Reconciliation.

Take the fornicating vote already! Enough of this pandering to these ass-wipes. You will NEVER appease these egomaniacs. Take the damn vote and shine a VERY bright light on those that opposed HCR. In both houses. In both parties. And then what stevio said above.

Up against the wall motherfuckers!

If Reid lets these "centrist" turds call the shots and they end up shutting this thing down, the Democrats are screwed, period. Translation -- figure out a way to get this done, or stand by to get your ass handed to you in 2010.

Another suggestion to Reid -- if people like Nelson, Landrieu, Lincoln, Lieberman, etc., aren't happy with the bill currently being proposed, then maybe he can lock these idiots in a room so they can write their own version of a "good" bill, and then we can debate the merits of their "plan" front and center. These fucks sound for all the world like republican lite, and it's time to throw them overboard.

What a big fuckin' surprise! Ben Nelson is draggin' anchor on the health care reform bill... sweet jesu on a stick, who could have known?

Why doesn't Nelson (and the other Conserva-Dems) just come out and admit the truth- no matter how the language reads, he'll oppose healthcare reform. How dumb does Nelson think we are? He's so far in the pocket of the healthcare industry, that no bill is going to suit him. Nelson is a phoney and a traitor and needs to be gone.

Why is it that every time I hear the name of Joe LIEberman or Evan Bayh or Ben Nelson, I want to puke?

I am so sick of these assholes (and Collins, etc.) holding legislation up to feed their egos!

If the public option is eliminated, doesn't that blow at least a part of the deficit reduction? I wonder if the CBO has scored the bill w/o the public option...

Yes, 'exasperating', they are JUST 'exasperating'. Not the colorful language I would have chosen, you are far too kind Steve.

Maybe the best game is to let the public option fail in the Senate, and then have Obama go front and center on doing it in reconciliation, positioning it as essential for helping the unemployed, separate from the other reforms that help people who are somewhat better off.

If Nelson should hold things up, Obama should denounce him by name, cite his insurance industry ties, and tell the voters of Nebraska they'd be better off with an upfront Republican.

I swear this HCR legislation will be the death of Harry Reid. He was practically falling over last night from exhaustion on C-SPAN. He is too damn nice. DINOs ought to fear him but they sure don't seem to, do they?

Then again, what really matters isn't the rhetoric, but the way they vote. I just can't believe they'd kill the whole thing over one provision (admittedly a big one) they don't like.

Congratulations, Steve.
I just went through all of the web sites I check each day for news and political analysis. Yours is the only one that does not mention the person who held part of a term as a governor in the far north of the US. Thanks. I'm elated.

I used to think that blaming Lobbyists and Corporate influence for the inability of Congresspeople to actually serve their constituents was overwrought anti-business prejudice.

Recents events have proven me utterly and horribly wrong.

Jack B. Nimble,

If Obama thought the public option was that critical, he'd have been front and center on it already. Additionally, I'm not sure Obama support reconciliation, since bipartisan support seems extremely important to him.

Oh, for a Senate majority leader who knew the meaning of "arm-twisting," or at the very least, backroom dealing.

As much as I favor health care reform, and that's a lot, I increasingly want it to pass just so those lunatics LOSE.

They have to be lunatics if for no other reason that they don't seem to understand that a campaign message "I saved you from getting health care" is probably not a winner.

Reid (D-Nev.) modified the healthcare bills approved by two committees in order to address concerns from anti-abortion-rights senator

why would he do that - these Senators do not represent the interests of the majority of Americans. I guess its just screw the majority for this all-powerful minority.

It all reeks of negotiating and maximizing leverage. I still think there will be 60 votes at the end of the day.

But prepare a reconciliation bill anyway, just in case it's needed.

doubtful, I could see him strategically holding back until it was at a moment of maximum benefit for him, which could be now. So I don't agree with that interpretation.

I think he wouldn't have gained an ounce more by coming out more strongly for it months ago. Prog wonks/junkies disagree vehemently, but they are not connected to how most people think, IMO.

Nelson said "I think you need to have it eminently clear that no dollars that are federal tax dollars, directly or indirectly, are used to pay for abortions and it needs to be totally clear."

