Good luck, Senate

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/06/senate.health.care/index.html



Today, President Obama met with Senate Democrats in an attempt to rally support for the health care reform bill. The gathering lasted about an hour, in which the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid stated the President did not address all of the outstanding issues. Among these issues is abortion, which will surface later on in the week when an amendment to restrict federal funding for abortion is voted upon.
As it stands now, the health care proposal is unanimously opposed by Republican senators. Being said, a group of moderate and liberal Democrats, including Reid, has been meeting regularly to resort issues such as the public option dilemma, which continue to hinder Republican support of the bill. Henry Reid stated that the Republicans are "being destructive." He views the overwhelming Republican disapproval of the bill as another intentional act to politically harm the Obama administration and the Democrats.
Republican Senate Minority Leader, Mich McConnell, continues to disapprove the health care bill. He believes that the Democrats have composed a bill so far to the left, that they have written a bill that they know the Republicans could not, in good conscience, support. He continues to criticize the bill, saying it ignored GOP concerns and problems.
Democrats occupy 60 seats within the 100-member chamber: the minimum number needed to overcome a unanimous Republican disapproval. If any Democrats reject the bill, Obama's health care reform bill will need some Republican support in order to be implemented. With two outlying Democrats already, refusing to support the bill because of the public option issue, this could cause a huge roadblock for the Democrats, and the passage of this legislation.
Even if the Senate manages to pass this bill, a congressional conference committee will then need to combine House and Senate proposals into a cohesive version that requires final approval from each chamber. Only then, will the bill finally be administered to Obama's desk to be signed into law....