For 6 weeks, and behind closed doors, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democrats have been crafting their own version of a socialized health-care bill.
With the House's passage of its bill, Reid is ready to pull the trigger, now only awaiting a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office on two new tax increases his side has proposed to help contain their behemoth.
The CBO report could come at any moment, perhaps before this column is published.
After getting the CBO report, Reid will file cloture (i.e., closure on debate) on a motion to proceed on a "shell," or empty health-care bill.
Right. There will still be no language to see. Reid will introduce a shell bill simply to get the parliamentary wheels in motion.
According to Senate rules, the cloture vote Reid wants can come no sooner than 30 hours after he has introduced his shell bill, as early as Friday. Sixty votes will be required.
This is the first and very important choke point to stop the Senate's health-care bill from proceeding....
Continue reading my column today, "Pro-life need-to-knows on health care in Senate," at WorldNetDaily.com.
