memeorandum: Obama leaning toward 34,000 more troops for Afghanistan (McClatchy Washington Bureau)

12:50 AM ET, November 8, 2009

Top Items:

Fort Hood shooting: Texas army killer linked to September 11 terrorists — Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a “spiritual adviser” to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001. — Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Washington Post, Hot Air, Power Line, Atlas Shrugs, Chicago Boyz, American Power, Nice Deb, YID With LID, Pajamas Media, Moe_Lane's blog, New York Times and Weasel Zippers

Associated Press:

George W. Bush Visits Fort Hood, Wounded Soldiers — FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) ― Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States.

Discussion: baldilocks, Row 2, Seat 4, Riehl World View and The Other McCain

Washington Post:
‘I could hear the bullets going past me’

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Connecting.the.Dots

Barbarossa / The Jawa Report:
BBC: Ft Hood mosque member defends shootings: “they were troops …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Stars & Stripes, At War, Biased BBC, Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers and Jules Crittenden

Stephen Schwartz / New York Post:
Take a look at Hasan's old mosque

Discussion: American Power, JustOneMinute and Outside The Beltway

Washington Post:

House passes key hurdle on health-care legislation — Debate expected to last at least four hours, vote on landmark reform scheduled this evening — After receiving a pep talk from President Obama, House Democrats cleared a key procedural hurdle Saturday in the debate over expanding …

Discussion: The Fix, Power Line, Newsweek Blogs, Weasel Zippers, The Page and Blue Virginia

The Hill:

Dems: ‘We have the votes’ — Democratic leaders believe they have the votes to pass their historic, $1 trillion healthcare plan Saturday night, Democratic sources said. — “We have the votes,” said a senior Democratic aide. — Though leaders feel comfortable, the margin is narrow.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Reaction, Marathon Pundit and CNN

New York Times:
Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House

Discussion: Prescriptions, MyDD and Gawker

The Politico:
Sources: Pelosi, Dems lock up 218

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Raw Story, TPMDC, The Hill, Washington Monthly, AmSpecBlog, BlueNC blogs and Firedoglake

Paul Kane / Capitol Briefing:
The House health care debate: What to watch for

Discussion: Pundit & Pundette

New York Post:
Shutting off the miracle-drug spigot

Discussion: JammieWearingFool

Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:
Bishops endorse the bill

Discussion: Swampland, The Note, The Daily Dish, Daily Kos, Wonk Room, QandO, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Corner on National …, Firedoglake and George's Bottom Line

Rayne / Firedoglake:

Stupak Amendment Passes; 64 Dems Ask for Primary Opponents — [Ed. note: At 11:01 p.m. ET we are now watching the final vote for H.R. 3962, the health care bill itself. Stay tuned here for more coverage.] — Do you like that headline? Because that's what I'm feeling right …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Ezra Klein:

A very bad deal to pass a very good bill — The final compromises before a bill comes to the floor are never very pretty. This one, however, is worse than I anticipated. Opposition from anti-abortion Democrats, driven in large part by aggressive activism from the Catholic Church …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, TalkLeft, Booman Tribune, FiveThirtyEight, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog News, Washington Monthly, AmSpecBlog and Prairie Weather

Rayne / Firedoglake:

H.R. 3962 Health Care Bill Passes — As of 11:07 p.m. ET, we have a health care reform bill. Although five minutes remained on the clock, the votes were all in with 220 Yeas, 215 Nays. — Of the Nay votes, 39 were Democrats. — There was a lone Republican Yea from Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana.

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and The Agonist

Jason Rosenbaum / NOW! Blog:
Call today to defeat the Stupak anti-abortion amendment

Discussion: Firedoglake, Open Left, Prescriptions, Crooks and Liars and Hullabaloo

Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:
The abortion deal — Abortion opponents won a huge …

Discussion: Swampland, Daily Kos, The New Republic, The Moderate Voice, Weekly Standard, St. Louis Tea Party, Wonk Room, Alas, a blog, Taylor Marsh and Wake up America

Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:
Schakowsky: We're fighting off Stupak amendment

Discussion: RHRealityCheck.org, Alas, a blog and TPM LiveWire

Chris Frates / The Politico:
Stupak says he has the votes

Discussion: Open Left

TCOT REPORT 2009©:

