Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Invoking the memory of Edward M. Kennedy, Democrats united Saturday
night to push historic health care legislation past a key Senate hurdle
over the opposition of Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat
on President Barack Obama. There was not a vote to spare. The
60-39 vote cleared the way for a bruising, full-scale debate beginning
after Thanksgiving on the legislation, which is designed to extend
coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance
company practices that deny or dilute benefits and curtail the growth
of spending on medical care nationally.
