Burris hints his healthcare vote is not assured
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Sen. Mary Landrieu got something. Sen. Joe Lieberman got something. And now, Sen. Roland Burris of Illinois is hinting that he, too, wants something.
It’s Christmastime in the Senate, and with 60 votes needed to pass healthcare legislation, any lawmaker can be king or queen for a day. All it takes is sitting on the fence for a bit.
Lieberman understood the power he had and made it known that he could not back a bill unless it dropped any expansion of Medicare to those younger than 65. Leaders backed away from their compromise and Lieberman is inching closer to full endorsement of the bill.
Landrieu understood as well. She won a key language concession that brought hundreds of millions of needed Medicaid dollars to her state of Louisiana. In exchange she voted with fellow Democrats to break a Republican filibuster and allow the healthcare bill onto the floor for full debate.
Now it may be the turn of Burris, a lame duck, who was appointed to his seat by disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Burris, a supporter of a strong public option, stated that he was concerned the pending bill did not “do enough to preserve the goals of the public option provision -- specifically cost containment, creation of meaningful competition, and holding insurance companies accountable.”
Stay tuned.
-- Michael Muskal
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