TM-DC PODCAST: From Stupak to Ben Nelson and Bust
09 November 2009 5:46 pm by Taylor Marsh
TM-DC podcast
Interview with “Jane Roe” and All You Need to Know About Stupak
Like this wasn’t predictable?
As soon as Stupak got wings, Ben Nelson took flight. He no doubt grabbed Sen. Casey on his way.
A key Senate centrist is “highly unlikely” to support any heath bill without an abortion provision similar to the House’s Stupak amendment.
“Senator Nelson is strongly pro-life and was pleased the Stupak amendment passed with such strong support,” said Nelson spokesman Jake Thompson. “He believes that no federal money—including subsidies or tax credits–should be used to buy insurance coverage for abortion.”
“This is a very important issue to Senator Nelson and it is highly unlikely he would support a bill that doesn’t clearly prohibit federal dollars from going to abortion,” Thompson said. …
Calling Mr. Nelson a “centrist” is equal to calling Joe Lieberman liberal.
While Massachusetts A.G. Martha Coakley, running for Ted Kennedy’s seat, so gets it. She’s also the only Democrat courageous enough to say that the Hyde amendment should be changed to represent current law.
Attorney General Martha Coakley said this morning that she would have voted against the landmark health care bill approved by the House over the weekend because it includes a provision restricting federal funding for providers of abortion services. [...]
… “The inclusion of the Stupak/Pitts amendment violates the very intent of health care reform, which is meant to guarantee quality, affordable health care coverage for everyone,” she said. “I believe that the Senate has a responsibility to fix this by eliminating the provision in whatever reform legislation moves forward.” …
DebCoop has a must read at Open Left, taking McCaskill to task and proving her wrong.
…and remember, according to various conversations and emails received, the Senate will need 60 votes to get Stupak-esque language into the Senate bill, with the senators on the committee being pro-women (aka pro-choice). If the House letter sent to Pelosi is any indication, it’s a good bet that those involved in the conference on the House side will gladly accept the Senate bill, which will come sans Stupak. That is unless Democrats really want to scuttle health care legislation, something none of us can afford.
