I’ll have more in a bit, but the vote to cloture just ended and the Senate has passed it’s first hurdle. After debating whether to debate the bill they now agree, that they will. (I know, it seems redundant, but this is how this goes. The Senate had to decide if they and the bill were ready.)
Today’s debate over whether to introduce the Senate Health bill to the Floor, illustrates the circuitous route a bill sometimes takes. HR 3590 is a case in point.
HR 3590, was entitled “To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the first-time homebuyers credit in the case of members of the Armed Forces and certain other Federal employees, and for other purposes”. It was agreed to and sent to the Senate for consideration on Oct 8th of this year. The two page document can be seen HERE.
The Senate then ordered the document to lie on the table. The bill was amended using AMDT. NO. 2786. The document’s title was revised to the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”, the original contents removed, and the Senate’s 479 page health care platform was inserted.
Also see the previous related posts :
Senate Health Debate May Begin Soon
Grab and Keel 
I read today about a Senator being willing to lose his seat to vote for the health-insurance reform. “Integrity,” you might say, or “betrayal” (of his constituents). But I think this misses the point–meaning the role of the US Senate as a check on the House (and us).
See: http://euandus3.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/integrity-in-the-job-description-of-a-us-senator/
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[…] we said, on November 21st the Senate agreed to debate H.R. 3590 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”. That debate began on December 2nd. […]
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