President Obama Acknowledged Today That He and Bill Owens Pulled a Health Care Fast One on the Voters in NY-23 — The New York Times is reporting that in his pep talk to the Democrats in Congress this morning, President Obama acknowledged that he and newly elected NY-23 Democratic Congressman Bill Owens …

Discussion: Prescriptions, Gateway Pundit and American Power

Michelle Malkin:

Liveblogging, Pt. 2: The hurry-up House debate on health care; Update: Bill Passes — There's less than half an hour left of general debate on the House government health care takeover bill. *Update* More time for general debate. Govtrack says another House cmte gets time.

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Daily Pundit, GayPatriot, The Other McCain, The Powers That Be, Hot Air and Republican Ways and Means

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Open thread: PelosiCare vote coming tonight; Update: 35 Dems oppose?

Discussion: Daily Pundit

Chris Frates / The Politico:
Dems sources: 218 is on the way

Discussion: AmSpecBlog

Chris Frates / The Politico:
Cooper will vote yes

Discussion: Daily Kos and Campaign Trail

Michelle Malkin:
Liveblogging: The new Imperial Congress votes on Pelosicare …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, GayPatriot, The Politico, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Left Coast Rebel, Sister Toldjah, Weasel Zippers, Macsmind and Wake up America

Think Progress:

GOP Gone Wild: Unruly Republicans Silence Women Lawmakers With Screams, Shouts, And Delay Tactics — This morning, the House began consideration of the rule for debate of the House health care bill. As the Democratic Women's Caucus took to the microphone on the House floor to offer …

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Matthew Yglesias, At-Largely, MyDD, The Reaction, The Mahablog, Stop The ACLU, Hullabaloo, Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly and Little Green Footballs

The Huffington Post:
WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Hill, The Greenroom, Open Left, MyDD, Mediaite, Daily Kos and jillstanek.com

Jackie Kucinich / Roll Call:

Cao May Be Sole GOP Vote In Favor of Health Bill — At least one Republican may vote for the Democratic health care bill, several House sources confirmed on Saturday night. — Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-La.), a former Jesuit seminarian, is rumored to be on the fence if the House approves …

Discussion: Think Progress, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

The Huffington Post:
Obama To Dems: GOP Will Attack Regardless Of How You Vote

Discussion: The Plum Line, The Reaction, msnbc.com, Washington Monthly, MyDD and Daily Kos

Chris Frates / The Politico:

GOP Shadegg to buck pro-lifers, party — Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) said he plans to buck right-to-life groups and his own party and vote “present” on a Democratic amendment that would prevent federal funding for abortions as part of health-care overhaul legislation.

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Firedoglake, Weekly Standard and Alas, a blog

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Obama leaning toward 34,000 more troops for Afghanistan — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is nearing a decision to send more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year, but he may not announce it until after he consults with key allies and completes a trip to Asia later this month …

Discussion: New York Times, DownWithTyranny!, ATTACKERMAN, The Political Carnival and Weasel Zippers

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Palin: Dems will apply abortion mind-set to elderly — WEST ALLIS, Wisc. - Sarah Palin rallied thousands of abortion opponents Friday night with a a stark warning that the same philosophy that allows abortion rights could soon be invoked to allow the government to cut off health care for the elderly or children with special needs.

Discussion: PoliGazette, Ben Smith's Blog, The Daily Dish and The Political Carnival

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Gregg: CBO cost estimate of Pelosi Plan $3 trillion; Update: Heritage says $2.4T — You know, Senator Gregg, talking like this won't get you an appointment to Barack Obama's Cabinet. Oh, wait ...: … I'm not sure where Gregg gets the $3 trillion number.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Wake up America and Wall Street Journal

Dan Perrin / RedState:
CBO: New House Health Bill Spending Estimate, $3 Trillion over 10 Years

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and The Foundry

Kevin Boland / GOP Leader Blog:

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX): “If the IRS and Medicare Had a Baby, It Would Look Like This” — At a press conference this morning with House Republican Leaders, Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Ranking Republican Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) employed a colorful metaphor in his effort to describe the vast …

Discussion: Big Government