Why do the Republicans hate the troops so much?

Mike Castle of Delaware has to tack back to the center, now that he's declared for Joe Biden's Senate seat. I'd also keep an eye on Mark Kirk in Illinois for the same reason. Nobody else springs to mind, though.

Kirk's been tacking rightward hard lately, so I doubt you'll see him. I think you're more on point looking to the North East, as Steve noted earlier out of the 51 seats North of Pennsylvania only 2 were held by Republicans.

Someone is thinking job security, I'd wager.

Joseph Cao, Lousiana, William Jefferson's old district.

I remember reading somewhere about a Republican representative from Louisiana that planned to vote "yes". I wish I could remember where, but sadly my memory isn't what it used to be.

Cao will talk about it, but then vote "No" like a good little GOPbot.

You hit the nail on the head, Superfly. When Cao voted against the stimulus package, the people in his district went ballistic and were unsuccessfully looking for a way to recall his election. He may be feeling the pressure at home to refrain from poking his finger in the eyes of his constituents again.

The House leadership can lose as many as 40 Democratic votes and still get a majority in the chamber. -- Steve Benen

Not till Monday, after the installation of the two new members (from yesterday's special elections). So it all depends on when they vote. Don't count your chickens until they've hatched :)

On a tangential note: does the fact that all (5?) special elections have gone to Dems so far, reflect Obama's demise in the eye of the populace?

This concept of "punishment" intrigues me. Do you think the Democratic party leadership has heard of it? They might find it useful.

if just one or two Republicans decided to support reform

Wow, the thought that the House may pass a bipartisan bill really has me excited. Actually, in terms of real votes, we're not in a much different place than if both the House and Senate simply put up a single-payer universal bill back in April.

Any other possibilities? What about someone who might retire, and/or from state likely to lose a seat after the census and redistricting- - one of the R's who doesn't vote with the party > 85% ?? Or someone Obama could nominate to an office in the next few days :)

The IMPORTANT thing isn't getting even one Republican to vote yes, it's getting enough Democrats to vote yes to pass the damn thing.

(repeat as necessary)

Maybe it's the hidden quote of the day or somesuch, but Erick Erickson let out a whopper this morning that will still be mocked decades from now. I don't see how anything can ever fail to be good for conservatives again.

"very, very close to zero."

BI-PARTISANSHIP!

Why do we call profligacy and crushing debt reform?

It seems more than likely that a debt crisis will befall the US, and the Republicans need only stand for opposing runaway spending to crush the Democrats.

I always multiply project time estimates by three, and this has proven very accurate, or even on the conservative side. The same could be said about government spending, so figure a cost of 3.3 trillion for healthcare for 10 years. A trillion here, a trillion there...pretty soon it adds up to real money.

Linda Re,

The estimated cost of the health care bill provides a convenient cudgel for amateur analysts like yourself who were largely silent while George Bush made a mockery of fiscal policy by running up a trillion dollar war deficit, in part by keeping his wars off-budget.

But the real issue your knee-jerk anti-spending response conveniently ignores is that the main issue is value, not cost. And the true value of the health reform package is not just its estimated cost but what the cost and quality of America's health care would be without it. Judging merely by its high cost and weak results the value of the current private insurance system is far weaker than other countries offer their citizens at far less cost per capita.

Fairness is another important issue. Americans believe in a level playing field. Why should a family -- maybe your hard working next door neighbor -- go bankrupt because a private insurance carrier won't cover their kid's leukemia? Why do privately run companies -- Sarah Palin's real-life Death Panels -- get to choose who lives and who dies, and how fast?

Polls show that most Americans are in agreement that more of the same is not an option.

On the other hand, the Stalinist failure in NY-23 may embolden some moderates.

They're just trying to punk Nancy Pelosi the way Olympia Snowe did Harry Reid. If they can con her into believing that a couple of Republicans are in play and extract some more concessions, only to bail at the end, they will consider it a job well done.