Ezra Klein: Nelson secured promise that his compromise would not be undone

[flpoljunkie]

60 votes

And then there were 60. A smart observer had told me recently that the bill would come down to whether Nelson, in his heart of hearts, wanted to vote for it or wanted to use his demands to kill it. It looks like he wanted to vote for it. Nelson's compromises were easily achievable within the politics of this bill Abortion language stronger than what the legislation had but considerably weaker than what Bart Stupak preferred. An extra year of federal funding for the Medicaid expansion, which is probably a good thing one way or the other.

Nelson also secured a promise that his compromises would not be undone. He has been guaranteed "a limited conference between the Senate and the House." That is to say, the bill will not change much when the House gets a crack at it. That's not to say no changes can be made, but no changes can be made that Nelson -- or, for that matter, Lieberman -- doesn't like.

Alongside the compromise with Nelson, Reid released "the Manager's amendment (pdf)," a single piece of legislation that contains hundreds of amendments within it. This way, there is one big vote on changing the bill rather than dozens, or even hundreds, of smaller votes. You can read the legislative language here, as I'll be doing today. More on all of this as I get details.

By Ezra Klein | December 19, 2009; 11:30 AM ET

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/12/the_congressional_budget_offic_5.html

[IndianaGreen]

1. You will pay taxes on your employer's portion of your health benefits

and the health insurance industry keeps its antitrust exemption.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/19/816680/-BREAKING:-Important-Changes-in-Health-Care-Managers-Amendment

[flpoljunkie]

2. I don't see this provision in your link--just the 'Cadillac' tax.

[dsc]

3. unindexed so the current cadillac will soon become a Kia