you know that a majority of americans hate this bill. but it is in the greater good to pass it. so essentially, the president who is not up for re-election come this november is sending members of his own party in some cases on a kamikaze mission to pass health care. and here s a soundbite. we have debated this issue thoroughly. not just for the past year but for decades. reform has already passed the house with a majority. it has already passed the senate with a super majority of 60 votes and now, it deserves the same kind of up or down vote that was cast on welfare reform, it was cast on the children s health insurance program, that was used for cobra health coverage for the unemployed and by the way, for both bush tax cuts. all of which had to pass
too long to ask for international help. and you re looking at surveillance video right now of when the powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake ripped through southern taiwan. that happened just this morning. it triggered at least one large fire at a textile factory. it also disrupted communications, destroyed buildings and caused mass transit to stop for some time. at least 12 people were hurt. experts say earthquakes frequently rattle that country but rarely at this magnitude. well, the house is to vote on that $15 million jobs bill. it gives tax breaks for employers who hire from the unemployment pool. one change, though, and by the way, it s $15 billion, isn t it? not million. i think so. $15 billion cost will be made by budget cuts made elsewhere. the slowing moving senate will have to pass its own measure before it goes to the president. former alaska governor sarah palin writing another book, apparently. her publisher, harper-collins says this new book will reflect
bill that has passed the house with a majority. a bill that has passed the senate with a super majority. and what he s calling for is let s finish the job. let s have an up or down vote that the american people deserve a majority vote, in the house and the senate should move this issue forward. and i think that we ve talked about this for a year. there are lots of republican ideas. i hope we get some republican votes. but you have senator byrd who came up with this rule and says you should not use this for something like health care. well, what he said is you shouldn t use the process of reconciliation which is a majority vote. that s what it means. a majority of the senate could pass a bill which is what most of the american people think democracy is about. you have an elected majority, they should move ahead. he says it shouldn t be used for issues that don t directly impact the budget. there is no question that issues about health care directly impact the budget. they impact fam
house. no matter how many times they try to dress it up, the house is going to be called the house democrats only are going to be called upon to vote on a bill that has the cornhusker kickback, the louisiana purchase, the gator-aid and all the rest. now, maybe they ll try to do something close to simultaneously that purports to fix the problem. but the votes will be there. and the reaction of the public to go into such lengths, such extraordinary lengths to ignore public opinion is not going to put the issue behind them. it s going to put the issue ahead of them. joining us right now to discuss that and so much more, republican strategist and former press secretary mitt romney working for free in a minute. he ll talk about that and kevin madden is here, democratic strategist jamal simmons is here. finally got a chance to meet you in person. nice to see you and washington bureau chief of the chicago sun times lynne sweet in the middle
you saw the four points i reached out to republicans. i have 160 amendments at various times in the 200 page bill from republicans, it s time to put it up and see if we can get 51 votes. first it has to pass the you house. one thing he doesn t bring up is the program, it ends up with 85 votes. when he talks about welfare reform, he had over 70 votes for that even though it was through reconciliation. when it goes up for a vote if the reports are true, there s not going to be one republican senator who will vote for it and on the house side, there s not many people on the democratic side who are pumped up to vote for the senate bill. meanwhile, what about reconciliation? what about senator barack obama? how did he feel about it when he was representing just illinois? you got to break out of what i call 50 plus pattern for politics. maybe you eke out a victory, 50 plus one.