GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

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  2. Will he cast his healthcare ballot absentee before he leaves? I will bet that vote is worth millions. (How does anyone know if there is no absentee ballot for retiring Democrats. Where there is a Chicago will, there is a Chicago way.)

  3. I was wrong about his vote—he actually voted no the first time (because the legislation wasn’t sufficiently left-wing enough for him). I presume he must have voted against the bill on principle rather than political calculation. In any case, I would guess he’s ambivalent enough about the bill that he wouldn’t drag out his resignation to cast a vote one way or another. I don’t imagine he is so opposed to the bill that he would stick around to vote against it again, and I don’t imagine he changed his mind strongly enough to stick around to vote for it this time. If the House is supposed to vote for the Senate bill so it can go to Reconciliation, I doubt someone who voted against the House bill because it wasn’t sufficiently left-wing is going to vote for the ostensibly less liberal Senate bill. So, sadly, it seems that we have lost one vote against the bill; bad news although of course not as bad as if he were to flip to a yes vote.

    Even so, I’m trusting that Bart Stupak and his pro-life group of Democrats are going to stay strong and vote against any bill that doesn’t include the pro-life language they got before (and let’s face it—the Democrats aren’t going to let that pro-life language be part of the final bill). Even Republicans who are ambivalent about the abortion issue should cheer Democratic opposition to the bill based on abortion.

  6. 218 votes are needed for passage in the house because there are 435 seats in the US House. With Massa, the guys in Hawaii and Georgia (1 D and 1 R), Murtha’s death, another Dem in FL and maybe a couple other vacancies, that leaves about 425 seats so then only 213 is needed for passage. That helps them if they can swing some No voters into Yes votes