Nelson Will Vote Against Health Bill Without Changes; Reid's Path to 60 in Doubt

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) will vote against cloture on the Senate health bill, effectively allowing a filibuster of the bill, unless there are substantial changes made to the legislation, Nelson said in an interview with a Nebraska radio station Thursday.
"If it's not at the point where I think it needs to be with the improvements that I'm pushing -- and they've made a lot of them -- then I will not vote for cloture on the motion to end debate," he told KLIN radio in a live, 11-minute interview,

Nelson said a key issue for him remains how federal funding for abortion would be treated in the bill, saying, "That alone is a reason not to vote for cloture. The longstanding Hyde rule should not be weakened." Nelson said other Democrats have tried to negotiate with him on the issue, but he's not satisfied yet. "Others are trying to work on it and improve it, but I don't know if that they will be successful."

In addition to the abortion question, Nelson said he has serious concerns about what he sees as unfunded mandates for states, new taxes and the massive spending in the bill. "They way in which money is raised is not acceptable," he said. "So if there isn't a way to raise the money in tight times, I think you have to look at a scaled-back version."

Although Nelson left the door open to supporting the bill, he said that the time frame for passing the bill by Christmas "might be unrealistic."

The news from Nelson is devastating for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who needs the votes of all 58 Democrats and two independents to get the 60 required to pass the bill.

Without Nelson, Reid would have to look to Republicans for support. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) is the only GOP senator to say she remains open-minded to Reid's bill, but she also said recently that Reid's goal of passing the bill before Christmas will probably not give her enough time to review the measure to feel comfortable supporting it.