NewsRack: newstrust/Health-Care

Democrats aim to include student aid in health care bill - San Jose Mercury News: Politics

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

White House backs Democrats' plan
to combine goals

Democrats seek healthcare consensus - LA Times: Top News

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Democrats seek healthcare consensus

Senators give Obama bipartisan plan on immigration - LA Times: Nation

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Senators give Obama bipartisan plan on immigration

Op-Ed Columnist: Health Reform Myths - International Herald Tribune: Editorials

By PAUL KRUGMAN — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Well-informed people are buying into three big myths about Obamacare. The plan may not be perfect, but it is reasonable and responsible.

Bay State seeks fair shake in health bill - Boston Globe: Massachusetts

Susan Milligan, Globe Staff — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Bay State seeks fair shake in health bill

MoveOn membership: Pass the bill - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

Jed Lewison — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Greg Sargent gets the results of MoveOn's survey of its membership on whether MoveOn should support passing President Obama's health care reform plan: Should MoveOn support or oppose the final health care bill if it looks like the plan recently proposed by President Obama? Support - 83% Oppose - 17% That's about as emphatic an endorsement as you're going to see. Now it's up to the House and the Senate to finish up their work and get this thing passed into law. ...

Editorial: Give us all a clue - Chicago Tribune: Opinion

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Editorial: Give us all a clue

41 Senators Support Public Option Amid Wacky Washington Antics - AlterNet

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

By Lauren Reichelt. Crossposted from Tikkun Daily. The delightfully wacky HCR (Health Care Reform) circus caravan rolls on. As of March 11, 41 Senators had either signed or issued statements of support for a letter to Harry Reid initiated by Alan Grayson and the PCCC urging passage of the Public Option through reconciliation. For [...] ...

Dems look to health vote without abortion foes - Vail Colorado: News

CHARLES BABINGTON Associated Press Writer — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON - House Democratic leaders Thursday abandoned a long struggle to strike a compromise on abortion in their ranks, gambling that they can secure the support for President Barack Obama's sweeping health care legislation with showdown votes looming as early as next week. In doing so, they are all but counting out a small but potentially decisive group whose views on abortion coverage have become the principal hang-up for Democrats fighting to achieve the biggest change in American health care in generations. Congressional leaders are hoping they can find enough support from other wavering Democrats to pass legislation that only cleared the House by five votes in an earlier incarnation. The concession came as House Democrats ...

The Massa Massacre - The Moderate Voice

JERRY REMMERS, Columnist — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

My friend Maurice asked me today whether I would write a column on Eric J.J. Massa, the Democratic congressman from New York who resigned for … for…for gosh knows how many reasons. “Dunno,” I said. “Why kick a guy when he’s down.” Maurice and I both saw Massa corkscrew himself deeper and deeper in his final television [...]

Endgame - The Atlantic - Matthew Ygblesias

myglesias — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Give me no chance to reconsider: — I don’t want to have to retract every nice thing I’ve ever said about Mike Capuano, but he’s pushing it. — Keith Hennessy has fancy graphs that underscore the point that conservatives only pretend to care about the deficit and in fact just want low taxes. — Very few letters to [...]

Ann Woolner: Liz Cheney needs a lesson on rule of law - Star Tribune: Commentary

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Even Founding Father John Adams would fail her defending-the-enemy test.

Democrats near deal on health legislation, might try to roll over abortion foes in vote - Star Tribune: Business

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

March 12 Readers' letters - San Jose Mercury News: Letters

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Letters from Mercury News readers.

Conservatives target ‘human kiddie shield’ whose mom died from lack of insurance - Raw Story

Daniel Tencer — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

An 11-year-old boy whose mother died after losing her health insurance has become an advocate for health care reform -- and opponents of reform are gunning for him. Marcelas Owens of Seattle lost his mother in 2006 after the 27-year-old woman was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, a condition that can lead to heart failure if left [...]

