Top Items:
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
CBO issues correction: Health bill nixes deficit less than thought — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) corrected its estimate of the Senate health bill's costs on Sunday, saying it would reduce deficits slightly less than they'd predicted. — In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …
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Wall Street Journal:
Pivotal Senate Health Vote Looms — WASHINGTON — The Senate is marching toward a Christmas Eve vote on the biggest health-care legislation since the passage of Medicare 45 years ago, and its version is likely to form the template for the final bill that President Barack Obama hopes to sign next month.
Discussion:
Think Progress
Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
Correction Regarding the Longer-Term Effects of the Manager's Amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — CBO has discovered an error in the cost estimate released yesterday related to the longer-term budgetary effects of the manager's amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Discussion:
The Politico
Jeffrey H. Anderson / Weekly Standard:
CBO: Real 10-Year Cost of Senate Bill Still $2.5 Trillion
CBO: Real 10-Year Cost of Senate Bill Still $2.5 Trillion
Discussion:
Pundit & Pundette
Joe Biden / New York Times:
Why the Senate Should Vote Yes on Health Care — IF I were still a United States senator, I would not only vote yes on the current health care reform bill, I would do so with the sure knowledge that I was casting one of the most historic votes of my 36 years in the Senate.
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Jon Walker / Firedoglake:
The Insidious Myth Of The Progressive “Bill Killers” — There is a very insidious myth right now that there is a large group of progressive leaders who want to “kill” health care reform in its entirety. While there might be some progressive leaders out there who have advocated for this position, I have yet to hear from them.
John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Can Stupak Kill Obamacare in the House? — Are there enough votes in the House to pass a health care bill very close to the one the Senate is preparing to pass? Bart Stupak says the Senate bill's abortion language is “unacceptable” and has pledged to lead a group of pro-life Democrats …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
POOR CHESS PLAYERS.... If it seemed as if the vast majority of Senate Democrats were acting with a stronger-than-expected commitment to getting health care done this year, it wasn't an accident. … Now, I happen to like that sentiment quite a bit, but let's pause to appreciate who made it: Evan Bayh?
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Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
The Republican Health Care Blunder — The United States is on the doorstep of comprehensive health care reform. It's a staggering achievement, about which I'll have more to say later. but the under-appreciated thing that strikes me at the moment is that it never would have happened if the Republican Party had played its cards right.
TMZ.com:
Brittany Murphy Dies — Brittany Murphy died early this morning after she went into full cardiac arrest and could not be revived, multiple sources tell TMZ. — She was 32. — A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband …
Jacob S. Hacker / The New Republic:
Why I Still Believe in This Bill — Jacob S. Hacker is the Stanley B. Resor Professor of Political Science at Yale University. An expert on the politics of U.S. health and social policy, he is author, coauthor, or editor of numerous books and articles, both scholarly and popular …
New York Post:
Dreading our future — I am a baby boomer, which is to say my life has coincided with turbulent and awesome times. From the Cold War to Vietnam, from Watergate to Monicagate, through the horrors of 9/11 and the stunning lifestyle advances, my generation's era has been historic and exciting.
Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:
Axelrod promises to push for drug re-importation after healthcare reform — A senior White House adviser said Sunday that the Obama administration will push forward on safe re-importation of pharmaceutical drugs after the healthcare reform bill is finished.
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
MARVEL AT THE ‘ARROGANCE’ AND ‘NAIVETE’.... CNN is telling me that Sarah Palin said something on Twitter. … Or, to translate into English, the former half-term governor believes it's “arrogant and naive” to think human activity is responsible for climate change, which she describes as “man overpowering nature.”
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Telegraph:
Questions over business deals of UN climate change guru Dr Rajendra Pachauri — The head of the UN's climate change panel - Dr Rajendra Pachauri - is accused of making a fortune from his links with ‘carbon trading’ companies, Christopher Booker and Richard North write.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Right Wing Nut House, The Strata-Sphere, JammieWearingFool and Richard Black's Earth Watch
Robert F. Worth / New York Times:
Ayatollah Montazeri, Iranian Cleric, Dies at 87 — BEIRUT, Lebanon — Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the plain-spoken senior Shiite cleric who helped forge Iran's system of religious government and went on to become a fierce critic of its hard-line rulers, died Sunday morning at the age of 87.
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
A ‘STARTER HOME’.... There's a sizable chasm between the failed health care status quo and the progressive ideal. This, at a minimum, contributes to the differences between progressive proponents of reform — the same proposal can be seen by the same ostensible allies as both an important step forward and a bitter disappointment.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The New Republic, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog! and A plain blog about politics