One Small Victory!!!

We had a small victory in the Senate yesterday. Part of the Health Care bill was defeated because one Senator stood on principle and insisted the Senate follow its own rules.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I,VT) introduced a 767 page amendment to the 2064 page Health Care bill. Senator Tom Coburn (R, OK) did not give unanimous consent to suspend the reading of the amendment. According to senate rules if any senator insists on the bill being read it must be read in its entirety, as long as that senator or one of his party is on the floor.
It was estimated that the reading would take at least 17 hours. After three hours Senator Sanders removed his amendment from consideration. Senator Sanders was outraged by this delaying tactic used to bring the government to a halt in a time of crisis. If it is such a crisis why doesn’t the bill even take effect for three years?
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D,NV) is going to be bringing an amendment to the floor estimated to be “several thousand pages” or at least as big as the original bill. Senator Jim Demint (R,FL) is promising to insist that this amendment be read in its entirety if the bill is brought to the floor. He says he has enough republicans lined up to prevent the democrats from voting unanimous consent to suspend the reading.
We have attained a small victory in this battle. Everyone should call or send Senator Coburn an e-mail thanking him for his efforts. Also send a note of encouragement to Senator Demint thanking him and encouraging him to continue with his efforts.
Senator Coburn’s office can be contacted through his e-mail at
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorCoburn.Home
or by phone at his Washington D.C. office
Main: 202-224-5754
Fax: 202-224-6008
Senator Demint’s office can be contacted through his e-mail at
http://demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home
or by phone at his Washington D.C. office
Phone: 202-224-6121
Fax: 202-228-5143
Also contact Senator’s Crapo and Riche at their local offices and tell them to support Senator Demint and Coburn in these efforts.
We have won a small skirmish, the battle rages on we can win this one small victory at a time.
Mark Balzer Co-Chair Sovereign Idaho Coalition