“Senator” Reid must suffer from insomnia to schedule a vote at 1:00 AM on a Monday to torture his fellow members of the Senate as they vote on a bill to torture their constituents throughout America. That is how Harry Reid fits the definition of “insomniac” as a noun.
The definition of “insomniac” as an adjective also fits because his actions will cause a lot of sleepless nights among people who previously believed they had some freedoms left in this country. Even more dangerously, every lawyer and CEO in the health care industry will undoubtedly suffer from insomnia as they try to figure out how to profit from the 2700 page bill that has not even been released online yet as far as I can find (I can only see the “original” 2074 page version of the bill).
I understand the urgency of meeting an artificial deadline on Christmas day for a bill that won’t take effect for another 4 years but I wonder why this could not have waited another 6 or 8 hours until a decent time for a vote. I’m always distrustful of a fast moving legislative body but more than any other rushed vote this move is reminiscent of some other midnight political proceedings that were driven by a desire for power.
This is entirely politically driven and by the worst kind of politics. The best Christmas present progressives could give to America is to defeat this disgusting bill. I know I can count on every Republican to vote no (mostly for the wrong reasons) and the Blue Dogs have been bought off, so our only hope of sanity is for the progressives to vote no. I’m not holding my breath.
Of course even if it passes, there’s still conference committees and at least 2 more votes. This thing is not going to get done before Christmas anyway.
I absolutely agree with your assessment here – right down to being able to count on the GOP to vote no mostly for the wrong reasons.
The votes aren’t going to be any different at 1am Christmas eve or at 3pm two days or two weeks later. The agreements are locked in. Whether you like or dislike this bill, it’s decided in the Senate, and the actual procedure of voting is merely a formality at this point.
I understand that the votes are supposedly locked in etc. but why then the urgency to meet an artificial deadline? Why the willingness to work in the dark rather than wait a couple of hours when more people are alert and paying attention?