December 17, 2009 10:01PM # Our System of Government Exists to Prevent This Kind of Thing By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) --- SHARE *The Hill*’s Congress Blog asks, “Will the Senate pass a health care reform bill before it adjourns for the year?” I [answer](http://bit.ly/5ZcQYd): > It’s not looking good – nor should it. > > > The Reid bill becomes [less popular with each passing day](http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/healthplan.php). (So too does [President Obama’s handling of health care](http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/jobapproval-presobama-health.php).) > > > CBS News is reporting that Reid wants to hold a vote before Christmas *because* [he doesn’t want senators to go home and hear from their constituents](http://bit.ly/5PVMRL). > > > Reid has been systematically [suppressing a complete cost estimate](../2009/12/16/bland-cbo-memo-or-smoking-gun/) of his bill. > > > Reid’s manager’s amendment will make unknown, countless, and dramatic changes to that 2,074-page bill – and Reid wants to vote on it before anyone knows what those changes are. > > > Even Max Baucus admits that [not a single senator understands the Reid bill](../2009/12/16/baucus-no-senator-understands-this-health-care-bill/). > > > Our federalist system, the separation of powers, our bicameral national legislature, six-year terms for Senators, staggered Senate elections, and the Senate’s procedural rules all exist precisely to prevent what Reid is trying to do: ram a sweeping piece of legislation through Congress without due consideration. ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).