Plan to push financial reform bill forward could be giant step back - LA Times: Top News

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Plan to push financial reform bill forward could be giant step back

Congressional Democrats work toward consensus on healthcare legislation - LA Times: Nation

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Congressional Democrats work toward consensus on healthcare legislation

How dual-tracking destroyed the Senate - Ezra Klein

Ezra Klein — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Barry Friedman and Andrew Martin took to the New York Times yesterday to explain the key procedural change that turned the filibuster from a high-cost, final-stand maneuver to an everyday occurrence that was harder on the majority than the minority: During the 1960s, the Senate was frozen by lengthy filibusters over civil rights legislation. When, in the mid-’70s, that tactic once again threatened to bring the Senate to a standstill, Robert Byrd, the West Virginia Democrat who was the majority whip, invented a dual-track system. This change in practice allowed the majority leader — with the unanimous consent of the Senate or the approval of the minority leader — to set aside whatever was being debated on the Senate floor and move immediately ...

Reconciliation - Ezra Klein

Ezra Klein — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Today I wrote about House and Senate mistrust , the political economy of killing health-care reform while letting the health-care industry grow , and the media's Massa problem. Here's what I didn't get to: 1) David Waldman makes a convincing case that you can use reconciliation on pending legislation. 2) It was really only a matter of time until Glenn Beck began verbalizing his nostalgia for McCarthyism directly. 3) It's good to see Los Angeles getting serious about its transportation problem. 4) Apparently, it's possible for America to double exports in five years . 5) Nick Lemann considers the problems of pluralism. 6) I'll be on Countdown tonight. Recipe of the day : Breakfast pizza is one of my favorite things in the ...

Dems will Move Ahead on HCR without Stupak - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

mcjoan — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

In the best news all day category, House leadership has washed their hands of Stupak . There really wasn't any way around it, since he refused to budge. But it also suggests that leadership doesn't think the 12 supporters Stupak has claimed are firm in their support of him. Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said the leadership will press ahead without reworking the abortion provision adopted by the Senate. Abortion opponents say the provision falls short in restricting taxpayer dollars for abortion coverage. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., has been pushing for stricter provisions and says he and a dozen or so abortion opponents would vote against the health care bill if the Senate's ...

Bernie Sanders prepared to introduce public option amendment - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Greg Sargent reports: Senator Bernie Sanders , in a brief interview in the Capitol just now, confirmed to me that he’s willing to commit to introducing an amendment that would add the public option to the Senate bill’s reconciliation fix. This is important, because as far fetched as this seems, if this amendment is introduced, a vote on it would be very hard for the Senate Dem leadership to block. The only thing that could stop it from happening, according to Senate expert Robert Dove, is for the parliamentarian to rule that it’s not germane to the Senate bill somehow — something that seems unlikely... read on As Adam Green is launching another initiative for the PCCC, we know the House doesn't trust the Senate at all, but the process ...

Student loan overhaul seems likely to join Senate health-care bill - Washington Post: Politics

Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Senate Democrats said Thursday that they are inclined to add an overhaul of the nation's student loan program to the final health-care bill.

If Democrats ignore health-care polls, midterms will be costly - Washington Post: Politics

Patrick H. Caddell and Douglas E. Schoen — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

In "The March of Folly," Barbara Tuchman asked, "Why do holders of high office so often act contrary to the way reason points and enlightened self-interest suggests?" Her assessment of self-deception -- "acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts" -- captures the conditions that are gripping President Obama and the Democratic Party leadership as they renew their efforts to enact health-care reform.

Reid Formally Notifies Republicans He Will Use Reconciliation to Pass Health Care Bill - Truthout - All Articles

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid formally informed Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell Thursday that he will use the budgetary process of reconciliation to try and pass a final round of changes to the health care bill.

It's unclear when the legislation will come up for a vote. Reconciliation only requires a simply majority whereas Democrats would need to win 60 votes in order to bypass a Republican-led filibuster.

MoveOn Members Overwhelmingly Support Health Reform - The Atlantic - Matthew Ygblesias

myglesias — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT

I said earlier this week that I thought a lot of people were looking at the FDL-centered blog opposition to the current health care reform legislation and vastly overstating the extent to which “the left” was in rebellion against the bill. Greg Sargent notes the results of a survey of MoveOn members that supports my [...]