Stupak aims to sink ‘unacceptable’ abortion compromise  —  An aide to Rep. Bart Stupak (D. Mich.) coordinated opposition to the Senate health bill's abortion compromise this morning with the Republican Senate leadership according to a chain of frantic emails obtained this morning by POLITICO.

Ben Nelson's Medicaid deal  —  Sen. Mary Landrieu got the “Louisiana Purchase.”  Sen. Ben Nelson got the federal government to pick up most his state's future Medicaid tab — forever.  —  As part of the deal to win Nelson's support, the federal government will pay for Nebraska's new Medicaid recipients.

National Organization for Women opposes Senate health bill  —  A leading women's group called on senators on Saturday to defeat its healthcare reform bill.  —  The leader of the National Organization for Women (NOW) excoriated the language in the health bill curtailing federal support …

Senate healthcare bill steepens payroll tax for high-earners in 2013  —  The Senate's final healthcare bill steepens the payroll tax rates high-income Americans will face.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) released a manager's amendment to the healthcare bill finalizing …

Democrats Clinch a Deal on Health Bill  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats said on Saturday that they had clinched an agreement on a far-reaching overhaul of the nation's health care system, and that they were on track to approve the legislation by Christmas over fierce Republican opposition.

The Congressional Budget Office scores the amended Senate bill  —  Another day, another Congressional Budget Office report (pdf) saying that health-care reform will cover more than 30 million people while substantially cutting the federal deficit.  —  There are a couple of changes worth noting here.

Nelson Agrees to Abortion Funding in at Least 13 States?  —  Harry Reid has released the manager's amendment that Ben Nelson has reportedly agreed to vote for, meaning that the Senate bill has 60 votes.  The abortion language includes the phony segregation of funding language that was rejected in the House.

Nelson's Nebraska To Receive Extra Medicaid Funds Under Senate Bill  —  This morning's managers amendment to the merged Senate health bill goes a long way towards satisfying the demands of Democratic hold-out and all-important 60th vote Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).

Obama slams insurance industry going into health reform's home stretch  —  As the Senate prepares for a final round of votes on its healthcare reform bill, President Barack Obama chastised the insurance industry for its lobbying against the legislation.  —  In his weekly address Saturday …

Breaking: Nelson will vote for cloture  —  Every man has his price, apparently, and Harry Reid found Ben Nelson's price for a cloture vote on ObamaCare.  Nelson announced this morning that the language in the manager's amendment on aborti0n will be enough to secure his support for Reid's compromise bill …

Nelson: I'll Filibuster Post-Conference Health Care Bill If House Forces Major Changes  —  Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) confirmed moments ago that he will support the Senate health care bill, which will soon be amended to include new, more restrictive abortion language.