After months of debate, lawmakers seeking to pass health-care reform are tantalizingly close to the goal line. But Democrats have found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory—by blowing a Senate race in deep-blue Massachusetts and in so doing handing Republicans the necessary votes to filibuster the final bill. Are their heath-care efforts all for naught?
…
Perhaps the most appealing possibility on paper before Tuesday was simply to rush a compromise bill through Congress before Brown takes office. It takes as long as two weeks, by Massachusetts law, to certify an election, and Democrats already rejected seating two of their own members—Sens. Al Franken and Roland Burris—until they received state certification.
Full story: The Democrats’ Doomsday Health Plan – Page 1 – The Daily Beast.