memeorandum: Stern: Pass the bill (Ben Smith/Ben Smith's Blog)

1:20 PM ET, December 18, 2009

Top Items:

Pass the Bill — A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy. Declare that you're disappointed in and/or disgusted with President Obama. Demand a change in Senate rules that, combined with the Republican strategy of total obstructionism, are in the process of making America ungovernable.

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

End It Today, Ben — There's a really big snowstorm coming to D.C.tonight. It would be unsafe to ask all the staffers and Hill employees who'd be needed at the Capitol if Congress stays open all hours this weekend, as Harry Reid intends, to drive to and from work—especially since …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Politics Channel, No More Mister Nice Blog and Pundit & Pundette

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Hardest Call — The first reason to support the Senate health care bill is that it would provide insurance to 30 million more Americans. — The second reason to support the bill is that its authors took the deficit issue seriously. Compared with, say, the prescription drug benefit …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Hot Air, Commentary, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Democratic Strategist, Washington Post, Weekly Standard and National Review

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic Politics Channel:

Dean's Blind Spot — Maybe one reason former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and so much of the digital Left can so casually dismiss the Senate health care reform bill is that they operate in an environment where so few people need to worry about access to insurance.

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Plum Line and The Washington Independent

New York Times:

A Race to Win One More Vote for Health Bill — WASHINGTON — The White House and Senate Democratic leaders seem willing to give Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, just about anything he wants to win his support of major health care legislation. Anything, that is …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal, Open Left and The Page

Washington Wire:
Rahm Emanuel: Don't Worry About the Left

Discussion: The Washington Independent

Jed Lewison / Daily Kos:
Ben Nelson: Bill covers too many uninsured people, must be scaled back

Discussion: Politics Daily, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, RedState, The Political Carnival and TPM LiveWire

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:

Obama: ‘Time for talk is over’ — COPENHAGEN — A visibly angry Barack Obama threw down the gauntlet at China and other developing nations Friday, declaring that the time has come to “not to talk but to act” on climate change. — Emerging from a multinational meeting boycotted …

Discussion: Watts Up With That?, The Cable, Right Wing Nut House, Whiskey Fire, Riehl World View, The Lonely Conservative, Wall Street Journal, The Swamp, The Hill, Scared Monkeys, Wonkette and Pajamas Media

New York Times:

Obama Presses China on Rules for Monitoring Emissions Cuts — COPENHAGEN —President Obama, speaking to world leaders gathered here at the frenzied end of two weeks of climate talks, urged them to come to an agreement — no matter how imperfect — to address global warming and monitor whether countries …

Discussion: The Caucus, Weekly Standard, Washington Monthly, Climate Progress, Wall Street Journal, The Gaggle, CNN, msnbc.com, Guardian, Jules Crittenden, The Page, Washington Post, Copenhagen Insider and Prairie Weather

Guardian:

Obama speech fuels frustration at Copenhagen — US president offers no further commitment on reducing emissions or on finance to poor countries — Barack Obama stepped into the chaotic final hours of the Copenhagen summit today saying he was convinced the world could act “boldly and decisively” on climate change.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, JustOneMinute, protein wisdom, The New Republic, It's Getting Hot In Here, Richard Black's Earth Watch, Open Left, Saberpoint, Hot Air, Environmental Capital and The Washington Independent

Political Punch:
Senior White House Official: The ‘Chinese Are Dug In’; 'We've Done …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, TPMDC, Pajamas Media, BBC and Associated Press

Washington Post:
New climate draft would forgo treaty in 2010

Discussion: Betsy's Page, The Page and Sister Toldjah

Walter Alarkon / The Hill:

Pelosi, Rahm do not scare Rep. DeFazio — Rep. Peter DeFazio's phone rang. On the other end was Rahm Emanuel. — The White House chief of staff last month expressed frustration with DeFazio's resignation calls for President Barack Obama's top two economic aides — Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Lonely Conservative and JammieWearingFool

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Liberal Revolt on Health Care Stings White House — WASHINGTON — In the great health care debate of 2009, President Obama has cast himself as a cold-eyed pragmatist, willing to compromise in exchange for votes. Now ideology — an uprising on the Democratic left — is smacking the pragmatic president in the face.

Discussion: American Power, QandO, The Politico, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, Beat the Press, The Reaction, The Plum Line and Booman Tribune

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Democratic congressman from North Carolina angers supporters …

Discussion: AMERICAblog News

Tim Graham / NewsBusters.org:
WaPo Jabs at Betrayal of Southern Dem for Rejecting ‘Badly Needed’ Health Reform

Discussion: Hot Air

Washington Post:

Senate Democrats block GOP filibuster — Senate Republicans failed early Friday in their bid to filibuster a massive Pentagon bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unusual move designed to delay President Obama's health-care legislation. — On a 63 to 33 vote …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hill, Prairie Weather, The Page and msnbc.com

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
DeMint promises to delay health bill, force Christmas Eve vote

Discussion: Think Progress, The Atlantic Politics Channel, New York Times, The Politico, The Reaction, Betsy's Page, The Note, Hotline On Call, Flopping Aces, Wake up America, Derek Wallbank, The Hill, AmSpecBlog, PoliPundit.com, RealClearPolitics Video Log, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air and Senator Mitch McConnell …

Washington Post:
GOP senators to block defense bill in bid to delay health-care vote

Discussion: Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, White House.gov Blog Feed, The Politico, Buck Naked Politics, Congress Matters, Commentary, The Corner on National … and AMERICAblog News

Wall Street Journal:
Democrats on the Health-Care Precipice

Discussion: Commentary and The Lonely Conservative

David Rogers / The Politico:
War bill survives poisonous vote

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

Manu Raju / The Politico:

Franken objects to Lieberman talking — Sen. Joe Lieberman just wanted an “additional moment” on the floor Thursday to finish his speech about health care. — But when he asked for unanimous consent to finish his remarks, Democratic Sen. Al Franken wouldn't let him.

