Nelson: I'll Filibuster Post-Conference Health Care Bill If House Forces Major Changes

atleast now people will stop pretending this is gonna get better in conference

Bullshit. Noway anyone votes against this bill after conference when it is THAT CLOSE to passage. The weight of history will be too much to bear.

Wow. A man who can't hold to his convictions strikes a deal with a man who can't keep his promises. A man who opposed the public option made a deal with a man who wouldn't speak in favor of a public option make a deal to send MORE GOVERNMENT MONEY FOR A GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTH PROGRAM.

Fuck Nelson, Fuck Obama. Small men with no integrity both.

The only reason there was ANY consideration of progressive health care/insurance reform is the 60-member Democratic Senate caucus. If after the 2008 elections the Dem caucus was not 60 members, there would be NO reform. The problem has not been Lieberman or Nelson or the other conservadems, but the unmanageable Senate rules/procedures and the paralyzing fear of every single Republican that participating in good faith for the benefit of the country would inevitably lead to a primary challenge from a right-winger well-funded by the Club for Growth and with constant free publicity from Fox and the talkradio/blogosphere complex. The major story of this legislation that has been totally ignored by mainstream media is the ideological rigidity of the Republican party. Has any Sunday morning talk host or any cable host asked Mitch McConnell or other Republicans why they refuse to permit a straight up or down vote on legislation and their new practice of filibustering most major and some minor legislation and how this differs from their position when Dems were threatening to filibuster during the Bush/Republican majority years?

Nobody in or out of Congress has any idea of how the finalized legislation will actually play out in terms of the impact on premiums, improved access to care, payment structures based on outcomes and not provision of services, research and development in medical/pharmaceutical industries and insurance company profits. It is likely that there will sufficient macro data and anecdotal micro experience to make the effect of the legislation and the need for modification a major issue in the 2016 Presidential and Congressional elections.

Once legislation is passed, the President and Democratic Senators and Representatives should immediately begin an ongoing PR campaign, regularly introducing constituents who have lost or been denied access to insurance and/or health care that would have been provided if the legislation were currently in place, and then once the legislation becomes effective, regularly introduce constituents who have gained/ maintained insurance or gained access to care that would not have been available without the legislation. The White House should sponsor a few health fairs on the White House grounds for D.C. residents and residents of nearby states, highlighting that the U.S. still needs to resort to methods generally found only in the 3rd world to provide health care for its citizens. If not already a Democratic Party policy, the party needs one that states "unimpeded access to health care is a right, not a privilege".

Wow, is this where all the geniuses hang out. The reason the general public doesn't accept these socialist ideas is because they rewards the stupid and lazy at the expense of the hard working. This entire piece of legislation is garbage and does nothing substantial to reduce costs. There is a reason the Democrats have been hiding this bill, it stinks!!!

Let him fillibuster, then throw him out of the party. Or don't even bother calling yourself a political party.