By Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The two steadiest non-GOP votes against the senate health care bill reaffirmed this weekend that attempts at compromise so far have not won their support, and that the prospects for the bill continue to grow dimmer as time passes. While one Democrat senator claimed that there was, to the contrary, “tremendous momentum” behind the bill, the latest voter poll shows opposition holding a steady majority among American voters.
“The opposition to it has been growing as the week has gone on,” Independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut said on CBS's “Face the Nation” Sunday. “There are not 60 votes for health care reform in the Senate now.”
Lieberman, who normally caucuses with the Democrats, has consistently opposed any version of a public option in the bill, a feature some liberal senators consider essential.
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) also painted a grim picture for those striving to win his “yes” vote, reiterating his position against the abortion mandate to “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer on Sunday. “I said I can't support the bill with the abortion language that's there,” he said, noting that finding an adequate compromise would be “a tall order.”
Nelson and Lieberman's opposition has Democrat leadership scrambling to find enough votes to scuttle a Republican filibuster on the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last Tuesday evening claimed that Democrats had reached a “broad agreement” on the health reform legislation. However, subsequent interviews with senators such as Sen. Nelson indicated that the parties involved merely agreed to send the new language to the Congressional Budget Office for a fiscal evaluation.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky affirmed, also on Face the Nation, that Senate Republicans were united against the health care bill, which he called a “monstrosity.” However, he said that on the Democratic side there is no such unity of position.
“It's noteworthy that you had to have three Democrats on to explain the Democratic position,” McConnell said. “There are more Democratic positions than you'd find in a stack of newspapers, [and] therein lies the problem.”
West Virginia Democrat Senator Jay Rockefeller gave a cheerier outlook on the bill, insisting that it has “tremendous momentum.” “It's not hard for me to feel optimistic. I do,” Rockefeller said, “because history calls on us.”
A Rasmussen poll gauging public opinion on the health care bill this weekend shows voters holding the line against it: 56% said they oppose the plan, while 40% favored it.
In the same poll, President Obama's approval ratings plummeted to a new low, with 24% of voters reporting they “strongly approve” of Obama's performance, while 42% “strongly disapprove.”
Last week, Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa announced he supported altering Senate filibuster rules to ease passage of the bill by eliminating the 60-vote requirement.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Dem Senator Seeks to Alter Filibuster Rules to Pass Health Bill
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/dec/09121106.html