Punditty's Health Care Vote Contest: What time will the 60th 'Yes' vote be cast?

Nov. 21, 2009

With the Big Vote on health care due in the United States Senate this evening, The Punditty Project returns to its oddsmaking roots and provides readers with a little political prognostication for purposes of entertainment.

Remember – gambling on votes in the United States Senate IS NOT LEGAL. The odds and contest below are offered FOR AMUSEMENT PURPOSES only.

ODDS THAT HEALTH CARE BILL

RECEIVES 60 OR MORE ‘YES’ VOTES: 20-1

(A total of 60 or more ‘Yes’ votes would advance the bill, thereby blocking GOP filibuster efforts.)

It seems pretty obvious from this vantage point - now that Arkansas Senator BlancheBlanche Lincoln, a Democrat, has announced she will vote ‘yes’ - that the bill is going to achieve cloture tonight and move to the full Senate for debate. In order to make this really interesting, we turn – where else? – to the unique worldview of FOX News pontificator Glenn Beck.

Beck recently compared derailing Obama’s health care plans to preparing for Sept. 11, commonly known as 9/11 in both written and spoken parlance. This begs the numeric question: What time during the roll call will the 60th ‘yes’ vote be cast?

Assuming the Senate gets the show on the road around 8 p.m. Eastern time, as promised, and assuming the senators are allowed to dilly and dally and parry and thrust a bit with words before they vote, there is a decent chance that the 60th ‘yes’ vote will be recorded at 9:11 p.m.

If that happens, look for Beck’s 9/11 comparisons to spread beyond his relatively small sphere of influence to become a larger societal meme, as in ‘Obamacare: a new 9:11” or some such clever saying.

If you predict the correct time, you will win two dozen H1N1 shots, but you have to receive them all within a 10-minute window after eating chicken known to have been contaminated with the Avian Flu. Runners-up will win two dozen shots of tequila, but they must be present at the roll call vote to win. (preceding paragraph gets the “satire” and “humor” disclaimers)

If you feel like playing along, sign in at or sign up with Allvoices.com, then share you prognosticative wisdom in the wacky world where nonbinding numerological nonsense mixes with high political drama and lowball humor!

--

The Punditty Project is sponsored by WIDsheets.com.

WIDsheets – Write It Down and stay organized!

--