"Point of Order, Mr. President!"

Update: Told you it would be action packed!   The reconciliation bill goes back to the House in this latch ditch fight for what the rump party views as the capitalist soul of America. They succeeded in convincing the parliamentarian that two minor provisions in the 2000+ page legislation violates the Byrd Rule (budget reconciliation) while the Democrats defeated 29 straight GOP amendments overnight. The House is expected to take up the returned bill immediately. The glitch gives us "unreal" progressives--in the arrogant opinion of Senator Bennet (D-CO)--an opportunity to fight for a vote on the public option. Thirty-five thousand signatures in support of forcing a vote on the public option were handed to Bennet after he declared his support for the only effective price control mechanism proposed in the Alice-in-Wonderland process our dysfunctional Congress has engaged to pass some kind of reform. The absolute truth is the Senate bill is an industry sponsored (primarily pharmaceutical companies) guaranteed market bill. You can put pressure on the unreal hypocrite from Colorado to stand behind his word by contributing to publish ads in his state demanding he introduce an amendment putting the public option to a majority vote. Go to…secure.firedoglake.com/page/contribute/bennetPO

{3.23.10}That will be the Repugnant cry from the floor of the Senate this week as the Democrats attempt to pass the fixes the House of Representatives wants in return for voting for the Senate's health care reform bill. The President has already signed the Senate bill, but the 51 vote reconciliation process in the Senate has just started, and the rump opposition party is already threatening to do its level best to derail the legislation. Senate Majority Lead Reid better bone up on his rules of order, and Vice President Joe Biden better be ready to overrule the Senate's appointed parliamentarian if he advises that a point of order should be sustained*. The Vice President as presiding officer has the power to do so under the Senate's rules.  There is too much at stake to worry about whether overruling the advice is "nuclear" or not. Waiving a point of order would require a super-majority of 60 votes, a hurdle the precarious two step process is intended to avoid since the Democrats can only muster a simple majority after the Massachusetts special election. If a point of order is upheld the legislation is sent back to the House which would be the legislative equivalent of removing a card from the bottom of a house of cards. Debate is limited to 20 hours, and it promises to be action packed. Ben "Hack" Nelson (?-NE) has already voted with the Repugnants, bless his pointy head.  No doubt he is upset that the notorious "Nebraska kicker" will not survive the reconciliation process.

*Parliamentarian Alan Fruman already rejected the opposition's most substantive claim, that the 2018 excise tax on high end health insurance plans would impermissibly impact Social Security, on a point of order raised Monday night.