The gang of six, that is the three Republican senators and three Democrat senators, have been trying to get to some middle ground on the health care debate, and they have come up with some compromises. The compromises that they have come up with have lead to some agreement in the US Senate.

The overall agreement is that both sides do not like the compromises that the gang of six has come up with. That is most likely to lead to a deadlock in the U.S. Senate. Both sides have taken stands on what they would like to have in the bill, and as of now, it does not seen likely they will give them up. This could lead the Democrats to pass the bill by a measure that is usually used for passing budget bills.

The measure is called reconciliation, and with that they do not need a two-thirds majority to pass the bill; they just need 60 votes.

They will have to break up the bill into small parts. I would hope that it would not come to that, but the Massachusetts State Legislature is working very fast to change a state law so that their governor can appoint a senator. With that [sic] the Democrats will have the 60 votes needed. Do not let them pass the bill in this way.