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Cornhusker Courtship: Ben Nelson and the Healthcare Vote
16 hours ago ago from Randomly Noted
The extravagant courtship of Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson which produced today's Senate passage of the Democrats' health reform bill isn't the first time the thinly populated state has played a disproportionate role in a crucial policy debate. In May 1985, Sen. Ed Zorinsky cast the key vote in President Reagan's landmark budget-reduction bill. A young reporter in the Washington, D.C., bureau of The Omaha World-Herald, I covered the Republican ...
Related contentDemocrats Set To Vote On Health Bill Without Reading It
21 hours ago ago from Yes, But, However!
WASHINGTON, D.C. ( YBH.ME ) With Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson's support, the Democrats are all but assured a filibuster-proof majority to pass a health care bill on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The final bill, which has not been released yet to either the Democrats or the opposition, will be voted on without a full analysis or reading by most members of the Senate. Ben Nelson to vote for Senate health bill. Health care ...
Related contentHealth care...argh!
15 hours ago ago from Planet Utah
Now it looks like the health care bill is a done deal...it's just a question of timing and details. Yeah, I know there's still a House/Senate conference in the offing--unless the House surprises everyone, passes the Senate's version of the bill, declares victory, and goes home for Christmas--but I can't imagine the Dems walking away with nothing at this point. So, what happens now? Well, I expect the Democrats will take a ...
Related contentHollinshead: GOP – The Gift That Keeps On Giving
17 hours ago ago from THE POLITICIZER
Kevin Hollinshead, Staff Writer Ideology: Liberal | Writing from: Fort Collins, CO When President Obama gave his Afghanistan troop surge speech two weeks ago, some progressives and pretty much all of the Tea Party crazies agreed that Obama has alienated his base, and has set himself up for defeat in 2012. Between a divisive, costly war escalation, Joe Lieberman's self-serving hijacking of the healthcare debate for the benefit of ...
Related contentCan the Obama Democrats keep the coalition together ?
17 hours ago ago from A Brief History...
A book came out in 2002 that was based on Bill Clinton's experience in electoral politics. It was called The Emerging Democratic Majority and its premise was that Clinton had created a new coalition of interest groups that would keep the Democrats the majority for years to come. In support of their thesis they argue that the electorate is becoming increasingly diverse, with growing Asian, Hispanic and African-American populations-all ...
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Health-care debate wearing on Democrats' unity, popularity
19 hours ago ago from
Amid the spectacle that has become the health-care debate, Democrats have taken comfort in the belief that they will be rewarded politically if in the end they pass something -- almost anything. That proposition is being sorely tested in these final days of maneuvering. This Story For all the talk of the damage President Obama has sustained during this long and difficult year, congressional Democrats ...
Related contentCongressional Memo: Democrats Stepping Down (and Republicans, Too)
21 hours ago ago from
Representative Bart Gordon, a 13-term Tennessee Democrat who is chairman of the House science committee, has never lost any of the 15 counties in his conservative district, let alone been in recent danger of losing his House seat. Susan Walsh/Associated Press After 13 terms, Representative Bart Gordon will not seek re-election. Blog He did not expect the outcome to be any different in 2010, though he ...
Related contentSenate passes defense spending bill, turns attention to health care
22 hours ago ago from
In a rare early Saturday morning vote, the Senate passed a massive Pentagon spending bill that includes nearly $130 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a measure Republicans had tried to block as a means of delaying action on President Obama's health-care overhaul. This Story On an 88-10 vote, the Senate sent the defense appropriations bill to the White House for Obama's signature, clearing ...
Related contentDavid Sirota: The Three Assumptions Driving the Push to Pass the Insurance/Drug Industry Health Bill
18 hours ago ago from Huffington Post
Without getting into the policy debate about whether this health care bill should be passed or rejected (my personal opinion is here for those interested), I think it's important to step back and just look at the false assumptions that are being made. Not about the bill's substance, mind you, but about the process . And it's important to consider those assumptions, if only to understand how the parameters and rules of the game are inherently ...
Related contentBBC News - US Senate Democrats secure key healthcare vote
21 hours ago ago from
Bill Nelson forced a concession on the phrasing about abortion funding Democrats in the US Senate say they have secured the vote of a key holdout senator and will now have the 60 needed to pass sweeping healthcare reforms. Senator Ben Nelson had been concerned that federal money would be used to fund abortions. But after a day of talks on Friday Democrats said they had agreed phrasing that would secure his vote. If the ...
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