I’m still wading through the Congressional Budget Office’s preliminary analysis of the health care bill that Majority Leader Harry Reid will be taking to the Senate floor, but here’s a Power Point circulating among Senate Democratic staffers that gives you a
basic tour of the bill, with some comparisons to other versions.
UPDATE: …
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he will include a public option that states can vote to opt out of in his version of the health care reform bill that could be unveiled as early as Wednesday. But that certainly hasn’t ended the debate in the Senate about what kind of public option may finally end up passing the upper chamber …
Senate Democrats have been waiting on tenterhooks for a score from the Congressional Budget Office before they can introduce their health care reform bill and start the debate. Assuming the score comes today, the bill could be introduced as early as tomorrow. But, don’t get your hopes up for a vote any time soon. Senator Blanche …
There must be some Swampland followers in the Senate leadership. And it appears that, at last, they have heard our heartfelt pleas. Roll Call tells us this:
Harkin said Democrats expect Republicans will try to stall the debate by asking for the entire bill to be read on the Senate floor. If that happens, Harkin said, the majority
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When Conservative Doug Hoffman conceded to Democratic Bill Owens on election night, even I thought it was a little too soon. Hoffman, who had been polling ahead of Owens in the race to represent New York’s 23rd congressional district, declared the race over just after midnight when he was down in the count by around 5,000 with as many as …
Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, today told reporters that he plans on filibustering David Hamilton, President Obama’s nominee to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. “I intend not to support going forward on the Hamilton vote,” Sessions said. “Unlike Justice Sotomayor, when asked to discuss the empathy …
The Chatty Cathy Principle seems like a good name for an idea that has taken root in Washington: If you are willing to spend enough money, you can get pretty much anybody to say pretty much whatever you want them to. Yesterday, we learned how the drug industry, which has been spending $609,000 a day to lobby Congress to get its way on …
Those of us former little girls of a certain age can remember a doll that we all had to have. She was called Chatty Cathy, and if you pulled a string in her neck, she would say things like “Please brush my hair” and “Let’s have a party!”
It turns out that Chatty Cathy and the United States House of Representatives have a lot in …
As long-time readers of Swampland know, I am a big proponent of the filibuster. And I mean the Real Filibuster–not the make-believe ones that the little girls of the United States Senate are constantly waging, and not the occasional exercises where they pull out the fainting couches cots and pretend that they are actually going to sleep …
Next week, much to the discomfort of the Obama Adminsitration, Joe Lieberman — chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Relations Committee — will begin his investigation into whether the Fort Hood shooter was a terrorist and if law enforcement agencies missed red flags that could’ve prevented the tragedy. This caps …
This recess, a Democratic outside group is spending more than a $1 million on television commercials lambasting GOP lawmakers for voting against health care reform. The Foundation for Patients Rights, which is aligned with the Service Employees International Union, is planning ads in Delaware and Illinois against Reps. Mike Castle and …
In the upcoming issue of dead-tree TIME (just $1.99!), I have this update on what lies ahead for Harry Reid, the public and private battles he is waging, and why the Democrats are feeling an even greater urgency to get the job done on health reform.