By this logic, we'll soon be seeing language in the bill that eliminates all federal subsidies on roads (women use roads to get to the abortion clinic), energy (it requires electricity to run a clinic), telephones (for making an appointment), national defense (it's hard to get an abortion when your country is under attack by its enemies), and so on. How idiotic.

Right, right. Progressives are disconnected from reality (despite strongly supporting and fighting for what a majority of the country wants), and Obama is a flawless mastermind just waiting for the right moment to pull the mask off old man Winters.

Please, Jack. The only one disconnected from reality is you if you think your that little fantasy you wrote in your earlier comment is anything more than commentary masturbation.

Enough is enough. Let them filibuster -- a real filibuster -- if that is their wish. Get them out in the open so they have to explain their actions to their voters. Revoke their chairmanships. Refuse to fund pet projects in their states. Geez! If one or two or three holdouts won't take yes for an answer, then show them the downside. And then pass the bill via reconciliation (it does reduce the deficit, after all.) There are enough votes left in the caucus to make it happen. If Harry Reid wants to.

If we include the consensus language on abortion created by a Republican, then how is that too Liberal for any Democrat.

If the legislation will reduce the federal deficit by over $100B in 10 years and perhaps more the next decade, then how can a fiscal hawk reject it?

They not only don't have a leg to stand on, their corporate slips are showing.

"If the legislation will reduce the federal deficit by over $100B in 10 years and perhaps more the next decade, then how can a fiscal hawk reject it?"

For me, it's because:

1.) I doubt it will cost as little as they claim
2.) It is taxed and paid for 10 years, but the benefits are for 7 years. Simple math suggests that this is probably pho "savings"
3.) Congress will just pass the costs elsewhere such as the doctor fix for medicare payments.

Uh, Steve... The bill DOES raise taxes on the middle class. The Cadillac tax grows at 15% (that's as fast as many cancers). It will eventually amount to hundreds of billions of dollars PER YEAR--almost entirely from the middle class. No way would I support this reform.

Hahahahahaha, what a joke of an analysis. Cuts the deficit? So you people actually believe the Democratic party is going to cut almost a half-trillion from Medicare? You people actually believe the Democrats are going to cut doctor payouts by 23%? Neither of those things is politically feasible. Even the CBO analysis, which you people obviously haven't read is highly skeptical, to the point of almost laughing out loud, that any of the deficit-cutting measures will ever occur.

As for not taxing the middle class, give us all a break. Anyone who doesn't think the middle class will eventually have to pay taxes for this entitlement is either a really naive moron or a moron who has no knowledge of the history of entitlements in this country and the fact that we ALL pay ever-increasing taxes to keep them afloat because trying to modify them or cut them back is political suicide. Which is why the assertion that this bill will actually follow through with its almost half-trillion dollar Medicare cuts is ludicrous, and EVERYONE here knows it, whether they want to admit it or not.

And as others have pointed out, it "cuts" the deficit by sequestering the almost $300 Billion payment to doctors in another bill, taxes for 10 years while only providing 6 years of service and also taxes so-called "Cadillac"health care plans, opposition to which the labor unions have mysteriously dropped all of a sudden. And the increase in Medicare payroll taxes and the creation of fines on businesses for not providing health care? Boy, those will be awesome for job creation. Who is going to hire turnover-prone unskilled workers (such as teenagers) if they have to pay their health care as well? Again, you either have to be extremely naive, or extremely partisan to actually believe the claims of the Democrats given the history of entitlements in this country and their life-long history of raising taxes and spending other people's money like it is going out of style.

It amazes me how critical thinking skills and skepticism seem to go out the window when those peddling the bunk happen to be in the same party.

It amazes me, with the reams of poll data out there showing Obama's approval rating dropping and this bill becoming increasingly unpopular that you people think opposition to this is going to come at some steep political price to those representing conservative districts or states. If any of these centrists votes for this thing as it is now, they can kiss their political careers goodbye. Zogby came out with a poll just yesterday that explicitly stated Blanche Lincoln's political career is over if she votes for this thing. Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska and North Dakota are not Massachusetts, New York or Vermont. The people who voted against this turd in the House don't represent San Francisco, Ann Arbor, or Madison, WI.

You people seem to be totally oblivious to the fact that the majority of the American public is opposed to this bill, and you don't believe me visit any site that aggregates polls such as pollster.com or Realclearpolitics.