Barack Obama

New Poll Shows Strong Support For Obama, Congress Among Latinos

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2009, 6:45PM

President Barack Obama

Support for President Obama and the Democratic Congress has dipped a bit this year, according to a new poll commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation out this week. But it's unlikely the declining support will cause Obama or the Democrats to lose any sleep -- 74% of respondents said they approve of the job Obama is doing (down from 81% in April) and just 23% said they disapprove of the way Obama is doing his job.

For Congress, the drop was more worrisome. In April, 67% of respondents to the poll approved of the job Congress was doing. Now that number has dropped to 52%.

Read more »

Health Care

White House Officials, Reid, Meet Tonight To Discuss Health Care

Brian Beutler | November 30, 2009, 5:46PM

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel

With the health care debate under way in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid will be in continuous discussion with top White House officials regarding legislative strategy and other issues until a bill can pass with 60 votes. Tonight, Reid will meet with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Tom Daschel and others, and an aide says "they'll continue to be highly involved throughout the process."

Sometimes these meetings pass without incident. Other times they're the font of big news. We'll keep you posted on major developments.

Blanche Lincoln

Republican Interest In Transparency Trumped By Interest In Obstructionism?

Brian Beutler | November 30, 2009, 4:56PM

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)

For months, Republicans have sought to slow down the pace of health care reform legislation by demanding unprecedented gestures toward transparency from Democrats. They've insisted that all aspects of the legislation be posted on the internet for days at a time before action can be taken.

Well, now that the bill is on the floor, and a flood of amendments is the surest form of obstruction, Republicans are perfectly willing to dispense with the whole transparency thing. This time around, it was the Democrats seeking to impose transparency requirements on the amendment process. Republicans no longer seem interested.

"In light of some of the trust problems and transparency problems we have, while this appears to lead to greater transparency, we can also see ways that this can limit the ability for the minority to offer amendments," said Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), and, therefore, I object."

Enzi was objecting to an idea proposed by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) to require all amendments be posted online before they're considered on the floor. Looks like that won't be happening.

Health Care

Reactions Vary To New CBO Health Care Analysis - Dems: YAY! Republicans: BOO!

Christina Bellantoni | November 30, 2009, 3:42PM

Deputy White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer

As the debate kicks off in earnest today, the parties are predictably using the new Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate health care bill to their own benefit.

The White House is hailing the report as "more good news" about what the bill would mean for families.

Read more »

Health Care

Dems, GOPers Ready Amendments For Senate Health Care Bill

Brian Beutler | November 30, 2009, 3:00PM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Democrats and Republicans will begin considering amendments to far-reaching health care legislation on the Senate floor momentarily. This process will go on for weeks, and involve hundreds of proposed changes. But to touch things off, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will likely introduce Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) who will offer a women's preventive health care amendment, according to a Senate Democratic aide--the first amendment of the process.

By contrast, the first Republican amendment will come from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who will propose that the bill be recommitted to the Finance Committee, which would be instructed to strip it of its Medicare cuts. At a 60 vote threshold, the amendment won't pass, but if it did, it would likely be the end of health care reform this Congress.

In other words, we're dealing with two very different species of amendments.

Mark Kirk

GOP Senate Candidate Kirk: Health Care Bill Would Deny Women Mammograms!

Eric Kleefeld | November 30, 2009, 2:59PM

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), who is running for President Obama's former Senate seat in 2010, is now embracing an offshoot of the "death panel" line -- warning that the health care bill could result in women being denied mammograms!

As Greg Sargent reports, Kirk's campaign sent out an e-mail, officially a "questionnaire":

This month, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended eliminating mammograms for women ages 40-49. The panel concluded that while thousands of women's lives would be saved by continuing the test, "the net benefit is small" for the population as a whole.

Currently, this is only an advisory recommendation. But under the health care bill moving through the Senate, this recommendation could become law.

