He answered questions about the prospects for the healthcare bill from his perspective in DC.

“It’s 50-50 and no one really knows.”

“If they don’t get it done before Christmas, it’s going to get harder for them.”

“We’ll probably have a number of announcements of a ‘deal’ over the next week. Most of them will be false alarms. One of them might not be.”

“Senators Collins and Snowe are solid in their opposition to Harry Reid’s bill. Senator Snowe cares about healthcare and she is convinced that this bill does nothing to reduce costs. She believes it’s a bad bill that can’t be fixed”

“Harry Reid’s majority is fragile at best. There are serious doubts about the health and ability of both the Senator from West Virginia and the Senator from South Dakota to participate in the debate, or even to cast votes.”

Norquist gave permission for his comments to be quoted.