So who bought him? For how much?

They can vote anyway they like on the bill, but if he doesn't vote to invoke cloture on all the filibusters, I will pay money into any primary challenger they have.

Maybe it's time to cut him off and cut him lose.

Q: What do we want?
A: An illegitimate health care reform bill.
Q: When do we want it?
A: NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ben Nelson hates America. Then again, I think America hates Ben Nelson.

Why doesn't he just cross the floor already. He's a DINO.

As a registered non-partisan, I must say partisans don't seem to understand how their own system works.

What an asshole.

Get him to vote for cloture and let him spout any nonsense he wants.

what ben nelson needs is a primary challenge.

what the dems need is 51 votes.

I can't wait till there are 80 democratic Senators and 20 Republican ones, and a bill will have to have 81 votes to be considered legitimate.

Reductio ad absurdum: Let's simply take Bennie's logic to the absurd extreme.

Suppose the the Dems had a 99-1 majority in the Senate. Would every bill need that one Republican vote in order to be legitimate?

(Hint for Nebraska Democrats: the correct answer is NO.)

In reality, elections matter. The election by the people of a 60-vote majority for the Democrats, defines the threshold for "legitimacy". In what possible way is the party that has be rejected soundly, necessary to a "legitimate" result?

So, the next Farm Bill, if it does not get 65 Senate votes, is illegitimate?

I think anything less than that would challenge its legitimacy

I think that President Obama's signature on a bill duly passed by both Houses is plenty legitimate enough, thank you very much.

he's the Pinocchio of dildoes: he just gets bigger and bigger

Ben Nelson.

Isn't he the one who first got elected in NE with 51% of the vote, yet, he thinks Healthcare Reform needs 65% to be legitimate?

Even his second attempt, virtually uncontested, he got 64%, still less than HIS mandate.

Lying lobbyists for 400 Alex

This senator was once an insurance executive ...

The first poster here asks "who bought him?"

Ben Nelson was bought and paid for the day he first arrived in the Senate. Look at the number of health insurance companies who have donated to him, the number of health insurance companies that have offices in Nebrqaska, then throw in for good measure the banks that have been ripping off students through the Federal subsidy for a "private" student loan system - which is now being wiped out - and you can see the real reasons this "Democrat" In Name Only is so upset. His gravy train is getting derailed.

Nelson is a DINO alright, but he's as good as we're gonna get out here. Nebraska can be a pretty strange place. Here in Omaha, we once had a wingnut run for Public Defender on a hard-line law and order platform. His catchphrase was "a Public Defender who actually defends the public."

Here's an observation: Democrats are slaves. That's the only reason it seems their votes only count for THREE-FIFTHS OF A REPUBLICAN VOTE.

How about "enough Senate votes to represent 60% of the population of the United States is needed for passage"?

Would someone take Ben Nelson into a side room and put the fear of god (or even worse, political irrelevancy) into him?

Unfortunately, "Jello Man" Reid isn't up to the task.

Think long-term. If Senator Nelson supports a filibuster for a week and then agrees to vote for cloture after getting a bone thrown his way (new corn subsidy? continued student loan graft?), the health insurance reform bill will pass.

"Who bought him?" isn't the right question.

What is his price?

If this clown is what passes for a Democrat in Nebraska, I'd hate to see what a Nebraska Republican would be like.

As much as people may want to excoriate Nelson, remember that he represents Nebraska, which is a fairly conservative state (All three House members are Republicans, the governor is a Republican, the other Senator is a Republican, and Nebraska has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1964, with no Democrat getting more than 42% of the popular vote).

He may be out of line with the rest of the Democratic party, but I'm guessing that he is pretty in line with his consituents.

You may not like Nelson that much, but he's better than the alternative, which would be another conservative Republican.

If this clown is what passes for a Democrat in Nebraska, I'd hate to see what a Nebraska Republican would be like.

Oddly enough, about the same. Bob Kerrey used to be a Republican. Current Senator Johanns used to be a Democrat. And when Johanns was governor, his Democratic opponent, Stormy Dean (his real name) was a former Republican.

Is he really better than another conservative Republican? I don't think so at this point, because he is just becoming a distraction. Will he, won't he, how can we make him vote for cloture. F_ck him - forget about finding out what he wants for his vote, find out what he DOESN'T want taken away from him (committee chairmanships, whatever) then tell him that it will be taken away if he doesn't vote for cloture (he can vote however he wants on the final bill.) Then concentrate on giving Olympia Snow what she wants - a promise to be queen of the lobster subsidies forever, whatever. Remember, we only need to get pass cloture. If we can't muster 50 Democratic votes for the bill, it's not likely to be worth passing anyhow.

It bears remembering that the SCHIP children's healthcare bill which had majority approval in both the Senate and House could not gather the two-thirds vote needed to overturn Bush's two vetos. Nelson is advocating killing healthcare reform without wanting to speak the words.

"If this clown is what passes for a Democrat in Nebraska, I'd hate to see what a Nebraska Republican would be like."

Lee Terry and Jeff Fortenberry.

One dumb as a post and the other an employee of Club For Growth.

Go Big Red

Hey, Ben, does that mean you'd call it legitimate if a set of Senators representing 65% of the American population voted for the bill?

I think we can get to that, even with 51 votes on reconciliation.

the gop's medicare part d boondoggle didn't get 60 senate votes when it passed....

I think any bill that has less than 110 votes in the Senate would not be legimate.