I have to admit, if I were in the Senate right now, I would probably get out too, regardless of party affiliation. Congress, namely the Senate, is so dysfunctional right now. That has to be one of the most frustrating jobs in America. As for Bayh's presidential run, I guess we'll have to see how much he misses being part of the political arena in the next few years. My guess, he's not going to miss it very much.  View

I agree; regardless of what side they're on, the Senate is all over the place. I think the democrats might also be getting frustrated that they've lose power. People swing back and forth between the next person who promises change. I don't think Democrats are necessarily "drowning" alone; Republicans are going down with them.  View

I don't blame Bayh for retiring from the Senate. Regardless of party affiliation, the Senate is a mess. It is a very tough job to be a Senator in Congress right now, and Bayh was just sick of it. I don't think his retirement will have a major effect on the Democratic party unless others decide to join him.  View

There's no question that this was a referendum on Obamacare. Does anyone think that voters DIDN'T know they were voting to break the supermajority in the Senate? Please. You all may think we're a bunch of know-nothing hicks out here in fly-over country, but these voters were from the sophisticated northeast. There is no other explanation. People don't want every aspect of their life examined by some penny pincher in Washington! And they don't want their grandchildren paying for it!  View

Anyone remember the end of the Reagan/Bush years. We were in the same place back then; poor economy, high debt/deficit because of tax cuts coupled with increased military spending. Fortunately back then we had a new technology, the Internet, spur a boom in the economy. Once again we we must pay down debt built up by the policies of the previous Republican administration. Dems never Had a "Super Majority", don't forget Joe Lieberman is Independent, but they still have 58 votes in the Senate. Dems need to show that they can be fiscally responsible and pay off the debt. Then maybe we can afford to help those with no health care insurance. Also let me add something. I had the misfortune to walk thru a "teabag" ralley on my way to the store one day. It was very obvious, a big part of that movement (not all of it) was racism, pure and simple.  View

I also think Reid's comments are mostly going to hurt himself. I think he will remain a Democratic leader in the Senate but, like CBS said, its going to be harder for him to get reelected in Nevada.  View

As a voter from MN, I am offended by the statementthat we only vote for those with name recognition. What about CA? They do it too, and have done it more. I think it's about time someone in the senate is willing to put their foot down, and squelch all the nonsense on behalf of the people that voted. As a single working mother attending college, this health care reform bill will make a difference to me. Not everyone fits into a catagory of income. I make too much to get public help, am not offered insurance through my small employer, and can't afford to pay for insurance without giving up a few meals a week. Thank you Al Franken for actually trying to help!  View

We're watching a fraud, in broad daylight. 1) The Senate bill is paid for, only by the bizarre rules of CBO. Most of the offsets come from the Cadillac tax, which even Senator Reid says will will never be collected. 2) The cuts in Medicare are already mandated by law, per legislation passed in the Bush era. It's because Medicare is in the third year of revenue funding alerts -- taking too big a chunk (10.5%) of all personal and corporate income taxes. And it's in the administration's own Medicare Trustees Report. The Emperor has no clothes. http://politicallyhomeless.net/?p=857  View

We need reform. Not a total Gov. takeover. There is Doctors now that do not take Medicare cause the Goverment regulates the Doctors pay. We are heading for the worst time of our lives with this goverment. Can not wait until the House and Senate elections. Oh by the way if this health BS goes into next year then we will have a new ballgame. Cause it will be election time for the House and Senate. Do you think that these people will take a chance to help Obomo and be voted out of there seats? By then we will have new concertivises in there to stop Obomo. What happen tho the statement that everyone has forgot when he was campaining? "Wouldn't everyone like to have the same kind of healthcare that congress has? We can do it."  View

Yes, health care reform is needed. But we are unlikely to get it, because the Democrats took a big strategic gamble, and blew it. The Democratic leadership and Obama, with majorities of both the house and senate, early-on took a "we don't need you" attitude with Republicans and independents. Remember Obama and Pelosi both saying, "We won," in the context of, we Democrats don't need you Republicans, so we aren't really going to be bi-partisan? They may have felt pretty good about that then, but it was their downfall. What they failed to recognize was that there were going to be aspects of health care legislation that had widely disparate views WITHIN the Democratic party itself, such as the public option and abortion (and who knows what else that we don't even know about yet in a 2,000 page bill). Had Obama done what he said he was going to do if he got elected, which was to be truly bi-partisan, he would have had a much bigger pool of senators and representatives to work with (relative to the need to get 60 senators and half the representatives to agree). With that larger pool, he could have gotten a centrist bill passed using both Republican and Democratic votes. So as I said, we probably won't get a healthcare bill that we really do need, and the cause is strategic mistakes made at the beginning of the Obama presidency.  View