Nelson: I Won't Oppose Health Care

One of the most unreliable Senate Democratic votes for health reform said on Friday that he is open to passing a bill through reconciliation as a last resort.

In an interview with KLIN radio in Nebraska, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said he would not vote against health care reform simply because party leadership was using a budgetary procedure that precludes filibusters to amend it. Rather, if he cast a vote against the legislation it would be on policy grounds alone, he said.

“I’m not going to use reconciliation as a principle to be against this,” Nelson said. “It’s my least favorite way to do something. It’s only after everything else fails, when there’s obstruction going on.”

“We’ll have to see what the final package is, and I’ll make a decision based on the final package,” Nelson offered earlier. “There are some things that they have put in now with federal oversight that would move away, from some degree, state regulation… And I don’t think the federal government needs to get much more involved in this when you have states that are capable of deciding what are adequate or excessive rates when it comes to health care premiums. There are other things. I don’t know what the final cost is. I worry that it’s now up to $950 billion. I’d like to see a final score, see what it is and make a decision then.”

Nelson: I Won’t Oppose Health Care Because Of Reconciliation.

Ben Nelson - Asshat

In a move that will further irritate his Democratic critics, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) announced on Monday evening that he would not just oppose but also help filibuster President Barack Obama’s nominee to a key labor relations agency

In a statement from his office, the Nebraska Democrat announced that he would oppose cloture for Craig Becker’s appointment to the National Labor Relations Board, all but assuring that confirmation won’t take place.

“Mr. Becker’s previous statements strongly indicate that he would take an aggressive personal agenda to the NLRB, and that he would pursue a personal agenda there, rather than that of the Administration,” said Senator Nelson. “This is of great concern, considering that the Board’s main responsibility is to resolve labor disputes with an even and impartial hand. In addition, the nominee’s statements fly in the face of Nebraska’s Right to Work laws, which have been credited in part with our excellent business climate that has attracted employers and many good jobs to Nebraska. Considering these matters, I will oppose the upcoming cloture motion and the nomination.”

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Ben Nelson To Filibuster Key Obama Labor Nominee.

For months, a gaggle of centrist Democrats has tried to convince the party’s leaders that they should abandon their push for a cap-and-trade scheme and instead settle for passing the energy measure that was approved by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last June. When Republican Scott Brown seized Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat in an upset victory, these Plan B proponents saw their chance. Since then, they’ve been vigorously arguing that capping carbon is a huge political risk that Democrats can’t afford to take in an election year. “They’re using uncertainty over the Obama agenda as a whole to reinvigorate their push,” said Joe Mendelson, director of global warming policy at the National Wildlife Federation.

The Plan B crowd includes Democratic senators Jim Webb, Mary Landrieu, Evan Bayh, Ben Nelson, Kent Conrad, Byron Dorgan, Mark Pryor, and Blanche Lincoln. It could also potentially pick up the Republicans who voted the energy measure out of committee: senators Lisa Murkowski, Sam Brownback, Bob Corker, and Jeff Sessions.

Talk of a climate about-face intensified as news outlets reported last week that senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman—who are working to assemble a cross-party coalition to support climate legislation in the Senate—are planning to scrap a cap on carbon altogether. Graham, who was already on the record condemning the House and Senate cap-and-trade bills, declared in an interview with the New York Times that “some massive cap-and-trade system that regulates carbon in a fashion that drives up energy costs” is “dead.” “Realistically, the cap-and-trade bills in the House and the Senate are going nowhere,” he added.

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Negative Energy | Mother Jones.

According to a copy of a memo sent by McMaster’s chief of staff to other GOP state attorneys general detailing the call, Nelson asked McMaster to “call off the dogs,” a reference to recent threats by the state AGs to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Medicaid provision in the bill that benefits Nebraska at the expense of other states.

Full Story:

Ben Nelson to Henry McMaster: ‘Call off the dogs’ – Alex Isenstadt – POLITICO.com.

Stll Ass Hat For Now

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) confirmed moments ago that he will support the Senate health care bill, which will soon be amended to include new, more restrictive abortion language. But, he says, he reserves the right to filibuster the very final version of health care legislation if it changes significantly when Senate and House negotiators meet to agree upon a single package of reforms.

“Without in any way intending to be threatening–to be more in the more of promising–let me be clear, this cloture vote is based on full understanding that there will be a limited conference between the Senate and the House,” Nelson said. “If there are material changes in that conference report, different from this bill, that adversely affect the agreement, I reserve the right to vote against the next cloture vote–let me repeat it–I reserve the right to vote against the next cloture vote if there are material changes to this agreement in the conference report. And I will vote against it if that is the case.

Unlike the so-called Stupak language in the House, Nelson’s abortion language would not forbid people who receive subsidy assistance from the federal government from buying insurance policies that cover abortion. However, according to Nelson, the money that pays for each such policy will have to be separated into two pools–one that pays for the abortion coverage, and one for all other services.

Nelson: I’ll Filibuster Post-Conference Health Care Bill If House Forces Major Changes | TPMDC.