Kirk named to replace Kennedy, bringing Senate Democrats to crucial 60 votes

Democrats again reach 60 seats in the Senate with the announcement of Ted Kennedy's interim replacement. The Los Angeles Times reports that Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick "named Paul Kirk Jr., a former Democratic National Committee chairman and close friend and former aide of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, to serve as a temporary replacement for the deceased senator until a special election for the seat is held in January." This appointment will the Democratic caucus to that "crucial" number of holding 60 votes "as the party presses for the healthcare legislation that the White House is demanding."

When Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., passed away last month, Senate Democrats no longer had "a filibuster-proof 60-vote bloc." 

"Massachusetts law calls for a special election to fill a Senate vacancy, and that will be held in January. But the state Legislature this week passed a bill permitting the governor, Democrat Deval Patrick, to appoint an interim successor until the election is held" (Silva, 9/24).

The Hill reports: "Massachusetts Republicans called it a political power grab and questioned Patrick's legal authority to appoint Kirk so soon after the State Legislature granted him the power. The state GOP is seeking an injunction to delay the appointment, and the injunction will be the subject of an 8 a.m. Friday hearing. Kirk is set to be sworn in later in the day, at 3:15 p.m. in Washington."

"The GOP has cried foul because Democrats in the state were effectively giving Patrick appointment powers they had stripped from GOP Gov. Mitt Romney just five years ago, when Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) was the Democratic nominee for president. Senate Republicans could block Kirk with a filibuster if they maintained party unity. Democrats would need 60 votes to quash a filibuster, and they control only 59 seats after Kennedy's death" (Blake, 9/24).

The Boston Globe reports: "To Democrats, Paul Kirk is a known, highly regarded quantity in the clubby Senate, an experienced and genial behind-the-scenes operative who will closely follow the legislative path carved by the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, his former boss and longtime friend. Those who knew Kennedy, the legendary Senate leader, and know Kirk, his loyal aide-de-camp, said yesterday that there was little daylight between their political philosophies. That leads Democrats to expect a seamless transition once he is sworn in this afternoon -- and to count on Kirk as a loyal soldier in the battle with Republicans in the health care debate" (Williams, 9/25).


Kaiser Health NewsThis article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Comments

  1. Black Knight Black Knight United States says:

    "Massachusetts law calls for a special election to fill a Senate vacancy, and that will be held in January. But the state Legislature this week passed a bill permitting the governor, Democrat Deval Patrick, to appoint an interim successor until the election is held" (Silva, 9/24).
    Time to start impeachment proceedings against democrates for violating state law. What they are doing is illegal.

  2. HSR0601 HSR0601 Korea says:

    The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that having a "public option" would squeeze $100 billion in costs from the system over 10 years because of competition with private insurers, Pelosi said.

    Compromise doesn't mean compromising the essence of  policy, all know it!!

    1.  As regards a make-believe scheme, the source of funding coming from a middle class is utterly against the commitment of Democratic party.

    2.  No cost-competitive advantage of the insurer-friendly scheme does not clear the grave concern about the unsustainable cost of overall health care program in the long run. Baucus scheme Doesn't Bend Cost Curve Enough, Experts Say.

    The scheme proposes a "fake" alternative, nonprofit insurance cooperatives -- and it places so many "restrictions" on these cooperatives that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, they "seem unlikely to establish a significant market presence in many areas of the country."

    3.  Even with some benefit for primary practitioners, the baseless scheme does not come with fundamental payment reform, or a pay for value reimbursement formula. It means that the insurer-friendly scheme is not cleaning up the concerns over a quality issue and  $9trillion of deficit over the next decade.

    ((Here is some of CBO analysis :  While the costs of the financial bailouts and economic stimulus bills are staggering, they are only a fraction of the coming costs from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that each year Medicaid will expand by 7 percent, Medicare by 6 percent, and Social Security by 5 percent. These programs face a 75-year shortfall of $43 trillion--60 times greater than the gross cost of the $700 billion TARP financial bailout)).

    4. For Medicare & Medicaid system to survive from the most wasteful structure on earth,  enough savings by way of  fundamental changes need to be secured, in return, the savings thereof suffice to meet the goal of well-planned public option.

    ((Even with far less visits to docs, which average a half or a third of them in any other free states, Americans pay roughly twice as much per person right now)).

    5.  For the record, prior to nation-wide deployment of reform, The State Of  "Yes We Can", Minnesota influenced by Mayo clinic spends "20 percent" less per patient than the national average and 31 percent less than in the highest cost state. It highlights that no substantial tax raise is needed at least for sure.

    ((The $583 billion of revenue package, and the astronomical savings of public option  aside, "20%" of $923.5bn (the combined Medicare and Medicaid cost per year, as of July) represents around  $184.7bn per year and 1.847trillion over the next decade, and this patient-centered value alone could be sufficient to meet the goal of public option)).

    6. In brief, the long-awaited and most hopeful health care plan is to meet these criterias : Affordability, Quality, and A Check function against runaway premiums thereof.

    Clearly enough, due largely to its lower overhead cost, purchasing power and fundamental payment reform, the well-planned public option would be doing moore than the fabricated scheme by THE INDUSTRY in these aforementioned regards.

    Now is the moment to turn page to contemporary energy and financial upgrades glossed over in 8 years.

    Thank You !

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
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