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 …
Harry Reid
Could the Senate be on the Cusp of Blowing Another Health Care Deadline?
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 …
Sessions to Filibuster Obama’s 7th Circuit Nominee
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 …
Latest Installment of Make ’em Filibuster
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 …
What’s Ahead for Health Reform in the Senate
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.
Dems Go It Alone
I asked a lot of members over the weekend: why pass the bill now? After the August protests there had been much speculation that the House would wait for the Senate to act. Some members said that Speaker Pelosi didn’t want them going home for another recess to face more Tea Party madness (the House, having adjourned very early Sunday …
Kerry, Graham & Lieberman Launch Climate Change Framework
Yesterday, when Republicans on the Senate Environment and Publics Works Committee boycotted a mark up of Senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry’s climate change bill, things looked bleak for getting a bipartisan measure to the Senate floor. The atmosphere poisoned even the most eager Republican for a climate change bill, retiring Ohio …
A Health Bill This Year? New Doubts
This from Harry Reid today.
Lieberman To Filibuster The Public Option.
The Public Option: Five Reasons Harry Reid Went For It
Less than two weeks ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s aides and colleagues were saying they were all but certain he would bring health care legislation to the Senate floor without a public option. Yesterday, as everyone who follows this issue now knows, he did the opposite. It’s a big gamble. While Reid will likely be able to hold …
UPDATE: Public Option Smoke Signals
The weekend only added to the confusion. Jonathan Cohn attempts to sort it out for us.
UPDATE: Harry Reid is holding a news conference shortly after 3 p.m. Eastern, apparently to inform us that he will take a public option to the Senate floor.
Health Care: Public Option Smoke Signals
We are clearly at a very weird phase of this process, as David Kurtz explains here.
I’m not going to pretend I’ve got anything that resembles clarity, but I’m being told by a normally trustworthy source that at last night’s White House meeting, the President referred to the triggered public option as one of the ideas on the table …
Docs Fix DOA
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just told reporters that he will not be moving Senator Debbie Stabenow’s 10-year, $247 billion freeze on doctors’ Medicare payments. He said he thought he had the votes – and was promised Republican 27 votes from the AMA – but has since realized he doesn’t. “I don’t bring anything to the …