Couldn’t even muster a simple majority.
This vote was sort of a test bubble for the main healthcare bill, but it was also an attempt by the Dems to pull a deficit killing section of the bill out of the main bill. This would allow them to still claim that the bill was “deficit neutral,” even though this provision is going to cost $247 billion and WAS a part of the main bill.
WASHINGTON — Democrats lost a big test vote on health care legislation on Wednesday as the Senate blocked action on a bill to increase Medicare payments to doctors at a cost of $247 billion over 10 years.
The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, needed 60 votes to proceed. He won only 47. And he could not blame Republicans. A dozen Democrats and one independent crossed party lines and voted with Republicans on the 53 to 47 roll call.
[…]
By addressing doctors’ fees in a separate bill, Senate Democrats could hold down the cost of the broader health legislation, keeping it within the limits set by President Obama. House Democrats are considering a similar tactic. Republicans said it was a transparent ploy to hide the cost of a health care overhaul.
Basically, it was a bunch of slick smoke and mirrors…and it failed spectacularly.
