"We could have had a vote last night. We could have had a vote today, if they would allow that," said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) of Republicans.
"It's becoming clear that there's just a stall," said Harkin.
Democrats may say that, but they truthfully know what's at work.
"It's the Senate," said Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).
In other words, the rules of this body don't really encourage quick action, which means at some point Democratic leaders will have to become more aggressive.
"I've been around long enough to know when there's a legitimate interest to develop a consensus and when there's not," said Dodd.
"This is a little rope-a-dope, and that's fine, but there are alternatives to move the process," said Dodd, referring to parliamentary maneuvers to move forward.
Dodd and Harkin both related the story of one Democrat saying that if there are U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan on Christmas Eve, then the Senate can be in session, too, as it was clear that Democrats are growing frustrated with the slow developing health care debate.
"I think we've debated long enough," said Dodd. "The McCain amendment has been on the floor for three days. It's time to vote."
Finally on Wednesday evening, the two parties agreed to have a first series of votes on Thursday. All of the amendments will need 60 votes - in other words - a filibuster proof majority.
And really, that's what this is all about right now for Democrats. If they come up with 60 votes for a final bill tomorrow, they can pass this bill whenever they want.
In the meantime, they will blame the GOP for delaying action on health care.
While that might be sort of true, really isn't the reason this bill is going slow.
Democrats don't have 60 votes to end debate yet. Maybe they will in a few weeks or a few months, but they don't have it right now.
And so we move slowly forward.
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