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK: Should women between the ages of 40 and 49 be denied access to life-saving mammograms?

However, the fact is that the Senate health bill would not do such a thing. But that panel recommendation has become a big talking point of the right in the past couple weeks, warning of government-rationed care -- and this e-mail is a strong sign of how conservative Kirk is going in this statewide race, after years of maintaining a moderate profile in a Democratic district.

Tea Party

Mark Your Calendars: Thursday Is Tea Party Recruitment Day

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2009, 2:55PM

Don't be surprised if someone asks you if you love freedom this Thursday. The national organizers of Tea Party Patriots have singled out Dec. 3 for a national recruitment drive, calling on all good tea partiers "to reach out to 1 new person who is not a member of Tea Party Patriots" and ask them to join up.

From the TPP email sent to tea partiers today and obtained by TPM:

Tell them why you are a member of the tea party movement and ask them if they agree with our core principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets ... If you send emails, follow up with phone calls to the people to add a personal touch.

Read more »

Barack Obama

Dems Add Entitlement Reform To Packed Agenda Ahead of 2010 Elections

Brian Beutler | November 30, 2009, 1:04PM

President Barack Obama, Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND)

Moderate and conservative Democrats want to empower an outside entitlement commission to reshape major domestic spending programs like Medicare and Social Security, and they're threatening a truly nuclear option to get their way. If Congress does not create this commission, they say, they will vote against must-pass legislation to raise the nation's debt ceiling, which would trigger a default, and, perhaps, economic calamity.

"I will not vote for raising the debt limit without a vehicle to handle this," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) told McClatchy. "This is our moment."

On the one hand, the threat is so outlandish as to be self-defeating. Would Democrats really extract such a devastating toll, both on their own political fortunes, but also on the national and global economy, just to prove that they're serious about entitlement reform?

But on the other hand, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may not want to rock the boat too hard in the midst of a health care debate in which Democrats are hanging their political fortunes on many of the same centrist senators making the threat. And the Obama administration has been broadly supportive of the idea of reining in deficits and paying down the national debt for some time now.

So it seems fairly likely that, whether this commission passes in the form deficit hawks would like to see, debt reduction will be a key theme, both at the White House and on Capitol Hill, after the fight over health care is over.

Read more »

Congressional Budget Office

CBO: Health Care Reform Will Lower Out-Of-Pocket Burden For Most Consumers

Brian Beutler | November 30, 2009, 12:10PM

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN)

A new CBO report, requested by Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) contains some helpful, though not unexpected information about the impact of Senate health care legislation on insurance premiums, particularly in the individual market.

According to CBO, average premiums in the individual market would increase 10 to 13 percent because of provisions in the Senate health care bill, but, crucially, most people (about 57 percent) would actually find themselves paying significantly less money for insurance, thanks to federal subsidies for low- and middle-class consumers, than they would under current law.

Those are two separate findings, but it seems likely that Republicans will use the former finding to attack reform, claiming it will raise people's premiums, and leave people confused about the second finding, which is actually the one that impacts people's pocket books.

Read more »

Health Care

Biden Goes On The Attack As Senate Begins Health Care Debate

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2009, 9:56AM

Vice President Joe Biden

Senators will gather this afternoon to start banging out a final health care reform bill. Vice President Biden is doing a little hammering of his own in advance of the debate, taking on reform opponents in a new video posted to the White House website. Biden enlists a slew of health care providers advocating reform to take on those who have criticized the Obama administration's efforts to drive health care reform.

"When it comes to explaining what health care reform means to you, who do you trust?" Biden asks in the video. "Do you trust the people who defend the status quo, who say you'd be better off leaving things just the way they are? Or, would you rather hear from the people who actually know something about what's going on in our health care system?"

