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November 22, 2003
Medicare Bill Passes House
At 3am Saturday morning the House started a roll call that lead to the narrow 220-215 passage of the $400 billion Medicare bill. This was the longest roll call vote in history.
Both sides pulled out all the stops before this early morning vote with the debate becoming very heated. Phrases such as "waged war on Medicare", "huge giveaway", "stole it by hook and crook", and "Medicare is going bankrupt!" Last minute arm-twisting eventually gave the bill the needed votes to pass.
The Senate is going to try to bring this to a vote within the next couple of days. It's still unclear whether the Senate Democrats will filibuster the bill. I suspect they will attempt to delay the vote but not deliver a full filibuster. With far more Democrat Senate seats up for re-election than Republican seats, the Democrats aren't going to give their opponents the ability to charge they voted against a prescription benefit for the elderly and disabled.
But then they've bungled the public relations war so far on this bill, so anything is possible.
Posted by Dave at November 22, 2003 07:56 AM
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