PUBLIC OPTION SHOT DOWN

First Public Option Amendment Fails With Five Dem No Votes...

Five Democrats joined with all the Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee to shoot down a public health insurance option on Tuesday, voting 15-8 to reject an amendment by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).
Five Democrats opposed the public option: Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.). LinkHere

Senate Finance Committee Hearing On Health Care Reform

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SarahSamudre: Senate Finance Committee voted down Schumer plan: Second public option amendment defeated 13-10. Two votes more than last one.
39 minutes ago from web

Nelson Supported Majority Vote For Bush Tax Cuts, But Not Health Care

Now that Sen. Ben Nelson, (D-Neb.) has definitively stated that he opposes the use of reconciliation to pass health care reform, it's worth noting that on at least two previous occasions the Nebraska Democrat had no qualms supporting the budgetary procedure as a means of passing legislation.
On May 26, 2001, Nelson was one of a dozen Democrats to support president George W. Bush's Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001: the massive tax cut package that defined the administration's plans for job growth. The bill was passed using reconciliation -- meaning it wasn't subject to a Democratic filibuster -- and received the support of 58 Senators.
Two years later, Bush had introduced a second tax-cut package, this one entitled The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. That too was passed through reconciliation with Nelson's vote proving even more critical. The Nebraskan was one of only two Democrats to back the measure, giving it exactly the 50 votes needed to become law (Vice President Dick Cheney voted yea to break the impasse). LinkHere