Read more »

Republicans

From Dollars To Death Panels: How Republicans Distorted Debates On Capitol Hill

Brian Beutler | November 27, 2009, 8:42AM

With Thanksgiving recess now upon us, it seems an appropriate time to revisit the hysterical Republican whoppers and talking points about the Democratic party agenda that have dominated this Congress. Herewith a top-five list:

Number Five: Paul Ryan Draws Line On Graph

Back in the Spring, when Democrats were putting together the federal budget, House Budget Committee ranking member Paul Ryan (R-WI) released a much-mocked Republican alternative, which would have basically canceled the stimulus and instituted a spending freeze of sorts. The ideas in the Republican alternative budget were roundly rebuked by experts, but Ryan wasn't deterred. Instead of accepting defeat, he unveiled some graphs suggesting that, under Republican budgets, spending would be restrained, while under Democratic budgets, it would blow through the roof.

Except his numbers weren't based on any analysis at all. Instead, Ryan used CBO numbers through 2018 and then drew an upward-sloping line on the graph completely at random. It didn't take long for Republicans to catch on and begin claiming that Democratic policies would make government spending half of GDP before the end of the century.

Read more »

Tea Party

Death And Taxes (And Tea): The Top Right-Wing Protest Moments Of 2009

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 25, 2009, 6:14PM

Hell hath no fury like a conservative scorned. Or over-taxed. Or "under-freedomed" or whatever.

From the August town hall meetings to Michele Bachmann's very own Tea Party a couple of weeks ago, here's a look back at the special moments that have defined this year's right-wing protest meme.

Read more »

Health Care

Single Payer Advocates Say Bernie Sanders 'Not A Fighter'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 25, 2009, 12:20PM

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Universal health care advocates called on President Obama and progressives in Congress the scrap both reform bills on Capitol Hill and "start from scratch" on a bill that creates single payer coverage for all Americans at at press conference today. They specifically aimed fire at Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who they called too weak to vote no on the Senate health care reform package they say doesn't go far enough.

Russell Mokhiber, the president of Single Payer Action, said he had "low expectations" that Sanders would vote to stop the bill his group says is nothing more than a "bailout for health insurance companies."

"We have had a history of fighters in the Senate," Mokhiber said today. "Bernie Sanders is apparently not that."

Read more »

Health Care

The Final Four: Who's Standing In Reid's Way, And Can They Be Won Over?

Brian Beutler | November 24, 2009, 4:29PM

From left to right Top: Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) Bottom: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Center: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Toward the end of the summer, when it was unclear whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would include a public option in his health care bill, progressives let it be known that he would not be forgiven if he allowed a handful of nameless Democrats silently filibuster the provision. In the end, this pressure, and various other factors, ultimately convinced Reid to include the opt out public option in the legislation, and the opponents have had to come forward. Their names won't surprise students of Democratic politics: Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Ben Nelson (D-NE), and Mary Landrieu (D-LA).

These conservative Democrats are known for taking stances at odds with the party on key issues, but in this health care debate they are ultimately driven by very different motives. They have suddenly become the targets of every major reform organization in the country, and understanding what makes them tick will be key to the advocates who are now trying to change their minds.

Read more »

Barack Obama

White House Takes On Gun Lobby's Health Care Reform Attacks

Brian Beutler | November 24, 2009, 1:01PM

President Barack Obama

You might not necessarily think that health care reform would end up in the crosshairs of the gun lobby. But you'd be wrong. Gun Owners of America have been raging against the Senate health care bill for all sorts of imagined threats to the Second Amendment, and now the White House has taken notice.

What exactly are their concerns? Well, for instance, "Special 'wellness and prevention' programs (inserted by Section 1001 of the bill as part of a new Section 2717 in the Public Health Services Act) would allow the government to offer lower premiums to employers who bribe their employees to live healthier lifestyles -- and nothing within the bill would prohibit rabidly anti-gun HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from decreeing that 'no guns' is somehow healthier."

