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He’s saying it will pass in the next 60 days… “I’ve had many conversations this week with the president, his chief of staff, and Speaker Pelosi,” Reid said during an appearance Friday evening on “Face to Face with Jon Ralston” in Nevada. “And we’re really trying to move forward on this.” The majority leader said [...]

And I agree. Because even though Kennedy championed this health care legislation, Massachusetts didn’t elect a Dem this time around. That’s how democracy works. From The Hill… “In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process,” Webb [...]

The results aren’t final yet, but it looks like Brown is going to win 52% to 47%. And you have to hand it to him. He ran a great campaign and defeated the favorite Martha Coakley in a race that many Democrats thought would be a cake walk. But let’s remember that Republicans being elected [...]

Rick Ungar of True/Slant thinks so and his case is compelling. First, this quote from Rush after his visit (via USA Today): I don’t think there’s one thing wrong with the American health care system. I got no special treatment other than what anybody else that would have called 911 and had been brought in [...]

I don’t want money. I don’t want clothes. I’ll even give up that iPhone I had my eye on. All if this ridiculous crowing from the far left is ignored. And it’s not just me. The latest broadside to the “kill the bill/single payer/public option” noise parade comes from Jonathan Chait. Basically, his article reads [...]

Time and time again during this grand debate, I’ve said that compromise was not only appropriate, but also absolutely necessary if we wanted anything passed. Yes, this legislation is flawed. But all important legislation is. Eventually, we’ll build on this and create something that works for every single American, but for now we’ve got a [...]

Should Ezra Klein’s notion of limiting the use of the filibuster actually find support on the Senate floor, it raises the specter of a simple majority of Republicans in 2015 undoing the Health Care plan that required a 60 vote Democratic plurality in 2009. Definitely in the “be careful what you wish for” category.

Ezra Klein did some digging and finds that the health care plans Obama proposed during the campaign season (pdf) closely mirrors what is currently on the table. First, what he said then… The Obama-Biden plan provides new affordable health insurance options by: (1) guaranteeing eligibility for all health insurance plans; (2) creating a National Health [...]

I noted some months back that it was smart politics for Republicans to compromise on health care. Yes, they’re the minority party, but if they had worked with Dems the size and scope would have been more to their liking. And they could have easily peeled off 2 or 3 moderate Dems so Reid and [...]

Christmas is coming early this year for the Dems. With the news that Ben Nelson is falling in line so Dems can avoid a filibuster, the passage of this health care bill has become much more likely (almost a certainty?). Basically, Republicans can cry foul about socialism and fiscal irresponsibility all they want, but they [...]

They got Ben Nelson. From Wash Post: Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, announced to his colleagues Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas of President Obama’s top domestic policy priority. Asked if he had secured the 60 votes [...]

That’s the word tonight, but the details are thin right now. From Politico: Senate Democrats have reached a “broad agreement” on a health reform bill, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday night — a plan that would replace the public option in the current Senate bill with a new national insurance plan offered by private [...]

I don’t usually talk about the politics of personal destruction…well, unless a politician abuses his or her power. And this is one of those times. From Roll Call: Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus’ office confirmed late Friday night that the Montana Democrat was carrying on an affair with his state office director, Melodee Hanes, when [...]

It’s happening… Two final holdouts, Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, announced in speeches a few hours apart on the Senate floor they would vote to clear the way for what is expected to be a bruising, full-scale health care debate after Thanksgiving. At a 10-year cost approaching $1 trillion, the [...]

And it’ll achieve 94% coverage. And it costs $849B. CNN has more about some of the key points in the new bill… Among other things, they’ve agreed to subsidize insurance for a family of four making up to roughly $88,000 annually, or 400 percent of the federal poverty level. They’ve also agreed to expand Medicaid [...]

Maggie Mahar has an interesting observation in Sunday’s Washington Post: If you’re a progressive like me, and you’re upset by the Stupak amendment, which bars federally subsidized insurance from covering abortions, consider this: What if we had a single-payer health-care system and someone like Jeb Bush or Sarah Palin were running the country? The Stupak [...]

I found the following numbers from Gallup about government’s role in health care to be, well, eye opening. Check it out… Hmmm, what happened in 2008…I can’t really think of anything. Republicans can not like Obama all the want, but this smacks of “Soreloserism.” Why, just look at how this drop has effected the overall [...]

You can view the recently passed HR 3962, the “Affordable Health Care for America” act, at http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf (PDF file). While there is still quite a bit of change anticipated before this bill is consolidated with the upcoming Senate effort, we can at least see the text of the current proposal. The bill has several “immediate [...]