DEMS RAM IT THROUGH AT 1AM

The American people will be getting something they have loudly said they don't want, disguised as a Christmas present. At 1am on Monday morning, the 21st, 60 Senators (58 Democrats, 1 Liberal Independent, and 1 Independent Socialist) successfully voted to cut off debate and send the latest version of Obamacare to the floor for a vote, which will almost certainly take place at 7pm on Christmas eve.

A Christmas eve vote? Why is that so important? It has the feel of an additional (and unnecessary) smack in the face to the American people. As bad as Harry Reid is, he's not from Chicago and these are Chicago-style politics. Notice how Reid has become the face that is being demonized by the American public while Obama remains detached and smiling?

Byron York at the Washington Examiner explains why Reid needed the 1am cloture vote to get that Christmas eve vote:

This is how it works. Reid introduced his amendment Saturday morning. (It's the one that has the Sen. Ben Nelson Medicaid buy-off and other curious features.) Senate rules say there has to be an intervening day between the introduction of the amendment and a vote on limiting debate on the amendment. That intervening day was Sunday. That meant the cloture vote could be held Monday, or any time thereafter. The rules also say that the vote has to be held at least one hour after that next day has begun. So the Senate's Monday business began at 12:01 a.m., and the Reid Amendment vote could be held at 1:01 a.m. (As it happened, Reid himself spoke last, and his remarks went over the mark by six minutes.)

After the middle-of-the-night vote, there will be a maximum of 30 hours debate on the amendment. Then there will be a 30-hour period for a Republican substitute bill, followed by a 30-hour period on the final bill. Reid's schedule calls for a final, final vote on the health care measure to take place at about 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Voila! The bill will be passed by Christmas. That couldn't be done unless the Reid Amendment cloture vote were held in the earliest hours of Monday morning, setting off the final chain of votes and waiting periods. "This is purely to satisfy a self-imposed, arbitrary deadline," says the GOP aide.

Read York's entire piece HERE.