> We will be gathering in front of the Austin office of Senator Hutchison at > 5:00 pm on Monday, December 21, 2009 to ask her to stand up for Texas in any > future votes on health care. We will be joined in cities across the state > by other tea partiers, 9-12ers and grassroots advocates. KBH's office in > Austin is located at 61 Federal Building, 300 East 8th Street, Austin, Texas > 78701. > > > > Please take a moment after work and before dinner on Monday to make your > voice heard! > > > > You may have heard that Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison was one of three > Republican senators to cast a vote against a Republican legislative > filibuster on Friday. We contacted Senator Hutchison's office for > confirmation and/or an explanation of the reports. Here are the details > below. > > *Background:* > > At this point, Harry Reid's health care bill can only be slowed or stopped > by the use of senate procedures including the filibuster (procedural > block). Harry Reid almost certainly has the 50 votes necessary for passage > of the bill. Thus, if the bill gets to a final up-or-down vote on the > Senate floor, the bill will almost certainly pass. > > > > At this point, news reports are telling us that Harry Reid has the 60 votes > necessary to break any filibuster, but we are still several days away from > that vote, and a lot can happen in a few days. > > It is the conventional wisdom that the opponents of the health care bill > will have to employ every procedural tool at their disposal to stop or slow > this bill. Every vote matters. There is no room for error, division or > infighting. It is broadly acknowledged that, if the bill is to be slowed > down, and hopefully defeated, a united front will be critical. > > Senators opposing Harry Reid's health care bill had imposed a filibuster on > pending legislation in order to prevent Reid's health care bill from getting > to a final vote before Christmas. As you are aware, given the current > makeup of the Senate, a filibuster can only be maintained if the opposition > minority holds together and votes consistently as a bloc. > > *Snowe, Collins and Hutchison Break Ranks:* > > As you may have heard, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Texas' own Kay > Bailey Hutchison joined Harry Reid in voting to break a Republican > filibuster on Friday. (The specific bill under consideration at the time > was a spending bill on defense appropriations, but the vote in question > related to maintaining the filibuster.) > > The breaking of this filibuster moved one more obstacle out of the way and > helped Harry Reid's health care bill move another step closer to passage > through the Senate. > > > > Erick Erickson of RedState has taken a hard > line< http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/12/18/for-kay-bailey-hutchison-staying-in-washington-to-fight-health-care-means-expediting-its-passage/ > > on Hutchison's > vote: > > Kay Bailey Hutchison, much maligned for campaigning in Texas during the > health care debate, boldly announced that she would go to Washington and > stay there to fight health care and kill it dead. > > Instead, today she accelerated it getting to the Senate floor in a bit of > Senate gamesmanship. > > http://www.redstate > .com/erick/2009/12/18/for-kay-bailey-hutchison-staying-in-washington-to-fight-health-care-means-expediting-its-passage/ > > > > Erickson also claims that Hutchison's vote broke a promise she made to hold > rank. I've found Erick to be a consistently credible source, but we have > not yet been unable to independently confirm that assertion, so do with that > what you will. > > > > > *Hutchison's Explanation:* > > We called Senator Hutchison's office to confirm the reports of this vote, > and to ask for her side of the story. Senator Hutchison's office confirmed > that Hutchison did indeed vote to end the filibuster. Her office also > explained that Hutchison voted to end the filibuster because she was > convinced that the filibuster would be broken with or without her vote, and > she considered her vote an expression of 'support for the troops.' (As > noted above, the filibuster was delaying the passage of a defense > appropriations bill.) > > *Analysis:* > > Hutchison is almost certainly correct that the opposition filibuster would > have been broken even without Hutchison's vote to break it (60 Democrats and > two other Republicans--Snowe and Collins--voted the same way). Further, in > terms of chronology, it appears she was the 61st vote for the motion. Thus, > she wasn't the 60th 'critical vote.' > > That said, whatever opinion one may hold on Senator Hutchison's vote, there > is some concern that Hutchison's vote with Collins and Snowe may indicate > less than solid support for the opposition effort to this bill. > > > Judy Holloway > Austin Tea Party Patriots > Common Sense Texans > having.anaustinteapa...@... > 512-585-7673 > > -- > This group is created for discussing national issues to stop the current > administration from transforming this country into something not intended by > the founders. Any discussions that are not relevant to that topic will be > deleted. > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Tea Party Patriots" group. > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected]<tea-party-patriots%40googlegroups.com> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<tea-party-patriots%2Bunsubscribe%40googlegroups.com> <tea-party-patriots%[email protected]<tea-party-patriots%252Bunsubscribe%40googlegroups.com> > > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tea-party-patriots?hl=en?hl=en > > For more information on Tea Party Patriots, please visit > http://www.teapartypatriots.org. >
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