Dem vows: Republicans who filibuster will 'have pain, too'
March 04, 2010
"People who want health reform to not happen are becoming even less afraid and even less embarrassed about lying about health reform," Maddow complained. She added, "The reason that health reform opponents are freaking out ... is because this process is almost done. They're desperate."
Maddow turned to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) for insight on what the Republican might do next, asking, "Do you know what they`re going to pull out their hat to try to kill it?"
"They`re going to try to do amendments, as many as they can get away with," Brown replied. "And I think we keep them here all night. Tonight, the next night, the night after, the night after. If they`re going to try to filibuster in the traditional sense or in the more modern obstructionist sense that they do... they're going to have pain, too."
"They`re going to have to stay all night," he continued, "and we`re going to have quorum calls and we`re going to do whatever we need to do to get this passed within the Senate rules and within fair play."
Brown also explained why he believes the Republicans are so desperate. "I think they look back in history and they understand that they had to explain away their opposition to Medicare for two or three decades, and it cost them at the polls," he told Maddow. "And I think Republicans, the ones that .. have more insight than some of the others, perhaps, understand that they vote no on this, they`re going to be explaining it 10 and 20 years from now as a real bad vote."
"This may help them short-term in one election, this opposition," Brown summed up. "But ... I think they know this is a troublesome situation they`re putting themselves in. So, they want to keep pushing back, keep delaying, keep stopping this any way they can."
This video is from MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast March 3, 2010.
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