We suspect it can be found in this language on page 98 of the manager’s amendment to the health care bill: ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding subsection (b) and paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, the Federal medical assistance percentage otherwise determined under subsection (b) with respect to all or any portion of a fiscal year that [...]
Multiple sources are now reporting that Nebraska’s Ben Nelson, the last Democratic holdout, is now saying he will support the latest version of the health care bill. That makes 60 votes, enough to overcome a fillibuster. So what’s actually in this bill? And what did it take to get the last votes? I’m still going [...]
Word is that Majority Leader Harry Reid will unveil changes to the Senate’s health reform bill on Saturday morning. The timing is part of Reid’s effort to get a final vote on the legislation by Christmas Eve. Of course, even the most carefully plotted timeline means nothing without the 60 votes Reid needs to break [...]
Over at TNR, Jonathan Cohn has this interview with Andy Stern of the Service Employees International Union.
And speaking of the War on Christmas….this is as good an excuse as any to post my favorite song from the brilliant “A Colbert Christmas” special. Take it away, Toby Keith! more about "Re: The War on the War on Christmas", posted with vodpod
Bill O’Reilly and the rest of the Committee to Save Christmas may get all worked into a lather over the fact that some retailers prefer “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” to “Merry Christmas.” But a growing Christian counter-movement says they’re missing the point. The Advent Conspiracy urges Christian to slow down, spend less, and give [...]
Senator Lindsey Graham thinks he can get Republican votes for a deal that would tax (or “put a price on”) carbon emissions if offshore drilling and nuclear power is added to the cocktail. I’m no fan of offshore drilling, but if carbon emissions are being taxed into submission, I”d rather see the carbon come from [...]
I don’t always agree with Paul Krugman, but he certainly makes the strongest possible argument for passage of the health care bill in the Times today. Update: And Ron Brownstein adds a significant explanation for why Howard Dean and others on the digital left are acting in so cavalier a fashion: Maybe one reason former [...]
Franken tells Lieberman he’s had it: (H/T our friends at C-SPAN)
The odious Michael Goldfarb of the Weekly Standard has written an item claiming that I made up the fact that Avigdor Lieberman, the extremist anti-Arab bigot who sadly serves as Israel’s Foreign Minister, walked out of meetings with George Mitchell when the topic of East Jerusalem was raised. My sources for the item are several [...]
