Harry Reid Health Care Bill, Christmas Vote

The way the Democrats' health care overhaul has been slapped together is a disgrace.

Where is the transparency?

Obama promised openness. We were all going to be able to watch the process. What a load!

It's bad enough that the process has lacked the transparency Obama vowed to provide the American people.

NO ONE KNOWS WHAT'S IN THE BILL. Harry Reid is keeping it under wraps. It's absurd to expect a hurried vote on an unknown monstrosity of a bill.

The Leftists seem positively desperate. The Senate isn't constructing a good piece of legislation at all. It's piecing together some crap for a vote.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Senate Democrats' drive to pass health-care legislation by Christmas showed signs of faltering Thursday, amid divisions over abortion and criticism by some Democratic supporters that the bill is unaffordable for lower-to-middle-income families.

In a seesaw day, Sen. Ben Nelson, an antiabortion Nebraskan who is the last Democrat withholding support for the legislation, rejected an overture by party leaders to address his concerns about the bill's handling of abortion. Among other things, Democratic leaders proposed to create a new tax credit that would promote adoptions.

Sen. Nelson said his concerns had "not been fully answered." In an interview with a Nebraska radio station, he suggested it would be difficult to vote on the broader bill by Christmas, as the White House wants.

More interactive graphics and photos "I accept the idea of deadlines and the pressure that that creates," he said. "But a deadline and a timeline that's out there, that is not achievable, isn't helpful." He added, "I do intend to be home for the holidays."

Labor leaders amplified their complaints about the bill. AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka objected to the bill's proposed tax on high-value insurance plans, and the decision by Senate Democrats to drop a government-run insurance plan. Mr. Trumka said the Senate bill was "too kind to the insurance industry."

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada continued to work to get 60 votes, the number needed to ensure passage of the legislation, said Reid spokesman Jim Manley. With Mr. Nelson's vote in doubt, President Barack Obama met with Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, the lone Republican to show interest in supporting the package, to see if she would back the bill. Sen. Snowe is an abortion-rights supporter.

"He'd prefer to get this moving," Sen. Snowe said. She added that she urged the president to postpone action and use "part of January" to deal with her concerns, which include a proposal to establish a new long-term care program. "The time frame is totally unrealistic," she said of the push for a vote by Christmas.

It is totally unrealistic to expect a vote by Christmas. Crazy.

The Obama regime is not conducting itself responsibly. It's ALL politics.

Such a massive undertaking as health care reform needs to be done right, not slapped together and passed just so Obama can be able to claim some sort of historic victory.

And what's with the arbitrary timeline of Christmas? What's with these Dems and timelines?

Health care reform doesn't have to be done by Christmas. It has to be done right.

The Obama regime needs to listen to the American people. Senators need to listen to their constituents.

The American people don't want this sort of reform. The vast majority of us don't want government-run health care. We don't like what they're doing.

We don't want Obama's socialist vision of a single payer universal health care plan. We reject that, but Obama, Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and their comrades don't care.

Does Bill Nelson have a spine? I don't know. He'll probably buckle if a sweet enough deal is cut to secure his support for the Senate bill.

By the way, where is this bill? Is it online? Where is it? What's in the government takeover of health care bill?

We don't know. It's ridiculous.

These liberals are setting the stage for a revolution.