WASHINGTON — Sen. Ben Nelson’s decision to vote tonight in favor of bringing a health care bill to the Senate floor reflects what he describes as his long-standing aversion to obstructionism.
The Nebraska Democrat also said that he fully intends to block an up-or-down vote on final passage of the legislation if the parts that he opposes have not been sufficiently improved through amendments.
“If they don’t get fixed, I’ll vote no,” Nelson said.
Assuming all 40 Senate Republicans stand united against the bill, Democrats need 60 votes tonight as well as on a later vote to end debate before the bill could get a final vote.
Closely watched as one of a handful of swing senators, Nelson emphasized that a vote to proceed to debate was not a vote for or against the bill itself.
As proposed, the Senate bill would extend coverage to 31 million Americans and reform insurance practices while adding an array of tax increases, including a rise in payroll taxes for high earners.
Among the areas of the legislation that Nelson has criticized: new excise taxes, creation of a new government health insurance plan and its approach to abortion coverage.
Republicans, including Nebraska’s Sen. Mike Johanns, have been working to define tonight’s vote as for or against the actual legislation. Johanns has argued that there are not enough votes to fix the abortion coverage provisions in the bill and that it would be difficult to derail the legislation at the end of the debate, which is expected to consume much, if not all, of December.
Johanns and two Iowa senators locked in their positions long ago. Democrat Tom Harkin is a leading advocate for the health care overhaul while Republican Chuck Grassley came out against the bill after participating in a failed effort to find a bipartisan compromise.
Among Johanns’ objections, he said, are that the bill does not do enough to protect Medicare beneficiaries, bring down costs or ensure no federal funding for abortion.
“While there are positive aspects of this bill, it falls far short of the true reform Nebraskans and all Americans deserve,” Johanns said.
Although Nelson also disagrees with aspects of the legislation, he said he wanted to bring to the Senate floor the debate that’s been waged in Nebraska homes, offices and town hall meetings over the past year.
“The Senate should start trying to fix a health care system that costs too much and delivers too little for Nebraskans,” Nelson said.
He said his position to allow a full and open debate was consistent with his history of anti-obstructionism in the Senate.
His voting record indicates that he has voted overwhelmingly in favor of initial procedural motions to begin debate, such as the one scheduled for tonight.
However, there have been some exceptions:
Nelson repeatedly joined Democratic filibusters to block consideration of Republican legislation that would have set caps on the damages that could be awarded under medical malpractice lawsuits.
Nelson said that legislation would have pre-empted the strict caps on damages already in place under Nebraska’s state law.
Nelson also supported the filibuster of legislation regarding asbestos claims. Nelson felt that the legislation was simply too flawed to even bring to the floor, said Nelson spokesman Jake Thompson.
On another vote related to defense funding when Democrats were in charge, Thompson said that Nelson was trying to get the White House and Congress to reach a bipartisan compromise.
Nelson was one of the so-called “Gang of 14” bipartisan senators who came together to avert a showdown over confirmation of President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees.
Republicans, who controlled the Senate at the time, were threatening to eliminate the ability of the minority party Democrats to use filibusters to block up-or-down votes.
Nelson helped craft a deal that preserved the filibuster, although it was only to be used under “extraordinary circumstances.”
If the health care bill doesn’t change enough during the upcoming debate, it appears that it would rise to Nelson’s level of “extraordinary circumstances.”
Contact the writer:
202-662-7270, joe.morton@owh.com