The White House says: "Section 2717 section creates guidelines for insurers to report on initiatives that improve quality of care and health outcomes, and it specifically lists what types of programs would be involved - such as smoking cessation, physical fitness, nutrition, heart disease prevention. There is no mention of guns, and there is no language that could result in higher premiums for gun owners or lower premiums for people who do not own guns."

You can read the gun owners' gripes here, and the fact-check here.

Barack Obama

Rahm Orders Health Care Article Be Must-Read For Staffers

Christina Bellantoni | November 24, 2009, 11:35AM

President Obama, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and Ron Brownstein

When President Obama likes a magazine article, White House staffers had better read it.

Obama's must-read is Ron Brownstein's Saturday blog post "A Milestone in the Health Care Journey" at the Atlantic's political Web site.

Politico noted today that Obama found the article, which lauds Max Baucus' approach to health care, a good summary of the cost controls in the health care bill.

An administration official tells TPMDC that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel assigned the article as homework during a recent meeting.

According to the official, Emanuel told senior staffers "not to come back to the next day's meeting if they hadn't read the article."

Alex Castellanos

In Quest To Reform Steele's Image, RNC Hires Republican Attack Dog Castellanos

Brian Beutler | November 24, 2009, 11:28AM

RNC Communications Director Alex Castellanos

Pretend for a moment that you're Michael Steele. You won the RNC chairmanship earlier this year, and have been at the helm of the GOP for months as it has waged a fierce internal battle over the future of the party. You also have a reputation for being a bit of a buffoon. So the off-year elections roll around, and things go OK. Dede gets Scozzafav'd, but for the most part the media trains its eyes on gubernatorial pick ups in New Jersey and Virginia and declares victory for the GOP.

You might think that's a pretty good outcome. But Steele apparently wanted more credit for the Christie and McDonnell wins. So what's a political chief to do?

According to Politico the answer he arrived at was 'fire my communications director and fill the void with CNN's celebrity GOP talking head Alex Castellanos."

Read more »

Health Care

Race For The Cure Founder Dismisses Socialized Medicine Scare Over New Mammogram Guidelines

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 23, 2009, 6:04PM

Nancy Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Nancy Brinker, the founder of the world's largest breast cancer cure advocacy group, is dismissing claims that last week's battle over new proposed breast cancer screening guidelines should be a warning sign in the health care reform debate. She told nervous women not to read anything into the timing of the controversial new guidelines, which she rejects.

"People release data all the time," Brinker said at a press conference this afternoon. Brinker is the founder of the Susan G. Komen For The Cure foundation, the largest organization in the world devoted to breast cancer research. She attacked the report, but dismissed attempts to make the report a political football in the health care debate.

"I don't think so," she said, when asked if the panel was "influenced" by the debate over reform.

Read more »

Health Care

GOP Meme: Senate Health Care Bill Actually Costs $2.5 Trillion

Brian Beutler | November 23, 2009, 3:50PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Whenever a Democratic agenda item spends some time in the spotlight--be it health care or energy--Republicans do a little hocus pocus and claim that, whatever the CBO might believe, the true costs of reform are sky high. So it's no surprise that the new GOP line regarding the Senate health care bill is that it's actually three times more expensive over a 10 year window than the CBO says it will be.

Where does this number--$2.5 trillion--come from? In this USA Today counterpoint, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), cites this article in The Hill. But the article in question simply quotes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who seems to pull the number out of thin air. "When fully implemented, it will cost $2.5 trillion," McConnell said.

And where did McConnell get this idea?

Read more »

Health Care

Sebelius Unveils State By State Analysis Of Impact Of Health Care Reform

Brian Beutler | November 23, 2009, 12:55PM

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today unveiled state-by-state analyses of the beneficial impacts of health care reform. Using the Senate bill, the report underlines, among other things, the number of working and middle class people who would receive federal assistance, and the extent to which the legislation would reduce the number of uninsured in that state.

So, to pick three states totally at random, if you wanted to know what the goodies for Nebraska, Arkansas, and Louisiana, would be, you can just click.

