Democrats De-Form Health Care Re-form

After Coakley conceded the U.S. Senate Race in MA last night, some of the Democrats quickly issued statements on what their next steps should be on the current Health Care Reform fight.

After hearing the "Scott" heard round the world, ultra-liberal Rep. Barney Frank issued the following statement.....

“I have two reactions to the election in Massachusetts. One, I am disappointed. Two, I feel strongly that the Democratic majority in Congress must respect the process and make no effort to bypass the electoral results. If Martha Coakley had won, I believe we could have worked out a reasonable compromise between the House and Senate health care bills. But since Scott Brown has won and the Republicans now have 41 votes in the Senate, that approach is no longer appropriate.

I am hopeful that some Republican Senators will be willing to discuss a revised version of health care reform because I do not think that the country would be well-served by the health care status quo. But our respect for democratic procedures must rule out any effort to pass a health care bill as if the Massachusetts election had not happened.

Going forward, I hope there will be a serious effort to change the Senate rule which means that 59 votes are not enough to pass major legislation, but those are the rules by which the health care bill was considered, and it would be wrong to change them in the middle of the process.”

Boy, it sounds as if Frank is starting to get it!

Sen. Jim Webb issued this statement pretty much putting to rest any questions on the certification of Scott Browns victory....

In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process. It is vital that we restore the respect of the American people in our system of government and in our leaders. To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated. (Politico)

It will be very interesting to see how the Health Care bill plays out.... will they finally listen to the American people or will they arrogantly continue trying to ram through health care which as we see, some of the Dems strongest supporters are starting to back away from?
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