A congressional analyst says abortion funding, cost, and the public option will be the central points of the debate that is set to begin in the U.S. Senate on healthcare legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), in an effort to win the vote of Senator Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana), included language in the Senate bill that would specifically increase federal Medicaid subsidies for Louisiana. It was initially reported that the earmark cost was $100 million, but Landrieu corrected the record, saying: "It's $300 million, and I'm proud of it and will keep fighting for it." Brian Darling, director of Senate relations for The Heritage Foundation, predicts there will be more pay-off attempts when debate begins in the Senate on November 30. "There are not the votes to pass this piece of legislation at this point. There are going to be very controversial issues over abortion coverage, over the cost of this bill, [and] over the nature of the public plan," Darling predicts. "But the bottom line is we will be seeing other special-interest provisions put in this bill to try and get the support of these swing senators who are necessary to get the bill up to 60 votes and passed in the Senate." Darling believes the Senate will hold a vote on the bill before it leaves for Christmas, and says it is possible if Democrats are able to hold their caucus together and get a bill that is acceptable to the House, it may pass Congress before Christmas. However, he says it is more likely President Obama will make a new deadline to have the bill pass both houses of Congress by his State of Union speech in late January.
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