Mass. House gives initial nod to temporary fill-in for Kennedy seat

By GottaLaff

Nobody can replace Ted Kennedy, but at least they're fighting for another voice in favor of health care reform, our way. After the endless, nasty Coleman/Franken debacle, it will be good to see full representation for Massachusetts:

The Massachusetts House gave preliminary approval this afternoon to a bill that would allow Governor Deval Patrick to appoint an interim replacement for the late US Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

The House voted 97-58 to send the bill to a final vote before the bill is sent to the Senate, where Republicans are vowing to use every parliamentary maneuver they can to delay it.

Top Senate officials are planning to hold formal sessions Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. That would leave Republicans out of parliamentary delaying tactics by Wednesday, when the bill could be sent to Patrick’s desk. Current vote projections suggest there is a narrow margin to approve the legislation. [...]

Top Democrats in Washington have been aggressively pushing for Massachusetts to temporarily fill the seat to give them more leeway in approving President Obama's national health care plan. Shortly before his death, Kennedy himself advocated for the change in law.

"This bill will give us full representation today and the people of Massachusetts will have their second voice in the US Senate," said Representative Michael Moran, a Democrat from Boston who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Election Laws, as he introduced the bill. "My overriding concern is making sure the people of Massachusetts are fully represented in the US Congress."

But Representative Paul Frost, a Republican from Auburn, said he felt the Democratic Party was ramming the bill through, in order to allow the Democratic governor to put a Democratic senator in the office.

Gee, the Rushpublics never ram anything through ::coughPatriotActcough:: now do they? Different circumstances, same hypocrisy.

More here.

H/t: 1kecko