is the best example that the Senate does not represent Americans, and is little more than a Corporate Brothel.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
holyhandgrenaid
September 29, 2009 10:18 AM
Seriously Ben, go back to Nebraska and harvest some F--king corn you twat
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
CranialRectalLoopback
September 29, 2009 10:22 AM
Well, gee, Benjie, since you didn't get 65% of the vote in 2006, that's makes you illegitimate. Will you be stepping down?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
September 29, 2009 10:25 AM
Jesus. I really can't decide if he's a complete imbecile or a cunning, calculating saboteur for the GOP. It's an important question to me, because the answer to the ongoing question of whether I loathe him more than I loathe Lieberman depends on the answer.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Moose49
September 29, 2009 10:31 AM
He's just Lucy pulling the ball away from Charlie Brown at the last minute.
Of course, whether the rest of the Dems choose to be Charlie Brown is another question.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
ru4862
September 29, 2009 10:35 AM
Why is this a$$hole a Democrats? Seriously.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
jdb316
September 29, 2009 11:02 AM in reply to ru4862
Is he pro-union?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Schmed
September 29, 2009 11:52 AM in reply to ru4862
He's not. He's just drawn that way.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
destor23
September 29, 2009 10:35 AM
I'm not buying into this unless some foreign legislatures get on board. And at least one or two despots from different regions.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Skybolt
September 29, 2009 11:50 AM in reply to destor23
On the contrary, if any foreigners approve of a bill it should be voted down in order to protect our sovereignty.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Walter Mitty
September 29, 2009 10:47 AM
This is actually good news, because you only move the goal line when it looks like the previous one will get met. So obviously Sen. Nelson believes the 60 votes are there...
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Gator_fan
September 29, 2009 10:52 AM
Thank God it doesn't matter, he can't stop us if we want reconciliation. If we go to 51 votes he's irrelevant.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
nellieh
September 29, 2009 10:54 AM
Did Social Security pass with a 'superdooper' majority? Medicare? Hell no! The Republicans have been trying to subvert these programs since their inception and only stop when their own constituents begin to scream. As unpopular these programs are with Republicans what do you think would happen to them if they tried to remove them? Bush and his 'political capital' from his 2004 election wanted to privatize SS and look what happened. Republicans just do not have it in them to do things FOR the people, just corporations. They try to lump small business in there but fail. The Democratic Healthcare Reform Bill, if it contains a public option, will be the same as SS and Medicare (except Medicare D). It will become so popular that the Republicans would go down the drain if they try to do away with it once it is implemented. The same with Blue Dog Democrats like Nelson and Baucus.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Steaming Pile
September 29, 2009 10:54 AM
Well, he is right, in a way. They pass this thing 53-47 or something like that, and the Republicans will feel they have some room to bitch about it later. I don't care; let 'em bitch. They're going to no matter what the Democrats do, and Jon Stewart always needs fresh material.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Kuyleh
September 29, 2009 11:09 AM in reply to Steaming Pile
They'll bitch whether they feel they have reason to or not. It's all they ever do.
That, and have affairs. Good old GOP values.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Matt Jones
September 29, 2009 11:17 AM in reply to Steaming Pile
FFS, the Republicans who end up *voting* for the thing will feel OK complaining about it. That's just how they roll.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
_jonny_5_
September 29, 2009 10:56 AM
First off, He was never
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
_jonny_5_
September 29, 2009 11:08 AM in reply to _jonny_5_
First off, He was never... going to vote for the real reform anyway. So everyone getting worked up here is way late to the game.
What I find interesting is... How will he know there are more than 64 votes unless they allow a vote on this plan? They can not have a vote until they vote for cloture. Does this mean he votes FOR cloture to allow a full vote to occur?
If this is the case and I'm reading betweeen the lines correctly than I would consider this to be GOOD news.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
pppwww
September 29, 2009 10:58 AM
if i were a nebraskan who can't afford health insurance, or has health insurance but had to declare bankruptcy because of a major illness or accident, i'd be positively furious with nelson.
i might even call his office to ask why a 51-vote majority isn't "legitimate", but only after checking how he voted on bills from '01-'05, back when we had a president who only got 48% of the popular vote.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
acf_ma
September 29, 2009 11:12 AM
Nelson is just trying to defeat any public option in a health reform bill. Any words out of his mouth are not statements of fact, but are attempts to move public opinion and the create the reality that no public option will pass. I don't think he even wants reform, at all.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Noonan
September 29, 2009 11:27 AM
Meh. He's just telling his constituents what they want to hear. Until he says he'd oppose the legislation it's nothing but posturing.
http://www.pufferfishblog.com/
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
mjshep
September 29, 2009 12:25 PM in reply to Noonan
Agreed.
Nelson needs the 65 votes to cover his ass in Nebraska. We don't need it to pass reform.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Libertine
September 29, 2009 11:34 AM
What f'ing corporate weasels he and Baucus are.
I don't know what universe he is from but in this reality 50%+1 is a majority. Legitimacy? It is legitimate if 51 Senators vote for it.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
buck
September 29, 2009 11:46 AM
Nelson is a friggin' moron. He is not being "a scold to the liberals of his party". He's a scold to the damn US Constitution. Someone has to come up to him and hit him on top of the head with a constitutional law book. The man claims to be a lawyer, for crying out loud. It's black and white. The Senate gets to make up its procedural rules, not Ben Nelson. If the Senate, as a whole (abiding by existing rules) decides to change the voting requirement to 65 votes for every bill--or, for that matter, to 99 votes for every bill--it can do so, but it has to do that by a vote in the Senate, not by asking Ben Nelson. It's time to step up and strip him of committee membership, supermajority be damned.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
MikeNJD
September 29, 2009 12:33 PM
I say we require Ben to get 65% of the vote his next time out.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
breakspear
September 29, 2009 1:03 PM
Senator, how about for YOU to be 'legitimate' you vote for it.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
LuxVeritas
September 29, 2009 1:14 PM
Ben Nelson is worthless. I'm about ready to trade him for Olympia Snowe at this point.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
dougom
September 29, 2009 2:36 PM
I'm trying to think of a better, more polite descriptive word for Ben Nelson than "jackass," but I find myself unable to.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
ru4862
September 29, 2009 2:47 PM in reply to dougom
I totally agree. The guy is such an asshole. Why is he a democrat?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Tosh
June 6, 2010 9:32 PM
After careful consideration, considering the constitution and all of its ammendments, I think it should be 66 votes, wait, maybe if after we consider just some of the ammendments, 69 votes, oh well, maybe ...
Hey Nelson, why don't you take a flying leap ?
m65 kamagra
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?