Research

Harry Reid may have cut enough deals with his backroom “cash for cloture” to ram government-run health care through the Senate, but the war is far from over. Before the conference committee even begins to meet, House and Senate Democrats appear to have reached an impasse as irreconcilable differences remain between their two bills. They’ll have to slug it out on highly controversial issues like the public option, abortion, and taxes. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) hit the nail on the head when he summed up the issue of compromise:

“There is a natural tendency to split the difference between the Senate and the House.” But on major issues in the health bill, Mr. Lieberman said, “splitting the difference means you won’t have 60 votes in the Senate.”

To see which Democrats have already drawn lines in the sand, check out our Research Briefing, “The Coming Conference War.”