January 20th, 2010

Reports the New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats prepared to meet on Wednesday to consider the fate of the Democratic health care overhaul now that Scott Brown’s decisive Senate victory in Massachusetts has cost them their razor-thin advantage.

Republicans were demanding that they scrap the bill passed by the Senate last year without a single Republican vote, and House Democrats indicated they would not quickly approve the Senate’s version without changes and send it to President Obama.

Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said the voters in Massachusetts had mirrorred the anxious mood of the nation by electing Mr. Brown, who campaigned against the Democratic measure and won the seat vacated by the death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, its champion in the Senate.

”People across the country are saying, ’Slow it down,” Mr. Steele said Wednesday on ABC’s ”Good Morning America.” After a meeting of House Democratic leaders Tuesday night even as Mr. Brown’s victory was being declared, top lawmakers said they were weighing their options. But the prospect of passing the health care overhaul by pushing the Senate plan through the House appeared to significantly diminish.

Read more about it here.