Midnight Vote Speeds end of Healthcare Reform Debate

While most of the country slept last night, the U.S. Senate voted to to close off debate on healthcare reform legislation with a strictly partisan 60-40 tally. This, the first and most important of three motions needed to end debate, was affirmed by all 58 Democrats and two independents, with all GOP senators voting the other way, according to a Wall Street Journal article.President Obama called the vote a "big victory for the American people." Others weren't so positive in their assessment. Referring to the poor polling accompanying the bill, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, quoted at Insurance Journal, said, "This legislation will reshape our nation, and Americans have already issued their verdict - they don't want it.''

Some critics have complained that the bill ends up aiding the insurance industry, despite much Democratic Party rhetoric to the contrary over the past year. The haste with which this morning's vote was forced, and with which the dominant party is seeking to end debate about healthcare reform legislation could result in popular backlash of a kind not seen in a long time, suggests Jay Cost in an essay titled "Democrats Risk Another Jacksonian Moment," published at RealClearPolitics' HorseRace Blog today. "

"Make no mistake," Cost writes. "This bill is so unpopular because it has all the characteristics that most Americans find so noxious about Washington."The haste with which this morning's vote was forced, and with which the dominant party is seeking to end debate about healthcare reform legislation could result in popular backlash of a kind not seen in a long time, suggests Jay Cost in an essay titled "Democrats Risk Another Jacksonian Moment," published at RealClearPolitics' HorseRace Blog today. "

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio