Settling in for a Long Debate

With virtually all Republicans in opposition and public opinion sharply divided, the Senate opened debate on a Democratic health care reform bill that would greatly expand insurance coverage and, its leadership hopes, reverse the erosion of the party's standing in the electorate's eyes. Prospects seem dim that the Democrats will be able to enact their proposal without scaling down its scope to accommodate the more conservative Democratic senators and two independents. Nevertheless, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) opened floor debate on December 1 by saying that “the next weekends, plural, we will be working” on the reform bill, because there . . .