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Once Obama's plan fails to attract 60 votes, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will fall back on reconciliation as a strategy and hope for 50 votes. But if the Democrats pass the bill with 50 votes, it will set a precedent they may come to rue. It would basically eliminate the filibuster as a parliamentary tactic and would condemn any future minority party (Democrats in 2011?) to the same irrelevance as afflicts their House colleagues. To be in the minority in a chamber run by a bare majority is not a fun task.

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The New York Times reported over the weekend that Reid has decided that the package merged from bills passed by the HELP and Finance committees would not include a public option so as to make it more attractive to swing votes such as Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

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Why is anybody still paying attention to this health care "reform" "push"?oh yeah, because the democrats aren't listening to anybody but their "progressive" left wing base.and because they want to take my health care dollars and use them on someone else and the "public option" push is nothing but a rest-stop on the highway to a government-run single payer health care plan.and we know this because obama is on the record saying this back in 2004.