UPDATE: Senate moderates may make it tough on majority to complete health care bill’s passage
Despite siding with their party colleagues to vote to bring the health care bill to the floor for a full debate, a small group of Democratic senate moderates are threatening to oppose the bill if their demands are not met in the eventual final version of the bill. This ongoing fracas sets up the possibilities for a very rowdy floor debate, after the Thanksgiving holiday break later this week. Connecticut independent senator Joe Lieberman, for example, said on one of the Sunday political talk shows on US TV, that "I don't want to fix the problems in our health care system in a way that creates more of an economic crisis." Lieberman, plus three other Democratic moderates, Senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas had agreed to advance debate on the bill, despite having reservations about the legislation, but each has said they might not support subsequent votes on the bill -- unless changes to their liking are made. Key issues in play, as before, include a provision that would allow Americans to buy government-run insurance coverage if their state allows it. For more, read the AP
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