On Thursday, thinking Democratic senators would balk at the idea, Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) introduced the gimmick health-care amendment.

"The idea, broad-brush, is that whatever government option is in the bill, every senator and every representative should be enrolled in it," Vitter told The Hill. "No other possibilities, no other choices."

"It's called leadership," Coburn said. "If it's good enough for everybody else, we ought to be leading by example."

But Democrats called their bluff, and the Republicans wouldn't allow it. When Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) tried to become a co-sponsor of the amendment, he got the cold shoulder.

So Brown, joined by Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.), forced his way onto the amendment with a unanimous consent vote.