That didn’t take long, did it? I figured that Reid would make an offer Lieberman couldn’t refuse:
Sen. Joe Lieberman has reached a private understanding with Majority Leader Harry Reid that he will not block a final vote on healthcare reform, according to two sources briefed on the matter.
[…]
But sources said Reid’s staff is telling liberal interest groups that Lieberman (Conn.) has assured Reid he will vote with Democrats in the necessary procedural vote to end debate, perhaps with intentions to change the bill.
But Lieberman’s spokesman says his position hasn’t changed:
Lieberman’s spokesman said Monday that nothing has changed from last week, when the senator said he would support calling up the bill but would block a final vote.
“Sen. Lieberman has made it clear that he will vote for the motion to proceed to the healthcare bill but will oppose cloture on a final bill if it contains a public option because he believes that it would worsen our national debt problem,” said Lieberman aide Marshall Wittmann.
Lieberman is holding out for goodies and if he doesn’t get them, he might vote against final cloture (or not, he’s a Democrat at heart after all).
Here’s where they are on “yes” votes in the House. Wonder if any of this will change if the Republicans win their trifecta.
BTW, those House members who vote “yes” on the House bill will be voting for 111 new “bureaucracies.” Thanks, Dems! Just what we needed, a more bloated, ineffective federal government. They can’t even handle the bureaucracy they already have.
Update: At least one Blue Dog Democrat is willing to admit that a Republican trifecta would impact the healthcare vote:
Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) argued that an election night rebuke for Democratic candidates across the nation could lead some in the party to rethink their plans on healthcare reform and other issues.
“It looks as though the anger that has been boiling up the last couple of months is going to lead to a pretty high turnout from Republicans and from people who are concerned about increased spending,” Altmire said Monday evening during an appearance on Fox Business Network.
“And I do think that if the results show Republicans have a pretty good night, that probably is going to lead some Democrats to think that, going into next year, we need to take a second look at the way that we’ve done a lot of bills we’ve addressed up to this point,” the Pennsylvania congressman added.