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Harkin On Senate Bill: 'We've Rounded Third Base And We're Heading To Home'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 19, 2009, 8:40AM

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Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

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Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) says that the health care reform bill Democrats presented in the Senate last night has what it takes to turn the months-long legislative fight into a home run for reform advocates.

"To put it in baseball terms, we've rounded third base and we're heading to home," Harkin told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow last night. "No member of our caucus is going to want to be the one person that stops us from getting to home plate."

"I believe now that the team is together," he added. "And our team is going to hold together and we'll have those 60 votes to move ahead."

Harkin said that the Senate bill is a "reasonable compromise" for health care progressives like him and he called on Democrats to remain unified through the rest of the legislative process.

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Comments (9) | Join the Conversation!

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JNagarya

November 19, 2009 9:07 AM

There will be a public option.

And it won't be a close vote.

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masanf

November 19, 2009 10:22 AM in reply to JNagarya

Lieberman again reiterated his filibuster promise (it is no longer a threat), and Landrieu had this to say about the public option:
"If that's included in the measure, it needs to come out at some point."
Nelson said this:
“There will be opportunities to amend the legislation, and if it is amended to the satisfaction of several people, then it will have enough votes to pass on the back end. If not, it won’t. That is the risk.”

I think we know what change he is talking about and we all know who these several people are he's talking about. Face it, the public option as it is now, even with the bogus opt-out, because states aren't going to opt-out of a program for which they would still have to pay taxes, is not going to survive the Senate debate, and everyone knows it, except for the true-believer partisan hacks. Didn't you read the Carper piece that was posted two days ago? If you are a true believer, get ready for some serious disappointment.

The Obama Record: Record unemployment, record deficits, no legislative accomplishments.

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JNagarya

November 19, 2009 6:20 PM in reply to masanf

I'm not a "true believer"; I leave that superstituous religiosmear to you. I rely instead on 50 years of politic al activism and the statements of the Senate veterans such as Harkin.

"The Obama Record: Record unemployment, record deficits, no legislative accomplishments."

All of which is inherited. But you were born about noon yesterday, right?

No legislative accomplishments? You were born about noon yesterday, right?

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VictorLH

November 19, 2009 9:29 AM

How can it be called a "public" option if its not available to everyone and not available to the few it is until 2013?

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WillAct723

November 19, 2009 9:33 AM in reply to VictorLH

How long will it take for you to understand that this purist view of the public option doesn't exist. It just can't pass, no matter how much we want it to. Stop splitting hairs over verbiage.

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