The Next Big Hurdle for Health Care Reform

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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December 19, 2009

The Next Big Hurdle for Health Care Reform

When Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) announced he would vote for cloture on the health care bill this morning, he did warn lawmakers that he could oppose the bill if major changes were made in the House-Senate conference.

Nate Silver: "This is arguably the most likely avenue for the bill's defeat; the measure, after all, passed the House with only two extra votes, and I'd expect some liberal groups to shift their attention to the House and urge progressives to kill the bill. However, that neglects the fact that some moderate and conservative Democrats who voted against the bill the first time around will probably now vote for the compromise with the Senate, which will be significantly more moderate. It also neglects the fact that Nancy Pelosi is a significantly more skilled vote-whipper than Harry Reid. So, this is perhaps the most interesting thing to watch, but it again seems unlikely that the bill will fail to clear the hurdle."

The Washington Post has a good chart that shows the differences between the House and Senate bills.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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December 19, 2009