Boxer Has Got To Go; She Supports Reconciliation On ObamaCare

Senator Barbara Boxer has given us here in California another reason to give her the boot in 2010. She has signed on to support ramming ObamaCare through the Senate via reconciliation.

"The signers to Michael Bennet’s letter to pass the public option through reconciliation have continued to roll in. Before I get to that, I want to respond to a couple comments in the last thread on this about why I’m monitoring this action.

There are two questions being asked – one about whether Senators would be willing to use reconciliation to pass the health care bill, and one about whether they would sign on to the Bennet letter. These questions should be viewed separately. The reconciliation question essentially asks whether these Senators want to pass health care at all, because a reconciliation sidecar is really the only way to get the bill done. The public option question gauges what kind of support there is within reconciliation for something beyond the set of compromises that were determined before Scott Brown won in Massachusetts.

First off, if you’re following the health care debate, this is one of the two remaining hurdles to get to a bill. The other is abortion funding and the Stupak amendment, which could prove an eventual brick wall, as I’ve been saying for weeks and weeks. But it’s worthwhile to know if reconciliation has majority support in the Senate, in addition to the public option. Whether these events actually occur or not, knowing a clear whip count demystifies the process. It puts legislators on the record. It forces accountability. And that’s never a bad thing. Harry Reid cannot say “we don’t have the votes” if you can wave a piece of paper in front of his face and announce “yes you do.”

So where are we at with this project? Last night, Dianne Feinstein signed on to the Bennet letter. along with Jack Reed. Amy Klobuchar and Ben Cardin endorsed using the reconciliation, but were more noncommital on the public option. I can confirm this morning that Tom Udall of New Mexico, who yesterday agreed to reconciliation as a means to finish the bill, is now a yes on the Bennet letter. And Barbara Boxer signed on as well..."

Time to send Boxer home packing and elect Chuck DeVore to replace her.