It is time for a fair warning to all Democrats currently in Congress: Don’t be shocked when your bases does not turn out next year. The public option is still supported by 59% of Americans and 80% of self-identified Democrats. Despite its overwhelming popularity, the Democrats in the Senate have been working tirelessly to kill [...]

There has been multiple unsourced reports that at least some Senate Democrats are considering a possible early Medicare buy in for older Americans. The numbers I have seen indicate that the idea would be to allow people over 55 or 60 to buy into Medicare. It is unlikely, but possible, that this Medicare buy in [...]

Clearly, Blanche Lincoln is upset that the people of Arkansas are realizing that she cares more about what is best for private insurance companies than she does about what is best for the American people. To try to shake that image, the Senator has co-sponsored a basically meaningless, faux-populist Amendment: Under current law, companies can [...]

Senators Snowe, Lincoln, and Landrieu are teaming up on an amendment that would effectively gut state regulation of insurance coverage. The first actual votes on amendments to health care reform in the Senate took place today (with more interesting ones to follow). The fact that Snowe and Collins voted with Democrats indicates their votes maybe [...]

Politico is reporting that Snowe, Lincoln, and Landrieu have submitted an amendment that would effectively eliminate all state regulations concerning what insurance companies must cover: SA 2859 Snowe/Landrieu/Lincoln – nationwide plans: deletes state opt out language, adds rating requirements to plan requirements If you live in a state with strong minimum benefit insurance regulations (California, [...]

Ezra Klein writes: This reflects the sense that the right compromise on the public option is a compromised public option. That’s true to an extent, but you can define the public option so far downward — a state-based, opt-in, trigger-dependent, nonprofit option, for instance, is seriously under consideration right now — that you’d be better [...]

The Hill is reporting that Thomas Carper (D-DE) will probably unveil his newest terrible public option “alternative” in roughly a week: “I expect early next week we’ll have something to share — not just with our colleagues, but with the broader community,” Carper told The Hill. Reid’s office did not comment for this article. From [...]

If HCAN’s ads on behalf of Lincoln were a surprise to anyone, they shouldn’t have been. They will continue to operate as part of the Democratic party infrastructure moving to protect their “own,” and if health care reform happens in the mean time, that is always going to be a secondary concern.

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.

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 [...]