Apparently, the political bubble in Washington is now made with a completely non-transparent slime. Democrats actually believe they will get a huge bounce from passing the Senate bill. (Via Ben Smith at Politico) [A]n official predicted to me the other day that Obama’s numbers would hit 60 after the health care bill passes, and Chuck [...]

This Senate bill is bad and there are many ways to improve it. Right now, it is not real reform–it is only a corporate giveaway that might trickle down to help a few Americans. The ideas listed here are a guide to transform this legislation into real reform. Add a robust public option open to [...]

How else to interpret Joe Lieberman’s latest revelation about his talks with the White House?

Ezra Klein is trying to make the absurd claim that this Senate bill closely resembles Obama’s campaign promises on health care reform: The health-care bill that looks likely to clear the Senate this week is not very close to the health-care bill most liberals want. But it is very close to the health-care bill that [...]

FDL has become the go-to place for coverage of the health care bill due to the work of our incredible team. Jon Walker’s second-to-none knowledge of the health care bill has made the policy and political analysis he offers up at  FDL Action a driving force. Dave Dayen’s reporting at the FDL News Desk, Marcy [...]

I’ve spent all year immersed in health care policy. It is unfortunate to see some of my arguments criticized based on a complete lack of understanding of the subject matter. Nate Silver attacked my suggestion of removing the individual mandate because he claimed it would increase the CBO score: Why? Because such a bill, with [...]

The Senate Democrats had a conference call with reporters to extol all the great “improvements” they have made to the bill. They listed three improvements they wanted to talk about: The manager’s amendment to the bill, introduced yesterday, strengthens key reforms that benefit consumers like the medical loss ratio, patient’s bill of rights protections, and [...]

Some are calling this health care bill a “good bill.” Tom Harkin is trying to sell this bill as a “starter home” with a “solid foundation.” Those who think this Senate bill is built on a strong foundation are either too invested to acknowledge its complete failings or don’t understand the many key components missing [...]

There is a very insidious myth right now that there is a large group of progressive leaders who want to “kill” health care reform in its entirety. While there might be some progressive leaders out there who have advocated for this position, I have yet to hear from them. What I have heard from people [...]

Last week a huge controversy emerged when it was discovered that Senator Harry Reid effectively eliminated the ban on annual limits in the merged bill. Democratic aides tried to defend the change by claiming the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said premiums would “go through the roof” without the loophole added by Reid. The new CBO [...]