And, in case you're wondering, the reports do not address the state-by-state impact of the public option.

Health Care

Poll: Health Care Bill Could Hurt Dems -- And Not Passing It Would Be Worse

Eric Kleefeld | November 23, 2009, 12:26PM

United States Capitol

A new national survey from Public Policy Polling (D) finds that health care has put the Democrats in a tricky situation -- passing a bill with a public option doesn't offer a clear political benefit, but not passing anything would cause an even greater problem.

The Democrats lead on an initial generic Congressional ballot by 46%-38%. If they pass a health care with a public option, the gap becomes 46%-41%. If they don't pass a health care bill at all, though, it becomes a 40%-40% tie -- reminiscent of the loss in Democratic support in 1994, after they failed to pass a health care bill.

"Clearly Democrats need to pass a health care bill if they want to do well at the polls next year," said PPP president Dean Debnam, in the polling memo. "But they don't need to take an all or nothing approach. Allowing the status quo to remain rather than accepting a bill without a public option would be a poor decision politically."

The poll was conducted from November 13th to November 15th, before this past weekend's vote in the Senate to proceed with debate on the health care bill. The margin of error is ±3%.

Harry Reid

What Did We Learn From Saturday's Health Care Vote

Brian Beutler | November 23, 2009, 11:50AM

Senators Nelson (D-NE) and Lieberman (I-CT)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid got his 60 on Saturday, and when the Senate returns from Thanksgiving recess next week, they'll be debating and amending a major piece of health care legislation. However, the vote, and its aftermath exposed or clarified the cleavages within the Democratic party that will have to be bridged if Reid hopes to keep his caucus in line on the next cloture motion--to end a Republican filibuster and hold a simple majority vote on reform.

If you thought the opt-out compromise was a silver bullet for the public option, you may have gotten a bit ahead of yourself. It held up for a while, and could still survive, but that's going to require some interesting gymnastics from Democratic leaders. Leading up to Saturday's vote, and in its immediate aftermath, conservative Democrats entrenched their opposition to the public option in the Senate bill. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) repeated his threat to support a health care filibuster if it includes a public option of any kind, and, despite her earlier support for the provision, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) took to the Senate floor Saturday and announced, "I'm promising my colleagues that I'm prepared to vote against moving to the next stage of consideration as long as a government-run public option is included." That gives her a bit more wiggle room than Lieberman's left himself, and Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) have a bit more still, but that makes 60 for the opt out a tough climb. On the other side of the caucus, though, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Roland Burris (D-IL) have inched closer to threatening to block a health care bill from the left if the public option is weakened further. If reform is to pass, one side of the caucus will have to hold its collective nose and vote for something they don't like.

Read more »

Chuck Schumer

Spokesman: Schumer Open To Public Option Negotiations, But They Haven't Started

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 9:56PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

In light of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's statement tonight--that he welcomes negotiations on a public option compromise--Sen. Chuck Schumer's spokesman Brian Fallon emails a statement to TPMDC. He says discussions with centrists, such as they are, are in the earliest stages.

"Leading up to tonight's vote, some senators expressed a desire to discuss the public option currently in the Senate bill. Of course, Senator Schumer did not rule that out. But no such talks have yet taken place, and there is not any compromise at hand beyond what Leader Reid has already inserted into the bill. Senator Schumer remains a strong proponent of the opt-out, level playing field public option."

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) told TPMDC earlier today that Schumer had been tasked as the point man in negotiations between senators who support a public option, and those who prefer a "trigger" compromise.

This statement seems to suggests that those discussions are in their infancy, whatever Schumer's role in them is.

Barack Obama

Lieberman Repeats Claim That Public Option Not Part Of 2008 Presidential Campaign

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 9:15PM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) raised hackles among liberals earlier this week when he claimed that the public option wasn't a part of the 2008 presidential campaign. He repeated that claim to reporters tonight, though acknowledged, when pressed, that then-candidate Barack Obama did in fact include a public option in his campaign health care proposal.

