Did "HELL FREEZE OVER"?.....I agree with Barney Frank?

[Christians4LessGvt]

Rep. Barney Frank is not a wobbly moderate in a marginal district, but a liberal Democrat who has been supportive of the health care push. And that's why this statement below, which essentially rules out all of the options being discussed for pushing through Obamacare, deals a potentially fatal blow to the legislation.

The following was read on MSNBC by Rachel Maddow, and I transcribed it off the screen:

"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."

UPDATE: Frank's comments rule out delaying the seating of Brown and ramming a bill through in the meantime, rule out simply passing the Senate bill as is, and rule out passing it through the Senate using the reconciliation process. The only "hope" Frank holds is a compromise in the Senate with Republicans, but I'm not sure how much appetite there would be for dragging on the process for what could be months, even if there were some magical accord that could be reached between the two parties. And if President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid try to ignore Frank and push ahead anyway, the comments he made are a political goldmine to Republicans. Plus, the fact that Frank felt emboldened to jump out with this statement so soon after the results suggets he's probably expressing the private views of other members. Simply put, it will be difficult for Democrats to revive Obamacare after tonight.


http://spectator.org/blog/2010/01/19/barney-frank-deals-potential-d

[Michael Tee]

Frank took the long view.  In effect, he respects the democratic process more than he respects the immediate objectives of his party.

Too bad the Republicans can't say the same.  OTOH it won't hurt 'em any with their own base, because their base doesn't think much of the democratic process anyway.

[sirs]

Oh, the irony       

[BT]

The bill is dead, if it is indeed dead, because it is crap. The far left thinks so, the right thinks so and the middle is saying WTF.

Reboot

[Plane]

How many Democrats are breathing a sigh of releif?

They can tell their liberals that they tried.

They don't have to justify this very clumsy bill as law to  their moderate and conservative constituants.

Most of all they will not bear the legacy of being Dr Frankenstien foisting a broken monster on the public.


But they tried.

[Stray Pooch]

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,

This, like Webb in Virginia, is NOT an attempt to maintain the integrity of the democratic process.  It is a forced retreat that acknowledges the Democrats went too far and even Barney Frank may have to pay for it if some respect for the people is not reintroduced to the government.  That statement above shows where Barney actually stands.  The Democrats machinations in Massachusetts back when Mitt Romney was governor came back to bite them in the ass.  They have to be careful.  But look for the Democrats to endorse what used to be known as "the nuclear option" after the 2010 elections.  The excuse will be that the Republicans are being "obstructionist" and that is COMPLETELY different from what the Dems did when the Republicans were in power.  The Dems will claim they only tried to affect nominees for courts and such, but the Republicans are trying to deny the PEOPLE their rights.  But they wouldn't DARE try to change that supermajority rule BEFORE the elections, because if the Republicans were to win back control of the Senate, it would unleash a bigger monster. 

This election shows once again what is so great about America.  The PEOPLE have stopped the Democrats AT THE BALLOT BOX.  That is exactly what the founders intended.  Each of the parties has gone too far over time once they get control, but it always causes a backlash that sweeps the other party into power eventually.  What is amazing is how incredibly quickly Obama's inexperience and Democratic arrogance has caused that to happen in this cycle.  The Dems are starting to realize that, and you can just bet they will be more careful in congress until the 2010 results are in.  What they do after that will be anybody's guess.

If nothing else, this should show the nation (and especially the independent voters) exactly what the Democrats are capable of doing if given total control.  I hope that lesson is not lost by 2012.

[Plane]

Don't I have a right to be healthy?

Can't I expect the Government to enforce my right to be healthy?

[Stray Pooch]

Don't I have a right to be healthy?

No.

Can't I expect the Government to enforce my right to be healthy?

No.

[sirs]

Strangely, you cane blame the defeat of Cash for Croakers in Barney Frank.  If it weren't for the overt resistance to reform anything Fannie & Freddie, spearheaded by Frank at the time, its possible the housing bust would have not happened, or at least have been far more minimized.  Thus the economy wouldn't have taken such a downturn, possibly have even been recovering, which would have provided the Dems the rationale that now is a good time to invest in Obamacare, and could have been sold that way.

Then again, if the housing bust hadn't of happened, McCain would have been President