Is Pelosi Betting The House On Abortion?

Just a quick hit on this, which I hadn't gotten to. A guess, but Pelosi may want one of two things. The support of female members in caving enough to Stupak to tear apart his group, or she wants to get female members to push abortion rights to pressure some few from the same group. Could be something else, but those ideas would make sense given the big picture. Either way, it's a bad way to fashion health care reform legislation for a nation and she'll be telling them something behind closed doors we won't know up front.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is asking all female Democratic Members to attend a hastily called meeting Wednesday morning but isn’t saying what the meeting is about.

Pelosi’s office sent an e-mail out Tuesday evening requesting that all female Democrats come to the Members-only meeting at 10 a.m.

Comments

[skwiself]

Who knows what her real game is behind those closed doors but the big point is she doesn't have the votes, with every passing hour that a vote isn't held it becomes more likely she won't have the votes, the perception that she doesn't have the votes and can't get them grows, etc.

Now they're talking about passing it sometime, ostensibly very shortly, after Easter. Come on. This is a meltdown. I really think Obamacare is not going to pass.

If this turns into a total meltdown for Democrats, with a defeat on the floor or no vote presented, we will almost certainly not have to wait until January to get a new Speaker of the House. Steny Hoyer and as many not-entirely-Commie Democrats as he can gather around him would launch a coup against Pelosi in an instant if Obama doesn't get something to sign with "HCR" stamped on top of it, and they'd win.

Oh and by the way, that Nimed fellow? He's a Chuckles Johnson acolyte. Now see the funny thing is that Chuckles over there at LGF, he hates those "stalkers" and "stalker blogs;" it's one of the more frequent of his empty and malicious insults. But after coming around to note how much more traffic LGF gets, why, I was somewhat surprised to see him commenting here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogworld/2010/03/charles_johnson_to_be_publishe.html

Full-throated! Does Chuckles pay you to troll the 'net defending him in the comments on other sites Nimed? Part of the Lizard Truth Squad? Maybe he's Sharmuta with a sock.

[mark l.]

she was elected, within the house, by the libs.

they won't give up control over the dems in the house, regardless of whether they are in the majority, or minority. If the libs lose a tenuous battle to hold the dem party, they expire.

her friends in the house aren't in trouble. the people who might lead a charge for moderation and a change in the party are going to be dropping like flies.

let's face it, the new reps from 06 and 08 weren't going to help her produce policy that she really wants.

[archer52]

Actually "Mark l." has a point. She came to power pushing moderate democrats in usually Republican districts and winning. Those men and women voted for her out of loyalty, BUT she is now asking them to sever a limb for her and a good number have realized that they actually LIKE being in Congress. As I said a year ago, this will come down to democratic greed. (A simply frightening but honest assessment) Do they love the concept of universal healthcare and control over citizen's lives more than they love being in power personally? If she fails, she will strike back at the unfaithful. She'll be angry, they'll be angry; maybe that other post holds the key- another senior democrat will challenge her, after they get through the bloodbath in Nov.

However, this is assuming the democrats follow the Constitution, the law, procedure and a sense of decency, which we all know they don't adhere to any of those things. In my novel, REVOLT, (www.revoltthebook.com) the plot centers around a nation where the system had been perverted by greed and a control hungry government. I wrote the first draft in 1997. So far, it is on track. Scary.

[skwiself]

Obamacare not passing is a magnitude of such disaster for the Democratic Party that I can't see Pelosi surviving a serious challenge to her position. They might be in such chaos that there wouldn't be enough cohesiveness anywhere to get enough support for it though.

The momentum of the news cycle was for passage last week, this week it's against. But every delay turns into a long delay. They are out of long delays. They don't have any more spare delays lying around scribbled in the margins of the Congressional rulebook. You can tell how desperate they are by watching them try to sneak in all the various deals back into the bill at the last second - and watching Obama threatening to not go raise money in districts of Dems who vote no.

The Democrats need to pass a bill within six weeks. Probably more like four. Or it will be over. The Democratic Party will not be a pretty sight to see for anyone of a mind to vote that way.

[Lightwave]

"Obamacare not passing is a magnitude of such disaster for the Democratic Party that I can't see Pelosi surviving a serious challenge to her position."

What does Pelosi's fortunes in the Democratic Party itself matter? She WILL NOT BE SPEAKER in January. Period. This is a 100% certainty. She's going for outright bribery at this point. We've got 11 votes to go to absolutely kill this bill.

As I've said before, if the Democrats fail to pass this bill, they lose the House. You're right about that. But if they pass this bill, they lose the House, the Senate, and in 2011 you will see Obama face very, very strong calls for impeachment and Biden will face massive pressure to resign.

That leaves the Speaker of the House next in line. That will be a Republican.

Should Obama survive until November 2012, he will be replaced. I give it less than 50% chance he's even the 2012 Democrat candidate.

Time to ask yourself Democrats: take your losses now, or face a generational shift that hands the country over to the Republicans for another 20 years.

[seekeronos]

Dr. Takehiko Soejima's prediction: Obama and Biden resign before the end of the year, unconstitutional maneuvering has Hillary Clinton appointed to finish out Obama's term, she runs in her own right in 2012.

My expansion on that prediction: She reigns until 2016, when the Republic finally falls and the rump of the USA is replaced by a dictatorship.

Various states secede, particularly the Rocky Mountain states, Texas, and possibly the Pacific Northwest. Mexico initiates a war to reclaim its pre-1848 borders, recapturing at least NM and much of Arizona, and occupies parts of the Republic of Texas.

Red Chinese forces capture and occupy Hawai'i briefly, then granting it limited independence in exchange for naval base access.

Alaska asserts its independence, and Alaskan President Palin uses the national guard to sieze control of strategic bomber and nuclear assets.

And I'm totally making most of this up - but don't be too surprised of things do head in this direction.

[mark l.]

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/What_s-good-for-House-leaders-is-bad-for-members-87861547.html

good number crunching by barone.

"...there are only 115 Democratic members in seats where the putative support for the health care legislation is 50 percent or higher — 101 votes short of the 216 votes needed for a majority in a House with vacancies in four Democratic seats."

[skwiself]

"What does Pelosi's fortunes in the Democratic Party itself matter? She WILL NOT BE SPEAKER in January. Period. This is a 100% certainty."

It matters to me because political infighting is part of history and I find it interesting. I look at the Democrats in disarray and yes it's good but it is also going to be a great history to read in sixty years. Yes, Pelosi will definitely not be Speaker, but what happens in Washington and to us isn't just about who is going to be Speaker in January.