Cantwell’s “basic health program” (section 1331 page 210) is one of the better ideas found in the Senate bill but not in the House bill. I support the basic health plan not because I’m a huge fan of the idea, but simply because I know the idea can work. It is clearly better than putting [...]

We decided to show this contrast in the most clear way possible: a video pitting Blanche Lincoln’s floor speech with the videos of sick Arkansans taken at the free health clinic.

It doesn’t stop there though: FDL Action PAC is going to run online ads in Arkansas and DC, drawing a sharp divide between Blanche Lincoln and her sick constituents.

PhRMA is now running ads in Connecticut targeting Joe Lieberman to support the current Senate bill (via Ben Smith at Politico). Obviously, PhRMA wants the Senate bill to pass because it contains so many sweetheart deals for the drug industry. Even though PhRMA would like to see the public option eliminated, it is a low-level [...]

Gerald F. Seib at the Wall Street Journal wrote, How? Mr. Lieberman says he has made his position absolutely clear to Mr. Reid. And Mr. Reid, all agree, is a wily tactician. So does he think Mr. Lieberman, and the two or three conservative Democrats who share his inclination, will give in at the end? [...]

In just a few short hours, more than 15,000 people have signed our petition to Reid to use reconciliation. Let Harry Reid know the public option rests on his shoulders alone.

If Harry Reid does not want to be controlled by a handful of party conservatives, he can always use reconciliation. Polling says Democrats would be in very bad shape if they passed no bill at all. Menendez is now jumping on the trigger bandwagon. The White House is also still courting Snowe and Collins. If you [...]

I have been very negative about the Senate health care reform bill. Frankly, it is a bad bill that is only likely to get worse. It has many problems; I outlined only some of the problems with the Senate in an earlier post. Still, the bill is not all bad. There are a few parts [...]

NJ.com caught Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) pushing the trigger: Speaking inside the Hoboken University Medical Center emergency room, Menendez said today a modified public option could draw support from U.S. Sens. Bill [sic - should be Ben] Nelson (D-Neb.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who announced their opposition to the elements of the bill over the [...]

A simple fact of politics that is not stated enough: The Senate’s relatively new and insane rules about the filibuster are the complete antithesis of the small “p” progressive movement. You cannot claim to be a progressive and support the weird, unconstitutional, 60-vote threshold for legislation in the Senate. It does not matter how liberal [...]

It is amazing what a difference a serious primary challenge can make. Representatives in Congress who have serious primary challenges never seem to buck their party. The Politico wrote: [F]inally, today’s study in contrasts: moderate Sens. Michael Bennet and Blanche Lincoln, both of whom face tough races next year. Lincoln, the final hold out on [...]