Top Items:
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Sen. Ben Nelson to announce support for health-care bill — Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, was prepared to announce to his caucus Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas.
Discussion:
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Ben Smith / The Politico:
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.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Washington Monthly, TPMDC, The Hill, Ben Smith's Blog, FiveThirtyEight, TalkLeft, RHRealityCheck.org and Hot Air
Chris Frates / The 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.
Discussion:
The Hill, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Betsy's Page, NewsBusters.org, The Other McCain and Power Line
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
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 …
New York Times:
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.
John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
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.
Igor / Wonk Room:
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).
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
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 …
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, GayPatriot, Support Your Local Gunfighter, Wonk Room and Jules Crittenden
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
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 …
Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:
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 …
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
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.
Kevin Bogardus / The Hill: Coburn: Nelson agreement with leaders ‘threw unborn babies under the bus’
Chris Frates / The Politico:Nelson at the mic — In announcing his support of the Senate …
Discussion:
The Page
Ezra Klein:
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.
Discussion:
TalkLeft
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Victoria Reggie Kennedy / Washington Post:
The moment Ted Kennedy would not want to lose — My late husband, Ted Kennedy, was passionate about health-care reform. It was the cause of his life. He believed that health care for all our citizens was a fundamental right, not a privilege, and that this year the stars …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, The Hill, TPMDC and Jack & Jill Politics
Guardian:
Low targets, goals dropped: Copenhagen ends in failure — Deal thrashed out at talks condemned as climate change scepticism in action — The UN climate summit reached a weak outline of a global agreement in Copenhagen tonight, falling far short of what Britain and many poor countries …
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The Huffington Post:
John Kerry Breaks Out Oppo, Takes On Howard Dean For ‘Kill The Bill’ Comments — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — The pushback against Howard Dean for his call to “kill” the Senate health care bill, continued on Friday night, with a prominent Senate Democrat picking out an old quote …
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Firedoglake
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Joe Conason / Salon:“It's unfair” — Howard Dean on why he doesn't support …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
SusanG / Daily Kos:
A defensive Obama demands up or down vote for health care — In a strikingly multi-purpose, multi-messaging weekly address, President Barack Obama this morning tackled— you guessed it — health care, in a discussion that ranged over old history and current events, sounding one part defensive to two parts exhortatory.
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Congress Matters
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