"This is a kindof 11th hour addition to a debate that's gone on for decades," Lieberman told reporters tonight. "Nobody's ever talked about a public option before. Not even in the presidential campaign last year."

I asked in response, "How do you reconcile your contention that the public option wasn't part of the presidential campaign given that all three of the [leading Democratic] candidates had something along the lines of the public option in their white papers?'

Read more »

Harry Reid

Reid: 'I Welcome Schumer, Landrieu, And Carper, As They Work On Public Option Compromise'

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 8:51PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

After a successful vote to begin debate on a landmark health care bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addressed the news, first reported by TPMDC, that conservative Democrats are working with public option supporter Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on a compromise.

"I welcome Sen. Schumer, Landrieu and Carper--Landrieu said that they're working together on a public option that's acceptable to [all parties]."

Asked by TPMDC about Schumer's role in the negotiations, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) applauded his colleague. "Senator Schumer, when he's not hunting, works with a lot of different individuals on a lot of different points," Nelson said. "He was the one that came up with the idea of opting out--I don't think it sold very well, but he has the ability to be very pragmatic about a lot of these issues, and that makes him very important in the process."

Public option stalwart Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said he hopes that triggers aren't ultimately affixed to the public option, but isn't alarmed that Reid isn't tamping down on the negotiations.

"That's been Harry from the very beginning. He's always said that, and he's always meant it," Rockefeller said.

Late update: Schumer spokesman Brian Fallon emails a statement to TPMDC. He says discussions with centrists, such as they are, are in their earliest stages. "Leading up to tonight's vote, some senators expressed a desire to discuss the public option currently in the Senate bill. Of course, Senator Schumer did not rule that out. But no such talks have yet taken place, and there is not any compromise at hand beyond what Leader Reid has already inserted into the bill. Senator Schumer remains a strong proponent of the opt-out, level playing field public option."

Health Care

Senate Agrees To Debate Health Care Bill

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 8:08PM

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)

On a perfectly partisan, 60-39 vote, the Senate agreed tonight to debate and amend a far-reaching health care bill. That debate will get started in earnest after Congress returns from next week's Thanksgiving recess. Democrats and Republicans expect to offer hundreds of amendments (each of which will be held to a 60 vote threshold) and debate for several weeks before holding yet another procedural supermajority vote--to end debate. If that gets 60 votes, then there will be an up-or-down vote on passage of the bill.

If the bill passes it will likely undergo yet more changes in conference with House negotiators. The "conference report" that emerges from that process can't be amended, but can be filibustered in the Senate, so will likely require 60 votes for passage. Only after both chambers have passed the conference report can the bill be sent to President Obama for a signature.

Health Care

Spokesman: Schumer's Not Initiating Any Trigger Negotiations

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 4:34PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer's spokesman Brian Fallon says his boss stands foursquare behind the opt out public option, and any suggestion that he's been involved in negotiations regarding a triggered public option are false:

"Since Leader Reid announced the opt-out public option would be included in the Senate bill, Senator Schumer has not approached anyone about compromises," Fallon said in a statement to TPMDC. "He is fully behind the level playing field opt-out, which he himself helped advance."

That's a direct contradiction to the assertion in this post, by a Democratic aide, that Schumer recently approached Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) about a public option compromise. But it doesn't address Landrieu's contention, that Schumer is a point man in behind the scenes negotiations regarding a potential trigger compromise.

We'll try to get more clarification on that last point.

Chuck Schumer

Dem Aide: Schumer Dealmaking On Public Option "Inappropriate"

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 3:28PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)

The plot thickens!

A Senate Democratic aide tells me that folks aren't too happy with the news that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is negotiating a public option "trigger compromise with members of the caucus.

