Cloture = The new "for/against" measuring stick.

I think I finally understand...in the Senate the Caucus "leader" is the person most likely not to try to lead .. kind of makes sense. I almost feel sorry for Reid.

Wait wait wait. Nelson won't vote for something that's "pre-emptive of Nebraska law"?!

First of all, federal laws pre-empt and contradict state laws all the freaking time, as I suspect Senator Nelson is aware. Second, we settled this back in the 1830s (or at the latest during Reconstruction).

I can handle Nelson being more conservative than the average Democrat. I'm not sure I can swallow him trying to foment another Nullification Crisis.

This is exactly what the red-state Democrats would be expected to say as a defensive measure in advance of their next re-election campaign. The real test is when the cloture vote comes down, whether they will vote against their party and their president. All else preceding that vote is just posturing.

These senators have the way out of voting against the bill after voting for the cloture. As long as 50 Democrats + Joe Biden vote for the final bill, I'm OK with that.

Gee guys, Harry finally starts acting like he might have a pair and all you can do is whine about it?

I'm happy to see him taking a stab at it.

Looks like Landrieu and Nelson want to lose their coveted seats on the Appropriations Committee. Maybe Reid will create a new committee on school bus ventillation, and put these two in charge!

Reid has let us down so often it's hard to believe in him now. Maybe he's seen the light though.

They have all the cover they need. If they are worried about their reelection just vote 'no' and even if it si passed they still have their vote to fall back on...but let it be voted on. If they become part of the 'there needs to be 60 votes to pass legislation' crowd they might as well just switch parties now. 50 + Biden is a majority...not 60.

the more I think about it the more I seriously think someone needs to challenge Reid for leadership--I happen to think that Schumer would be best based on his recent work as DSCC chair and taking the initiative on the healthcare public option.
Of course, the Senators from "real America" probably wouldn't want some "liberal" from New York.

Nelson and Landrieu are a bunch of prima donnas.

I have a few points here:

1.) We were all pretty happy when Mary Landrieu won in 2004. Let's not forget that. Those were some seriously depressing times and she survived. So, she recalls those dark days like the rest of us. I doubt she wants them to return.

2.) I believe that we can use the arcane reconciliation process to avoid a filibuster on health care. Isn't that correct? If so, it would seem that Nelson and Landrieu are at a substantial disadvantage here. Why filibuster -- and enrage your supporters, your caucus, your friends, the president -- health care on its own when you know you cannot stop health care at reconciliation? It seems idiotic.

My hunch is that they get a few more pieces of inserts in exchange for a vote for cloture. They'll then vote against the overall bill unless a public option is excluded.

3.) Why are the co-op model and the public option model have mutually exclusive? Couldn't we accomplish both objectives? Everyone assumes the line in the sand of public option is absolutely the way to go, but if costs are not addressed, the public option isn't going to be any more appealing because the cost of the public's premium is still going to be very high.

I don't claim to be a health care expert here, but today's Times has a great article on the costs of tests, procedures, surgeries and their contribution to my health insurance premiums. If the public option is the solution and the public option does not address costs (either via research to determine appropriate solutions to various high-cost medical approaches or some other method), we're all going to ignore the public plan. That's not going to solve anything, as the fewer in a plan that omits costs, the more expensive the premiums.

Ried is fine. He's doing exactly what he should be doing. Trying to advance the legislation in a form consistent with what most of the public, the base of the democratic party, and the President, all want.

A heavy handed approach, at least publically, is exactly the wrong way to go right now. What these wingnuts say in public, and what they say to each other behind closed doors, is assuradely two different animals.

I'm not worried. As I've stated before, this is THE signature issue of the first term of President Obama. NO WAY a public option doesn't pass this Congress in one way, shape, or form.

Unless President Obama wants to be a ONE TERM President. We go from 60 dem senators in 2009 to 52 or less in 2011. And we get that jackass Romney as President in 2013.

These people were all elected to deliver the goods. If they can't, they're out.

And believe me, they know that.

As I read the statements, there's a lot more heat than light in the statements by Nelson and Landrieu. If you read closely, they're not making any threats. They're just saying "Arr! I be a maverick! Maverick to the bitter end! No usurpation of Nebraska sovereignty! Arr!"

Which presumably plays well at home.

But I don't hear anything that would actually contradict Reid's statement. It sounds like Dems are willing to support cloture -- as long as we're trying to pass health care, and not, you know, make Nebraska a sex-slave of South Dakota.

Okay, Harry. This is your last chance. If you cannot control Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson and the New Day Dixiecrats, it is time for you to get the hell out of the way. Lead or leave.

Pass Single Payer or Public Option heathcare now. No triggers, no co-ops, no monkey business. Get it done, Harry. Got it?

Cloture is a party leadership barometer, it is a negotiating point, and a ram rod.

If a Dem Senator wants to be a DINO, Dem in Name Only they will get exposed.

Landreau and Nelson want some real summer heat from inside and out of the state, watch them try to find a way out of this.

BTW, that means that Ted and Byrd have to be present, but they have ambulances for that too.