Discussion: The Reaction, The BLT, GayPatriot and The Hill

Michelle Malkin:
Franken's little snit fit against Lieberman; Reid moves to adjourn …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Firedoglake, Achenblog, GayPatriot, San Francisco Chronicle, NO QUARTER, Raw Story, Gateway Pundit and The Sundries Shack

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
No Room For Error If Senate To Pass Health Care Before Christmas

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Politico

Patricia Murphy / Politics Daily:
Al Franken Cuts the Comedy, Goes for Drama in the Senate

Discussion: The Awl

Associated Press:
Franken shuts down Lieberman on Senate floor

Discussion: Fausta's Blog, The Other McCain, Jules Crittenden, Outside The Beltway, Think Progress, The Mahablog, TPM LiveWire, GayPatriot, RedState, Truthdig and The Washington Independent

Michael E. Mann / Washington Post:

E-mail furor doesn't alter evidence for climate change — I cannot condone some things that colleagues of mine wrote or requested in the e-mails recently stolen from a climate research unit at a British university. But the messages do not undermine the scientific case that human-caused climate change is real.

Discussion: Cato @ Liberty, RedState, Climate Progress and The Air Vent

Patrick J. Michaels / Wall Street Journal:
How to Manufacture a Climate Consensus

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Quinnipiac University:

Specter, Toomey Deadlocked In Pennsylvania Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Gets Good Score On War, Bad Marks For Health Care — Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter and Republican challenger Pat Toomey are deadlocked 44 - 44 percent in Pennsylvania's marquee 2010 U.S. Senate race …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Scorecard's Blog, Hot Air, TPMDC, Politics Nation, Talking Points Memo, National Review Online and Real Clear Politics

Monckton / The SPPI Blog:

Is the European police state going global? — From The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley in Copenhagen — Today the gloves came off and the true purpose of the “global warming” scare became nakedly visible. Ugo Chavez, the Socialist president of Venezuela, blamed “global warming” …

Discussion: TBogg

Anthony Watts / Watts Up With That?:
Lord Monckton barred from Copenhagen conference - pushed to the ground by security

Discussion: blogs.telegraph.co.uk and Michelle Malkin

The Nation:

Axelrod Walks Back Insanity Defense on WH Blogger Call BY ARI MELBER — The White House swiftly organized a blogger conference call on Thursday evening to rally support for health care reform, in a bid to stem fallout from progressives over recent compromises in the Senate.

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Politico, MyDD, Ben Smith's Blog and Washington Post

Susie Madrak / Crooks and Liars:
White House Blogger Call: Axelrod Answers Questions on Healthcare Bill

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Monthly and The Huffington Post

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:

Fewer, Still Most, Back Regulations on Greenhouse Gas Emissions — ABC News/Washington Post Poll: 65 Percent Support Regulations to Reduce Global Warming — With the Copenhagen conference reaching its climax, two-thirds of Americans support restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Discussion: Boston Globe, The Politico and The Corner on National …

Washington Post:
On environment, Obama and scientists take hit in poll

Discussion: The Note, Politics Daily, Environmental Capital and New York Times

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Stern: Pass the bill — Yesterday was, evidently, for blowing off steam and signaling outrage to constituents. Today the key institutional Democratic players are firmly back on board with the White House. — Andy Stern tweets his support for the legislation and tells Jonathan Cohn he's essentially given …

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Andy Stern: Don't Kill the Bill. Fix It.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and TPMCafe

Bloomberg:

Harvard Swaps Are So Toxic Even Summers Won't Explain — Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Anne Phillips Ogilby, a bond attorney at one of Boston's oldest law firms, on Oct. 31 last year relayed an urgent message from Harvard University, her client and alma mater, to the head of a Massachusetts state agency that sells bonds.

Discussion: Angry Bear, Felix Salmon and The Awl

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Palin cuts vacation short — Sarah Palin announced Thursday night that she ended a Hawaii vacation early because of the ruckus raised after she blacked out “McCain” on her sun visor in an effort to elude paparazzi. — After the former Alaska governor was photographed on the beach earlier this week …

Discussion: Politics Daily, At-Largely, The Political Carnival, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Liberal Values, PoliBlog, Wonkette, TPM LiveWire and No More Mister Nice Blog

Amy Gardner / Virginia Politics Blog:

Webb under fire on health care — U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) is getting banged up by Republicans over what they expect is his impending vote for a Senate version of health reform. — Webb hasn't even voted yet, but already he's being accused of flip-flopping in a video and in media interviews by state and national Republicans.

Discussion: The Hill, Weekly Standard and National Review