"He went on his own to talk to Landrieu about the trigger option," the aide says. "That's rather unseemly, especially for Schumer to have reached out to Landrieu before we had the vote. It's very inappropriate."

Obviously there are plenty of reasons for plenty of people to say they're upset about this. But the fact that Schumer began these discussions before today's vote does seem notable, given that Harry Reid was supposed to be negotiating for the votes.

Landrieu and her fellow conservative Democrats have been very adamant today that the public option as it is will earn this health care bill a filibuster. Schumer is apparently involved in discussions with them, and other members, to reach a compromise.

AARP

AARP To Reid: Congrats On Your Bill, But We're Still Thinking

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 3:12PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

The good folks at AARP endorsed the House health care bill, and it seems likely that they'll do the same with the Senate bill. But they're not ready just yet. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid obtained by TPMDC, AARP CEO Addison Barry Rand says the senior citizens association wants tonight's vote to succeed, but is still evaluating the proposal.

"This comprehensive, health reform legislation moves us one important step closer to enacting historic legislation to control skyrocketing costs, improve quality and expand access to affordable care," the letter reads. "We strongly urge the Senate to vote for cloture this Saturday to begin debate on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.... After further analysis, we will send you a more detailed letter of our views of the legislation."

You can read the entire thing here.

Blanche Lincoln

Lincoln: "I'll Filibuster A Public Option Bill"

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 3:00PM

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)

Conservative Democrats are making it very clear that they'll switch their vote and kill the bill down the line if the public option doesn't get stripped out of it.

"Let me be perfectly clear," Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) said on the floor of the Senate. "I am opposed to a new government administered health care plan as a part of comprehensive health insurance reform, and I will not vote in favor of the proposal that has been introduced by Leader Reid as it is written.... I've already alerted the Leader and I'm promising my colleagues that I'm prepared to vote against moving to the next stage of consideration as long as a government-run public option is included."

That's pretty compatible with what Mary Landrieu told reporters earlier this afternoon.

"I believe it's going to be very clear at some point very soon that there are not 60 votes for the current provision in the bill, and that the leader and the leadership are going to have to make a decision and I trust that they will figure out how to do that," Landrieu said.

Blanche Lincoln

60! Blanche Lincoln Says She'll Support Health Care Debate

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 2:22PM

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) says she's in for a health care debate, where she'll try to make the bill more like the Finance Committee package.

"Although I do not agree with everything in this bill, I have concluded that it is more important that we begin this debate," she said. "I will vote in support of cloture to debate this bill."

Her decision comes as Republicans gear up to attack the vote--on the question of whether to debate the bill--as a vote for the health care bill itself.

Now all the hold outs are on the record. Nelson, Lincoln and Landrieu will all vote yes. At this point, Democrats just need to make it to 8 pm without any surprises, and then they can call it a day.

Health Care

Landrieu To Reid: No Triggers, No Bill--Negotiating Compromise With Schumer

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 1:41PM

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE)

After announcing her intent to support a health care debate this afternoon, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) told reporters she thinks Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will soon have to choose between a triggered public option and no health care bill. She also says Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)--the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate one of its most fierce and vocal public option advocates--has been tasked as a point man on the issue.

"I believe it's going to be very clear at some point very soon that there are not 60 votes for the current provision in the bill, and that the leader and the leadership are going to have to make a decision and I trust that they will figure out how to do that," Landrieu told reporters.

Landrieu has been in negotiations with a number of centrist senators about a compromise that would eliminate the public option, except in states where insurance remains unaffordable. Interestingly, though, Schumer is playing a big role in that process.

Read more »

Mary Landrieu

Landrieu To Vote For Health Care Debate

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 12:30PM

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)

The suspense has lifted. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) will announce on the Senate floor this afternoon that she will vote to debate health care legislation.

When she does, she will join her colleague Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), another conservative Democrat, in the "yes" column. The lone holdout at this point is Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), who has yet to publicly announce her intentions.